Finally a taste of spring

This weekend was absolutely glorious: sunny and almost 70 degrees both days, which is when Montana is at its most beautiful. I'm happy to say that we took full advantage of it. In no particular order, we:

• flew a kite
• played on the playground, all of us together (twice). Swings are still fun.
• went for a walk at the creek, and tried to feed the ducks. Where are all the ducks?
  
• went swimming at the hot springs, in the outside pool
• had a roaring game of soccer in our snow-free yard
• set chairs up outside and read together, in the sun (I was reading and marking GG)
• made cookies (okay, that one was indoors)

Unfortunately, I'm back at my desk in my office today, and feeling slightly down. Let-down, maybe? We're supposed to have one more day like this and then another storm/cold front moves in tomorrow.

Here's another of my favorite photos. And nope, that's definitely not Child. In fact, that's one of Child's "boyfriends". :)

Sad Songs

I love this song. It comes to me at odd moments, all on its own.

Mood: Relaxed

Yesterday turned out to be a lovely chat-with-friends day. Is Tigger chatty? I'm not sure, but it was nice, no matter how you label it.

News: My most excellent friend Vicki Pettersson has a new message board! Check it out. She plans to hang out there often and be available for questions. How rocking is that?

I'm diving into revisions for GG today. I've got it all printed out, pencil in hand. First up: plot revision, wherein I fix all the stuff that changed over the course of the book, check character consistency, check the overall pacing and story. I read it through once, make notes and some initial changes, and then chart it out. This is the analytical stage, from the bird's eye point of view. I have to keep reminding myself--and I make big written notes to remind myself, because I need that--that this is NOT the language draft, and I am not to worry about language yet.

I still tweak it a little. But honestly I try to stay out of that part on this go-round.

Is anyone else working on revisions right now? Are ya with me? (hmmm, maybe I could write a post or two about revision process as I go through it this time.)

And now another photo for you, because I like sharing photos.

Tigger

We were discussing on one of my writer's boards yesterday how all of us were in a gloomy, down-and-depressed mood, at the same time. Like this:



Yesterday, for whatever reason, was an Eeyore day. (I admit, my thankful list was an attempt to cheer myself up!)

Fortunately, Jodi had the idea of declaring today a TIGGER DAY!



Tigger's bouncy, happy, a little wacky, and full of good news.

Happy Tigger Day everyone!

Thankful Tuesday

I'm declaring today Thankful Tuesday!!

If you want to play, reply either in the comments or on your own blog with things that YOU are thankful for today. As many as you like! As you can see from my list, they don't need to be the usual things. :)

I'm thankful for:

1. My family. (Okay, that is a usual thing. But I AM!)
2. Public radio.
3. Salt & vinegar potato chips.
4. My gargoyle mascot guy, who's sitting beside me now, eyes lit.
5. John Denver, the early songs.
6. The moment when you look at a picture you took, or a sentence you wrote, and you LOVE IT.
7. Mountains.
8. New books.
9. Hugs.
10. The voices in my head. (No, not like that. CHARACTERS.)

Anyone wanna play? It does have a cheering effect. :)

pictures

What's up today?

Nothing. Nothing, nothing, and nothing. And homework and nothing.

To distract myself and hopefully entertain y'all, here are a few photos I took last fall for my photography class. These are some of my favorites. :)

Random Friday Thoughts

*****

Child was sneaking reading this morning instead of getting ready. When I checked on her, she was still in her PJs, sitting cross-legged on her rug engrossed in a Pooh book. This meant that breakfast was rushed, she missed half her show, and she didn't have time to dress all the bears for "school" like she usually does.

I was thrilled. She's a reader!! Wahoo!

*****

I haven't written for 3 days, letting Ghost Girl "sit" until I can have enough perspective on it to do revisions. I'm supposed to be relaxing, enjoying myself, filling the well. I'll admit that I don't like it a bit. Instead of feeling free to relax I feel hollow, aimless, and unproductive. Without a story in my head I am without a secret life, my own place to escape to. I am stuck in the harsh glare of reality.

I really must start something. You see it's getting bad. :)

I was going to hold off on starting Melody until I did revisions of Ghost Girl. I'm supposed to be working on my thesis. Hmmm. I'll think of something.

*****

I have at least been doing some reading. As I mentioned, I finished Repossessed. I also finished Shannon Hale's The Princess Academy, which I enjoyed very much. Next up is Blueboarder Elizabeth Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold. We've also been watching The Tudors (season 2 just started!) and DVDs of Dead Like Me, which I always wanted to watch when it was on but never managed.

*****

I was very surprised by the results of my poll as to what y'all would like as a contest prize. I expected the free books to win hands down. Once you take out the vote I had to make to test the thing, though {cough}, 60% wanted the crit/edit. Wow! I guess maybe I will do that one of these days.

I reserve the right to give away books or signed books too, though. :)

*****

As you can see, my brain is fairly scattered today. What are y'all up to?

Reason why I love my husband #10323

Hubby calls at leaving time, when we normally would carpool home:

Him: "I'm just calling to remind you that you drove your own car today. And that you need to pick up Child at X instead of Y, because it's Thursday."

Me (doing remarkable job of pretending that I remembered both of those things on my own, when in fact I was thinking of Something Else and probably would have forgotten both): "Yes. Thank you."

This, sadly, is not at all unusual.

Sharing

Whenever I really need to relax, I pull up this picture:



Because everybody needs a little Baby Yoga. Or Baby Buddha, depending on your mood.

My mood is quite high today, though. One of the reasons is this book:




I read it in one satisfying gulp yesterday. I meant to dip in, like I usually do, but it would not have it. I could not put the thing away. It's original, funny-as-hell, and intriguing. Go read it. Enjoy.

Contest...thoughts?

I'm pondering upcoming contests. Please answer the poll as to which prizes you like better!

Choices

Things are hopping around here.

Last night Bill Clinton was in town, giving a talk at the local high school. Seriously! Not even an April Fool's joke!

I didn't go see him, though, because I had tickets to go with a friend to Little Women: The Broadway Musical. I'll take Jo over Bill, thanks. For the record (Little Women spoilers, if for some reason you've never read it or seen the movie):

--Yes, Beth's death still made me cry, even though I knew it was coming.
--I still hate and despise Amy. (What writer could EVER forgive the manuscript-burning scene?)
--Laurie was SUCH a cutie in this show (dimples!), I wanted to yell at Jo for not marrying him.
--But then Professor Baher was cute too, so it was okay.
--I am such a sucker for (a) musicals and (b) childhood books brought to life and (c) any theater, really, if the acting is good.

In other upcoming events, I'm going to hear Patricia Briggs talk tonight at our university author reception. And this weekend both Hillary AND Obama will be in town stumping. I couldn't get tickets to that--hardly anybody could--but maybe I'll get to see them!

April Fool's!

I saw this cartoon on a comic site (original here: http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/for0456l.jpg) and adapted it. Want to know what pure evil looks like? Forget about vampires or vortexes. This, my friends, would be pure evil:

DONE

HA HA!!!! Donety-donety-done-done. DONE!

Finished the first draft of Ghost Girl at just over 52,000 words.

I've got a lot of work to do on the second draft, and the ending is too rushed I know, but that's usual. The word count will grow when I revise. But it's a complete first draft, with an ENDING and everything, and Done!

And I totally made myself blubber this morning while writing it. That's always a good sign.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.

P.S. I finished it on March 31st, not April. You know what this means? Yep, I made the first draft in 6 months, exactly, again! Woot woot!

Now what shall I do to celebrate??

I love it!

Quote from my planner today:

To be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work. --Mary Lauretta

Amen, sister.

