tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10656272360572404362024-03-13T18:41:22.036-05:00Willow's Inner Thoughts...... the journey into writing my first novel@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-61822756466738295522009-07-20T17:55:00.004-05:002009-07-20T18:51:17.704-05:00Derichos, lightning, and full binders... Oh my!Wow! It's been a while since I've been able to blog. Sorry 'bout that. :( <br /><br />Between the dericho (a hurricane that forms over land) hitting our town and lightning striking and frying a lot of our electronics, things have been hectic that last few months to say the least. We're just now finishing up the new roof from a storm that happened in early May...<br /><br />The therapy has been going really well for our son and we'll be starting up at a really good autism center later this month. In essence, I think things are finally settling down... <span style="font-style: italic;">(looks left and right, waiting for something new to hit...)</span><br /><br />And since things seem to be settling down, it's time to write!!! Today, I printed off a hard copy of my first draft, all 239 pages of it <span style="font-style: italic;">(my poor printer... I had to restart the laptop twice to clear the memory so it could finish printing.)</span>. With all of the ideas spinning around in my head, I think this is the only way I can sort them out right now. Well, that and it's amazing how many errors jump out at you on paper that are invisible on a computer screen <span style="font-style: italic;">(how does that work anyway?)</span>. I hate wasting paper and that's why I haven't printed it out before, but this was important. It needed to be done<br /><br />Have any of you ever printed out a 239 page book you've written and stuck it in a 3-ring binder? It's amazing. It's crazy. It finally seems <span style="font-style: italic;">"real"</span>. Before, it was all just pages in an electronic document, but now... WOW! It filled a 1.5 inch binder nearly full. Seeing it in hard copy like this is major motivation to get it done so that maybe it can appear in a different hard copy format someday.<br /><br />The portability of the binder will help things out too. I write on a laptop, but it's a <span style="font-style: italic;">big</span> laptop with a widescreen and a full keyboard. In order to take it with me to work on the story when we're out and about, I have to pack up not only a toddler and diaper bag, but also the full laptop case and hope I have an outlet nearby since the battery doesn't last very long. Now, I can just toss a few pens and pencils and the binder into the diaper bag and head out.<br /><br />As for the content of the book, I think I know most of the major changes that will occur, but am keeping an open mind knowing that the characters will probably voice their opinions as well. The first chapter is definitely going to change, that's been decided finally. I was uncertain about this change at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. It will make the beginning a lot more interesting and hopefully make the reader feel the need to read the rest to figure out what happened. <br /><br />I'm not sure if this new chapter will be a type of epilogue or what. I'm really not sure what to call it. The first chapter will be a scene that actually occurs towards the end of the timeline and the rest of the book will be showing the events leading up to that scene and then continue from that point on to the big ending.<br /><br />I'm 99.9% sure that my current first chapter will remain in the book, I'll just move it to a different location. I really like how it introduces several of the characters and sets up some running jokes used throughout the book by the friends.<br /><br />I'm also 99.9% sure that my favorite chapter, <span style="font-style: italic;">my baby</span>, will be cut. It's one of the funniest, most relatable chapters that I've come up with I think, but would be really hard to pull off without breaking copyright laws or having some popular musicians suddenly become really generous. The only to salvage the chapter would be to write some lyrics to original songs in order to include them. I might even give that a try even though writing songs and poetry isn't something that I think I do well. Oh well, I guess we'll see what happens if my writing gremlin or I get inspired.<br /><br />Another writing-related issue that's caused my work on <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> to slow down is the prevalence of another one of my non-<span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> characters in my daily thoughts. A while back I created a character named Lisa with a pretty cool backstory. Love, love LOVE this character! Well, she's been making herself really well known in my thoughts as I've been processing hundreds of possible storylines for her. I know the basics of what her story will be, but there's still a lot left unplanned and she doesn't like that one bit. I've been playing around with her character, putting her in different situations and seeing what turns out the most interesting and still haven't decided anything. She's just going to have to deal with the fact that her story isn't ready yet, even if her character is pretty much fully developed. Now to break it to her so I can get back to my other favorite character, Casey.<br /><br />But anywho, that's what's been up with me and my book lately. House repairs, replacing fried electronics, and therapy for the toddler. But the important part is that I'm finding ways to make writing a priority again by making it easier to access.<br /><br />So, until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-42736825420131017952009-05-26T10:34:00.004-05:002009-05-26T10:46:09.864-05:00Writing Mojo - Check!... Internet Access - not so much...<span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Well, I typed up this post on 5/24/09, but then our Internet went down as the cable company is still working on lines in the area from the storm. So, here it is... better late than never!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">***</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Okay, the yard and house are mostly cleaned up from the in-land hurricane… We’ve pretty much settled into a routine of sorts with our son and his autism therapists… Technically, we’re all still sick… but, I’m back! This time it’s going to stick gosh-darn’t!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve found my writing mojo and realize that my brain never stopped working on the book, it just did it in the far corners of my mind where I wasn’t paying attention. Today, I skimmed my first draft and read over all of my notes and ideas for what to tweak in the second. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Somewhere around page 211, I think I figured out what to do about my first chapter. The scene that is currently chapter one is all right. I like it and plan on keeping it in the story, but it just didn’t seem right for the first chapter. The chapter that is supposed to draw everyone in and make them start asking questions and needing to read the book to figure them out... The current chapter is a fun way to introduce several of the characters while showing Casey’s personality, but it just doesn’t have that… that, you know… That thing that makes you curl a little more into a book that you’ve begun? Yeah. That.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But, as I said, around page 211 of my skim-fest, I had an epiphany. I really like my new concept, but am wondering exactly how I’ll pull it off. I’m thinking that I want to start the book with the death of one of my favorite characters, preferably within the first two pages. Currently this death occurs towards the end of the book, but I’m wondering… maybe I can start the story there and have it leave enough cryptic clues to really get the reader sucked into the story and then have it go back and start at the beginning. Maybe have the death be a type of prologue, even though I know that some people don’t like those.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Start with the death and have the next chapter start up with the scene that is set to start next on the timeline. This scene includes a phone call where Casey is told about the death. Now, what I’m thinking is that the shock of hearing that this character is dead will have Casey internally questioning what happened? Was there anything she could’ve done to stop this? Thus, leading into the story from the beginning.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This would make the bulk of the story in the past tense as it’s describing what’s already happened and would require a bit of extra rewrites to accommodate this. But! One concern that has been expressed with the story is that it’s in the present tense. This way, most of it would be past, until we catch up to that point in the story, where she is sitting in shock. Then it would pick up in present tense.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">This would also explain why most of the story is from Casey’s POV. It’s all her memories at that point. Once we catch back up to the present time, the POV starts swapping around again, at least a couple times.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">It would also give me more chances to lay cryptic clues about the men in Casey’s life and it lets the reader know what a large part the dead character actually plays in the story. What they do in those first couple of pages lays the groundwork for the entire series.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I wish that my husband was home from work or that my beta reader was online right now because I want to explain this idea in detail to someone who knows the entire story to see if it works for them. I think that vocalizing it and answering any questions that they might have will help me decide if this is really the way I want to organize my chapters. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">There are a lot more tweaks that I plan on making to the story that will really change it for the better as well. But, I’d really like to start by reorganizing it if that’s the path that I choose to take. Otherwise, I might rewrite a chapter and then have it affected by the reorganization and need to be rewritten again.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">But anyway, I guess I’ll spend the time until the hubby gets home reading the story and adding in more comments via the Track Changes feature on where I’d like to add in all my new ideas.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Oh yeah, I’ve also found a great new procrastinatory outlet other than Facebook. I enjoy watching TV shows on the Internet because I can never seem to remember to watch them when they’re actually on. (Yeah, no TiVo or DVR and I’m not about to try and find a blank VHS to use the VCR.) But anywho… somewhere along the lines, I discovered that the Highlander series is on Hulu! I loved that series and it’s been forever since I’ve watched it. So, now that most of my shows are on hiatus until the fall season, I’ve been watching Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod beheading people. Hopefully, my writing mojo is stronger than my need to watch Highlander… I can find a healthy balance, right?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Anywho, until I blog again…</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Talk 2ya later…</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">~Willow</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">***</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Additional Note: After talking with the hubby, I think I know how to make this new idea work in the story. I'm going to start the second draft with the new, reorganized story and if, in the end, I don't like it, I can go back to the first draft copy and start over.</span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-38057793929691405222009-05-10T11:21:00.003-05:002009-05-10T11:26:31.567-05:00I spoke too soon...It figures that as soon as I decide to start working on my novel again... southern Illinois gets hit by an inland hurricane! <br /><br />Our town was where it peaked, but we're fine. We were exceptionally lucky that nothing major happened to our house. A little bit of damage to our back porch roof and some hail damage on the cars, but overall not bad.<br /><br />We don't have power and don't expect it back anytime soon. Had to drive 20 miles to find a town with power and wi-fi so we could let friends know we were all right.<br /><br />I don't have much time as we need to head out and buy some supplies while we're in an area with power, but I just wanted to let everyone know where I am if I'm not able to respond for a week or more.<br /><br />Hopefully power will be back up middle of next week, but we're not holding our breaths.<br /><br />So, until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-70246156424918110352009-05-08T12:15:00.003-05:002009-05-08T12:53:45.214-05:00I'm Back... I hope...<span style="font-family: arial;">Well, we are all finally getting over the various flu's and other illnesses that have invaded our household. The stomach flu ping pong match appears to be over, yay!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Things are going really well with my son's therapy sessions and we look forward to starting occupational therapy next month (yay for wait lists...) We still have some paperwork to fill out for other services and I'm looking for a support group for parents with autism in my area, but I think it's time... </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Time to come back. I really miss writing. I miss my characters and that rush that I feel when I get it right. I've felt myself sinking into a depression of sorts since the diagnosis last month and know that I need to focus on some "me time". Writing pulled me out of post-pardum depression and made me feel like myself again in the past and I'm hoping that it will do the same for me this time around.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I know that I won't be having 4k writing days anytime soon, but even a couple hundred words is better than nothing. Squeezing in writing sessions during naps or when my husband is home to watch our son... I have- no I </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">need</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> to do this for myself. Getting sucked into the fear and uncertainty that a diagnosis of autism in your child causes isn't an option. I will face these emotions head on and channel the energy and emotions into my characters.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">I have to re-read my manuscript as it seems like it's been forever since I've ventured into the world of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">Instinct</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. That will have to wait until tomorrow though. We have family in town tonight and they want to take us all out to dinner. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">(If everything doesn't wash or blow away in these intense storms that is...)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">No promises on how often I'll be able to update the blog or how much writing I'll be completing at first, but I do promise to try my best.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">***</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Other Notes:</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Once again, THANK YOU to everyone who has commented or emailed me with support and kind words. Having not found a local autism support group yet, your words have helped keep me grounded and have reminded me that I'm not alone in this. *Virtual Cookies for You All!*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Other News:</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">A while back, I mentioned how much I enjoyed reading </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">The Forest of Hands and Teeth</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> by </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.carrieryan.com/">Carrie Ryan</a><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://carrie-me.blogspot.com/2009/05/movie-news.html">Well, she recently sold the movie rights!