This and That

I am blogging over at the Class of 2K13 blog today about my playlist for ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE.

The Lucky 13s have a great post up today, as well, featuring childhood pictures. There is one of me looking incredibly adorkable in my Catholic school sweatshirt and gigantic red glasses.

Balance

This weeks blog chain topic is brought to us by Lisa as a parting gift as she has left the blog chain. As much as I'll  miss LIsa, I am so happy to welcome Demitria to the blog chain and can't see her blog post this coming Friday! Now onto this chain's question...

The balancing act. How do you balance your writing time with everything else in your life--including, kids, job, book promotion?

GAH. What a really great and timely question. 

I am writing this post on a Sunday afternoon - the day before it will post. 

I am squeezing this in between cooking for a Superbowl party for my family and the time until my family will come over. 

Before being able to write this post I had to convince my son that although I would love his help while I was working on the computer - it really DIDN'T help to have him sitting on my lap and playing with the mouse as I typed. 

Now both children are being distracted by watching a show I downloaded onto my Ipod. It is only thirty minutes long - so I need to type fast. 

Tomorrow, I have work at my 9-5 job. 

I also have books to read and my next book to begin writing. 

One of these days I'll be getting a revision letter back from my editor for another book. 

OH! And I also need to do promotion for ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE that debuts in June. 

And then there are the two dogs who need to be fed and walked and brushed and...

And the house which constantly needs to be cleaned.

And laundry.

And putting food on the table every night. The kids like to eat breakfast and lunch too, so we have to think about that too. Thank goodness for cereal and good old peanut butter and jelly.

Let's also not forget about sleep. Because I like to sleep. A lot. And I really hate that achy, tired eyes, thumping head tiredness that comes with not getting enough of it.

Then there's exercise. You would think all this STUFF would burn calories, but since a lot of my stuff involves sitting on my butt in front of a computer - yeah, not so much. I have to admit that lately exercise have fallen way to the bottom of my list. I really need to do something about that. Tomorrow maybe. Or the day after that. 

So how do I balance it all? Ummmm... 

Well, what I do is... Errrrrr...

Okay, so to keep all the balls in the air, the thing to remember is... Huh.

The truth is - I don't balance everything. All the balls - not in the air. Some of them even roll under the couch and then sit there for a really long time. 

This is the best advice I have to give about balance and I do my best to follow it myself.

Do what you can when you can. Don't beat yourself up when something slips through the cracks. And don't ruin your nails trying to dig it back out. Some things slip through the cracks because they just aren't that important after all. And most importantly, occasionally let yourself be lazy and useless. Sit in your clothes that need to be washed, in the middle of your house that needs to be cleaned, next to the piles of work that need to be done, refuse to make eye contact with that dust-covered elliptical and just relax. 

Ha ha ha. No, I'm just kidding. You'd need a horse tranquilizer to relax under those circumstances. The best I can usually do is distract myself with TV. Lately I've been loving The New Girl and Happy Endings. But watch what makes you happy - even if it is Honey Boo Boo. 

And then when it's over - turn off the TV and get back to work.

That's all the wisdom I have for today, but this blog chain continues for the next two weeks. To keep following it, make sure you check out Sandra's blog tomorrow. 

New Year, New Projects

For the first blog chain of 2013 Katrina starts things out with this question:

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

I have actually been doing a lot of thinking lately about my next writing project as I am currently finishing up the first draft of my follow-up book to ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE. I talked about this project a few months ago in my Next Big Thing post. 

However, since I have not even started writing my next next project and it is currently in the germ stage where the idea seems all perfectly beautiful and sparkly... well, I don't want to ruin the romance by talking about it. Soon enough, (usually around the 10K words mark) I will begin to feel differently, but right now my love is blind and I want to keep it that way.

So,  that's about all that I can say about that. I don't want to skip out on contributing to this round of the blog chain, though, so instead of talking about my project, I'd like to share this with you instead.

You're welcome. Or, if you have no idea who He-man or the band Four Non-Blondes are then I am really and truly sorry.

And to read about the upcoming projects that the rest of the blog chainers are contemplating - don't forget to keep following along. As usual, Sandra is up next.

