I Put A Spell On You

It's my turn to get the blog chain ball rolling this time, and I have to admit I was having a hard time coming up with something.

Lots of stuff and lots of life adjustments have been happening lately. I made a big move, started a full time job after several years of being home all day with the kids (switching places with my husband who is now looking for a job), after staying with my parents for a few weeks we found a house to rent and have spent the last few weeks unpacking and settling in, and trying to get our very confused children back into some sort of normal routine again. And on top of all that, I am also working on revisions of my latest book so that I can start sending queries out ASAP.

And and and, somewhere beyond all that I know that I should be starting on the next next book, which I have some scattered ideas for, but nothing solid. The thing is - my brain is sputtering. Instead of plotting the lives of my new characters, it's going, "Ooooh, why did I move to a different state? Why do I have to visit the DMV? And get a new license with a probably terrible picture? And register my car? Ooooh, why?"

The whole being unable to focus on writing feels like a curse. Or an evil spell. And that's when I had my idea. No, not for the new novel, but for this blog chain.


Curses, you've been cursed! You can write no longer. The story well has run dry, and you can't even remember how to type. Now what do you do? Where do you channel your creative energies? And to what lengths would you go to break the curse?


Now, I'm gonna cheat a little bit on this chain, and not answer the questions myself until the end of the chain. So head on over to Michelle's blog to see how she handles the curse.

Accentuate the Positive

It's been a horrible wet and gloomy spring for me, and for many other people in the South and Midwest it has been even worse with all the terrible tornadoes that keep coming. Sometimes it's easy to forgot that there is any good left, which is why I think Michelle's question for this round of the blog chain is so great.

The question: Be positive! Name some of the positive aspects of your writing --- be it a compliment from a mentor, friend or crit partner to anything special you learned concerning your writing skills.

When it is easy to focus on what isn't working and what isn't going your way, I think it's great to sometimes focus on the positives in all aspects of life, and in our writing journeys especially.

Hand in hand with accentuating the positive is also remembering that we need to toot our own horns sometimes. Maybe we haven't gotten an agent yet or made the bestseller list, or whatever the next goal down the line is, but as long as we stick with it we will continue to move forward, even if it is sometimes measured in inches instead of the giant leaps we want to be making.

So, without further ado, here are two big POSITIVES in my current writing life.

1. I had another story published in Woman's World this past month. It is my third story that I've submitted and they've accepted. There is nothing like the validation of seeing your words in print AND getting paid for them too. As a bonus, Kate Willoughby, who runs a blog about writing for Woman's World gave my story a great review.

2. I just finished my third novel and am getting ready to query once more. It's easy to see this as a negative. Two novels that I was unable to find an agent with. But I won't look at it that way (not today at least). The first novel got a few nibbles, but nothing serious. The second novel I got a lot closer with a rewrite/resubmit request and even a telephone call with the agent. It didn't end with an offer of representation, but I knew I was that much closer. Now as I prepare to start the query process all over again, I feel more hope than trepidation.

And as a little bonus I have a third positive that really doesn't have much to do with writing, but more with my personal life. After wanting to return to hometown of Buffalo, NY for many years, my husband and I finally found a way to make it a reality. At the beginning of May we packed up our house in Knoxville and headed North. We are still getting settled and a lot of our lives are still up in the air, but it feels good to be here, near my family again and at the place that through years of moving around California and Tennessee - I never could stop thinking of it as "home".

To follow along with this blog chain please read Sandra's post from yesterday, and then tomorrow head over to Cole's where she will finish things up.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

It's blog chain time once more, and Cole started things off by, by, by...

Woooh, okay, this is still difficult for me. Let me just get it out, before I break down completely. She BROKE UP WITH THE INTERNET!

Okay, sorry to yell, it's just kind of a big deal.

Don't get me wrong, Cole had some really good reasons for doing it... and that's what kinda makes things awkward for me.