Off to class today, and to bury my head in writing GG every single second I can spare.

Wow. Um...yeah, wow.

So the text twisted under me again today, and suddenly I'm smack up against the climax, a little shell-shocked and wondering how THAT happened.

Which is fine, since that's how Nat feels too. But not quite what I expected.

I changed the goal for my first-draft wordcount to 53000, but I'm not even sure I'm going to make that. This is probably a cruel universe response to my hubris, when my husband asked me this weekend how you know a book is just going to be 60k and write to that, and I said airily, "Oh, I just aim for that and make sure all the arcs fit for that length, blah blah blah."

HA.

I think if I wrote straight through I could finish this draft by the end of March. I can't, so we'll just see how early in April I'm done.

Wow.

Otherwise known as AITC*

I found myself describing the latest plot twists and turns of GG to a trusted writer friend yesterday--she's the ONLY one who hears all this stuff but me, and only when I'm soexcitedIjustcan'thelpbutshare!--and I realized I sound absolutely insane. Maybe that's because it's so late in the book, so it's complicated, or maybe it's because it's paranormal, so what's going on is just so off-the-wall. Or maybe I'm truly insane. Hey, at least it'll be a good, crazy story. Y'all can remember this post when you're reading the almost-end bits, and nod your heads in collective agreement.

But I AM excited, because I love the difficulties poor Nat is in. Mind, I have no idea how she or anyone else is going to get out of them yet, but I have that sense of excitement that comes from *knowing* she will, that it will all come together and work out. Probably not how anyone expects, but somehow.

And to think the day I came up with this bit, Tuesday, I did not want to write. All you writers know what I mean--I was dragging. I kept doing everything else but putting down new words. I'd stare at the page with dislike, then go off and look at Facebook for a while. Then I'd come back and write 100 words, scowl, and go get myself another cup of coffee. 50 words. Solitaire. 100 words. I announced to Trusted Friend that 450 words was all I was bloody going to get today, so let's chat instead. Trusted Friend, bless 'er, said go away and write another 100. I sulked, but I did...and THEN I got the idea. And wrote another 300. If lunch wasn't up, I could've easily done more, and wanted to. I knew where I was going.

The point? Two, actually.

1) The words, the solutions, and the revelations don't come if you don't make yourself sit down and squeeze out words, even past the draggy parts. Even when you don't want to. You have to go through the slog to get to the fun stuff.

2) Get yourself some kick-ass Trusted Friends.

*Ass In The Chair

Dreaming of books...

This is a tumultuous couple of weeks for me. I don't know if that means that I'll be here less or more as I try to distract myself from various things--I guess we shall see!

Today I'm thinking of all the books I get to read soon (the ones I already bought) and all the books that are coming out soon that I'm looking forward to! Let's see, we have:

--Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr, coming out April 29th. It's Melissa's second book, and I loved Wicked Lovely so much it turned me into a fan girl. I can't wait! Plus she's such a nice person!
--One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost, also April 29th (hmm--I see my book budget spiking). Yummy, more Bones!
--The Touch of Twilight by Vicki Pettersson, the 3rd in the zodiac series, coming out May 27. Check out that gorgeous cover, and see if you don't squee. (Okay, if you're the squeeing type. Clearly I am.)
--My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne, coming out July 1. The sequel to The Spymaster's Lady! Woo-hoo!

I know there are more. What am I forgetting?

Facebook

Thinking ahead (with optimism blazing), I created a new Facebook profile for just my author life. If I haven't already tagged you and you have a Facebook profile, friend me here:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1150315609

MySpace coming eventually. Right after the website. :)

The Bunny Saves the Day

I almost didn't buy Child an Easter basket.

Mostly it's just that I kind of forgot. I do that with holidays, sometimes--I'm so busy with everything else that they sneak up on me, and I think "Oh, is it Easter tomorrow? What should we do about that?" on Saturday night. Besides, though we always color eggs and do the Easter egg hunt, we've never made a big deal about the Easter Bunny. Unlike Santa, I have a little trouble trying to pretend that the people in the obvious bunny suits at the mall are real manifestations of an actual creature. I really didn't think she believed in him at all. However, on Saturday night after Child was in bed I was feeling a bit bad, wishing I'd put together a surprise for her. So Wise Hubby said, "go to the store and DO it already."

I did. I trekked to WalMart. I bought a pink-and-purple velvet basket labeled "Princess" in big loopy letters. I stuffed it with pink plastic grass, a new Barbie video, a "surprise inside" Backyardigans egg, stickers of butterflies and flowers, a deliciously soft brown velveteen bunny, and a chocolate Peter Rabbit bunny. I set it out on the rug, where she'd see it in the morning. I had no idea what she'd think, but I figured she'd like it.

I was surprised in the morning that she didn't come in and wake us up, like usual. So around 8 o'clock I headed to her room, figuring I'd tell her there was something out there for her.

She greeted me with a big smile. "Mommy," she said, in all six-year-old seriousness, "Come with me. I have to show you something." She took my hand and led me back out to the basket. "Look!" Her voice shook now, a little, with excitement, as she pointed. "There's a basket, with a chocolate bunny in it! Do you know what this means?"

I shook my head, wondering what it DID mean to her.

"The Easter Bunny must have come! He left me a basket! The chocolate bunny is proof. The Easter Bunny always leaves chocolate bunnies."

I beamed. Good choice, Mom, I thought to myself. Followed shortly by You just passed that test by the skin of your teeth.

A little while later, after opening everything on our bed so Daddy could see, she looked at me thoughtfully. "The Easter Bunny must have peeked in my room," she said. "How else would he have known that I am a Princess?"

Hope you all had as happy of an Easter as I did. It'd be hard to top that, though.

The quote from my planner today: "I dream, therefore I become." -- Cheryl Renee Grossman

Contentment

It's awfully quiet out there today...both at the office (I think there are 3 of us here) and in blogland. It's Friday, it's the first day of Spring (pauses to look out window at blowing snow), and it's Good Friday.

As a consequence of all this annoying quiet, I'm being very productive. Work is flowing under my fingertips, and I made it over my weekly writing goal, and am sitting at 75%! (and psst! I think it's going to come in at a first draft final count of 55000 instead of 60, so that's 81%! I know, I am SUCH a statistics nerd for an English major.) I am definitely planning to finish this puppy next month.

Pandora's cranked up to the "My alternative" station, I've got a mocha in hand, and I've got fun work to do for the afternoon. Happy moments. Gotta appreciate them when they flash by!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! We've got a date with a carton of eggs and a PAAS kit...

YouTube - Music and Life - Alan Watts

YouTube - Music and Life - Alan Watts

More inspiration! I guess I'm just a sponge today. :)

Link Frenzy!

I'm finding so much stuff out there that's inspirational, interesting, and/or enlightening today that I'm going to share!

• First, if you haven't seen or read Barack Obama's "race speech", you can here. WOW. I fully supported him before, but now...maybe I'll join his campaign. :)
• Check out a touching, inspirational story from my wonderful friend A Novel Woman
• Janet Reid is talking about Nicholas Pekearo's book, released posthumously in May. I already pre-ordered my copy.
• Melissa Marr has a great post about why she writes
• Colleen Lindsay talks about the YA plots she sees too much of. Okay, that one could be depressing if you're working on one of those plots. But since I'm not... :)

Enjoy! I'm keeping my head down, as I seem to be on the downward race to the end with GG. At least I hope so!

111 Shirtless Men

I was feeling a little down this morning--hopefully not coming down with the scourge that hubby's had for 3 days now--so I found this to cheer myself up. Consider me cheered. :)

Hob-nobbing

Squee!

