Hey All!!!
So my life has taken a turn...for the awesome!
My book, Cursed, was published with Evernight Teen on 12/13/13, and it's been really great seeing peoples response to it. I've been working to get more reviews and publicity, so hopefully you'll see more about it in the weeks to come.
Also, the BF, who I've been having fun with for 2.5 years now, asked me to marry him!!! The proposal was absolute perfection...what any romance obsessed writer would want.
But now it's back to reality and writing.
Happy reading and writing!
Showing posts with label plotting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plotting. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Monday, October 28, 2013
YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE YOUR NEXT BANGING IDEA WILL COME FROM!
Hey All!!!
I was recently doing some reading online and happened upon this Korean teen drama series called Boys Over Flowers (Forever Young Adult has a good review on the series here). It seemed right up my alley: a little nutty, a lot of fun, and full of teenaged-dramatic-goodness.
While I was reading the plot online a light bulb went off in my brain. I realized that this story has all the ingredients for a fun YA novel:
1) Smart, nice, cute and mouthy main character goes to private school on scholarship? Check!
2) Meets a cute group of boys that are all major douches? Check!
3) Boys all fall madly in love for our wonderfully lovable heroine and all chaos ensues? Double Check!
For my purposes, I'll probably want to add in a dash of the supernatural with my own bit of flair...but I think it may be something special.
I never know when a good idea will hit me, or where I'll get my next inspiring thought, so I always keep an open mind for whatever may come. I'll be pocketing this idea, along with slew of others I have locked away in my handy-dandy notebook, for later use. Until then, I have about 24 hours worth of Korean teen drama to catch up on!
On a different note, I recently heard from my editor with Evernight Teen and have been working on my first round of edits for about a week now. I'm about halfway through and am so excited I may bust!
Happy reading and writing!
I was recently doing some reading online and happened upon this Korean teen drama series called Boys Over Flowers (Forever Young Adult has a good review on the series here). It seemed right up my alley: a little nutty, a lot of fun, and full of teenaged-dramatic-goodness.
While I was reading the plot online a light bulb went off in my brain. I realized that this story has all the ingredients for a fun YA novel:
1) Smart, nice, cute and mouthy main character goes to private school on scholarship? Check!
2) Meets a cute group of boys that are all major douches? Check!
3) Boys all fall madly in love for our wonderfully lovable heroine and all chaos ensues? Double Check!
For my purposes, I'll probably want to add in a dash of the supernatural with my own bit of flair...but I think it may be something special.
I never know when a good idea will hit me, or where I'll get my next inspiring thought, so I always keep an open mind for whatever may come. I'll be pocketing this idea, along with slew of others I have locked away in my handy-dandy notebook, for later use. Until then, I have about 24 hours worth of Korean teen drama to catch up on!
On a different note, I recently heard from my editor with Evernight Teen and have been working on my first round of edits for about a week now. I'm about halfway through and am so excited I may bust!
Happy reading and writing!
Thursday, September 5, 2013
MOOD MUSIC AND WRITING
Hey All!!!
Like many others, I recently watched the MTV VMA's. I gawked at the mess that is Miley Cyrus, was in awe of the wonder that is Justin Timberlake, and squealed like the girl that I'm not when *NSYNC came on stage for all of 30 seconds (and YES I would pay anything to go to a reunion concert). So, I was happily caught up the next morning when all of the post award show buzz on the Kidd Kraddick Show was going on. Or so I thought.
Smack in the middle of the round up, they started gushing over Bruno Mars performance and I felt a little lost. It wasn't that I didn't see it. I caught a bit of it after my evening shower. By that point the show had gone on a bit long for me and I'd already caught the section I'd really wanted to see (Justin/*NSYNC) so I was winding down for the night. I didn't really pay attention to the song Bruno Mars was singing, but remembered thinking it had a catchy tune. But when Kelly Raspberry went on about how it was an orgasmic experience, well, I HAD to figure out what all of the hype was about.
I immediately downloaded it right then and there in the car...and was completely blown away!