Give and Take

The always always amazing Cole came up with this truly awesome question for our latest blog chain:

In this season of giving, what one piece of advice you can gift aspiring authors?

Oh wow. I have to give a gift of advice?!? Eek. Pressure. 

Wouldn't you rather have a $5 Starbucks gift card? You could buy an eggnog latte and... Well that's pretty much all $5 would buy at Starbucks. But still - yummy, right? 

Okay, no. I can do this. Advice. Wrapped up and with a bow on top. 

But first, let me go off on a tangent, that will then circle back around to the whole advice gift thing. I'll be quick - I promise.

I love Christmas movies and Christmas specials. And I tend to get teary-eyed very easily while watching these - it's mostly just my allergies from all those dusty Christmas decorations. I mean, for goodness sakes, I'm not really getting choked up over the stupid Folgers commercial where the girl tells her brother that he's her Christmas gift this year... could I? 

Anyway, moving on...

A lot of these specials have the common theme of family and being with those you love - like that emotionally manipulative coffee commercial. But my favorite theme - and the one that gets every stinking time - is that of belief. I guess the belief thing gets me because it's not about believing in Santa or even the power of little baby Jesus. It's bigger than that. It's belief in something good and magical and sacred that goes beyond presents and decorated trees and cookies. For me it's belief in the human spirit - that someone survives even the tragedy of this past week.

That belief is what makes the Grinch's small heart grow three sizes.

Yeah, the Grinch has always been one of my favorites. But in the last few years, there's another Christmas movie, that I might like even more. Maybe it's because this one gets a lot of play in my house due to my son - the train lover. Or maybe it's because I just love what it has to say. 

That book and movie is The Polar Express. 

So to all those aspiring writers out there - here is my gift to you - by way of The Polar Express.

First be ready to ride. 

Once on your way, don't forget that...

And finally just...

And I know it's not really in the Christmas spirit - but I totally gave myself the same gift too.

Want to open another present? You'll find it wrapped up and waiting for you on Sandra's blog tomorrow.

A Darkness Most Dreadful

Today is not only my daughter's third birthday but also the start of another blog chain. Christine kicked things off with this question:

I've been described as a writer of highly emotional and dark stories. So much so, that some could not read Transcend saying that while it was "beautifully crafted and written", the story was just too dark. So I ask you...How dark is too dark for your aesthetic? And is writing "dark" and "emotional" a "bad" thing?

This is such a great question for the blog chain because I already know that everyone will answer this a different way. And that's because what one person views as dark, may not be so bleak to another person's point of view. 

For me personally, I write darker books and I like to read darker books. Although sometimes I also like to read light and fluffy books. I don't think either of these is good or bad--as long as the darkness or light fits the story that it is being told. The most important thing about reading a dark book, though, is that there is some light at the end. Endings don't necessarily need to be 'Cinderella driving away with the Prince' happy, but there needs to be hope or a feeling that things are looking up.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. 

In high school I had to read 1984 by George Orwell. I was not a Cliffnotes type of girl. I wouldn't even skim. If I was assigned to read a book, then I read every single word. I even read the rather long book within a book that comes somewhere around the middle of 1984. The last 100 pages were a bit of a slog, but I kept going - not just for school anymore - but to know how it ended for myself.

I had my fingers crossed for a happy ending. I guess I should have known better. Maybe I did. But what I didn't know was that it was a **SPOILER ALERT** strap a rat in a cage to the main character's face so that he would finally give in and be completely and utterly defeated type of ending. 

I threw that book across the room. I was so mad at it. Just thinking about it now, I feel outraged all over again . I do not subscribe to that book's vision of the world and humanity and I never will. 

That is too dark for me.  

Maybe next June when ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE hits the shelves, it will also hit the walls of some its readers. It is a dark book in some places, although the word I hear most often in feedback so far is "creepy." That might not be everyone's cup of tea and I get that. But I will promise you this - there are no rats and the ending is ultimately on the side of hope.

As you probably already know - this is only the beginning of the blog chain - to read more head on over to Sandra's blog.

It's blog chain time again and Alyson is kicking things off with this question:

How important is setting when crafting a story? How do you choose where your stories take place? How do you research setting? Do you have to have been somewhere in order to write about it? What are some memorable settings from books you've read?

