If you're a dreamer, a wisher, a liar
A hoper, a prayer, a magic-bean buyer
If you're a pretender come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin
Come in...come in...
~Shel Silverstein

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

IWSG AND NO KISS BLOGFEST


So, today I have two things going on. First of all it's IWSG. For anyone who doesn't know, that's the Insecure Writers Support Group hosted by ALEX CAVANAUGH. It takes place on the first Wed. of every month and is an awesome group for any writer looking for some extra shoulders to lean on. If you're interested in becoming a part of it, the linky list is on Alex's site

I guess what I'm most insecure about right now is inspiration.  I’m working on a new book, trying to find my rhythm with it and finding it very difficult. It’s really easy to make excuses to put it aside. Too easy. 

I know making a career out of this is going to require me to write on all days, including the ones where each word I haul from my brain to the keyboard weighs a thousand pounds. So I'm trying to just power through and ignore my lack of inspiration. Hopefully, by the time the next IWSG rolls around, the words will be coming easily again.  

 But, that being said, if anyone has some good tips on finding inspiration again, I'd love to hear them!


Anyway...onto the second part of this blogpost...




The scene I chose to go with for the blogfest is from my first book, Skipping Time. 

In this scene, Jess (guy) and his best friend, Cacee (girl) are stuck in New York City, 1992 with no way of returning to the present time. They managed to get a cheap motel room until they could figure out what to do. The scene starts with Jess waking up. He's surprised to find Cacee snuggled up to him, sound asleep on his shoulder. He's lying there, daydreaming about kissing her, when Cacee wakes up. 

***Also, I feel the need to add that they'd both gotten up like a half hour before this and brushed their teeth. haha. I hate it when people write first-thing-in-the-morning kiss scenes and nobody brushes their teeth, it skeeves me out. 


Cacee stirred again and opened her eyes, tilting her head to look at him. She gave him a sleepy smile.   
Jess chuckled. “How do you do that?”
She answered in a drowsy voice, still lying on his shoulder. “Do what?” 
He swallowed. “Wake up looking so cute.”
Cacee’s eyes fully opened. He half expected her to roll away and shrug the comment off, given how upset she’d been last night.
Instead, she smiled shyly. “Since when do you think I’m cute?”
His voice came out husky. “Since always, Cace. I’ve never understood how you can’t see what you look like.”
He hesitantly pushed her hair out of her face. Surprising him again, she didn’t pull away. He let his hand rest on her head. “You’re way too pretty to hide behind your hair.”
Cacee gave him a tiny smile, “I don’t hide. I blend. There’s a difference”
Her lashes were lowered, but she stayed in his arms. Her tank top had ridden up to her waist and he didn’t have a shirt on. They were touching from shoulder to foot, her skin scorching his side, her head still resting on him. He could see her pulse pounding in her throat.
Okay. Something was definitely happening here. And God, he wanted it to happen. But that didn't mean it should. He knew that. How many times had he promised himself he wouldn't do this, even if Cacee  miraculously decided she wanted to? But, in all those arguments, he'd never seriously thought she'd want to. And now they were here and...and...The words fell from his mouth before he could stop them.“You don’t need to blend. You’re beautiful, Cace.”
Her lashes lifted and she stared at him, her eyes like the rainwater that dotted the earth after a summer storm, reflections of shadowy-blue edged in sunlight.
He rolled, so her head lay on the pillow and leaned on his elbow, looking down at her. He stayed close enough to feel the heat of her skin and let his gaze fall to her mouth before lifting back to her eyes, wordlessly asking. Cacee’s hands slid up his chest to wrap around his neck. 
It didn't matter that he knew what was happening. He still felt a shock of pure disbelief. He took a ragged breath and watched the desire that burned through him flare in her eyes. His heart stopped and then rebounded, pumping twice as fast. Some tiny part of his brain still blared warning signals and he hesitated.
As if sensing his resistance, and exactly what it would take to melt it, Cacee moved her hands again, trailing her fingers slowly down his back. The light touch inflamed him, and he made a low sound in his throat, suddenly fighting not to yank her mouth against his. He lowered his head, keeping the movement deliberately slow. 
Cacee whispered against his mouth, “We have to talk.”
He nodded and murmured, “Later.”
“Promise?”
He felt himself nod again. He would’ve promised her his E-True Hollywood Story in that moment. He couldn’t think of anything but the curve of her bottom lip, less than an inch from his, couldn’t feel anything but need that pounded through him like liquid flame.
A loud knock at the door made them both jump. Shane leapt up and bared his teeth. Jess had never wanted to hit anyone as badly as he wanted to nail the asshole on the other side of that door. 