Gorilla by Bruno Mars is gritty, raw, sensual, and completely awesome! And it put my brain in such a perfect mood to write romance and sexy-time that I had a writing breakthrough that night.
That's the great thing about music and creating. The right song can completely shift your mood, bringing about feelings and emotions that you can use for your writing. And depending on your life experiences, the music and words can even draw upon the familiar emotions you felt long ago.
Lately as I've been writing, I've been able to evoke all of those hot and lusty feelings of the initial attraction one can have for a potential love interest - and I believe it's made my first few chapters of my new NA story even better!
How does music effect your reading and writing experience? Are you someone who likes complete silence when you throw yourself into a tale or writing? Or do you like to have a little mood music to guide your way?
Happy reading and writing!
Like many others, I recently watched the MTV VMA's. I gawked at the mess that is Miley Cyrus, was in awe of the wonder that is Justin Timberlake, and squealed like the girl that I'm not when *NSYNC came on stage for all of 30 seconds (and YES I would pay anything to go to a reunion concert). So, I was happily caught up the next morning when all of the post award show buzz on the Kidd Kraddick Show was going on. Or so I thought.
Smack in the middle of the round up, they started gushing over Bruno Mars performance and I felt a little lost. It wasn't that I didn't see it. I caught a bit of it after my evening shower. By that point the show had gone on a bit long for me and I'd already caught the section I'd really wanted to see (Justin/*NSYNC) so I was winding down for the night. I didn't really pay attention to the song Bruno Mars was singing, but remembered thinking it had a catchy tune. But when Kelly Raspberry went on about how it was an orgasmic experience, well, I HAD to figure out what all of the hype was about.
I immediately downloaded it right then and there in the car...and was completely blown away!
Gorilla by Bruno Mars is gritty, raw, sensual, and completely awesome! And it put my brain in such a perfect mood to write romance and sexy-time that I had a writing breakthrough that night.
That's the great thing about music and creating. The right song can completely shift your mood, bringing about feelings and emotions that you can use for your writing. And depending on your life experiences, the music and words can even draw upon the familiar emotions you felt long ago.
Lately as I've been writing, I've been able to evoke all of those hot and lusty feelings of the initial attraction one can have for a potential love interest - and I believe it's made my first few chapters of my new NA story even better!
How does music effect your reading and writing experience? Are you someone who likes complete silence when you throw yourself into a tale or writing? Or do you like to have a little mood music to guide your way?
Happy reading and writing!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
WHEN CHARACTERS SURPRISE YOU
Hey All!!!
So, I'm working on a new YA novel. When I was first outlining this story, I saw the love interest as an all around nice guy - the athlete who likes to take tons of photos in his spare time. The guy who tells everyone that he takes those photos as a hobby to "beef up his resume", but who deep down loves everything there is about photography.
But when I started writing the first major scene between him and my main character, I was surprised to find he's a bit more snarky and arrogant than I originally thought. It's not that that's who he is deep down, it's just that people have expected certain things from him for so long and he's started to believe the lies.
The realization of the layers to my character shocked the heck out of me...but it also filled me with excitement and amazement!
That's the joy of writing. Not only does it enable me to get all of these voices and stories and what ifs out of my head, but it also enables me to discover so many different lives and personalities. It gives me hope in people and keeps me in awe of our wonderful complexities. And that's something I'll always value.
Happy Reading and Writing!!!
So, I'm working on a new YA novel. When I was first outlining this story, I saw the love interest as an all around nice guy - the athlete who likes to take tons of photos in his spare time. The guy who tells everyone that he takes those photos as a hobby to "beef up his resume", but who deep down loves everything there is about photography.
But when I started writing the first major scene between him and my main character, I was surprised to find he's a bit more snarky and arrogant than I originally thought. It's not that that's who he is deep down, it's just that people have expected certain things from him for so long and he's started to believe the lies.
The realization of the layers to my character shocked the heck out of me...but it also filled me with excitement and amazement!