</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> Apparently, it's being created for a yet-unnamed A-list starlet. Not bad for her debut book. Way to go Carrie!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">***</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, that's it for now. My son has decided to squish his veggies from lunch in between his toes, so I have a lovely mess to clean up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">~Willow</span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-6367173094028125602009-05-02T13:47:00.004-05:002009-05-02T14:51:36.183-05:00You guys are the best...<span style="font-family:arial;">When I made my "Taking Time Off..." post, I never expected the outpouring of support that I've received. The posts and emails have been simply wonderful and so helpful. As many of you know, first-hand, getting a diagnosis like this can be difficult to cope with. So many mixed emotions and changes to your lifestyle... it's truly an emotional roller coaster.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, thank you! Thank you everyone who had a kind word or inspirational story to share with me. Thank you for making me feel a little less alone in all of this. I've been pretty depressed off and on this past month and all of your support has really meant the world to me. And thank you </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://robyn-campbell.blogspot.com/">Robyn</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> for nominating me for the lemonade stand blog award! (I'll be making another post for it shortly.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On a positive note, my son is doing really well. He's in developmental and speech therapy and has been given a trampoline to help with his sensory issues. We've started PECS and he's making wonderful progress with it. We're able to make all of the cards that he needs through a local autism center that he will be starting therapy with his fall. He's speeding through phase I and we're starting to ease into phase II and it's only been a couple of weeks since he started the program. It's wonderful to see him picking up a means of communication so fast.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Unfortunately, my writing time has been replaced with reading up on treatments and learning everything that I can about autism. Instead of finding five minutes here or there to write up a scene, I'm using that time to do PECS trials to help my son thrive with this program. I really do miss writing and blogging about my writing and hope that one day soon, I can get back to work.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">My novel is still in the back of my head, just itching to be finished. In a way, I'm hoping that this whole life-changing experience will add depth to my story and characters. I know that I'll get back to it, once things settle down a bit. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(On top of everything else, we're getting over a few rounds of the stomach flu in our household...) (Oh, and once I got over my turn with the flu, I caught some vertigo virus... lucky me.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, the main thing that I'm trying to get across with this post is that we're doing all right. Sure, things are different now, but not a bad different... just </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >different</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, ya know? We've been lucky to have so many people to support us, both off- and on-line. So... thanks!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-10201019124691818762009-04-14T21:03:00.003-05:002009-04-14T21:35:37.384-05:00Taking time off, for a good reason...<span style="font-family:arial;">As the subject states, I will be taking some time off of writing and blogging. I haven't given up on becoming a published author someday, there have just been some changes in my daily life that need to be addressed first. Right now there simply isn't enough time or free space in my brain to accomplish everything and my family has to come first.</span><br /><br /><p class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 151px; text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Autismawareness.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Autismawareness.jpg" alt="The puzzle piece ribbon is used by some autism..." style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="141" height="247" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;" class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Autismawareness.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></span></p><span style="font-family:arial;">This past week, my two-year old son was diagnosed with <a href="http://www.autismspeaks.org/">autism</a> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(yeah, ironic considering April is <a href="http://www.autism-society.org">autism awareness month</a>...)</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. Now that we officially have a diagnosis, my days are filled with doctor appointments, therapy sessions, and learning how to implement treatment programs. Oh yeah, and going through the stages of accepting this diagnosis. While this whole ordeal is difficult on our son, he's always had it, we just never knew. Us, as his parents, on the other hand, are having to learn everything about this disorder while trying to come to terms with what's in store for him in the future. Right now it feels as if everything is speeding by so fast and I'm struggling to learn everything I can to help my son thrive in spite of this condition.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, until things settle down and we develop some sort of regular schedule that our son is thriving on, the second draft of my novel will have to wait. Providing the day-to-day support that he needs in order to one day develop some form of communication is truly a full-time job </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(but worth every minute of it knowing how it will help him later in life)</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. It hurts to think how close I am to being done, but I know my priorities and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Family > Writing</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Thank you everyone for your support and advice in my journey into writing my first novel. I'm not giving up on writing and I won't be gone forever, but I do need to take some time off. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Maybe I should consider this as time away from the novel so I can return to it at a later date with fresh eyes...</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Maybe it's just wishful thinking...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Either way, until I'm able to blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span><br /> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px; font-family: arial;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/663db6ad-f501-4d88-9b66-2d671ee2a881/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=663db6ad-f501-4d88-9b66-2d671ee2a881" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-16955677093034782622009-04-06T13:41:00.006-05:002009-04-06T14:51:26.849-05:00Writer's A.D.D.I have self-diagnosed myself with having Writer's A.D.D. It wasn't all that hard to do really, I have all of the symptoms... <br /><ul><li>So many ideas spinning around in my head that I can't focus on anything<br /></li><li>Jumping from one part of the story to another because... "oooh, what if I did <span style="font-style: italic;">this, here</span>?!" (very similar to SOS - Shiny Object Syndrom)<br /></li><li>etc...</li></ul><span style="font-style: italic;">(Oh yeah, disclaimer: I'm not a medical doctor, but I could write myself in a story where I am one... Oh, and there is no such disease as Writer's A.D.D., but it makes me feel better thinking that there's a medical term for what I'm suffering from, lol!)</span><br /><br />I need to start meditating again or something. Anything to get my mind to calm down and let me work on one thing at a time. When this would happen during the first draft, I would just do a free write with all of my ideas and I'd be all set to start implementing them. That's not even working this time! Halfway through a note for one idea and my brain is already racing ahead to the next idea.<br /><br />The excitement of getting this far in the process must have fried my brain. Well, that along with the burst of creativity that hit me once I started thinking about what needed to happen in the second draft. I'm sure my inability to make a decision regarding my main character's age isn't helping either though...<br /><br />Today, I'm going to try organizing all of my notes for the story to see if that helps organize them in my brain as well. Maybe, having everything together in one document will convince my brain that we have it all down... no need to worry about forgetting something. I'd do just about anything to calm my thinking right now, my brain has more energy than my two-year old... and <span style="font-style: italic;">that's</span> impressive!<br /><br />Thanks for all of the amazing comments on my last post by the way. Your comments and advice on the situation really helped me realize that I have to stay true to my characters and do what is best for the story. Overall, I've decided that if I can't commit to a decision and support it 100%, then I'm not going to change anything, <span style="font-style: italic;">yet.</span> Down the road, should I decide to change her age or if an editor or agent wants it changed, I know what needs to be done. So, thanks again! You guys are the best!<br /><br />But, anywho... Off to round up my notebooks and documents so I can start my "second draft to-do list"... <br /><br />Until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-21100798599578262252009-04-04T09:39:00.006-05:002009-04-04T12:34:33.121-05:00So many questions...<a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.sun.com/dannycoward/resource/questions.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 237px;" src="http://blogs.sun.com/dannycoward/resource/questions.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">My poor little head is spinning. The rewrites on </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> aren't confusing me, I pretty much know what needs to be done there... it's a new change I'm considering that has me unsure of what to do next.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">First a little backstory <span style="font-style: italic;">(yay! the dreaded info dump!)</span>. I submitted part of my story to an online critique group anonymously and some of the comments have me thinking. There were a lot of stupid mistakes on my part that I'm not sure how I missed, but some of the other comments were deeper than just SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation, & Grammar) errors.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The first issue that got me thinking, people seemed to agree that my voice is very YA. That's pretty cool as most of my story ideas are definitely YA, except </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. To be honest, I'm not sure how to classify this story. Right now my main character, Casey, is 21 and attending the police academy. I know that due to her age, this would be a tough sale as a YA, even though I think that the story itself could go either way, YA or adult.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">On the same note as the last comment, I've had several people ask if I couldn't just change Casey's age to maybe 18. Before, I would always say, "No, it wouldn't work with the story or the series..." but now, I'm not so sure. I originally chose Casey's age based off of the requirements for the real Boston Police Academy, minimum age of 21 and have lived in Boston for 1 year <span style="font-style: italic;">(I wanted the story to be as believable as possible)</span>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But, I </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >am</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> writing fiction, aren't I? Would it be horrible if the academy in my story had a minimum age requirement of say... 18? I'm taking liberties on the timing and content of her classes and training, why shouldn't I fudge the admissions requirements while I'm at it? I'm taking liberties with the entire city of Boston since I've never actually been there. I don't want to pull people out of the story who have been a part of the police academy, but I need to do what's best for my story at the same time, you know?... <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">[H</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">e</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">a</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">d</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"> S</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">p</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">i</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">n</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">n</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">i</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">n</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">g</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);"> M</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">o</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">m</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">e</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">n</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">t</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">]</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The more I thought about changing her age, the more the story seemed to make sense. I had found a couple of plot holes and other problems and this change would fix most of them.</span><br /><ul><li><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.sun.com/dannycoward/resource/questions.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 179px;" src="http://blogs.sun.com/dannycoward/resource/questions.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Why would her father, all of a sudden, insist that she have a roommate if she's been living in Boston for 3 years? She couldn't have been living with Heather the whole time or their dynamics wouldn't be believable. Her having a different roommate before doesn't make much sense either though, it's very obvious that Heather is her first roommate.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">What actually released her gift? If her turning 18 triggered it, that would make sense.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Why is she so anti-social to begin with and why, in her three years living in Boston, did she never try to change this on her own? Being 18 and fresh out of high school would work with her backstory as to why she's not over her past enough to make the changes on her own.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Why is she so emotional and having other specific problems? Still a teenager, yet expected to act like an adult... that would definitely be believable.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">And a few others...</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;">I always wanted </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> to be YA, but didn't know how well it would work given what I knew about the story in the past. Now that the first draft is done and I know the entire story, I think that it would really work.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Well, I'd have to alter one of her love interests too... maybe make him a Ph.D. student instead of a young associate/assistant professor <span style="font-style: italic;">(can't remember which is the correct term off the top of my head, but it's in my notes)</span>. That would work well too, make him a TA... would explain why he doesn't really have his own office...