57 comments:

  1. Not brushin? Yuckety yuck.....your so awesome anyways Tamara. Great to find your faults in writing,forge on sister friend

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  2. I sometimes wish we could just buy a bottle of inspiration off the shelf for those times when we seem lacking in it! But I guess it just doesn't work like that. I'm a bit like that at the moment, hoping my inspiration hasn't deserted me. Now take a deep breath and relax it's there somewhere!

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    1. Thanks, Suzanne! Turns out it only took me a few days to find it. I'm going strong again now. 20,000 into the new book--which feels like a nice, solid beginning.

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  3. Inspiration? Try something different or new. Read a book that inspires you. Watch a movie. Go visit someplace new.
    Sometimes, you just can't control it. But it will happen!

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    1. Thanks, Alex. I'm re-reading one of my faves from Stephen King. He ALWAYS inspires me!!

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  4. Happy new year, Tamara! I find inspiration in nature. Spend a day in the woods or at the beach, give your mind and soul a chance to refuel. Also, lay on the floor with a blank posterboard and some markers and no plans. Just doodle a while and see where your mind takes you.

    Cheers to a happy and productive 2013!

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    1. Cool ideas, P.K. I miss the woods!! I have a ton of them right behind my house, but--unfortunately--they're INFESTED with ticks. Shiver. I hate those little bloodsuckers. The beach sounds nice though. Nothing like the ocean for getting inspired!!

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  5. After reading your excerpt, you don't seem to lack any inspiration. Wonderful job Tamara! And I cracked up at the brushing of the teeth. I've been married to The Husband for 15 years and I still get up and brush my teeth in the morning before I kiss him, LOL!!

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    1. Aaaw, thanks! Glad I sounded inspired haha...And me and hubs just had our twenty-fifth--but I still brush my teeth too!!! I'll have never been married long enough to skip that step. lol

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  6. Sometimes we have to power through the lack of inspiration. Sometimes we come to a point where we realize it just isn't going to happen. The secret is to know which.

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    1. Good point, Diane!! Powering through was the ticket in this case but, you're right, it isn't always. Sometimes it's the wrong story and you've gotta let it simmer for awhile to find the right one again!

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  7. Wowza, that scene is good! I LOVE almost kisses :) You definitely seem inspired.

    I would say keep pushing through but if it's down to a lack of story rather than your brain wanting to procrastinate, give it a break and write something else. You can always come back to it. Just don't do that for everything, or you'll never get anything done!

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    1. Yeah, right! I knew it wasn't the story--because I'd already mapped the whole thing out chapter by chapter. I just plain didn't feel like writing. BUT I'm really glad I powered through, cause i'm back on track now and really liking the book again! :) Thanks for stopping by!!

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  8. I like Stephen King's thoughts on inspiration. If you show up and write every day, then when your muse is ready, she will know where to find you. If you aren't there, she may miss you. I think giving in to it being a 'first draft' helps. I often have to include a lot of mundane to get my story OUT--to keep the timeline straight and all that--but it can be improved or removed in the revision.

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    1. Very good point, Hart!! That's how I wrote it. First draft all the way. I'll go back and change it later but--as long as I can get those initial words down--I seem to do alright.

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  9. Yeah when people kiss with unbrushed teeth it isn't cute. I really liked this scene, thanks for sharing!

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    1. No, not cute at all. I HATE it when they do this in movies. They're breathing all over each other when they JUST woke up and I'm like, "Eeewww..." haha. Apparently everyone agrees with me, according to the comments I've gotten.

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  10. wowzah! that was a scorching hot scene! Awesome entry.

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  11. Wow! That is one steamy almost-kissing scene! And LOL about brushing their teeth! Great entry!

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  12. I like the brushing your teeth detail. I can't kiss my husband good morning until we both have properly cleaned. Yuk.

    The scene was very engaging and hot! Great job! My best wishes for 2013 =)

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    1. Best wishes to you too, Georgina!! Thanks for stopping by. :)

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  13. I loved this! I want to know why Jess has decided kissing Cacee is a bad idea, and I was totally there with him with wanting to nail the ass pounding on the door :)

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    1. Well, hopefully someday it will be a book people can read!! It's one of my older ones, and I have to go back and finish revisions on it at some point. Right now I'm working on something new, but Jess and Cacee will always be two of my favorite characters...

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  14. Oh man, yeah, I'd want to hit that guy on the other side of the door, too! Nice writing! I like the description of her eyes!

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    1. Thanks, Sherri!! Yeah...I wish I had eyes that looked like that. haha. Alas, mine are boring brown...

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  15. My experience with inspiration is that it comes from doing, not the other way around.

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    1. I could not agree more! I made myself do it and it turns out my inspiration was lurking in the keyboard all along. haha

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  16. So close!! I really thought they were going to go all the way in this one, for a minute! even knowing it was a no-kiss blogfest! ha.