That's the joy of writing. Not only does it enable me to get all of these voices and stories and what ifs out of my head, but it also enables me to discover so many different lives and personalities. It gives me hope in people and keeps me in awe of our wonderful complexities. And that's something I'll always value.
Happy Reading and Writing!!!
Monday, April 1, 2013
WHEN AWESOME IDEAS ATTACK
Hey All!!!
Imagine this:
You're at your writing critique group meeting, shooting the breeze, talking plot points, and just chatting about overall life. In your spare time you've been trying to work out a new story idea that would fit in with the current reading trends you're seeing. You know the one: girl meets boy, girl likes boy but knows there's something seriously wrong with boy, girl finds boy is X, girl finds herself very attracted to boy because of X or Y redeeming qualities, girl and boy fall in love and fight X situation together.
Suddenly, one of your critique group members makes a comment that leads you to think on one of your favorite sci-fi shows and voila, you've got a spankin' new tale on your hands.
Something similar happened to me tonight. An idea just hit me out of the blue when chatting it up with friends. And it's GOOD!!! Well, I think it is anyway.
There's nothing more exciting than when you get that sudden burst of a shiny new idea. It's the beginning...a new start. And the possibilities of where that tale can take you are endless. I love this part of writing. The glimmer of an idea. Fleshing out the main characters and who they are. Thinking about what they want and what gets in their way. And finally penning that first draft.
I don't know about you guys, but when I get in these moods, I become darn near obsessed. I eat, drink, and breathe the details until they solidify.
Now all I need is a new notebook to jot all of this down in!
How do you all handle the idea phase of your writing process? Is it something you revel in, or something you don't look forward to?
Happy Writing!!!
Imagine this:
You're at your writing critique group meeting, shooting the breeze, talking plot points, and just chatting about overall life. In your spare time you've been trying to work out a new story idea that would fit in with the current reading trends you're seeing. You know the one: girl meets boy, girl likes boy but knows there's something seriously wrong with boy, girl finds boy is X, girl finds herself very attracted to boy because of X or Y redeeming qualities, girl and boy fall in love and fight X situation together.
Suddenly, one of your critique group members makes a comment that leads you to think on one of your favorite sci-fi shows and voila, you've got a spankin' new tale on your hands.
Something similar happened to me tonight. An idea just hit me out of the blue when chatting it up with friends. And it's GOOD!!! Well, I think it is anyway.
There's nothing more exciting than when you get that sudden burst of a shiny new idea. It's the beginning...a new start. And the possibilities of where that tale can take you are endless. I love this part of writing. The glimmer of an idea. Fleshing out the main characters and who they are. Thinking about what they want and what gets in their way. And finally penning that first draft.
I don't know about you guys, but when I get in these moods, I become darn near obsessed. I eat, drink, and breathe the details until they solidify.
Now all I need is a new notebook to jot all of this down in!
How do you all handle the idea phase of your writing process? Is it something you revel in, or something you don't look forward to?
Happy Writing!!!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
THE AWESOMENESS OF A GREAT CRITIQUE GROUP
Hey All!!!
I'd been writing the first draft of my new book (currently untitled, but I have a few ideas that are bouncing around in my brain), while submitting and now editing my third book (Cursed). And I'd found that I was having a difficult time connecting with my main character. It wasn't like it had been with Jazz in Cursed. Jazz was hard core and such a loud voice in my head that writing in her point of view was easy for me. Alana, on the other hand, is more of a quiet being - softer. And after the clarity of Jazz I found it difficult to adjust to the quiet subtleties of Alana.
So, what did I do...I brought my problems to my critique group.
Some of the things that my group does for me (and that I do for them) are:
-They keep me focused/motivated on writing.
-They help me to keep on track with plot, structure, and pacing.
-They point out things in the story that don't make sense.
One of the great benefits of having a group of fellow writers who surround and support you on a consistent basis is that you can go to them when those writing blocks take hold. Maybe it's just me, but talking out my blocks is what helps me get to the other side.
To make a long story short, I was able to get past my distance with Alana and get a better understanding of who she is as a person. And getting past that blockade also helped me to understand her world and the background of her people better as well. So, it was a win-win.