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But anywho... If I can get past the whole, "I want my story to be as accurate as possible, except for the paranormal aspects" (which, you never know, they could be true...) then, I think it would really work well. I'm doing rewrites now anyway, so this would be the best time to implement these changes...</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.sun.com/dannycoward/resource/questions.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 149px;" src="http://blogs.sun.com/dannycoward/resource/questions.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">But my questions for you, my dear readers.</span><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Would an age change in this case be believable? Would you believe a story where an 18 year old was a police cadet?</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Is 18 still too old for a YA story? I can think of several YA books that had characters with similar ages, but they were still in high school and Casey has graduated.</span></li></ul><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Well, I'm off to write up notes on these potential changes and maybe skim through the chapters and see if there's any major issues with her being 18 that I'm forgetting.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span><br /> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/62ca3ce2-c758-48b8-aa6b-fdd8bec04ac4/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=62ca3ce2-c758-48b8-aa6b-fdd8bec04ac4" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-40457963788029060632009-04-01T10:10:00.004-05:002009-04-01T11:00:01.111-05:00It's Back!<span style="font-family:arial;">My writing mojo that is. </span><br /><p class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 250px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/97249369@N00/3354997984"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/3354997984_e58dfe11e3_m.jpg" alt="Calligrapher, 1984" style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="240" height="167" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;" class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/97249369@N00/3354997984">kattebelletje</a> via Flickr</span></span></p><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I've been in such a funk lately, not sure why I haven't been inspired to write up my last few chapters </span><span style="font-family:arial;">on </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> to finish the first draft... now I know why. The chapters I have left suck! I can see why I outlined them in the beginning, but over half of them aren't going to make the final cut in this story. Sure, the scenes actually happened to Casey, but the reader doesn't need to be bored with all of those details when they don't really further the plot. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I made a decision this morning. My first draft is DONE! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sure, I have a couple of chapters that aren't "complete", but I have them fully outlined and the parts that aren't complete will most likely be changed anyway. I'm starting on my second draft and feel that unexplainable energy that I felt writing the story before. I started seeing the characters in my head again and envisioning scenes that need reworked. It's an amazing feeling let me tell you!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm going to re-read a section of chapters that are done today to get ready to work in the mythology information. In my head I can see how to make this work where it isn't an info dump now! Woot!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As for my other to-do list:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">1. Layer in some scenes for a major character that kind of got pushed to the background in his scenes:</span> I have so many ideas for how to do this now. This is going to be so much fun!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >2. Add in some extra paranormal aspects to Casey's gift and their ramifications to the plot:</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Love, love, love this idea now! The best part is that I get to add in these same abilities on a couple other characters. And this helps explain what happens to one character at the end perfectly.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">3. Rewrite 2-3 scenes from another character's POV:</span> </span>I know at least two chapters that I want for this, but need to see if the chapter after that can be reworked from his POV as well. It's a tricky situation because I need to let the reader get to know this character without giving too much away that would ruin the twist at the end.<br /> </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-family:arial;" >4. Figure out what I'm going to do with my "boring" scenes: </span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Well, this one is fairly easy. Most of them are going to be cut or completely re-outlined to the point where I might as well cut them and start from scratch.<br /><br />I was really starting to wonder if I'm meant to be a writer or not. It's a bit disconcerting to have your writing mojo fizzle like mine did on this story. Now I realize that I was trying to force myself to finish my boring chapters instead of following my own "instincts" that said to start the rewrites. I am so happy to be back to this frame of mind and see things being written fairly quickly in the coming month.<br /><br />You wanna know how giddy this change in attitude has me? Well, it's no secret that I am <span style="font-style: italic;">NOT</span> a morning person, but I woke up early this morning (well, early for me... especially on a day that my husband is watching the toddler). But anywho, I woke up and realized what I needed to do and everything came together so wonderfully in my head. My favorite scenes started playing themselves in my head as I re-acquainted myself with the characters that have been so silent for the past weeks and months. I grabbed my bedside notebook and started scribbling down notes and ideas. The excitement is so intense that I'm not sure how I'll get through reading over a couple of chapters before I dig in and start writing.<br /><br />I haven't drank alcohol in about three years because of the whole pregnancy and nursing thing, but I think I'm buzzing on this writing mojo feeling! Woo, riding the writing high!<br /><br />For anyone else who feels like they've lost their writing mojo, I have some advice: re-evaluate what you are trying to do with the story. Are you trying to make yourself go against your instincts? Toss out your preconceived notions on how a writing process is supposed to go and just do things your own way. When you really think about it, every known writing process started off as someone's instinct that ended up working so wonderfully that people emulated it. Maybe someday people will be following your process!<br /><br />But, I need to get to work organizing my notes and reading a few chapters that need rewrites.<br /><br />So, until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow<br /></span> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/4a4ffd2c-f497-48bb-9dbb-e4d18bc421c4/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4a4ffd2c-f497-48bb-9dbb-e4d18bc421c4" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-79063505504410514612009-03-29T11:51:00.004-05:002009-03-29T14:11:06.619-05:00Just Checking In...<span style="font-family:arial;">This has been the <span style="font-style: italic;">longest week ever!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I have very little to report on the writing front unfortunately. For the past week I have been taking care of a very sick little two year old boy, my poor little guy. We're not sure where he picked it up, but he has been suffering with a really bad stomach virus for a week now. The doctor says that he'll be fine and he <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> getting better, but it's heartbreaking to see him so sick.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Every time I sat down to write, he would come and lay his head on my lap and just want to hold my hand. Luckily, I never got puked on like my husband... but it's not easy to concentrate and type one-handed when you are seeing your only child so sick. I think I managed a few hundred words and random edits this past week, which isn't bad considering everything else going on.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm debating on whether or not to start my rewrites before I finish my last few short chapters though. I am so excited to go back in and add in all of the new special scenes for Casey and crew that it's hard to focus on what else <span style="font-style: italic;">needs</span> to be written. In my defense though, a lot of what I "need" to write will probably be changed once I make all of my rewrites, so I could just write those scenes fresh after I lay the groundwork for my new ideas.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Maybe I'm just suffering S.O.S. (Shiny Object Syndrome). Forget the old stuff that needs to be written, I have this new shiny object that I want to play with. <span style="font-style: italic;">It's... so... shiny...</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Then again, maybe I need to rethink these last few chapters and their purpose. If I'm not as excited about writing them as I was with all of the others, maybe that's a sign that they need some work. If they bore me to write, they'd certainly bore a reader. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A couple of these chapters, I fear, are going to become info dumps the way I have them outlined. A good portion of Casey's gift has to do with Greek mythology, so I have a couple scenes that are supposed to give out some basic information on the deities that have been "possessing" her. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(Man, I hate the word possessing for this, but it's the closest thing that I can think of to describe it...)</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Now, I don't want to make these chapters just mythology lessons, but I need a way to sneak in little bits of this information in a way that furthers the plot.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Another chapter that I need to write doesn't necessarily need any work done to it's outline, I just need to decide if I want to include a really goofy scene in the middle of it. In my mind I can see it, but it can come across really cheesy and that's not what the story is about. This goofy scene doesn't really do anything for the plot, but does show a side of a few characters that flesh them out a bit.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I have yet another chapter that is written, written badly - but written, that needs a lot of work. This is one of my favorite scenes in my head and is pretty important in showing Casey's struggles <span style="font-style: italic;">(as well as being freakin' hilarious)</span>, but it has a big problem. Copyright issues. In the scene, a radio is playing and what is played and said over the stations is very important to make the scene work. Unfortunately after writing up this scene, I found out that you cannot use song lyrics in a novel without paying for permission. I don't know why this didn't occur to me before, maybe because I was only using maybe one line out of each song, but whatever reason it was, now I have to do a major rewrite or be willing to cut a chapter that I love. Right now it's on the chopping block and will just have to be a funny scene in my head... who knows what will happen in the second draft though?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Then there are a few really emotional scenes that are really important to the plot, one of which really hits close to home. These scenes just require me to have more than a couple minutes here and there to work. Every other scene can be written in little bits here and there, but these require a fluidity that can't be achieved that way, at least not by me... <span style="font-style: italic;">yet.</span> I <span style="font-style: italic;">am</span> still new to all of this you know. Once we finish the bathroom remodel <span style="font-style: italic;">(the task that is taking up my husband's free time, time that used to be spent watching the toddler so I could write)</span>, I'll take a couple days to write these out. They will be fun to write because of the range of intense emotions that Casey experiences. Getting inside her head for these scenes will be a great writing experience for me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">As for rewrites, I have to:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- layer in some scenes for a major character that kind of got pushed to the background in his scenes <span style="font-style: italic;">(oops!)</span>,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- add in some extra paranormal aspects to Casey's gift and their ramifications to the plot,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- rewrite 2-3 scenes from another character's POV <span style="font-style: italic;">(This will be great and add to the mystery around a couple of the characters)</span></span>,<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- figure out what I'm going to do with my "boring" scenes</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Once that stuff is done, I'll just need to polish everything up and it will be done. Then the scary part starts... <span style="font-style: italic;">querying!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Well, what do you know? I guess I did have a bit to report on my writing after all :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span><br /> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/7fddbfb3-019e-4a34-b042-4e982d15d6b1/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=7fddbfb3-019e-4a34-b042-4e982d15d6b1" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-14781469809859612322009-03-23T17:08:00.005-05:002009-03-23T19:08:43.987-05:00YA -vs- Adult... I wanna write both!<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; float: left; display: block; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shallow_Water_Blackout.jpg"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Shallow_Water_Blackout.jpg/202px-Shallow_Water_Blackout.jpg" alt="Staged by principal author of Shallow Water Bl..." style="border: medium none ; display: block; width: 152px; height: 228px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" class="zemanta-img-attribution" >Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shallow_Water_Blackout.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm drowning in ideas for YA novels... Every week it seems like I'm outlining another fun book or series with a YA vibe to it. The cool thing about this is that each new idea seems better developed than the last. The bad thing is that all the time I'm spending writing up these synopses is time away from my nearly completed first draft of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. But, if I don't write up these stories now, they'll be lost forever because of my bad memory. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >*groan*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Technically, I guess this isn't a horrible time for me to be taking a break from the writing aspect of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> though. You see I've recently decided to make a few little tweaks to the plot and a couple of main characters. These tweaks will affect a good portion of the book, but will make it </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >a lot</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> better. It will involve rewriting some scenes and layering in a lot of new information in other places, but it will be worth it in the end. One night I just had this moment of inspiration that set off a whole row of dominoes in my head until I knew what I had to do. I'm so excited to think about how these little changes will add a new sense of drama to the characters' lives as well as fill in a few plot holes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, why isn't this a bad time to outline other stories if I have so much new work to do? Simple. I have to let all of this new information "cook" in my subconscious for a few days so I can add it in as seamlessly as possible. I have a separate document typed up and handwritten pages of notes that will help, but... I don't know... it feels like when I first started outlining </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. I needed time to let my subconscious work out the kinks and once that was done, I started writing like a maniac. Taking the time to let everything settle in my head for a few days seems to be part of my process when I make big changes. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(And these are </span><span style="font-family:arial;">big</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > changes, but will be so much fun to write!)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">This Just In: </span>And just like that, while editing this blog post one of the new scene ideas *dinged* in my head and started playing. I typed up the outline and know exactly where to put it. I expect moments like this to happen off and on over the next week or so until everything is "fixed" in my head. But now, back to the somewhat regularly-scheduled blog post...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There is one thing that I am nervous about with all of my new book ideas though. If I'm successful and am able to get </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and the subsequent novels in the series published, how hard would it be to write YA novels after that? </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> is one of those books that would be hard to classify. My MC is 21 so technically the story is at the extreme high end of what is typically considered YA, but I can easily see a teenager enjoying the book. I wish that I could believably change her age to 18, but that wouldn't work on many levels so I'm pretty sure it would end up classified a sweet, paranormal romance should it get published. Would it pigeonhole me into just writing romances if I were to find success with this story? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The stories that I want to write next are all YA and I've really enjoy creating these characters and their worlds. There's something about writing dialogue for a teenager that is so much fun. Maybe I can relate to teenagers because I love reading YA books and listening to the teen and tween music groups. It's not that I don't have ideas for new romance novels or that I have a problem with the genre (I love it!), but I just feel that the YA stories are better ideas and would be more enjoyable to write.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I hate to even think this way because I believe in </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> so much, but what if it's meant to be my practice novel? The one I write first, but for whatever reason never gets published. What if all of these YA inspirations that I've been bombarded with lately are the universe's way of telling me what I'm supposed to be writing? Maybe I'm just scared to finish </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and my mind is looking for any excuse to keep me from working on it... <span style="font-style: italic;">*sigh* </span>Then again, maybe I'm just over thinking things AGAIN...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I have no intention of quitting my journey to finish and publish </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. I love Casey and can't imagine not finishing her story and trying to share it with the world. So fear not, Casey Parker will not disappear! I just need to work on my ability to focus and try to regain control of my muse... Hah! Like I've ever had any control over him, but I can dream right?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If I can successfully make my tweaks to <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span>, then I think I would have a decent shot of publishing it somewhere. Anyone I've told the premise to says that they haven't seen a paranormal romance with my particular paranormal element before and that it sounds awesome. Agents and editors want new ideas right? But, what if finding success with <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> makes it where I can't tell the stories of Brooke, Lisa, Megan, or...? <span style="font-style: italic;"> Arrrggghhh... I need chocolate...</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The current plan is to finish </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and then start writing whichever one of these YA stories inspires me the most at the time while on submission. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">If </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> should happen to sell while I'm working on my new project, great! If not, I'll start submitting the complete YA story as well and let the universe decide which should be published. And, if both sell... I'll wake up and blog, "I just had the best dream..."<br /><br />But anyway, until I blog again,<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow<br /></span><div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px; font-family: arial;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/9e5e1d4a-ea16-4433-84fb-f9b1c9c4e302/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=9e5e1d4a-ea16-4433-84fb-f9b1c9c4e302" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-90734928324476104942009-03-19T16:53:00.008-05:002009-03-19T17:41:09.123-05:00Help with Grocery Costs<span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >As we all know, most writers don't exactly make the big bucks... well, unless you're Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Nora Roberts, etc... And, if any big-time writers like that are reading this blog, AWESOME! Any of you guys want to take on a fledgling writer as an apprentice? </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br />(Hey, I have to try, don't I?)</span> <span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br />
<br />But anyway, beginning writers don't usually rake in the dough and the economy isn't so great right now... so I thought I'd share information on a program that I've recently been introduced to, <a href="http://www.angelfoodministries.com/">Angel Food Ministries</a>. Below, I have included a copy of a press release from their website. </span>
<br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br />---</span> <a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.angelfoodministries.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 233px; height: 62px;" src="http://www.angelfoodministries.com/news/press_room/AFM_Logo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link style="font-family: arial;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CERICHA%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: arial;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: arial;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: arial;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype style="font-family: arial;" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-noshow:yes; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:45.0pt 1.0in 45.0pt 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">For Immediate Release:</span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 95%; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></span></p><div style="text-align: right; font-family: arial;">Contact: Juda Engelmayer
<br />212-999-5585 or <a style="font-family: arial;" href="mailto:angelfoodministries@5wpr.com">angelfoodministries@5wpr.com</a>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="line-height: 95%; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">
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<br /></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">ANGEL FOOD MINISTRIES PROVIDES FOOD RELIEF FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF U.S. FAMILIES EACH MONTH</span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;"></span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;">As Food Prices Escalate, Families can now get a $60 Box of Food for Only $30</span>
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="line-height: 95%; font-family: arial;">
<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="line-height: 95%; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="line-height: 95%; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monroe, GA – September 19, 2008 -- </span>Angel Food Ministries (www.angelfoodministries.com) is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing financial support in the form of food relief to communities throughout the United States. Established in 1994 to provide relief for struggling families in the Monroe, GA area, Angel Food Ministries today serves hundreds of thousands of families across 35 states. Since inception, Angel Food Ministries has fed more than 20 million Americans. In 2007, AFM provided $95 million in direct food assistance to American families.
<br />
<br />Angel Food offers a medium-sized box of food for $30 that contains top quality food staples from every food group, including chicken or beef, milk, eggs, vegetables, and other nutritious items. One box of food feeds a family of four for about one week, or a single senior citizen for almost a month. The menu varies each month, and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $60.
<br />
<br />“We offer each and every family who comes to us the opportunity to put a decent meal on the table, no matter what their financial situation,” said Mike Wood, of Angel Food Ministries. “We are especially honored to be able to provide a protein rich diet for many families who wouldn’t otherwise purchase meat.”
<br />
<br />“I just participated in your program for the first time,” said R.A, of Jourdanton, TX – a recipient of Angel Food Ministries’ services. “This is a wonderful program. I have four children, and my husband and I work very hard to make ends meet...This is great for families like ours!
<br />
<br />Angela Gonzalez, of Waldron, AK, says, “In the midst of rising prices on everything, AFM has made it possible for the people of our town to lower their grocery bills tremendously.”
<br />
<br />Our food is purchased directly from some of the top suppliers in the country. Those who participate with Angel Food receive brand name food without worry about it being fresh.
<br />
<br />The great part is that Angel Food is for everyone. There are no limits to the quantity of boxes per individual, nor are there any applications or qualifications for eligibility.
<br />
<br />There are also specialty boxes available. In addition to our excellent protein specials, Angel Food Ministries is offering a fresh fruit and vegetables box and a Senior Box to continue providing an excellent nutritious variety of food.
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<br />For more information on Angel Food Ministries, please visit our website, <a href="http://www.angelfoodministries.com">www.angelfoodministries.com</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" face="arial" style="line-height: 95%; font-family: arial;">
<br /><span style="color:black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >---</span>
<br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br /><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.blogger.com/www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-angel-food_08aug08,0,7860961.story">Click here</a> to read an article on this group that was published in the Chicago Tribune.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >They have a referral program that allows people to earn points towards free boxes of food, so if you decide to give them a try I'd appreciate it if you'd mention me. They keep records by email address, so please tell them bkilbarger [at] gmail.com sent you. </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >(Of course with the correct symbol in place of the [at]... what can I say, I don't want spammers mining my blog and harassing me with annoying emails. I mean, why would I be interested in male enhancement drugs? Really?!)</span> <span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br /></span>
<br /> <span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >I hope that someone out there finds this information helpful. Remember, us writer types have to stick together!</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br />
<br />So, until I blog again...</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br />Talk 2ya later...</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >
<br />
<br />~Willow<span style="font-style: italic;"></span>
<br /></span> @GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-19780102062904709632009-03-15T16:25:00.005-05:002009-03-15T17:19:33.011-05:00D'oh! D'oh! D'oh!... *DING*<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">An glimpse into the mind of a writer working through a plot problem...</span><br /><br />Have you ever had one of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"those"</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> days with your writing? I've spent a bit of today working on the motivations for one of my characters... Who would've thought that this simple task would lead to a major </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >duh</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> moment on my part? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I started my task by re-reading the scenes that this character is in so I could get a feel for his voice again, not that I could ever really forget it... he is one of my favorite characters after all. The more I read, the more in love with my new scene ideas I've become. I'm going to add in additional little mini scenes with this character to help build his character up with the reader. It will really add to the story in ways that I honestly didn't think of when I first outlined </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. I never realized how little this character was in my original draft when he plays such a <span style="font-style: italic;">major</span> role in the story. I guess I took for granted that the reader would sympathize for him, without really knowing him. These new mini-scenes will help show more of his personality and add some drama for Casey to deal with. Drama + Casey = Fun!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So what's the problem then? </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Arrrgghh!</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Well, while re-reading the text, I noticed a specific point where my character gets upset over something he walks in on (and rightfully so, given his perspective of the situation). The problem... his reason for being upset is horribly, horribly wrong. Unless I can recreate the way the weekdays fall believably in my story <span style="font-style: italic;">(not likely...)</span>, his motivation just isn't going to work here. Here's a breakdown of my lapse in mental processing:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">1. Character asks girl out for the weekend and she tells him that she's going home to visit family.<br />2. He's sad, but accepts it, he did wait until the last minute to ask her (It was Thursday afternoon).<br />3. The </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >next</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Friday (not the next day, the next <span style="font-style: italic;">week</span>) he sees her out with another man. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The problem? His reason for being hurt and mad is that she lied to him... basically in my head the days of that particular week went something like this: Thursday (ask out) > Friday/Saturday (she's with family) > Sunday (she meets other guy) > Friday (he sees her on a date with new guy). There are no other days between Sunday and Friday. It just doesn't make sense for him to be upset for the reasons I thought he was here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, now I have to find a better motivation for him to be upset about when he sees them out together. Maybe I can have him ask her out again for Friday sometime during that week and she tell him that she can't. Him asking her out for that night would work with their backstory, but she wouldn't </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >not</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> tell him why she couldn't and she wouldn't lie to him either, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >I think...