You see, like the rest of the blog chain (you can follow along starting with Cole's post, or go backwards with Sandra's post directly before mine) I want to support her decision in the traditional way: with Ben & Jerry's and/or tequila, and a constant litany of, "I knew it from the beginning, you were too good for him. It's his loss. His loss."

Except there's one big problem - I am bound by the International Break-Up Treaty, which clearly states:

Mutual friends will be allocated in the following ways:

Friends introduced to the break-upper by the break-upee, will be returned to the break-upee, and will side with the break-upee in all post-break-up arguments. And vice versa yadda yadda yadda, etc, etc, etc.

If you can't decode all the legalize, here it is in a nutshell. I was friends with the Internet first, and if it wasn't for the Internet introducing us, I never would've known Cole at all. That means that as much as I don't want to, and as cool as Cole is (seriously, read her blog and you'll totally think to yourself, 'I totally want to hang out with her in real life.') I have to take the side of the Internet.

You see, The Internet and I go way back. When we first met back in high school, he was so sweet and considerate, always letting me know, "You've Got Mail." Later on in grad school, when for the first time I had a computer that was all mine, we were rebels together, illegally downloading music. And I never could've made it through all my boring desk jobs, without having the Internet there to keep me entertained.

The Internet has also been there for me during this crazy publishing journey - connecting me to other writers and as I talked about in a previous entry, teaching me everything there is to know about the business of getting published.

That's not all the Internet has taught me though. It also helped me learn how to cook and has given me tons of cool recipes to test out, it's given me tons of great book recommendations, and just the other day the Internet showed me how to take the really cool bokeh heart picture at the top of this post.

Sure, sometimes his information is inaccurate and we all know he's worth than useless during a power outage. And okay, yes, sometimes the Internet has done me wrong too. From that terrible blind date it set me up with when I first moved to California, to theKnot planning boards that made me a little wedding crazy, and most recently the Followers box on this very blog that made me momentarily insane as I tried to chase after online popularity.

At the end of the day though, the Internet is that friend I'm really glad to have... even if sometimes I also can't stand him. We'll have fights, but eventually we'll always make up.

So Cole, I understand if you need some time after your break-up with the Internet, but I hope eventually the two of you can eventually be friends. And if not, well maybe we can still communicate a bit behind his back, you know, snail mail me!

The Lurve Scene

Kat is determined to get us all into trouble with the latest question for the blog chain.

How do you feel about love scenes? As a reader, are you put off by the gratuitous? As a writer, do you shy away from spelling out the down-and-dirty? Or do you write until your computer lights a cigarette?

That's right, we've talked about romance and we've talked about love, but now it's time to go there. Kids, it's time to talk about s-e-x.

I love that Kat asked about our feelings about love scenes from both the prospective of a reader and as a writer, because for me they are very different. It is kind of the same way I feel about fried foods. Now like most people with working taste buds and no history of heart disease, I love french fries, fried mozzarella, and believe in miracles every time I eat a fresh from the conveyor belt Krispy Kreme doughnut.

However, as much as I enjoy the distinctive taste of foods cooked in hot fat, I refuse to fry at home. Not in a fryer machine and not in a deep pot with a thermometer attached. It's too messy and too dangerous. Not to mention the health risks. Wait... are we still talking about frying food or did we switch back to sex?

As I've mentioned before here I am a fan of the romance genre. I first discovered romance novels towards the end of my middle school years, and if it wasn't for the sex scenes in them who knows when or where or how I would have eventually filled in the gaps in my sexual education. You see I grew up in a house that not only lacked HBO but any kind of cable television at all. And I went to a Catholic school up until eighth grade where when we did have our boys and girls separated sex ed classes their information was so out of date that the film reels (yes!) showed us girls how to attach our sanitary napkins with belts that kind of acted like garters.

Sex scenes aren't merely for educational purposes though. In the best written romances they should work in much the same way as a musical number in a Broadway musical does. It should advance the plot, reveal character, and entertain.