I just had lunch with #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Patricia Briggs, who happens to live in my town. Da-yam, she is fun. She's very kindly agreed to speak at my university's annual Author's Reception, so I had the treat of a pre-lunch with Patricia and the library director. Most of the lunch was spent chatting nonstop about writing, books, and movies.

And she loves two of my girl's books, Vicki and Jo Bourne, so how could I not like her?

Ahhhh. {happy author state}

Dreaming of electric sleep

I'm so tired my head feels spinny. Do you ever get like that?

See, the problem is that Child has had insomnia, for the past few nights. She goes to sleep fine, then wakes up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep...so she comes in our room to tell us she can't sleep. We tell her what to try, she does...then she comes back in half an hour later to tell us it didn't work. For hours.

It's got to the point now where she's so worried about not being able to go back to sleep that she can't go back to sleep! I relate, since I go through periods of this myself every once in a while. But at 6, it's freaking her out. And we're ALL starting to get seriously sleep-deprived.

I've given her the following "tools" to try:

-go back to bed, relax, close your eyes.
-turn on your music again, close your eyes and listen
-make up a story in your head (this is what I do after all!)
-if all else fails, turn on the light and read.

She swears every night that she's going to do these things and handle it herself, and then she starts the routine of coming in. Again.

{YAWN}

Anyone have any other ideas?

Removing the negativity

A couple of not-original, but very true thoughts:

--Mean people suck.

--Negativity drags everyone down.

Because of the surfeit of negativity and people dealing meanly with each other, I've had to leave one of my previously favorite online communities. This makes me sad, but it's been getting more and more negative there for a couple of years, so I guess it's not going to change real soon. I just don't need that kind of thing pulling me down.

I shall strive to keep those places I have a responsibility for positive and supportive. Sarcastic and silly, you bet! Mean, no.

Top o' the week to ya

There! I added a drop of "the green" to the blog because I am so...um, not Irish.

Oh well. Green is also a color of Spring, and here in Montana it's--

Gah. White and muddy.

Okay, I added it because I like green.

My books are scheduled to come today, but right now it doesn't matter, because I was able to pick up my friend Linda's mss again. Woo-hoo! Vikings and man-thongs. You're so gonna want this book.

Yay yay, and a ghost

Hooray!!

I met my word count goal for the week (+3200 words), turned in my crazy-making midterm project, and now it's Spring Break!

I celebrated with an Amaretto latte. And now, as promised, a ghost story.

The poll showed a pretty even split, didn't it? 5 people had encountered a ghost, 6 hadn't, and 6 weren't sure. And I LOVED hearing your own ghost stories!! Thank you! I think a lot of people would like to run across a ghost, as long as it wasn't threatening...hence the fascination with ghost stories. I've always loved them. But then, ghosts were a part of my life before I was even born.

My paternal aunt, Susan, died of ovarian cancer in the 50s, when she was 19, before her life had even properly begun. Before she died, she promised my father--then a teenager--that she would contact him from the other side, if she could. She never did, as far as he knows.

But she did contact my mother.

When my mother was pregnant with me, she had a vivid dream. My aunt came to visit her in the dream, and gave her a clear message: "name her Susan, after me."

Of course they did. I even looked like my aunt when I was little. And she's shown up in my life several times since then, in other ways. But more on THAT another time...

Random note, to people who are in Intercultural Communication and/or film classes:

Look, I know you're studying the film CRASH for class. It's clear from your IPs. Yes, you at Northeastern and Connecticut State and NYU. I know you've probably been assigned a paper or something. But just because I wrote one post on CRASH when I was studying it in 2006? Does not make me an authority. Seriously. Just be careful using random blog posts as research, k?

(Note triggered by the fact that more than 30% of my hits in the last two weeks are results from searching for "movie crash analysis" or somesuch combination. Oddly, if you search on Google, that post is the 3rd result. Search engines are weird.)

More later. In the meantime, does anybody else listen to Matt Nathanson? Poppy, I know, but I love some of his songs. Downloaded one of his older ones, Beneath These Fireworks, from ITunes yesterday...

Watch this!

Thanks for answering the poll, and sharing your stories!! I'll discuss the results and share one of my own when I'm less hammered. :)

In the meantime, watch this. I stole it from La Gringa, and like her, I challenge you not to smile if you watch it all the way through!

Spookiness?

I added a Ghost Girl-related poll, above. Please answer, and give me your story in the comments section here!!

Maybe not today--because I'm absolutely crushed for time--but in the next couple of weeks, I'll share some ghost stories of my own. I have some good ones. :)

Busy little beav...uh, bees.

Thanks SO much for a wonderful discussion on Friday. I meant to come back and comment individually on your responses, but instead I just went with the flow and lived my busy weekend Life. {s} This weekend that included: stuffing plastic eggs at Child's school for next week's Egg Hunt (I must've done at least 300), attending the local kid's theater production of The Sound of Music (they did great!), escorting Child to a bowling birthday party, yelling my lungs out at a local pro basketball game, stripping our bathroom and cleaning the walls (!) in prep for painting, and mounds of laundry.

I love weekends, but sometimes weekdays are more relaxing! Though today, being Monday, maybe not....

Must go continue on the layout and editing of a report on water supplies, and finish that chapter on organizational ethics. Oh, and more coffee.

Onward!

Edited to add: I meant to say that I haven't come to a "final" decision either on whether or not posting negative reviews is a good idea. For me personally, I still think positivity might be best. But y'all had some excellent points...

Discussion Friday

Yesterday I followed Vicki's dubious lead and lost a writing session's worth of work when a catastrophic failure fried my thumb drive before I'd saved it off elsewhere. Darn PCs. Grrr. Fortunately it was a short session yesterday, and I think I can recreate it fairly well. I also lost an hour's worth of work on a Photoshop file for class, though. {sigh}

I burned off the last of that frustration last night finishing BREATHE MY NAME by R.A. Nelson. I highly recommend it. The writing is tense and vivid, with a strong, unique voice. There were times I had to put it down because the subject matter was so difficult, but I always went back to it, and I'm glad I did. Check it out.

My "review" brings us to our topic for Discussion Friday.

I liked the book very much, and so I recommended it here. But what if I hadn't liked it?

--Many, many (many) authors post reviews of books on their blogs, good and bad reviews. Writers are often readers, and one hopes they have a critical eye. So these reviews could be valuable to other readers. But...

--I've gotten some advice that says as an aspiring writer, I should never post bad reviews on my blog, and "trash" other writers. This writing/publishing business is a very small, closely knit community, and negative words get around. By saying critical or harsh things about another writer's work, you could (a) hurt or upset the writer herself (I know for a fact writers do google themselves and their books) or (b) even damage your own career and potential networks.

I dunno. I'm fairly cautious about what I say online, so I lean toward the second view. My mother's words still echo in my brain ("If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"). But I can see how peer reviews are important as well.

What do you think?

Yay, books!

Oooh!!! YAY!

I found another way to while away winter. I went shopping with my Amazon gift card from my birthday. I bought:

Repossessed [Hardcover]
By: A. M. Jenkins (Author), Amanda Jenkins (Author)

A Field of Darkness [Paperback]
By: Cornelia Read (Author)

Princess Academy [Paperback]
By: Shannon Hale (Author)

A Curse Dark as Gold [Hardcover]
By: Elizabeth C. Bunce (Author)

Killing Floor [Mass Market Paperback]
By: Lee Child (Author)

No, I have never read a Jack Reacher novel before. I hear I'm in for a good ride. As to the others, Elizabeth Bunce is a fellow BlueBoarder, and this book sounds amazing. Princess Academy, though a middle-grade book, has passed the bookstore test: twice I've picked it up and been entirely sucked in. Must keep reading. The other two are recommendations by a certain agent I know. Yes, I'm eclectic, and I love it!