</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> I guess I could work that into the story, her lying about her real plans... Then he catches her in the lie and... <span style="font-style: italic;">well, the rest of the scene happens!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">... \</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">... Brain processing this new info...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">... /</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">*DING* <span style="font-style: italic;">(That's the sound of the buzzer in my head going off, saying this new idea is ready!)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">OMG, I think I've got it! Yes, him asking her out again is DEFINITELY the way to go!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Thanks for listening to me working through this problem. For some reason working it out in my head wasn't cutting it, but blogging about it did the trick! I haven't figured out all of the specifics for this change, but I'm liking where they're headed. Fixing his motivation in this one scenario has even caused a domino effect to go off in my head and now I know his motivation (as well as a few other characters' motivations) in later scenes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Well, I need to start sketching out these new scenes and motivations so I can add them in as notes in my main story file. This makes so much sense now! Maybe I was misinterpreting the scenes all along... it wouldn't be the first time... But anyway, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> calls!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So, until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span><br /> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/44cf9cd4-6d67-4f0b-95d6-e8b3a521f694/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=44cf9cd4-6d67-4f0b-95d6-e8b3a521f694" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-64398247240629612352009-03-15T11:34:00.008-05:002009-03-15T17:25:05.325-05:00In My Mailbox...<a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_p0AqR0KBzeU/Sb0uPpzb-mI/AAAAAAAAASg/WQK5wMV9ix0/s1600-h/In+My+Mailbox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 124px; height: 167px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_p0AqR0KBzeU/Sb0uPpzb-mI/AAAAAAAAASg/WQK5wMV9ix0/s400/In+My+Mailbox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313453981821565538" border="0" /></a><strong style="font-family: arial;"></strong><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">In My Mailbox</span> is inspired by a weekly feature of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.thestorysiren.com/">The Story Siren</a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> It is a way for bloggers to share books that they've received in the mail, from the library, or from bookstores.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I actually received a few books this week:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jU0IPyETL.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 91px; height: 149px;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41jU0IPyETL.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Magic Knot</span><br />by Helen Scott Taylor</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">(</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://booksbypickles.blogspot.com/">Won from Book Talk with J&J</a><span style="font-family:arial;">)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Knot-Spell-Paranormal-Romance/dp/0505527960/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1237135222&sr=8-1">Click here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> to buy</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p0AqR0KBzeU/Sb0ybd0B1mI/AAAAAAAAAS4/lCri5W6DLoo/s1600-h/Carrie+Vaughn+-+Kitty+Norville+Books+1-6.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 67px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p0AqR0KBzeU/Sb0ybd0B1mI/AAAAAAAAAS4/lCri5W6DLoo/s200/Carrie+Vaughn+-+Kitty+Norville+Books+1-6.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313458582807762530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">The entire <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kitty Norville Series</span><br />by Carrie Vaughn</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- Kitty and the Midnight Hour</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- Kitty Goes to Washington</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- Kitty Takes a Holiday</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- Kitty and the Silver Bullet</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- Kitty Raises Hell</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">(</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.blogger.com/www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com">Won from Pat's Fantasy Hotlist</a><span style="font-family:arial;">)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">- </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kitty-Norville-Series-Carrie-Vaughn/lm/R30RLJZL5QNHSS/ref=cm_lmt_srch_f_2_rsrsrs0">Click here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> to buy</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NdEsowY5WjA/SaLcCE3HqVI/AAAAAAAAAJg/275EOO05vHU/s320/ForestofHandsandTeeth.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NdEsowY5WjA/SaLcCE3HqVI/AAAAAAAAAJg/275EOO05vHU/s320/ForestofHandsandTeeth.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Forest of Hands and Teeth</span><br />by Carrie Ryan</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />(Pre-ordered from Amazon)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />- </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Forest-Hands-Teeth-Carrie-Ryan/dp/0385736819/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237135730&sr=8-1">Click here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> to buy</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >I've actually finished reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth and it was AMAZING! This is definitely a page-turner and was near impossible for me to put down when I absolutely had to. I'd definitely recommend this one for everyone to read.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left; font-family: arial;">Well, until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow<br /></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-318992364958087992009-03-14T14:07:00.005-05:002009-03-15T17:23:49.189-05:00*Sigh* The world doesn't want me to write...<span style="font-family:arial;">As if I didn't have enough to distract me from writing right now... Look what arrived in the mail for me this morning...</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NdEsowY5WjA/SaLcCE3HqVI/AAAAAAAAAJg/275EOO05vHU/s320/ForestofHandsandTeeth.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 141px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NdEsowY5WjA/SaLcCE3HqVI/AAAAAAAAAJg/275EOO05vHU/s320/ForestofHandsandTeeth.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Debut novel, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Forest-Hands-Teeth-Carrie-Ryan/dp/0385736819/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237057912&sr=8-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Forest of Hands and Teeth</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> by </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.carrieryan.com/">Carrie Ryan</a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now, I've only been dying to read this since... I don't know, the day I first read the blurb for it! Now it's sitting in my house, luring me away from the keyboard.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Contests, contests, and more contests... I entered quite a few, hoping to win an ARC of this baby just so I could read it quicker. Sadly, my contests luck must've run out for those particular entries so I headed on over to Amazon.com and pre-ordered my copy. Luckily, I had an Amazon gift card that I won from a short story contest from the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://thepenmuse.blogspot.com/">Pen & Muse Blog</a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I knew that it had shipped and was headed to my doorstep, but hadn't really considered the ramifications of it arriving. My personal deadline is looming ahead of me and all I'm able to do is stare at the oh-so-tempting hardback book on the table...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It's a conspiracy I tell ya! Someone, somewhere doesn't want me to finish writing on time. Never mind the fact that I'm a bit of a speed reader and will probably have the book finished within a day or two, that's one or two days that I </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >should</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> be writing. If I never finish writing <span style="font-style: italic;">my </span>book, I'll never have a chance to have my own debut novel released and sitting on someone else's table, tempting them away from what they<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >should</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> be doing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Now to discover which is stronger, my Writing Gremlin and my need to write </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> or the overwhelming desire to dig into this new book. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />I suppose I could consider it research... You know, seeing what the author did so right that she was chosen for publication...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">All right, I've looked up and stared at the book about a dozen times while typing this, so I have a feeling who is going to win this round... So...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update - 3/15/09:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">The Forest of Hands and Teeth</span> won...<br /></span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-75520611414147537482009-03-13T16:06:00.003-05:002009-03-13T16:31:18.403-05:00Wordle and Time Turners...<span style="font-family:arial;">Okay, I'll admit that I've read about authors using </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.wordle.net/">Wordle</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> as a writing tool before, but I never realized how cool it is to see in action. I took my current WIP, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, and plugged it into the form and this is what it came up with.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(Click on it to see a full-sized version)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/648989/Instinct_3-13-09" title="Wordle: Instinct 3-13-09"><img src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/648989/Instinct_3-13-09" alt="Wordle: Instinct 3-13-09" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); padding: 4px;" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I can definitely see the merits of using this as an writer. Basically, what Wordle does is, it totals up the frequency with which you use words and then creates a word cloud out of the most used ones. The larger the size of the word in the cloud, the more prevalent it is within your manuscript. This is a great way to see if you're using certain words too often. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I haven't read all of the smaller ones on mine yet, but the large ones are right on target. I was worried for a minute when a specific name didn't appear, but then I remembered that I haven't finished writing his parts yet. Duh! It was an after thought to add more scenes with this character and sadly something that I haven't had time to do.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Time... Man, I wish I had more time to write. My life is full of appointments and caring for my crazy two-year old son (who I absolutely adore). I used to be able to sneak in a good chunk of time writing when my husband got home from work, but now he's remodeling our bathroom. It's a much-needed remodel and will help the resale value of our house, but man, I want to write for long stretches again! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I've tried staying up late writing like I did in the beginning, but I'm still recovering from my months of being sick with one thing or another and don't seem to last very long. I'd try to wake up early to get my writing done, but.... I am SO not a morning person. My characters would all meet their untimely demise rather quickly if I did that... not a good thing when I'm hoping to make this into a series, lol!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I try writing during my son's naps, but they're just not long enough. Just as I really get into a scene, he wakes up crying. He never did like waking up from naps... It really sucks to have built up all of that momentum on a scene and then have to drop it. I know that I'll be able to come back to the scene later and finish it, but it feels so good... so freeing to write when you're that in to the story, you know?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'll definitely have to do whatever I can to find more time to write if I'm going to meet my current goal to finish the rough draft by April 30th. Either that, or I'll have to figure out how to build a time machine out of household items... anyone know where I can buy a working </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.wbshop.com/Harry-Potter-Collectible-Time-Turner-by-Noble-Collection/HPNBTIME,default,pd.html">Time Turner</a><span style="font-family:arial;">? No? </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Drat!</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> Oh well...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-42802175595518414382009-03-10T17:30:00.005-05:002009-03-10T18:04:54.749-05:00The Writing Gremlin Strikes!<span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Earlier today...<br /><br /></span></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p0AqR0KBzeU/SbbtUdvJYlI/AAAAAAAAAR4/cNaRGo5O6pM/s1600-h/Writing+Gremlin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p0AqR0KBzeU/SbbtUdvJYlI/AAAAAAAAAR4/cNaRGo5O6pM/s200/Writing+Gremlin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311693746365620818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >Writing Gremlin (WG): </span><span style="font-family:arial;">*POOF* </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"I have a brill idea..."</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 51); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Me:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"No."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >WG:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"No?"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:arial;" >Me:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"No. I have a goal, remember? Finish the rough draft of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Instinct</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > by April... Ringin' any bells?"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >WG:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"I suppose you're right, but this is </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >quite</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > brilliant. Remember that romance story we came up with a few months ago, with the-"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:arial;" >Me:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"Yeah, I remember it. Too many plot holes. There was no external conflict. Definitely not worth getting excited about."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >WG:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >But...