So when I wrote my first novel and it was a romance novel and it came time for the sex scene of course I wanted it to be good - I wanted it to be great. And it was. Probably. In the alternate universe where I actually wrote it. Yeah, there was sex in my book, but it was closed door - as in I wrote the before and I wrote the after, but the in-between was left to the reader's imagination.

And I think that is just the type of writer I am, because when I tried to write the in-between or when I even thought about writing it, I started shaking. Not with fear, but with a terrible awful case of the church giggles (these, of course, are the giggles you get at a time place when you are absolutely NOT supposed to be giggling, and this then causes you to giggle all the more).

I have a terrible time taking myself seriously sometimes, especially when something is very serious, but at the same time - if you look at it from a slightly different angle - very very silly. And sex scenes can become incredibly silly, incredibly quickly. Even at the very basic level of dealing with anatomy - you either get flowery and euphemistic and that is unintentionally hilarious. Or else you are very technical and sound like a stuffy textbook, which is once again hilarious.

I don't think it is possible to write a good, believable sex scene when you are giggling and snickering behind your hand like a sixth grade boy (no offense to sixth grade boys, but c'mon guys, you know how you are), and since I cannot at this time summon the necessary gravity, for now I'll leave the sex scenes to those who can.

So what about you? Are you a reader of sex scenes, a writer of them, both, or neither?

And if you love reading about love scenes, continue reading with Sandra and Cole.

Expect the Unexpected

It's blog chain time once more and today's question is brought to us by Sarah.

what has been the most unexpected part of your writing journey up to this point? What has happened that you could never have predicted? Has it been a help or a hindrance?

There have actually been lots of unexpected parts to my writing journey, but maybe that's because I didn't have a whole lot of solid expectations starting out. Even though I've always known that I wanted to be a writer, I'm not a sit down and write down time specific goals type person. Instead, I use the "well let's try this" method of living my life.

That's how I ended up getting a BFA in theatre instead of the english degree I'd originally intended on receiving. And when I realized that might not have been quite what I wanted, it was off to film school in California - the other end of country from my hometown of Buffalo, NY. I met my husband and we both earned MFAs in Film and Television Production, but finding a job in the LA industry was tougher than we'd expected so when he got a job offer in Tennessee - I didn't even hesitate. Sure, why not - let's go for it. Once settled down South with full health insurance benefits my husband and I saw an opportunity to join the great "let's have a kid" experiment. And because we never do anything halfway, we had two (not at the same time though. gah. I shudder at the thought.)

Okay, but this is supposed to be about my writing life. And that big paragraph above this one is just about my life life. Well that's because my writing life has always happened in between my life life. And I really only got serious about the writing part of my life in between having those kids. That's when I started my first novel, not even knowing it was going to be the first novel that I actually finished. So that was kind of unexpected. It was the fall of 2007 and my son was four months old. By December I finished it and by the Spring I was itching to send it out into the world.

This is where the really unexpected part comes in. I had no idea how much there was to learn. Or how much was involved in the "trying to get book published" process. Going into it, I figured it would be similar to putting a worm on a hook, casting it out to sea, and waiting for the fish to bite. Okay, so I know nothing about fishing, and I knew nothing about getting published. But I do now. Well, the publishing part - still not real clear on the ins and outs of fishing.

At first it was mind boggling how many resources were available out there FOR FREE to anyone who had the ability to Google and then read until their eyes bled. And I did read until my eyes bleed.

I hunted down every agent blog. Every editor blog. Every writing forum. Everything ever written on how best to write a query and how best to write a synopsis. And how not to write a query and synopsis.

I found a crit group, and realized got some good feedback.

I wrote a query and then I rewrote it five hundred thousand times. And then I rewrote it again.

I found out what books were trending hot. I found out not to follow trends.

I learned about blogging and leaving comments and started my own blog and hoped to one day get my own blog comments.

Sometimes I would remember to blink, and then I would read some more.