Brr

Okay, it's 16 degrees right now, and I'm tired of cold. Who's with me?

Child, sniffling from Yet Another Cold, came up to me yesterday with her serious face on. "You know what, Mommy?"

"What?"

"I've been thinking. I don't think this is a cold. I think I'm allergic to winter."

Amen, Child, amen.

On the bright side, I have coffee, chocolate, and macadamia nut supplies near to hand. I can outlast it, and dream about June...

Goals

Thanks for the lively discussion on Friday, guys!

I was away for the weekend, enjoying a much-needed break. Am back, but I'm going to try to lay low for a while, internet-wise, and focus on Other Stuff.

However, I do want to publicly post a couple of goals:

• Write 11,000 new words on Ghost Girl in March. This will allow me to (hopefully)
• Finish the first draft of GG by the end of April.

Then I can let Melody come play in my head for a while. She's still persistent. :)

Hope everyone is well. Have an excellent week!

Discussion Friday

It's the return of Discussion Friday! (In which hardly anybody discusses, but I am allowed to rant and pose questions.)

This subject is particularly close to me at the moment, but I shall try to avoid spitting more nails. Yesterday was messy.

In scientific publishing, there are pretty much two camps: those who believe scientific information should be free and openly accessible to all regardless of who created and published it, and those who believe that publishers and editors add value to scientific information and should be reimbursed for that value--or at least be able to support themselves.

Guess which camp I fall into?

Let's just say that the "your publications are my right" people are messing with me, and driving me batty. I DO add value. Those publications I release, with the clear, concise prose, consistent grammar and punctuation, and kick-ass layout? Some of those started out as sloppy, muddled reports with grainy images embedded in Word. So why do you think, again, that it's okay to make those available to everyone in the world for free, when our meager sales margin supports my department? Hmmmm?

Okay, I'll stop there before I go into details. I did intend to do a reasoned presentation of the free/not free issue, but obviously I can't just now. Instead I'll put up a poll. I know there are many out there, particularly librarians and researchers, who believe that scientific publishers and editors are money-grubbers, and largely unnecessary. They've told me to my face. What do you think?

60%

Yay! I made 60% on GG!

I feel so much calmer and more centered after only one hour of writing.

(geez, why don't I do this every day? KIDDING!)

They say it's your...

Yesterday Precie tagged me with a meme challenge: write your memoir in six words. (Details here)

I wasn't up to it yesterday--Brain Full--but here's my attempt:

Dancer, writer, mother: living in hope.

No, I'm not a dancer anymore, but it was a huge part of my life for many years. I couldn't NOT include it. And all three of those things pretty much require living in hope. :)

(I'm not going to formally tag anybody to do this, but feel free to take on the challenge! If you do, let me know in the comments, please!)

In other news, today is my birthday. In my family, your birthday was the most special day of the year, when you were Queen. You got to pick out what the family ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you got loaded with presents, treats, and cake. The whole day was magical from start to finish. It's not quite that way now that I'm a grownup, but I still love my birthday. There's a trace of magic that tinges everything.

Fun with hoars

This is what it looked like this morning:







We got six inches of snow yesterday, and this morning had freezing fog and hoar frost.

I love to say that aloud. "Hoar frost. Hoar frost. HOAR frost." I am such a geek.

I did not write yesterday--I actually gave myself a day off. Why? Two reasons:

1. Stress stuff. I have enough stress going on this week--good and bad--that little gray hairs are popping out on my head. Sadly, this is literally true. {sigh} I needed a day.

2. I started reading a friend's mss. I'm only on Chapter 3 (ONLY because of time constraints), but believe me when I tell you: you too will read this book someday. Between covers.

I am getting back on the writing horse today, though. I have a monthly goal to get to.

Monday ups and snow

Hooray! The birthday party went GREAT. Everyone had a good time, including parents. I went to Child's birthday circle at school this morning--where I walk around the sun (birthday candle) with her 6 times, talking about when she was born and what she likes. It was very sweet, and both the teacher and I were misty at the end--this is her last birthday circle, as next year she'll be in elementary.

{sniff}

And, we went to a fantabulous concert yesterday. Check out the Jeni Fleming trio here. Here's a clip of Jeni singing "Better than Anything", one of my favorite jazzy songs. I'm downloading a couple of their albums in ITunes today.

The bad news about today is that it is snowing like mad. We got a few inches last night, and the streets are a slide-zone. Thank Goodness we're all safe in our respective places for a few hours.

Now, off to work!

Tomorrow

• Local YMCA party room booked: check.
• Invitations made and sent, RSVPs received for 9 bff: check.
• Pin-the-tail-on-the-mermaid poster printed, tails cut out, mermaid blindfold aquired: check.
• 10 crowns (5 tiaras, 3 "boy crowns", 1 purple Birthday Princess crown with feathers): check.
• 9 goodie bags stuffed with candy and prezzies: check.
• 1 "mermaid treasure chest" prize filled with pearl beads and chocolate coins: check.
  
• Cake, balloons ordered: check.
• One slightly frazzled mom: check.
• One almost-6-year-old thrilled to pieces, and ecstatically waiting for tomorrow: worth every bit of it.
  

Go. Laugh.

Oooh! Oooh!

You'll want to read this.

My absolutely amazing friend Pam, who wrote a poem just for me when I signed with Janet Reid, is rather famous in some circles for another poem. Diana Gabaldon posted it on her blog today. My friends,

Pam's "Ode to a Penis".

Oh, and forgot to say, it happens to be Pam's birthday today. Happy Birthday, Pam!

AND the birthday of another of my bestest friends, Kreekie. Happy Birthday, Kreeks!

More

Drat! I already realized I forgot one! I've been meaning to add Precie for a long time. :)

Moving Forward

Whew.

I just updated all the side links--somehow, harder than it should have been. There are a lot of sites I've been visiting for a while in Google Reader that I just hadn't added to the list. (And oddly, considering that I had an issue with all the people entering my contest having names that begin with "J", I added 5 fellow writers to my sidebar, and 4 of them have J names. What is up? Am I drawn to J people?) Anyway, hope you enjoy. There's some wonderful stuff over there, almost daily.

In the past couple of days, I found myself drawing on a piece of advice Vicki gave me a long time ago.* It's one of those things I keep forgetting. Since it has been endlessly useful for me, I'll share it here:

Don't hold anything back for later in the book, or later in the series, or for another book. If you have a great idea, dump it in NOW. Another great idea will come in later for the next bit.

Even though I KNEW this, I was still holding onto a little tidbit, a plot direction, thinking it needed to wait for later. But I couldn't figure out what needed to happen now. And then I banged myself upside the head with this advice, threw the complication in without worrying about saving anything for later, and yup. It worked. Now I'm off on a whole new tangent, and I'm feeling the confidence again. Woo-hoo!

*See, Vicki? I gave you credit without prompting this time!

The edge

Weather note: It's 1 degree F outside right now. It's supposed to reach at least 41 today. Gotta love the 40-degree temperature swings. Layers, anyone?

Today I have a question for you. Have you ever come close to dying? What did you experience? If you don't mind, tell me the story.

I'll share first.

I've come close-ish twice, I think. The first time I was a baby--preemie, complications--but that one doesn't count for this purpose. The second time I was about 3, I guess. I was standing at the edge of our backyard pool, on a ledge/seat that was set into the deep end. I had a float ring, in the shape of a horse, around my waist. I remember feeling all adventurous and brave, like I was big enough to do anything. I jumped, with a huge splash, into the deep end.