</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > what if we re-worked it into a YA story with the hero still a teenager. Make his internal issues a family affair... There could be an secret group out to-"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:arial;" >Me:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"Damnit!"</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >WG:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > "Hehe..."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:arial;" >Me:</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > "Don't be smug."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >WG:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"But I always win..."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:arial;" >Me:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> *Groans* </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"You know... if </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >you</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > learned how to type, we could double our productivity."</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >WG:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> *Laughs* </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"Luv, I create the stories, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >you</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > write them. For now, I'm off. I shall return the first of April for you to take down the new outline."</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> *POOF*</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 0, 51);font-family:arial;" >Me:</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > "Wait! I meant the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >end</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > of April! WG? What about Lisa's story? What about- Damnit!"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">---</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If I suddenly disappear for any length of time, unannounced, I've been arrested by the Writing Gremlin Police and am awaiting trial for murdering my muse...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But before I'm hauled away, I want to thank all my readers world wide! Checking my Google Analytics today, it registered that I have readers in four different countries! So, hello England, The Netherlands, Indonesia, and the good old US of A! It is so cool to think that my little blog has not only crossed the pond, but has crossed a couple of them to reach people all over. Thanks for reading!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Now to set my goal of having readers in every state, like <a href="http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/2009/03/official-report.html">Beth</a>. America today... tomorrow, the world!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-39854433531438634412009-03-10T13:02:00.002-05:002009-03-10T13:10:15.595-05:00Google Analytics - Ah Ha!<span style="font-family: arial;">Ah Ha! I figured it out! <br /><br />In case you were wondering how to block your visits to your sites from appearing on your GA reports, here's how! <a href="https://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55481&hl=en_US&utm_id=ad">https://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55481&hl=en_US&utm_id=ad</a><br /><br />Or, more specifically:<br /><br />1. Click "Analytic Settings".<br />2. Click "Filter Manager".<br />3. Click "Add Filter".<br />4. Fill out the required information and select, "Exclude all traffic from an IP address".<br />5. Add the filter to each of your "Available Website Profiles" to "Selected Website Profiles".<br />6. Click "Save Changes".<br /><br />And, Ta Da! The program won't count your visits to your sites from the computer with the IP address you entered. If you don't know your IP address, just Google, "What is my IP address" and use one of the websites to figure it out. Piece of cake, <span style="font-style: italic;">mmmm cake sounds good...</span><br /><br />Well, I seriously have some catching up to do on my writing, but I had to share this.<br /><br />Until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow<br /></span> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/9d6b164c-0e29-4518-a42a-d8d62126e307/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=9d6b164c-0e29-4518-a42a-d8d62126e307" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-76814896151225046202009-03-08T10:00:00.005-05:002009-03-08T10:18:13.106-05:00Google Analytics ROCKS!<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><p class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 198px; text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/product/google-analytics"><img src="http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/resized/0002/2773/22773v1-max-450x450.png" alt="Image representing Google Analytics as depicte..." style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="188" height="40" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;" class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com">CrunchBase</a></span></span></p><span class="zemanta-img-attribution"></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Okay, I'm a techy geek so how did I <span style="font-style: italic;">NOT</span> know about <a href="https://www.google.com/analytics/settings/home">Google Analytics</a> before? This program is awesome! Thanks <a href="http://bethrevis.com/">Beth</a> for introducing it to me in your blog <a href="http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-does-wyoming-hate-me.html">here</a> and <a href="http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/2009/03/google-analytics-what-it-is-and-how-to.html">here</a>.<br /><br />I had been trying to find a free web service that would provide me with a "hit counter" of sorts tha</span><span style="font-family: arial;">t didn't look cheesy. Thanks to Google Analytics, I've found it! I'm especially loving the Map Overlay feature. It's just so cool to be able to see where in the world my readers are. (Thanks especially to North Carolina's readers, who are second only to my home state of Illinois and most of that traffic is probably me checking/responding to comments or making sure that things posted correctly.)<br /><br />I'm still learning what all I'm able to do with this program, so I'm probably missing out on several other really cool features, but I'll figure them out. I'm not a techy geek for nothing! Right now I'm interested in learning if there's a way to make Google Analytics ignore traffic from my computer so my having to click into the blog to check things doesn't skew my traffic data.<br /><br />But anywho... I <span style="font-style: italic;">should</span> be writing my novel right now, not my blog.... I guess I'll get back to that.<br /><br />So, until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow</span> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/f396d019-e7d2-443e-9170-05d69fbe39a4/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f396d019-e7d2-443e-9170-05d69fbe39a4" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-13801931116981544402009-03-07T01:45:00.003-06:002009-03-07T02:15:34.147-06:00Amazing Writing Days and Being Completely Wrong...<span style="font-family:arial;">Well, writing today was completely awesome! I had so much fun writing up this chapter today. Well, technically, the chapter isn’t <span style="font-style: italic;">done</span>, but the big parts are all written. I just have to finish up the last few paragraphs, all nice and neat, and lead the characters into the next chapter. <span style="font-style: italic;">Then</span> it will be done.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This scene was fun because one of the characters took me completely by surprise. I had always figured that Casey’s ex would be a bit more of a pushover in this scene. The type of guy who just can’t stay mad at people, no matter what they’ve done to him- <span style="font-style: italic;">you know the type, right?</span> Well, that’s how I had this guy outlined. That deep down he knew that he should be mad at her, but just couldn’t bring himself to do it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Boy was I wrong!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I started writing the scene and couldn’t help but notice how snippy he was being, he was dang near rude at times. To be fair, Casey does deserve to be treated this way, but still… <span style="font-style: italic;">wow!</span> It felt so amazing to write his emotional transformation from Casey’s point of view. While <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> know what he’s thinking during the scene, the reader only gets to interpret what Casey notices which makes this scene, no this entire book, that much more fun to write!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It was really amazing to see this side of him, I think that it makes the entire scene, and his character in general, a lot more believable. With their history, it’d be expected that there would be some awkwardness and residual anger popping up all over the place now that fate has brought them back together – yet another sign that fate and irony are truly out to get Casey.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It can be difficult at times for me to process their past, especially when I’m bombarded with both of their feelings on a topic at once. I can see and feel exactly what each of them are going through the entire time. While I would completely understand if the guy chooses to never talk to Casey again, I also really understand why Casey did what she did. Just thinking about it all now is making my head spin...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I really can’t wait to finish up this chapter and maybe start working on layering in some of the scenes with guy #2. This guy has become another one of my favorite characters because he is so obvious with his intentions towards Casey, but she’s completely oblivious. <span style="font-style: italic;">You all know that type of girl, right? Everyone knows that a guy is flirting with her and she still denies it, saying that they’re “just friends” or that everyone is seeing things.</span> Casey is <span style="font-style: italic;">so</span> that girl and that makes it so much fun to write her. My beta reader, <span style="font-style: italic;">M</span>, seems to really like how I’ve written some scenes dealing with this. Casey sees everything happening, so the reader does to, but this is where the similarities end. While the reader uses common sense and knows what’s really happening, Casey remains oblivious. I can remember one interesting Gmail chat where <span style="font-style: italic;">M</span> said that she wanted to just reach in and slap Casey to knock some sense into her.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I’m torn on whether or not this response is a good thing though. Yes, it means that the reader is really involved in the story and connecting with my protagonist… but on the other hand, would this “pull readers out of the story” too much? I love writing Casey this way and think that it works fairly well, but I don’t want to ruin the story for people. But then again, the story really doesn’t work as well any other way. It’s so much fun to slip in clues here and there and have Casey see them as normal. I can’t wait to see people’s reactions to the end of the book when the villain is revealed. All of the important clues are right there in the preceding chapters staring them in the face, but will be very easy to overlook thanks to Casey’s unique view of her world. I’m really going for that <span style="font-style: italic;">*GASP* “No… how?... but I thought… wow!”</span> type of reaction.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I love how this whole writing style works with the premise of the book as well. <span style="font-style: italic;">“Two men vying for Casey Parker’s heart. One becomes the man of her dreams, the other something out of her worst nightmares.”</span> It’s such a fun love triangle to write because I get to make the reader root for both the hero and the villain before their actual roles are ever revealed. They’ll get to see the good and the bad parts of each and yet the last several chapters will still leave them shocked and kicking themselves for not seeing it sooner. The rough draft of these last chapters are complete and parts of them still give me chills to remember. I hope that readers have a similar experience.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The hard part about the ending for me is knowing how much I need to reveal about the villain and his motives. Instinct is designed to be the first in a four-part series, well technically it works as a trilogy, but the fourth book idea is just so much fun (and the only one not mostly from Casey’s POV). I need to reveal enough information to satisfy readers while saving other information to be released in later books. Hopefully I find a good balance.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A big problem with this is finding a good way to present the information. Right now, I have three or four chapters written from the hero’s perspective because it’s simply impossible for Casey to witness certain events. I’ve considered rewriting a few chapters of the book from the villain’s perspective, but not showing anything that is too sinister. I even have a good part of the book in mind for this. This would be a good way to help the reader connect with him and learn some of his secrets. I’ll probably make a comment about it within the manuscript as something to consider in the second draft. <span style="font-style: italic;">Or third… did we ever decide if my first draft was done a while ago and I’m writing the second now? Oh well, it’s not that important…</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">What is important is my need for sleep. It’s way too late and I should be in bed, but I felt the writing gremlin getting anxious about getting this blog post written, so here it is. I hope it lives up to your and his expectations. <span style="font-style: italic;">Especially his, he can be quite the little bugger when he’s irritated with me…</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Well, until I blog again…</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Talk 2ya later…</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">~Willow</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Note to Self: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">NEVER type up a blog post in Microsoft Word and then copy/paste it as it WON'T format correctly because of embedded code from Microsoft.</span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-37373848046357914672009-03-06T11:43:00.003-06:002009-03-06T12:39:18.476-06:00Making Progress Again...<span style="font-family: arial;">All I can say is <span style="font-style: italic;">finally!</span> The past month has been horrible for my writing and I'm going to have to work my butt off this month to meet my personal goal of having my rough draft done by the beginning of April. Now that I have something writing-related to put on my query letters, I can't wait to have something to send out. Even though it will still take a long time to polish my novel once I finish it, I'm still excited and looking forward to everything that I'll no doubt learn along the way.<br /><br />February was rough, but I guess setbacks are to be expected, but they're <span style="font-style: italic;">so</span> not fair. Having the flu pass through our household wasn't cool at all. And who got the worst of it? Me, of course<span style="font-style: italic;">.</span> My husband had maybe two days of it and my son (the only recipient of a flu shot this year) had none. I had it for over a week and it even developed into a sinus infection to boot! It was a long week of huddling under blankets and wanting the world to just go away and let me succumb to the germs, but I somehow survived and I'm back!<br /><br />In case you missed it, my son wasn't sick at all this past week. Imagine if you will, a stay-at-home Mom, horribly sick and unable to move, watching an over-active two year old boy. Sound like fun? Yeah, I'm not ashamed to say that the Little Einsteins crew were a near constant in our house this past week.