I entered agent contests and read about what to do when you get the call, and what to do if more than one agent is interested - even though by this point I was packing poor novel number one away and starting work on novel number two, because I had also read that this is what you are supposed to do.

I learned the difference between New York publishing, online publishing, and self publishing.

I read success stories and felt envious and wistful and more determined than ever.

I found Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, Dear Author, Book Smugglers and lots of other great review sights that added to my pile of books to buy or get from the library and I read those too.

I cross referenced agents on QueryTracker and AgentQuery and felt like Santa Claus writing his list and checking it twice.

Yes, several times I purposely Googled something along the lines of, "authors who were rejected a million times and then went on to become kiss my a$$ rich and famous."

I learned about publishing contracts and edits and the whole process that goes into making the books that end up on the shelves.

I read agented authors saying that it didn't get easier after having an agent, and read published authors saying it didn't get better after being published, and thought "well that's just frigging great."

And then one day I got to the point where I'd click on a link to an article on how to write a better query, and realized... hey, wait, I already knew this. I've done this.

At that point I could've printed myself out a BS in Writing degree to hang on my wall. I didn't though.

One, because that would be lame and a little delusional, especially since I don't have the actual diplomas I have earned hanging on the wall.

And two, because I don't think my education is complete. I'm not anywhere near to how obsessive I once was in my online agent, blog, and forum following, but having that time when I was really plugged in was a huge help in getting closer to my writing goals. At the same time it was also a hindrance to my having any time to do some actual writing, which is why I've cut down significantly (child #2 in the "let's have a kid" experiment didn't help with the time constraints either). Overall though, time spent learning the business has probably been the most important unexpected detour I've taken on this writing journey.

That's it for this unexpected post. But there are more surprises to be had! Go find them with Sandra, Cole, and the rest of the blog chain.

Literary Love

After a bit of an unplanned hiatus, I am back on the blog chain just in time for Shaun's Valentine's themed question.

Who is your favorite literary couple and why?

I always have trouble with questions that ask me to pick a favorite. Favorite book, favorite movie, or favorite candy bar - how can I be expected to pick just one? And when it comes to ask a lifelong romance reader, such a myself, to pick just ONE favorite literary couple... well, it's almost enough to make my head explode... that is until the obvious answer came to me.

My favorite literary couple is my first literary couple - Anne and Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables. Their relationship starts when they are children, when Gilbert makes fun of Anne's red hair. Over the course of the book, they become fierce competitors at school - each trying to take the place at the head of the class. By the end though, things change, they are older and become friends... with a suggestion (and hope from me) of something more. There are eight books in total in the Green Gables series, and slowly Anne and Gilbert fall in love, marry, and have children together. Having so many books, means there is no happy ending, but just like in life they continue to find new challenges together.

These books are not romances, but the relationship between Anne and Gilbert is one of the most romantic I've ever read, and I simply love them.

So who are your favorite literary lovebirds?

And to read more of this chain (full of excellent book recommendations for those seeking a little romance in their reading) make sure to check out Sandra before me, and Cole immediately after.

Interview with Michelle Mclean

Today I have an interview with Michelle McLean (one of the awesome members of the blog chain) discussing her NEW BOOK (like hot of the presses, get it now NEW) Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers


FIVE ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS WITH MICHELLE MCLEAN

1. The first essay type report I can remember doing was on koala bears. I am pretty sure I went to the library and used encyclopedias (like books printed on paper for the youngsters out there) for most of my information. There may also have been a poster board presentation to go along with it. Can you remember your first written essay? Where the ways of researching and presenting the information as outdated as my own?