So, setting is obviously pretty important. To borrow Stephen King's brilliant writer's toolbox analogy, I would say that setting is a power tool. Now power tools are awesome because, well, because of the whole power thing. They can do a lot quickly and easily. The downside is that if you use them wrong, you can also cut your hand off. 

For example if your story is set in New York City, the city can almost be like another character in your novel. OR, if you set your story in NYC, but you've never been there and you're basically using Friends and Sex In The City repeats as your research - that may be less effective.

The biggest setting downfall, though, is when you have done your research or you have lived in New York City all your life and want everyone to see it as crystal clearly as you do - so you write pages and pages and pages of description. Beautiful, poetic... BORING description.

I call this the HANS BRINKER, OR THE SILVER SKATES syndrome.

This is a book I was given when I was a kid and for years it sat on my shelf - unread. For many kids this would probably not be an unheard of scenario, but for me - a child who devoured every book in her path - this was shocking. The thing is I tried to devour this book. Every so often starving for a new book, I would take a little bite of it, and then every time, I would start reading chapter 2 and... the book would become as delicious as sawdust. I'd spit it out and move on to something else. 

So what was it about chapter 2 that led to this reaction? Well, Chapter 2 was given the title of "Holland". It begins like this:

Now I think most people would agree that that is some lovely descriptive writing... but by the end of that rather long paragraph don't you feel like, okay, that's nice, but can we have some dialogue now? Alas, this type of description continues for the next EIGHT pages!

I did eventually read Hans Brinker, though. I must have been desperate for new reading material, and finally just skipped chapter 2 and then read the rest of the book, which was actually pretty good. 

Of course, setting doesn't have to be the brussels sprouts on your thanksgiving plate - aka something that must be eaten around. And this is because setting - unlike brussels sprouts - can be delicious if handled correctly. 

A good example of setting that is integral to a book and enriches it can be found in Maggie Stiefvater's THE SCORPIO RACES.  The whole book takes place on an island where every year half-sea monster, half-horse creatures come out of the ocean and are captured by those foolish enough to try and ride them in the Scorpio Races. It is just brilliant and lovely and all the beautiful setting details are sprinkled evenly throughout the book instead of dumped into one big steaming pile and calling it chapter 2. 

Okay, so those are my thoughts on the potential perils and rewards of setting. Now go check out what the rest of the blog chain has to say, starting with Sandra tomorrow.

Blog Chain

This month many writers, including myself, are focused on NaNoWriMo and that makes the question Sandra picked totally perfect.

During National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), writers attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Do you set daily writing goals for yourself, either a certain word count or time spent on writing? Does this include other writing-related activities, like research, plotting, or revising? Do you focus on reaching the end of the journey (such as finishing your current project), or do you enjoy the writing process along the way?

So, as I mentioned above, I am taking part in NaNoWriMo this year. With that in mind I am going to keep this short. 

I don't usually set word goals for myself because I am terrible at keeping them. In fact, this is my third time doing NaNoWriMo and I have never actually won. However, when I am writing a first draft, I do try to make myself sit down in front of the computer, pull up the Word document with my WIP in it, and get some words down. Just to give myself some sort of goal I usually aim for 1,000. Sometimes I meet that, sometimes I don't. Either way, though, if I get any amount of words down, I usually count my time spent writing as successful.

As for enjoying the writing process along the way or only focusing on the reaching "the end"... 

Well, it always feels good to finish. There is a sense of accomplishment at telling your story from beginning to end. But I don't think I would continue writing if all the enjoyment was saved for the finish line. 

So yes, there is definitely joy in the journey. At times there is also agony, when the words aren't flowing and nothing seems to be working. But the good days - when a plot point from earlier suddenly connects with another plot point fifty pages later, or when a character's voice is crystal clear in my head, or when I find the totally perfect words to describe something - they are what fuel me to reach the end of writing one book, and then after a short rest, they are what make me get excited about starting another.

Okay, back to getting those words down. But there's lots more to be said about writing goals - this question will be answered by the rest of the blog chain members throughout the next two weeks. And the next person up is the questioner herself - Sandra. Make sure to check that out tomorrow.