And the float went right up over my head.

I couldn't swim yet. I watched the float go, watched the diving board get farther and farther away as I sank to the bottom of the pool. It was probably a second. It felt like ages. There was a rush of water as someone jumped in after me. The next memory is of lying on my side as someone pounded on my back, water gushing out of my mouth and nose. I remember looking at our log pile, coughing, the feel of someone's hard hand pounding, over and over.

This memory is strong and clear, down to my emotions. I wasn't afraid at all, just peaceful. Until the water gushing out part. That was nasty.

The weird thing is...I'm not sure how much of this actually happened. My parents say yes, I fell in the pool, but they don't remember any of the pounding/gushing part. And they would, right? That would be imprinted on any parent, relived in nightmares.

The weirder thing is...we moved away when I was 5, and another young family moved in. Not long after that the 3-year-old girl drowned, in that pool.

So I've always wondered, is my memory somehow tangled up with hers? Did that really happen, just not to me? And not with a happy ending?

Your turn. What's your story?

It's all in the time

I love Barbie Fairytopia.

All of 'em, actually. Fairytopia, Mermaidia, Magic of the Rainbow. If Elina's in it, I love it.

Why, you ask? The animation? The engaging characters? The fully realized alternate worlds? The commercial tie-ins?

No, my friend. The time.

Child does not normally watch much TV. A half-hour in the morning while we eat breakfast together, and a 15-minute show in the evening while we have snack (hoo-ray PBS Sprout!). But every once in a while, we rent her a movie too. It seems only fair, with the piles we rent for ourselves. And in spite of my Barbie-reluctance, a few weeks ago we rented Fairytopia. Oh, man. She wanted to watch it about 4 times before we returned it. She was in princess/fairy/mermaid heaven. So the next time we were at the store, and she pleaded desperately to watch the next in the series, and it was only available for purchase...yep, we bought it. And then the next one. And she has no objection at all to me "watching" it with her with the laptop on my lap.

Which is why over the past week, when I was home with her for 5 of 7 days--usually a complete loss, writing-wise--I still managed to get 3000 new words. I did not feel guilty for the extra TV-time because most of it counted as sick days, she was thrilled to pieces, and Ghost Girl continues to grow.

I love you, Elina. I almost love you, Mattel. Not quite. But I'm thinking about it.

Fears, part 2. Clarification

Since Janet Reid linked to my post about writing your fears, I've gotten a fair few hits from other writers...and some interesting questions. I think I need to clarify what I meant, a little.

A fellow writer thought I was saying that you should create a plot based on your own fears, and "force" your characters to face them. Like an issue book, dark and dismal and sad.

No no no no no no no no. No.

I despise issue books. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. For one thing, I don't even like to read dark and dismal and sad books, personally. I like adventure, a little romance, possibly fantasy. Struggles, yes, but I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

Also, IMO any book that is forced or twisted to suit the author's own agenda will fail as a good story. It will not resonate with anyone, because you will be trying to convince instead of telling a story, and the story will almost certainly get lost along the way.

What I was saying (or trying to say) is that you shouldn't veer away from allowing your characters to face fears straight-on--that real, deep characterization can come, partly, from facing real fears. Everyday, universal fears, that everyone experiences and can understand. I was trying to say that it is natural that your characters will experience these fears--and you should let them.

Not that because you have a fear of closets that you should stuff your character into one just to see how she deals with it.

Does that make sense?

(I hope so, but it's difficult to tell, as I've been trying to type this while Child asks me questions every few seconds. I am now in Deep Trouble because I missed "drawing time") :)

my own little dreamworld

I am in SUCH a writing mood today.

I was having a vivid dream when I was forced to crawl out of bed this morning, all about escaping from the Nazis with a little suitcase full of stuff culled from all my belongings (and I had to decide: book to read, or writing journal!), and hiding in a hidden compartment on a train. I love those sorts of dreams--they always leave me half in the dream world, ready to escape into my own stories.

Unfortunately I have class ALL DAY (am on a 20 minute break right now, and I just poured out 200 words on GG before writing this!), so am a mite frustrated and distracted. It's hard to concentrate on creating DVD buttons when your MC is in the middle of possessing someone and would really rather you get back to HER, thankyouverymuch.

I also had a big plot revelation while driving to work this morning. I wish I could tell you about it, but (a) you'd think I'm insane, trying to describe this plot at this point and (b) I would not be able to allow you to live. Just let it be said that you should trust your first draft and let it reveal itself...all will become clear to you in time.

Gotta go! Am going to be laaaaaaaaate....

Home

Home with sick Child today...but it's a good day, because all that's wrong is a cold and mild pink eye, which is an automatic no-school pass, but she feels fine. So we made triple-berry muffins, and worked on a jigsaw puzzle, and right now she's making valentines. I have been pretty clear that I need SOME writing time today--my characters are banging on my mental door--but we'll see how well that actually works!

Later...

Edited to say: YES! Got 800 new words I like, and had a marvelous day with Child, all told. Sincerely hoping her eyes are white enough to go to school/work tomorrow, though!!

Be afraid

What is your biggest fear?

Rejection? Death? The unknown? Loss? Is your main character facing down that fear?

Why not?

I don't know where I read or heard this first: Robert McKee, maybe, or quite possibly Donald Maass, in his Surrey master classes. The advice: Find your fear, and dump it on the page. Make your character deal with it in just the way you've always dreaded.

It's hard. I've done it, stared at the screen thinking "No, I can't talk about that. Even thinking about that scares me silly. How can I possibly live every day with that ache, that trickle of fear, for months?" You can. You should. It brings a vividness to your book that will otherwise be missing, that will become the vague, undefined lack earning you "I just didn't love this" comments by the bucketful.

However, if you truthfully portray your fear, and your characters react to it honestly, your book will resonate with readers. See, the trick is you're not the only one with that particular fear. If it's cathartic for you to deal with it on the page and come through the other side, it's cathartic for readers as well. They'll recognize the truth, connect with the powerful emotions. Rip through the pages to see if your MC will overcome it. Cheer for her when she does.

Like everybody, I've got several fears that underlie everything, that can rise to the surface with one word. One is rejection.

I'm not talking about book rejection—that's just a step in the process, in my opinion. I'm talking about when your best friend for years starts going cold. Stops calling you. Tells you one day, in front of all the people you most want to impress, that she can't believe she was ever friends with you in the first place, you're such a loser.

Yes, that happened to me.

Or when your boyfriend, or husband, starts spending long hours away from you. Turns away when you try to kiss him, or worse, pretends. But you can tell. It's different. It's over, you just haven't admitted it yet.

Or when you're a kid, and one of your parents leaves, for reasons that are perfectly valid from a grown-up's perspective, but to a kid just means they've failed somehow.

Jenna dealt with that fear. Natalie's facing it too, in a different way from a different source. But I think it's a common anxiety, and important. And very, very real to me.

Another one I didn't even realize until I wrote Jenna was the fear of losing control. I hadn't realized the true terror of that moment when—because of medical reasons, or because you're just a kid—decisions about your life are taken out of your hands, and you no longer have a choice. I did that to Jenna. Of course she took control back, but she had to lose it first. I had to, to understand it.

Don't hold back. Don't sugar-coat issues, to make them safe. Face your fears. Make your characters go through those particular layers of hell. And then, at the end, let them win.

If you are a writer, want to be a writer, want to be anything in the publishing business, or want to see some honest-to-god common sense truth, go read this. Yes, it's long. It's worth it. Thank you, John Scalzi. I completely agree.

Unasked-for Advice to New Writers about Money

Happy Birthday, Jenna!