I’m not sure I remember my first essay. I remember doing a mission report in 5th grade. I grew up in California, so elementary kids always had to do a report on one of the Spanish missions out there. We had to write an essay on it and build a model of whichever mission we’d chosen. I actually really enjoyed it. Since we lived close to the one I chose, we went to visit it, and my dad helped me build a really cool model. And yes, I used those ancient encyclopedias as well LOL I seriously remember thinking the internet was some weird fad that I’d never use, especially for something like RESEARCH. :D Ahhh how times have changed. In fact, a good chunk of my chapter on how to research focuses on how to research without leaving your house :D

2. Up until college I was an undercover nerd. Okay, I tried to be undercover, but I think my honor roll status might have blown my cover pretty early. Still, I tried to be stealthy about my book a day extracurricular reading activities - especially once I discovered romance novels. Were you out loud and proud about your love of books and learning at school - or did you try the stealth approach as well?

Nope, I was in total stealth mode. I would have loved to read during all my breaks but I was too embarrassed and afraid to get teased. I talked about reading and I often still found something to read, but it was usually my history textbook or whatever novel we’d been assigned for English :D Then I’d devour my ‘real’ books when I got home. They didn’t have all these cool YA books when I was growing up. I read Sweet Valley High…those were socially acceptable. But my mother didn’t approve of them so I could only read those in secret LOL Seems like I was always hiding a book from someone :D

3. Cliffnotes. Fess up. Did you ever use them? Were you ever tempted to?

Ha! The few times I was able to get my hands on them I did. Confession – I’m not a fan of most of the “classics.” Snooze……Moby Dick…made it through exactly 2 chapters. The first one and one somewhere in the middle. Luckily my teacher was a huge fan of the book and talked about it so much I was able to ace every test :) That’s not to say I didn’t read my fair share of classics, and I did enjoy some of them. And most of the time I just couldn’t get a hold of the cliffnotes so I HAD to read. But yeah, cliffnotes or anywhere else I could find a summary – total fan :D

4. Finish the essay a week before it's due, or pull an all-nighter trying to get it finished at the last minute?

A little of both. I always tried to do it early. I always had my research and notes done ahead of time. But there were many times when I left the actual writing of the paper until the night before. Especially in grad school when I was juggling school and two babies :) But, if you have good notes and an outline, your paper is pretty much done for you….something I go over in my book :D I couldn’t have pulled off the night before writing though if I hadn’t had my notes and outline already. I don’t know how people do that :)

5. Ever used an excuse for a paper that wasn't ready on time (whether real or not)? Was it the dog ate my homework, or the computer ate my homework, or something even more creative?

I think I always had my paper ready on time. Though, I did take one class in my undergrad days, where I actually had the paper done like a month ahead of time, and then totally spaced the day it was due. I told the professor that I had it done and that it had been done for weeks but I’d left it at home. He’d told the class before there would be absolutely no accepting late papers so I was just sick. But he gave me until 4 that afternoon to have it in his office. I’m pretty sure I’d asked him a couple weeks earlier if I could turn it in early and he said no, so he must have known I really had it done. Plus, he gave me enough time to go grab it, but certainly not enough to write a 15 page paper from scratch lol

Luckily I just lived down the street from the school. I jetted home, grabbed it, and had it in his file box in under an hour. But ugh….nothing worse than that sick feeling of forgetting your homework…at least for me :)

BONUS QUESTION

Do you have saved any favorite essays from high school or college - either on paper or hidden away on some poor forgotten floppy disk? What were they and why did you save them?

Yep. I have most of my college papers. Or quite a few anyway. All of my grad school stuff. My mom actually kept a big file of my earlier college stuff. I keep most of what I write, but especially in regards to my papers, I just couldn’t stand the thought of spending that much time on something and then throwing it out :D

In fact, almost every sample essay in my book, with the exception of a few I wrote just for the book, is a paper I wrote for one of my classes. For the most part, I’ve trimmed them down to essay length and changed the language a bit to be more appropriate for high school level, but if you want to see some of my early work, just check out the sample essays in my book :D

**********************

Hmmm... if I was grading this interview I would have to give Michelle an A++ - she totally nailed it - even the bonus question!

Now here are some helpful links: check them out to find out more about Michelle and her book!

Michelle's Website
Michelle's Blog
The Operation Awesome Blog
Facebook Page
Twitter
Amazon link to Homework Helpers