<br /><br />Now that my husband and I are better, you'd think things would be looking up again, right? Wrong! The day that I starting feeling better, the toddler got a cold. <span style="font-style: italic;">Fun, fun, fun...</span> So now he's all snotty and won't let me wipe his poor little red nose. Lucky for my writing, he's mostly wanting to just sit with his toys or lay on the couch. He lets me know when he needs me, but mostly just wants to be left alone to be sick. <span style="font-style: italic;">Poor little guy.</span><br /><br />But on the bright side of things, I've been writing again. Yay! I'm hoping to finish the chapter I started this morning sometime this afternoon/evening. It's pretty fun to write. Running into an ex that you've been avoiding, that you still have feelings for, is always interesting, especially when you're the one who ran away from the relationship. I've missed writing about Casey and now that she's speaking to me again, things are going great!<br /><br />I think the contest win snapped her into perspective. I let her know that if she didn't want to cooperate, I could always write the novel inspired by my short story. People already like Megan and Joseph, why not tell their story first... I woke up this morning and she was all ready to go and suggesting scenes to start on. <span style="font-style: italic;">Is it bad that I'm making threats to imaginary friends who live inside my head?</span><br /><br />With what I've written so far this morning, I'm at 90,648 words and thinking that my goal of 100k words is too small. It's hard to say what the final word count will be though as those 90k+ words that were counted aren't all completed scenes. Thanks to my blue text technique, every scene is mapped out, it's just not written in the correct POV. I just need to go back and change those incomplete scenes from "campfire story telling" format to having it told from Casey's POV. <span style="font-style: italic;">Does this mean that "technically my first draft is "done"? The story is all there, I just need to polish it and make it flow with the rest of the text. Hmmm...</span><br /><br />Let's see, what else... Oh yeah, my strange, glowing skull dream never returned. It's a shame too, that dream was so vivid and I really wanted to know what was down that next small hallway. Sure, I could play the "what if" game and come up with several answers, but I really hate doing that in this instance. I have no idea where this dream came from and don't even know how to get my head into that frame of mind again. I should really pull out my dream dictionary and look up the hidden meanings of everything that I saw, but that would be another procrastinatory outlet that I don't need right now. I have enough ways to keep myself from writing ithout adding something new to the mix. <span style="font-style: italic;">Google Reader, I'm looking at you...</span><br /><br />Oh yeah, still no news from the editor about my short story. Its been about a month now and I'm not sure what to think. <span style="font-style: italic;">What is the typical turn around on hearing back on a short story?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Is no news still good news with how the industry is changing or does no news mean no?</span> I know that I've read about literary agents having to forgo sending out rejection letters, instead letting no response after a certain amount of time mean "no", but are editors doing the same? The publishing house that I submitted to doesn't accept unagented work, except for one line and this short story promotion, so its hard to find information on their response time.<br /><br />My "think positive" assumption is that either a) he likes the story and is doing whatever needs to be done to see if he can use it, or b) he hasn't gotten to it yet. There have been all sorts of changes at this particular publishing house recently and I can only imagine how backed up people are. The short story promotion hasn't been cancelled though, as new stories have continued to be posted every week as promised. I'm doing my best to maintain this positive outlook and to not worry about it. I've let the editor know about the contest win associated with the story and now, again, it's out of my hands. Unless I've suddenly developed the ability to bend people to my will, there's nothing else I can really do- except wait. <span style="font-style: italic;">Just tested things out, and no... I still don't have that ability, darn't! <br /></span><br />Well, I think that's about it for my writing-related news. I want to thank everyone who's following my blog now, whether publically or through some reader program. I do a little Snoopy dance every time I see that someone else has started following my little blog here. So thanks!<br /><br />Until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><br /></span></span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-37910732137852667622009-03-04T23:56:00.004-06:002009-03-05T00:49:11.519-06:00Interviews, Tarot Readings, and Crazy Dreams...<span style="font-family:arial;">Hey everyone!<br /><br />As the first part of the title explains, my interview with <a href="http://thepenmuse.blogspot.com/">The Pen & Muse Blog</a> has been posted. Yay! <a href="http://thepenmuse.blogspot.com/2009/03/pen-muse-romantic-short-story-contest.html">Click here</a> if you'd like to read it. It was so surreal sitting at my laptop, filling out an interview questionnaire. It kind of made me wonder if someday I'll be doing this regularly. Making the rounds online doing blog tours and other promotional stuff for my writing career...<br /><br />All-in-all, this entire experience went completely differently than I had ever thought it actually would. Sure, I had those random, daydreaming moments where I could see myself winning... but then reality would kick in. It would remind me that no only am I an unpublished author (even though everyone in my category would be too...), but I had also never submitted anything before. Yup, this was the first writing contest that I had the nerve to enter.<br /><br />To make this situation even more surreal, actual published authors have been congratulating me both on the interview site as well as on my blogs. Part of me is fully convinced that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and this will all have been a dream. I get up each morning and double check my email just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming this all up. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Hey! I have an overactive imagination. This situation would be nothing for me to dream up... but I guess that overactive imagination is the reason that I'm here...</span><br /><br />I know why I'm here. I'm here to write. Not because I want to, but because I have to- not that I don't enjoy it, because I really do. Coming back to writing only made me realize that I was missing a very vital part of my life before. Writing is truly my passion and I can't imagine ever giving it up again. And if my tarot reading, given by the amazing <a href="http://kazdreamer.livejournal.com/">Karen Mahoney</a>, is any indication... I'd better not give it up! As part of her blogiversary, Karen performed 50 tarot readings (simple three card spreads) for people who left comments on her blog. I was able to get in before the cut off and asked for a reading having to do with my writing. Here's what the cards told her:<br /></span><blockquote style="font-family: arial;">"So a general reading about your writing:<br /><br />The Moon, Princess of Cups, 9 of Pentacles.<br /><br />The Moon is an interesting and powerful card. It highlights creativity and imagination - you are filed with ideas right now and you are possibly confused about which roads to explore. The Moon says you need to explore as much as possible, because only by doing that will you find out for sure which is the right path for you. You might have some particularly vivid dreams (or just plain weird ones!) in the coming weeks - take note of those you remember, because even *they* might hold the seeds of more ideas you can write about. :) You might want to try writing something you've never tried before. Sometimes this card indicates mystery, so perhaps a story with a real mystery at its heart?<br /><br />The Princess of Cups, in this context, backs up the rush of ideas you are already having - or will soon have. She also says that writing fiction for children could be a good thing to explore. Cups also = romance, so you should do well with romantic themes, whether in YA or not. The 9 of Pentacles confirms that writing is your calling - this is a wonderful, fertile card. You will one day make money from writing, so stick with it no matter what stage you're at right now. Work hard and you will be rewarded."</blockquote><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />The really cool thing? I <span style="font-style: italic;">have</span> been having amazingly, vivid dreams lately. Some have been really sweet and are ideal scenes for YA novels with a romance element to them, while others have been of the creepy, mystery sort. I've been bombarded with inspiration from everywhere the past few weeks and have, at times, struggled to outline it all and store it in my TBW (To Be Written) folder on the laptop. One dream in particular keeps me wondering what would've happened if I hadn't woke up when I did.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">It was night and I was with a group of people wondering, lost through a gigantic mansion of sorts. There was an older gentleman with white hair, a woman in her mid thirties with red hair and wearing a lime green suit dress, two teenagers (a boy and a girl, both wearing punk-style clothes and hairstyles), and myself. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">It was dark in the hallway we were in and we were following tracks on the ceiling because, for some reason, we were certain that they would lead us where we needed to go. <br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gargoylestore.com/red_flamed_crystal_skull_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 126px;" src="http://www.gargoylestore.com/red_flamed_crystal_skull_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">At one point a glowing, red, crystal skull suspended from a metal rod appeared along the track and we followed it. The older gentleman tripped and we all stopped to help him. When we turned around not only was the skull gone, but we realized that we were at a T-intersection where the tracks went both straight ahead along the path we had been following, but</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> also d</span><span style="font-style: italic;">own a hallway to our right.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm not sure why, but the teenaged girl had a piece of chalk, so we made a mark on the wall and turned right. We could've followed the path straight and stayed at the outer perimeter of the mansion, but the woman in the green suit said we should go right, so we did. We left the security of seeing the outside world through the large windows in the original hallway and ventured inward. <br /><br />Looking out the windows before, we could tell that we were on an island of some sort and that the mansion was built on a cliff face, well, at least this side of it was. Looking down all we could see were crashing waves and jagged rocks in the moonlight.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">We ended up in a gigantic atrium (I'm talking professional football field sized, gigantic). The ceiling was rounded and towered stories and stories above us. We could just barely make out the stars and clouds in the night sky through a holographic image of the world that was projected on the ceiling. There were symbols on different countries that would occasionally blink or change color before disappearing. This room was full of people and everyone was certain that we were at the end of our journey, that this was our treasure. And, to be fair, it was a pretty amazing room. Food, music, well-dressed people there for an amazing party ... it was magnificent.<br /><br />Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the glowing, red skull zipping along the perimeter of the room as it headed toward another small hallway that would normally have been overlooked. I stood there wondering if I should follow. If this room- this party was our reward, then the skull should've stayed here, right? Was there a greater reward if we kept following? Was it a trap, meant to punish those too greedy to appreciate what they have?... </span><br /><br />Then I woke up... and unlike my normal dreams, this one didn't pick up where it left off the next night. I guess I'll never know what happened...<br /><br />Oh well, maybe now that I've actually typed up the dream, it'll finish tonight? It's late and I'm tired, still getting over the flu, so I'm going to end my blog here for the night and head to bed.<br /><br />Until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow </span> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/0e39e4d7-5b58-4119-89db-83c70ac38182/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=0e39e4d7-5b58-4119-89db-83c70ac38182" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-66244239515394911342009-03-01T10:20:00.007-06:002009-03-01T10:52:50.633-06:00Snoopy Dance Time!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eLJYs17VN7w/Ro_NNrJQn5I/AAAAAAAAAEE/6Y9sRBLAZ-o/s320/snoopy_dance.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eLJYs17VN7w/Ro_NNrJQn5I/AAAAAAAAAEE/6Y9sRBLAZ-o/s320/snoopy_dance.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Hey everyone! </span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />First of all, if you don't know what the snoopy dance is... go out and rent a Peanuts movie. No one should go through life having not seen the beagle dance.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The picture to the left is my little way of celebrating. Celebrating what, you might ask? Celebrating the fact that I won the grand prize in the <a href="http://thepenmuse.blogspot.com/2009/02/pen-muse-romantic-short-story-contest.html">Pen and Muse Romantic Short Story Contest</a> in the unpublished author category!!! So yes, that is the reason for the blog title, "Snoopy Dance Time!" When I read the email from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/14552341228052405921">Denisse</a> last night, jumping up and doing the snoopy dance was the first thing that I wanted to do, sadly not the first thing I did do. I think it went something like this...<br /><blockquote>Slightly hyperventilating, Willow puts her hand to her agape mouth. "Honey!" she calls out to her husband.<br /><br />"What is it?" he answers from his chair across the room.<br /><br />"I... won... I won the short story contest," she says, re-reading the email, certain that she misread something.<br /><br />"Awesome!" he says before pulling out the phone to call his mother and tell her the great news.</blockquote>I then sent a Gmail chat to my beta reader, <span style="font-style: italic;">M</span>, who happened to be on at that moment. I think she wanted to snoopy dance with me too. I really wish that I could've jumped up and celebrated, but sadly I'm getting sick again... ear ache, sore throat, the works. Getting the email about this contest was <span style="font-style: italic;">exactly</span> what I needed to make me feel a little better after a day spent huddled under my blanket.<br /><br />So today, once I finish this blog post, I'm going to be filling out a interview questionnaire and sending it off to Denisse. The awesome thing, she'll post it on the blog! How often do unpublished authors get interviewed about their writing? Answer: Rarely. <br /><br />I still don't think I've fully processed the fact that I won. I mean, I believe in my writing and really enjoyed the story I submitted, but I really wasn't expecting to win, you know? I was just hoping to place, especially since this is the first writing contest that I've ever entered.