I started brainstorming JENNA one year ago today. I'd just thrown off the idea of doing historicals the night before, and the character of Jenna invaded my brain. So I sat down and wrote all the things I'd like to have in a book, and explored the character that had come to me. What is SO cool is that the character at least is very, very close to what came out.

Here is the start of the very first entry for my writing journal for JENNA:

[start journal entry]

So I was thinking last night about all the things I want to include in a book, the things I like to read about. I like these elements:

• The plot twists of Mary Stewart
• The humor of Douglas Adams
• The language/descriptive power of Diana
• The kind of alternate world adventure in Susan Cooper and Madeleine L'Engle (how long has a Wrinkle in Time captivated people now?)
• The passion and vividness in Vicki's book and OUTLANDER
• Real, living, falleable characters
• Magic or unusual abilities
• Young, female heroine who is uncertain in herself but comes into her own
• Series
• Revelations
• Locations/times I know about
• First person

What I don't want to include:

• Dragons, elves, unicorns, fairies
• Werewolves, vampires, witches
• Portals to other worlds/times
• Anything I have to spend a massive amount of time researching
• Anything that locks me in to a particular story

So all together, if we have all this stuff, this is some sort of YA. A funny YA, with some sort of fantasy/alternative world element to it, but without the predictable portal crap. A powerful, real voice. A girl who faces things as they are and deals with them—who is having a tough time, and then it gets way tougher and she has to figure it out.

Last night this situation came to me, so let's describe it and go into it further and see how it pans out.

Main character is Jenna. (don't know why that name, but I tried to shake it off and it wouldn't shake. That is her name.) She's 15, I think, maybe 16. No, 15 seems right. Not a kid, not a full teenager, in-between everything. Awkward.
[end journal entry]

It goes on from there, for pages, with Jenna's family situation and difficulties. Fascinating to me how she burst into my head, though. And I finished the first draft of that book in August, finished it in October, queried the heck out of it, and Janet offered representation at the end of December.

Now, onward! And to keep working on Ghost Girl. Right now, though, we're going swimming at the hot springs. Aaaaah.

Happy Birthday, Jenna! I'm so happy to have gotten to know you!

Goodie goodie

Huzzah and halleluj, class was cancelled for today. And my two-day work seminar is over. And it's Friday!

I sense general good news here. Perhaps it's a good news day. Anyone? Post with your good news!

Edited to add: also made my daily and weekly goals for GG. Only 2000 more words and I'll be back up to where I was last week. Kidding. This version is so much better.

A quote from my calendar, to inspire your good news for what I am dubbing Good News Friday:

"Obstacles melt away when we have the will to succeed."

I will go take my sickly-sweet self off somewhere else now. :)

The eyes have it

I had a minor adventure yesterday.

I was sitting at my desk, wrapping things up for the day, when my eye started bothering me. I rubbed the heck out of it like I usually do, thinking it was a stray eyelash or something. I'm not squeamish about my eyes--I wore contacts for years and years, so I just ride with it. But it kept bugging me. It felt like a little mound of sand.

Hubby called, time to go. I shut everything down, still rubbing at my eye, and decided to take a peek in the mirror on my way out the door.

There was a white glob there, right smack in the middle of my pupil. And it wouldn't move. I blinked hard, swiped at it even, but it wouldn't move. It was stuck. Now it started to hurt.

I admit, I panicked a little. What was it? Would it scratch my eye? If I couldn't get it out, was I going to be blinded for life? (Okay, I didn't really think that. But I do have a vivid imagination.) Anyway, I panicked enough that hubby brought me to the eye doctor on the way to get Child.

Good thing, too. I had a piece of hard plaster--or plastic, he couldn't tell--stuck on my eye. The doctor had to numb the eye and remove the little piece, then do some other magic eye-doctor stuff. And it DID scratch it a little, enough that I'm taking antibiotic eye drops just in case, for a few days. And my eye feels weird. I'm blinking a lot. I'm not wearing eye makeup. I've got eye drops next to me, open and ready.

Strange, eh? Because some tiny bit of plaster decided to wander in and get stuck?

Words of wisdom (not mine)

This seems to be my day for posting other people's stuff. That's okay--I'm going to focus my brain on GG.

You want to know the secret of writing a great book? Melissa Marr's got it pegged, here.

My favorite bit: "My Advice: Just write the story that sings to you. Step out onto ledges. Dive into topics that make you feel."

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes.

Also read the comments. There are some success stories in there to bring anybody's morale up.

Frozen

OMG, this is so amazingly cool. I laughed my ass off.

Why?

Sorry guys, no crit reward. Next time I'll offer that as a prize for a contest where we'll actually have a winner. :)

And now...I have something to say.

Why do I write YA?

Because it's so much easier. Obviously. It's way shorter—why write 100,000 words for adults when you can skate by with only 60,000? You can crank one out in no time. And ya know, why mess around with themes and resonating truths and research? Teens aren't going to understand that stuff anyway, right, so why bother? Just dump some stuff on the page, make it cool, add a couple cell phones, and presto.

Is my sarcasm showing yet?

The problem I've discovered, since I started following my passion and writing YA, is that many, many people—even writers, forgodsakes—seem to think that some or all of the above is true. Cue people thinking that writing for teens isn't "serious". Or difficult. Certainly not as difficult as writing historicals for grown-ups. Not in the same class.

This was driven home for me recently when a fellow writer, who has been working on an adult historical for YEARS, decided maybe she'd just write a YA quickly and sell that. She figured she could pump it out in 4 or 5 months. And of course it was a "message" book too, because there's nothing teens need more than adults force-feeding them messages.

Yeah, I was bugged by her attitude. I did write JENNA quickly, but that was because I was disciplined, I was using my natural voice for once, and I had a good story I was passionate about. Not because I thought it was easy.

See, the real reason I write for teens is because that's what I like to read. I've always loved to dip into the kid's section, the teen section, the YA section…whatever they're calling it. I think maybe part of my brain is still 14, or maybe it's just that those issues are the ones that resonate for me. Or that I like the kick-ass honesty you see in a lot of girls that age. Even the heroine of my historical was 16. The heroine of the historical I scrapped was 13. Jenna is 15. Nat is 15/16. It's how I see the world. It's what I love.

And let the record show, for now and always, that I hate "message" books. It's all well and good to have a story that tells people something, or talks about something important (like UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld), if it flows as a natural part of the story. If the story and the characters are the primary concern. Not because you were sitting around thinking "how do I fit in something about body image, because I as an adult think teens have a problem with body image, so I must inform them about that." Um, no thanks. It will be painfully obvious that you did that. I won't want to read it, and no teenager will either.

[end rant]

Mish-mash

Ouch. The part I just had to cut, because of my recent change?

4300 words.

I'd already cut about 2000, but replaced them mostly. Now I'm back up to the end, moving forward. But the word count...{cries}

It's better It's better It's better. And of course I kept it, in a separate file. Now. {deep breath} All new and shiny from here.

I was gonna do a craft or rant post today, but caught up in my extremely challenging class. This class is kicking me hard. So now must go add pile of homework to the mix.

In good news, we're going to see Peter Pan tonight, live!

update

Hmmm. Slightly overestimated commenters.

But that's okay, I'm good at rolling with it. So...revised. I'm going to ask those who haven't commented yet to add their comments to the previous post. If I get:

1) 9 more or
2) my Statcounter visitors count reaches 20,000 this weekend--which it is MIGHTY close to doing

I will still do the draw and 5-page crit, for those who want it. Check back Monday for that.

Back with "real" post later...

Delurk. C'mon, you can do it.

Today I'm going to take a page from my favorite cynical dad blogger, Chag.