Every writer comes to a point in their career where they need to engage with others who are on this crazy writing roller coaster. Not only has my group helped me to spot points in my stories where my plot wasn't where it needed to be or grammar mishaps, but they also support and motivate me in times when I need that extra push. All in all, my critique group makes me a better writer.
Do you have a critique group? What made you decide to get one or not? What makes your group great?
Happy Writing!!!
I'd been writing the first draft of my new book (currently untitled, but I have a few ideas that are bouncing around in my brain), while submitting and now editing my third book (Cursed). And I'd found that I was having a difficult time connecting with my main character. It wasn't like it had been with Jazz in Cursed. Jazz was hard core and such a loud voice in my head that writing in her point of view was easy for me. Alana, on the other hand, is more of a quiet being - softer. And after the clarity of Jazz I found it difficult to adjust to the quiet subtleties of Alana.
So, what did I do...I brought my problems to my critique group.
Some of the things that my group does for me (and that I do for them) are:
-They keep me focused/motivated on writing.
-They help me to keep on track with plot, structure, and pacing.
-They point out things in the story that don't make sense.
One of the great benefits of having a group of fellow writers who surround and support you on a consistent basis is that you can go to them when those writing blocks take hold. Maybe it's just me, but talking out my blocks is what helps me get to the other side.
To make a long story short, I was able to get past my distance with Alana and get a better understanding of who she is as a person. And getting past that blockade also helped me to understand her world and the background of her people better as well. So, it was a win-win.
Every writer comes to a point in their career where they need to engage with others who are on this crazy writing roller coaster. Not only has my group helped me to spot points in my stories where my plot wasn't where it needed to be or grammar mishaps, but they also support and motivate me in times when I need that extra push. All in all, my critique group makes me a better writer.
Do you have a critique group? What made you decide to get one or not? What makes your group great?
Happy Writing!!!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
MAKING LEMONADE FROM LEMONS
Hello All!!!
I've done a post before about using the deep emotional periods in your life to make your writing better and more realistic, and wanted to touch a bit more on that today. You know that old saying, about taking the lemons of your life and making lemonade. Well I've always been a person who's taken that saying to heart. The title of my blog says it all - I'm an eternal optimist who's decided, against my better judgment and in spite of my sensitive nature, to trudge in the swampy waters that are the writing business. And I feel that you have to be able to take everything in your life - all the good, the bad, and the ugly - and use it for the greater good that is your writing.
Would you have rather not gone through the dark and twisty times in your life, of course! But when it comes down to it, how can you write about real life, whether you're writing a contemporary tale or putting a paranormal twist on it, without having experienced all that life has to offer.
So don't regret those bad decisions you've made. Try not to push away the anger and hurt of your past. Embrace the best you've been and the absolutely, positively, most stupid ideas you've ever put into action (we all have those, I promise you). Use it. Use all of it to create the most realistic characters that have real emotions and deal with situations that we all can relate to. Use it to make your writing even better.
Happy Writing!!!
I've done a post before about using the deep emotional periods in your life to make your writing better and more realistic, and wanted to touch a bit more on that today. You know that old saying, about taking the lemons of your life and making lemonade. Well I've always been a person who's taken that saying to heart. The title of my blog says it all - I'm an eternal optimist who's decided, against my better judgment and in spite of my sensitive nature, to trudge in the swampy waters that are the writing business. And I feel that you have to be able to take everything in your life - all the good, the bad, and the ugly - and use it for the greater good that is your writing.
Would you have rather not gone through the dark and twisty times in your life, of course! But when it comes down to it, how can you write about real life, whether you're writing a contemporary tale or putting a paranormal twist on it, without having experienced all that life has to offer.
So don't regret those bad decisions you've made. Try not to push away the anger and hurt of your past. Embrace the best you've been and the absolutely, positively, most stupid ideas you've ever put into action (we all have those, I promise you). Use it. Use all of it to create the most realistic characters that have real emotions and deal with situations that we all can relate to. Use it to make your writing even better.
Happy Writing!!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)