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    1. haha...Yeah, they pretty much HAD to be interrupted to keep the book PG. I'm not sure what I would've done with a motel kissing scene otherwise. lol

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  17. Happy New Year!

    You know what's great for inspiration.... Thursday's Children!!! LOL...

    But seriously, I'm in a similar place. I decided to take a few days off of typing/revising to brainstorm, which I like doing on paper. Just letting everything bake for a bit and mulling on it. My brainstorms usually end up being good stuff that usually provides enough inspiration to get typing again :)

    Take it easy... it's not a race!

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    1. thanks, John!! I tend to do a lot of brainstorming throughout the day. Doing the dishes is great for new ideas, as is showering. Unfortunately, a TON of my best ideas come when I'm drifting off to sleep. Then I forget half of them by morning. I keep swearing I'm gonna get up and write them down, but I'm always too tired. haha

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  18. For inspiration what works best for me is going out and see a movie, or just look at the mountains in the horizon from my roof, during the sunset. No, wait! The shower and the treadmill, yeah, that's what works every time.

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    1. haha...I just said that to the guy above your comment. I get a ton of great ideas in the shower. And we don't have mountains in SE GA, but I wish we did. I'm from PA and I miss miss miss the mountains!!!

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  19. Oh I love how your scene went from super tender and sweet to full of serious tension! Thanks so much for participating in the blog fest!

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    1. Thanks for having such a fun blogfest I could participate in. Definitely one of my favorites I've been in. everyone's scenes were so good!!

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  20. Definitely a hot almost kiss! I love the true hollywood story line, made me smile. And the last line is great. :)

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    1. haha...Thanks. The E-True Hollywood line was said because Cacee doesn't know too much about Jess's real life. He lied to her about a bunch of stuff, which she is only recently realizing. That's why she wants to talk. I wasn't sure people would get the line out of the context of the story so I'm glad it worked. :)

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  21. Ooh! *fans self* Super hot! Great post!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Larissa! Glad you liked it! :)

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  22. I love this passage!
    And good luck on finding your rythym. It takes a while- I usually flame out around 10,000 words and leave things sit for MONTHS, but I am sure you will get there!

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    1. Haha...that's right where I was. Somewhere around ten thousand words. I pushed through it though, and now I'm at 20K, which feels like a much more solid beginning. :)

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  23. A new follower here...saying hello from IWSG and the blogfest, both of which I'm part of.

    On finding inspiration... I find that once I stop trying to look for it, I'd realize it has been right in front of me.

    On your No Kiss scene...I LOVE that you made the characters brush their teeth first before their close ups. I feel the same way you do about having fresh breath for those morning close-ups in stories....now I know I'm not the only one!!

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    1. Hi Cynthia!! Nice to meet you and thanks for the follow. And you're definitely not the only one that insists on fresh breath for close up scenes. If you read the comments, EVERYONE agreed that teeth brushing before early morning scenes is a necessity. haha

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  24. Ahhh! Stupid knocker interrupter person. I love this scene - the tension is drawn out so deliciously, and as an aside, I love that you're writing a time travel story :-D

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    1. Thanks, Loralie. It's a very different sort of time-travel story--in that the time-travel is almost an aside to all the other crazy stuff that happens. And they only go back to 1992--which I haven't seen done before. It's always back to the middle ages. haha. So, hopefully someday I can find an agent that likes it too!!

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  25. Oh my goodness, was the link to this on Frankie's NKBF post? I can't believe I missed it. I love so many things about this scene...SOOOOO many, like from the names, to the tension, to the dialogue, to the body language, and hell even the interrupting knocker.

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    1. Wow. Thanks, Ashe!! That was a really nice compliment!! I love that you loved the scene. And I signed up really late for this, which may have been why you missed me. :)

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  26. Hot, hot, hot.
    Happy New Year!

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  27. Whew! Great almost kiss. As you can see I'm late to the party too. I'm actually planning on hitting the No Kiss list on Monday.

    As for inspiration, sometimes you just have to wait for it to hit you in some unexpected place. That's why its so important for us writerly types to get out of the house and life some life. I so understand your thousand pound words too. I always say that there are days where it feels like I have to suck each word out of my bones one at a time. Slow, painful, leaves you weak, but you get something down.

    Good luck and thanks for visiting my blog. It's great to find new friends.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Charity! Glad to know I'm not the only late one. And yeah, it's always fun finding new blogs/friends. :)

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  28. Hi, Tamara! I'm a few days late in checking out the entries for the No-Kiss Blogfest, but late is better than never!

    Anyhow, great no-kiss scene! Gosh, the line “You’re way too pretty to hide behind your hair" was super cute haha. There were a few minor grammatical errors, but overall the content was great. Thanks so much for sharing with us! :)

    ~Wendy Lu

    The Red Angel Blog

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I love to hear from everyone! Thanks for the comment. :)