<br /><br />Hearing that someone else likes my story (other than family and friends who <span style="font-style: italic;">have</span> to say they like it) has really re-energized me towards writing. I think I sort of hit that slump that I've read about where you feel like everything that you write is crap. I spent so much of my writing time second-guessing everything that I've written that I really wasn't getting anything accomplished. Once the shock wears off, I'm sure that I'll end up in another typing frenzy on <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span>, which will probably bring me to the end of the first draft.<br /><br />So , I think I'll start on that interview questionnaire now. I'll post a link to it once it's up over at the Pen and Muse. I still can't get over the fact that I'm being interviewed for my writing... me... plain little, unpublished me... just wow... but anyway...<br /><br />Until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow<br /></span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-79693345152313644952009-02-23T17:23:00.004-06:002009-02-23T19:54:43.429-06:00Sighing, Willow bangs her head against the wall...<span style="font-family:arial;">Casey isn't speaking to me... Of course Casey would be the heroine from my current <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">WIP</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span>, not some random friend I've offended in some way. I'm pretty sure I haven't offended anyone in real life lately...<br /><br />As you will remember from my last post, <span style="font-style: italic;">it was my last one right?</span>... <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">anywho</span>... I had begun outlining a fun story about a pop/rock singer named Lisa. Not that I want to spend all of my free time working on yet another fun story that I'd like to write, I simply had no choice. I'm sure I'm not the only writer who's been hi-jacked mid-story, well I hope I'm not the only one, that would be weird and kind of lonely...<br /><br />Well, Lisa has a very strong personality and wasn't about to let me ignore her. I would begin visualizing a scene from <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> and she'd just walk right in and plop herself down on the couch, turning on the TV and saying something like, "Oh don't mind me, I just have a few things to settle with <span style="font-style: italic;">her</span>," while pointing skyward, towards me. So, yeah... my cast of characters in <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> got a bit fed up with this so I decided to take a few days and write up a synopsis of Lisa's tale to add to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">TBW</span> (To Be Written) pile.<br /><br />So here I am, quiet house, husband at work, toddler napping... and what am I doing? Blogging. Oh, I tried to work on <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct- I really did-</span>, but as I mentioned before, Casey's mad at me. As she's the main character and everything is from her <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">POV</span>, this puts me in an awkward position. I understand that she's upset that I took a few days to write up some stuff for Lisa, I really do. Why can't she see that I did this <span style="font-style: italic;">for her</span>. Now Lisa is happily sitting in her own file knowing full well that her story is spinning around in my subconscious, brewing up all sorts of misadventures for her to have. Now I'm free to work on <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> without any more interruptions from a certain pop/rock princess.<br /><br />I guess I didn't make things any better between Casey and myself when I pointed out that she is acting just like Heather towards the end of the book. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yeah, that didn't go over well...</span> how could I forget the temper she has? I really <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">should've</span> remembered that, after all she can channel the instincts of Ares to help fuel her anger. I was quickly reminded of this fact once I uttered the stupid words, "You are <span style="font-style: italic;">so</span> being Heather right now..." with a roll of my eyes. The way her eyes flashed bright red as her hands balled into tight fists at her sides before she turned and stormed out of the room... <span style="font-style: italic;">yeah big <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ol</span>' reminder there.</span> I'm just lucky that the Casey from the end of the book was the one I was talking to, at least she has some <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">semblance</span> of control over her gift. I shudder to think about what <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">could've</span> happened if I had encountered a Casey from an earlier chapter. But seriously, where were the gray eyes of Minerva with all of her wisdom when I needed them, huh?<br /><br />But anyway... Last night I was able to write the beginning of a chapter that was otherwise done. Yeah, I'm <span style="font-style: italic;">horrible</span> about skipping the beginnings of chapters. I know what I want to happen, just not the best way to start things off to hook the reader. So I use my "blue text" technique and write down a quick summary of what I need to include in the beginning and make it <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">blue</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">italicized</span> so I can tell what isn't done just by glancing at the page. So far this has worked really well for me.<br /><br />I'm not really happy with what I wrote though. I think Casey was silently fuming while we were working things out and not cooperating very well. Something with the voice of the scene just sounds too... <span style="font-style: italic;">harsh?</span> compared to everything else I've written. I hope that I'm not losing Casey's voice because of all of these other characters that are swimming around in my head. That would suck because I love Casey and her story. I'm just going to hope that I'm able to smooth out that section of the story in the second draft.<br /><br />So what am I doing right now to try and locate Casey's voice amongst the ever-expanding crowd of characters in my head? I've tried listening to Edwin McCain singing <span style="font-style: italic;">I'll Be</span> on my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">iTunes</span> and looking at pictures of the celebrity cast of <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> that my friend <span style="font-style: italic;">M</span> and I compiled a while back. I'm really hoping that this helps pull me back into Casey's world. <span style="font-style: italic;">I'll Be</span> is sort of the love theme for Casey and one of the men vying for her heart. If this doesn't work I'll have to loop the book's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">playlist</span> all day while re-reading the entire manuscript, all 236 single-spaced pages of it. Not that I don't enjoy reading the book, I really do, I just wish I could be writing it today.<br /><br />Maybe the secondary love theme, <span style="font-style: italic;">Why Don't You Kiss Her?</span> by Jesse McCartney will help too... the scene it goes with is one of my favorites so far. Maybe Mina's themes, <span style="font-style: italic;">Do You Believe in Magic?</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm Walking on Sunshine </span>would do the trick... Man, I need another mad Casey scene to write... all I can hear is her angry voice right now.<br /><br />Anyone else have characters revolt on them before? Any way to make them cooperate without threatening them? I'd try the whole, "Behave or I'll delete you," but she'd just laugh at me, knowing I couldn't do it. I'm actually tempted to say, "Fine. I'm sure <span style="font-style: italic;">Lisa</span> would be happy to have her story worked on today..." but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't help my case any either. What do you think?<br /><br />Well, I'm off to have an argument with the voices in my head... <span style="font-style: italic;">man that doesn't sound good...</span><br /><br />So, until I blog again...<br />Talk 2ya later...<br /><br />~Willow<br /></span> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/78288641-b0b3-4b76-ba10-0b9f138e52fe/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=78288641-b0b3-4b76-ba10-0b9f138e52fe" alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" /></a></div>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065627236057240436.post-89206392422076814312009-02-19T23:02:00.006-06:002009-02-20T00:19:53.501-06:00New story idea & "Are you Willow?"...<span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm ba-ack!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Still no news on the job my husband applied for or about my short story. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for both though. I've lived in Southern Illinois my entire life and due to personal issues with my family, I'm more than ready to get out of the area. Long story short, after the death of my father in 2003 things between me and my family went downhill fast. Lucky for me, I absolutely love my in-laws and can't wait for us to move closer to them. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But anyway, this blog is supposed to be about my writing... so I'll get back to that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Still waiting on news from the editor at the publishing house on my short story. It's been over two weeks and no form rejection yet, so I'm still hanging on to hope. My realistic goal is to receive a personalized rejection letter while my "head in the clouds" goal is to get "<span style="font-style: italic;">the call</span>"... which would actually be "<span style="font-style: italic;">the e-mail</span>" in this case, but you get the idea...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today was the final day for the <a href="http://thepenmuse.blogspot.com/2009/01/pen-muse-blog-romance-short-story.html">Pen & Muse</a> short story contest. I'm not sure how long it'll take them to judge all of the entries and come up with a winner, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that as well. It would be nice to have a contest win to list under my bio in query letters. I'll keep you updated if I hear anything.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've made a little bit of progress on <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> this past week. Nothing like I was accomplishing before I got sick and had to stop completely for a few weeks. Man, I cringe just thinking back on those days. So desperate to write, so stuck in medicine-head-land...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I know what my lack of progress this week was about though. Once again my lovely Writing Gremlin or his girlfriend, not sure which, decided to have me jot down yet another story idea. This is the second YA (Young Adult) novel idea that they've presented to me in the past month. The first was Megan and Joseph's story that came from my short story, <span style="font-style: italic;">On Occasion....</span> This new one is about a girl named Lisa and her adventures as a pop/rock singer. Dealing with her singing career, a very public breakup from her boyfriend, paparazzi, interactions with friends (celebrity and not), and the ups and downs of starting another "Hollywood relationship" fairly soon after her breakup... that's a lot for an 18 year old girl to handle! Watching this story play itself out in my head the past week has been crazy! I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride because her emotions are all over the place! Then, the night before last, she let me in on an absolutely heartbreaking moment from her past that makes her character so much clearer to me. She has such a fun voice that I'd really like to explore writing in, which leads me to my next dilemma...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now I don't know what I'll write once I finish<span style="font-style: italic;"> Instinct</span>. I have a folder full of ideas (that is growing every week it seems), some more fleshed out than others, that are all just screaming to be written. To make matters worse, I have three or four that I've really made a connection with the characters. To make things even worse... <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> is supposed to be the first in a four-part series! <span style="font-style: italic;">Gah!</span> I need to learn how to manage my time better so I can write multiple projects simultaneously. It shouldn't be that hard, right? I just have a house to run, an over-active toddler to chase, typical errands and appointments to attend to, a horrible addiction to celebrity gossip and blog reading... <span style="font-style: italic;">Oh boy, I could really be in trouble here...</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For right now though, I think I'll just focus on <span style="font-style: italic;">Instinct</span> and keep filing away all of these story idea outlines as I think them up. The sooner I type up this new twist in Lisa's story, the sooner I can wipe it from my memory and free up some mental space for the novel at hand. I'm getting so close to having the first draft done that I can taste it! If I can get the rough draft done then I can start working on one of these new projects while I work on edits. I know that most of the hard work on a novel comes after the first draft is done, but I'm looking forward to it. I'll keep ya posted on my progress on everything.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Let's see... what else? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had my second </span><a style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" href="http://www.jalc.edu/activities/siwg/index.html">Southern Illinois Writers Guild</a><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> meeting tonight. It was really fun. And, get this, I wasn't the youngest person this month! A man brought his daughter, a freshman in high school, to support her dream of becoming an author. How cool is that? Why couldn't my family have been supportive of my writing like that? I gave her the best piece of advice that I could come up with, "Don't let anyone talk you out of your dream." I then told her a 30 second run down of how I let well-intentioned family members talk me out of pursuing a college degree in Journalism and Creative Writing because I'm "good with computers.." But that's another blog that I'm pretty sure I've already written...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Had an interesting experience tonight. I was actually recognized by my blog at the meeting. It felt so weird to have someone call me "Willow" in real life. I mean, I play Final Fantasy XI online as a character named Willowdream (known fondly as Willow) so people type it as my name a lot, but it's still a different experience to hear someone say the name out loud. I know that I've considered using Willow as a pseudonym should I get published, and I guess tonight I got my first taste of what that would feel like. I just can't decide on the whole pseudonym issue. I'll probably just go with my gut instinct on what name to publish under once I sell a novel.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Speaking of blogs, I found a small group of ladies in the group who blog regularly. We <span style="font-style: italic;">so</span> need some really cool name for ourselves amongst the guild members... but I'm tapped out on creativity at the moment though... <span style="font-style: italic;">so tired</span>... So big cheers to <a href="http://mail.kristinfrancis.com/blogs/KristinFrancis/">Kristin</a> and "<a href="http://neechiwoo.blogspot.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Neechiwoo</span></a>"!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Well, as I'm tapped out on creativity as I mentioned above and the two year old is refusing to sleep... again *groans*... I think I'll sign off for tonight.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, until I blog again...</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Talk 2ya later...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">~Willow</span>@GeekWillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12408611984046977526noreply@blogger.com5