It's DELURKING DAY!

If you've never commented before, please leave a comment. If this is your first time here, please leave a comment. If you're a regular commenter or one of my BFF who read my rambles devotedly, please leave a comment. That goes for you feed readers too.

Say hi! Wave! Tell me where you're from. Tell me what you do, or what you're writing. Or just say hi and stick your tongue out at me.

Also, feel free to ask any questions you'd like me to answer on future blog posts. Because I am such the fount of knowledge.

If we get over 50 distinct commenters, I'll do a random pick and offer a prize.

(prize, prize. Thinking. I'm a little low on the cashola for a real prize. I am an editor, though, and I have a good eye. Would anybody want a 5-page crit? Hey, you can answer that too! In your COMMENTS!)

colors

Yes, I got tired of brown. Wonders never cease. {s}

Back back back

The last couple of days have been a change, writing-wise.

Sunday night I had a sudden wave-of-brain, and realized I'd stepped the wrong way in the story. Well, it's first draft, so not wrong exactly, but not best. If I took it another way the later plot would go in a much better direction, include the characters and settings I'd rather be exploring, etc.

So. Halted headlong progress. The 1500 or so words I wrote on vacation will likely stay buried in the GhostGirl2 file--I'm now working on GhostGirl3. I rewound several chapters, found the misstep, and cut about 1800 words yesterday. More will be hacked today. I also wrote 900 new words, though, and will write some more cool new stuff...so it evens out. Better now than a much more tangled later. Much better for plot.

In going back over the old stuff, though, I discovered a few things (AGAIN) about Things I Do on First Draft.

Annoying things:
--My characters breathe a lot. A lot a lot. Take a slow breath, a shaky breath, exhale a long breath. Struggle to breathe. Mind, that last is a fairly important issue for my MC during some parts, but the rest? Geez. We know you're breathing, Nat, you're still talking to us. Stop. It.

--Dialogue tag repeats. I cannot believe how often I do this. "Blah blah blah," X said. He did some random action. Every time I read through a section I have to do a delete on all those "X said He" bits. {sigh} Thank goodness for later drafts.

Positive things:
--I made myself laugh, reading bits, and I'd totally forgotten I'd written some of them and was pleased. This is a good sign, for later. After cleanup.

So what do you do in first draft, and always have to fix later? Do your characters nod too much? Walk? Grin? Do you have to yank out useless adverbs?

The Liar's Diary

This post is part of Patry Francis Day. 300+ bloggers strong are taking time on their blogs today to write about Patry Francis and her book, The Liar's Diary.

Complete details are here: http://www.litpark.com/

Patry Francis is a writer like many I know--she had a full-time job, 4 (4!) kids, and still managed to scrape time together to get the writing done. She finished a book. She found an agent. She sold the book.

And then, unfortunately, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, just as her book was due to be released.

That timing sucks. Okay, cancer sucks. My grandfather, aunt, and mother-in-law all died of cancer. My mom has cancer that must be treated regularly, with experimental treatments. I have a particularly close fear--and hatred--of that nasty bastard.

So Patry, heck yeah I'm joining in to help promote your book on its release day, so you can concentrate on getting better and beating this cancer. I'm going to go check out your book myself, once I'm done writing this.

THE LIAR'S DIARY is out TODAY in paperback! Go check it out, people! And if you want to make a blog post too, for Patry, for all the writers and non-writers you know who have had to battle cancer, yes. Please.

Checking back in

I'm back!

It's 19 degrees, snowing like a bejeesus, and blustery. Everyone is of course either blaming me for this weather, or charging gleefully into my office to ask how I like being back.

Pbbbbbt.

Though it was very hard to find vacay pictures without any of us recognizable in them*, here are a few. Yes, it was fun. Yes, I am so back at work now, back at school, and back on GG. {s}

That's us, going down the big drop on the log ride...

*One of my longstanding self-imposed rules for this blog.

Made it!

Brief update, because I'm pounding out a few more words in another window.

We made it to LegoLand. Child declared, skipping back to the hotel, that this was one of the best days of her life.

Yes.

(It is deluging again, but held off until 4 thank the weather gods. Now it can do whatever it pleases, and I don't care...)

Devil/Angel

Last night, while Child was tucked into the hotel bed and hubby was at a play, I had to make a choice. I had an hour and a half.

To my right, Spymaster's Lady was sitting seductively on the little table, taunting me. "Come read," called Annique. "You have only a few chapters left. I am in grave danger, me, and you must know what befalls me." Grey just threw me a look. "Come," he said. Just one word, but so powerful.

To my left, the laptop. The manuscript of Ghost Girl. Natalie. "Hello? I've been sitting here waiting for you for like, ever. In a mess, as usual. Will you come and help me out, please?" And then there's Tony, who's in this scene. Did I mention that Tony looks a little like James McAvoy?

Tough, right?

I'm happy to say that Tony and Natalie won. 800+ words. Finished the whole scene. Yay! And with time to spare. As a reward, guess what I got to read...

On a vacation note, it's bloody raining again. We had a great day yesterday, but it poured last night and is due to pour more today. LegoLand is looking more and more unlikely...
But Child is happy. The past couple of days she's had great fun, and right now we're going to go color the new Fairytopia coloring book with the new crayons, and that's pretty good for her. :)

vacation report

Yesterday was another rockin' vacation day. Monday was good too, but it rained, so our trip to the zoo was a bit drippy. We soldiered on, and had fun. But yesterday was perfect weather, warm but not hot. We spent pretty much the whole day at the Wild Animal Park, visiting with monkeys and okapi and lions. We rode up above the park in a hot air balloon, and had cranes and eagles swoop just over our heads in the bird show. Child enjoyed the playground best, though. :)

Today is possibility of rain. We're going to head to Balboa Park, most especially the Science Museum (excellent kid's place) and the adjoining playground. And maybe some shopping.

Side note: we are all valiantly pretending that I do not have a cold, though I've gone from scratchy throat to scratchy chest to sore throat. But nothing's wrong, no, nothing. I'm fine. {g} Actually I am, pumped up with Airborne and Super C and coffee...

Oh, and I saw Atonement. Really enjoyed it. Highly recommended for writers!

Vacation day perfection

Wow, what a perfect day.

This morning we headed out to the Stephen Birch aquarium, one of the best small aquariums ever, anywhere. Okay, I may be biased. We've been there probably a hundred times, before Child and at every stage of Child's life. I love to sit at the bottom of the huge kelp tank and stare with her at the sun shining down through the swaying kelp forest, as leopard sharks swing in front of our noses.

Then we had Mexican food for lunch (of course) and headed to see our Big Event of the trip, the Corteo show of Cirque de Soleil, which is here on tour. I loved it. It was amazing. {happy sigh}

Then Starbucks coffee, and a swim in the heated hotel pool, followed by dinner at CPK.

Hubby is out to a movie, Child is asleep, I squeaked out 200 words in half an hour...and now, Northanger Abbey is just starting on Masterpiece Theatre.

Ahhhh. Perfection. {g}

Made it.

There. Got to the 50% mark on Ghost Girl.

Now there will be a brief pause while:

(a) we go on vacation, to sunny-land
and
(b) I figure out what happens next. Some brainstorming on various plot threads and possibilities is necessary.

In the meantime, if you'd like to see some skating cowboys (and who wouldn't, really?), go here.

Mental...er, mentors

Weather: Today it's snowing steadily, big, fat flakes. Much nicer than yesterday.

Several fellow writers picked up my meme for their blogs, which makes me oddly cheerful. Proof that I have some impact, however small, on the world, I suppose. {g}

Speaking of impact, and affecting other people--I was somewhat distressed when at least two of my fellow writers declared in their meme answers that they had no mentors. Seriously. NO mentors? How? How can you survive in this crazy-making profession without having somebody to lean on? Somebody you can call when you're despairing, when you need your hand held, or when you have absolutely fabulous news and you cannot wait another single second to share it with somebody who understands?

J.A. Konrath had this to say on his blog this morning:

I'm lucky that I have half a dozen professional writers on speed dial, and if I get stuck, they're happy to help me out. Naturally, I return the favor. It's a combination of tough love, enabling, and a mutual admiration society, and it is one of the true joys of this business.

Yes. Exactly. For support, I'm amazingly lucky in that I have a small group of writer friends that I can talk to, literally, about anything. We kick each other when we need kicking, sympathize when we need that, and are always (always) ready to celebrate successes large and small.

I understand that is not exactly a mentor, necessarily. That's why for my list I chose two people who have been, and continue to be, mentors for me in specific ways.

Diana Gabaldon has shared her expertise, advice, and assistance with I don't know how many writers over the years, at the Compuserve Books and Writers Forum. I'm fortunate that I also get to see Diana in person every year at Surrey. She's been unfailingly encouraging and helpful to me. She's also fun to drink Scotch with. {g}

Vicki Pettersson is just fun to drink with.

Okay, I'll be serious. Vicki is my shining example of how this writing stuff can work if you put your heart into it. She also shows me every day how to handle successes, how to keep your head down and focus on writing, and how to never, ever forget that it's about doing your best work, in the end.

(Unfortunately, this also gives her the right to say 'I told you so' ad nauseum. If that's the tradeoff, I'm good with that.)

One of my writer friends shocked me the other day by declaring that I was her mentor. I don't see how--since I'm at the beginning of this process myself--but I sure the heck was flattered. When I get a little further along, that is definitely one of my goals. Pay it forward. Encourage others. Be the one they want to call, be the helping hand.

You gotta have mentors in this process, IMO. I know I wouldn't make it without 'em.

Brrrr

It was -9 degrees (F) this morning. My fingers and cheeks were numb for an hour. It's up to a balmy 13 now, and I have my sweater off and the window open. This is the joy of working on the 3rd floor of a building built in 1896. The heat is either on (roasting) or off (freezing). Right now, with the window cranked, it's almost right.

With the blast of arctic air, though, I'm rather glad that we're leaving for vacation soon. We always try to do a week in San Diego sometime in January or February--knowing that the winter blahs will hit right about now--and I'm sooo looking forward to it. Not least because we got tickets to the Cirque de Soleil. Huzzah!

After today's work, I just have to get 1000 more words on GG to get to my 50% goal before we leave. That I can, and will, do.

{happy}

10 Writerly Questions

A meme! Instead of 10 Things I Hate about You, it's 10 Things about You as a Writer.

I answered, and am tagging everyone who reads this, is a writer, and has a blog. I'm looking forward to your answers!

1. Your genre(s)?

Young adult, baby. All the way—I love to read it and write it. (Though I do have an adult historical under the bed, and I never rule out anything for the future.)

2. How many books have you completed?

Two. Almost halfway through the first draft of #3. By the end of 2008 that number should be 4.

3. How many books are you working on now?

One, seriously. But my mind keeps dabbling with the next one.

4. Are you a linear or chunk writer?

Linear, but I do drafts. First shitty draft, second fix-plot draft, third clean-up, and fourth language (spit and polish).

5. The POV you're most partial to?

First! Definitely. It's what comes naturally. But I've played with close third, and might try that sometime.

6. The theme that keeps cropping up in your books?

The MC finds out something special about themselves they didn't know, or has to deal with being different. No, no ties to my actual real life, of course. {cough}

7. How many days a week do you write?

Five regularly (M-F) plus whatever weekend time I can grab.

8. What time of day do you get your best writing done?

Lunch! I close the door, and the time is all mine.

9. Who are your mentors?

Diana Gabaldon, Vicki Pettersson. Both have helped me immeasurably, in different ways.

10. Who are your favorite authors to read? (different from mentors)

Right now: Joanna Bourne, Scott Westerfeld, Melissa Marr. Piles of others, but those are on top at the moment.

Now, yours!

Woot!!!

For anybody who hasn't seen the news yet...

A new anthology has been announced, with Vicki, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Kim Harrison, and Jocelynn Drake. Jocelynn's the only one I haven't read (and loved) yet, but I know I will, from the insider comments I've heard.

Wow.

I don't often go all fan-girly, but I am today. {Massive Grin}

Win The Spymaster's Lady signed copy!

Forgot to add this:

Go to Jennifer Hendren's blog to enter to win a signed copy of The Spymaster's Lady! Trust me, if you don't already have one, you want one. :)

The shape of the future

AHA!

Over the weekend I started to see the shape of Ghost Girl. I remember this happening about the halfway mark with Jenna too--suddenly what was rather vague wandering around and doing stuff begins to crystallize into plots, threads, themes, and issues. I start to see what I will need to change, strengthen, and cut. Where I will deepen characters and relationships. I feel a surge of excitement, that I can really make this a good book. It's like I've been sculpting with no idea what the final product will be, and then I just SEE.

I also see the mounds of work ahead to get there. Yes, there will be massive rewrites necessary. But this sense of shape is validation that it will work when I'm done.

For now, though, forward progress continues. I just stuck Nat in a very lovely (not) situation I'm quite pleased with. Reminder: never volunteer to be one of my heroines.

Last night--sleepless again--I also got a bit more info on the NEXT book. I had to sit on her to get her to stop telling me about it, because I just can't listen to her right now. Her name, BTW, is Melody.

Depressing news...

This was in my PW Daily today:

Harcourt San Diego Office to Close

Employees in Harcourt’s San Diego trade division were told Thursday that the office will close June 30. The announcement is the latest step in the integration of the Harcourt and Houghton Mifflin trade operations into the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers division. The San Diego office has about 65 employees.

More here from PW.

For those who don't know, I worked as an editor in the San Diego office of Academic Press, then a division of Harcourt, for 8 years. The Harcourt trade people were my colleagues, and many of them my friends. Our division was taken over by Reed Elsevier 5 years ago, and now Harcourt. {SIGH}

Winner!

And the winner is...LINDA!!

Congratulations, Linda. 4 new books coming your way. :) Enjoy!

And I hope everybody enjoys The Spymaster's Lady. I have no doubt about that. (Congratulations again, Jo!)

Last entry!

Thanks for the laughs yesterday, guys! Worked like a charm, with the addition of coffee and GOING HOME. :)

I also started a wonderful book last night, called The Spymaster's Lady. Heard of it?

Here's the last contest entry, unless somebody gets to me in the next 20 minutes. I'll do a random draw at 9 AM and announce the winner here.

From Linda:



Linda chose to take the photo with her favorite accompaniment. I highly recommend that one myself.

need a laugh!

Also...

I'm in rather a cranky and crotchety mood right now. I need diversion. What's your best cheering-up site or laugh?

Entry #4

This is from Precie, who drove to the store and purchased the book, partly (now) because of this contest. Yay!



Anyone else?

Another entry

Julianne's entry for the contest:



Okay, someone who's name does not start with "J"?

Contest rules here, update here. Remember, deadline is 9 AM MST tomorrow.

Contest entries

Triple post day. Blame coffee.

Entries for the contest!

From Jen:


From Jenny C.:



Now it's a competition. {g}

Anybody NOT named Jennifer like to enter?

Yay

Oh, I'm so happy!

One of my friends just had a writing epiphany, and I am so thrilled for her!! Whoopee!