Thursdays Child

Hey guys,

Before I even start this post let me say that I'm having major problems with my blog. I can see your comments, but can't reply to them--so it looks like I'm just ignoring everyone. Very sorry about that. If anyone knows how to fix it, I'd really appreciate the heads up. Until then, I'm trying to figure it out...

Now that's out of the way, I'll move onto my Thursdays Child post, which is hosted by the very awesome Rhiann-Wynn Nolet and Kristina Perez. Make sure you stop by their pages to say hi. It would be awesome if more people joined in the bloghop!! The link is on both their sites.

I'd say one of the things that inspires my writing the most is reading. I've learned more from that than anything else. There are some amazing books on writing. I love Stephen King on Writing, The Breakout Workbook, and The First Five Pages. All excellent guides.

But, beyond that, just regular books are excellent sources, both of inspiration and the mechanics of writing.  Like, when I was a kid, (about ten) I read a MG book about a boy who falls through a forgotten door on his planet and lands on our world. It was one of my favorite books and I probably read it five or six times.

It's NOTHING like the book I wrote--except for the very basic idea of it. My book being about a girl who falls through a rip in a parallel world and ends up on Earth with no memory of her life before the fall. For the longest time I didn't make the connection, until I was going through some old books for Goodwill and came across The Forgotten Door. Then I just kind of smacked my head and went, "Holy crap. I totally took that idea." haha...What do they say though? There's no such thing as an original idea, right? I think its really neat that something I'd read at such a young age would come back to me and have a huge impact on my own work and, therefore, my life.

Then, of course, there's those books that have such beautiful writing that I can't help but aspire to be like them. Maggie Stiefvater, Brenna Yovannoff, Cassandra Clare, Laini Taylor. I know some people accuse them of "purple prose" but I have to disagree. I think they're amazing and I can only hope someday I'll be able to write half as well as any one of them. Cassandra Clare was pretty much single-handedly responsible for teaching me how to use metaphors successfully. haha. And Maggie Stiefvater is the first writer I ever read whose books reminded me of reading poetry. Very cool.

How about you guys? Are there any books out there that have inspired your writing? What are they?

Please help: Anyone who has recently commented on my blog...

Ummm... I can't currently reply to any comments left on my blog. The writing is invisible.  Has anyone else had this problem with Blogger? Could you tell me how to fix it?

IWSG

First Wed of the month!! One of my favorite days. :) For those of you who don't know, today is the IWSG support group, hosted by the always amazing Alex J Cavanaugh.  The purpose of IWSG is to share our fears and insecurities as writers and provide encouragement to people who need it. We post on the first Wed. of every month. To sign up, please click on the link on the side of my blog. :) And, make sure to visit his two awesome co-hosts this month, Livia from Leave it to Livia and Tasha Seegmiller.

I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. I was in a so-so place last month but I'm feeling much more cheerful this month (which is funny since I have a few more rejections under my belt)

Anyway, at the end of last month I ended up, by pure chance, finding a beta reader who gave me excellent feedback and told me exactly what I needed to fix to make my book work. As soon as I read her notes, I knew she was right .

I went BACK to revisions and, for the first time, I'm feeling rock solid about the book. I always liked my middle/end...I just wasn't a thousand percent sold on the beginning. I think it's way better now, so I'm currently really happy. It gave me a huge sense of accomplishment to fix what was wrong and make it so much stronger. I'm SO glad I took my reader's advice!

I entered Pitch Wars (along with the rest of the world) and am anxiously awaiting to hear if I've been chosen. I'm supposed to be entering PitchMas tonight, but it's in a half hour and I'm so tired I'm not sure I can make it. haha. I guess what will be will be.

That's been my motto of the month. To let thing fall where they will. Once I'm done something (and I feel it's good) I'm on fire to start the querying process. Having the patience to NOT do that--to, instead, sit through numerous beta-readers/critiques, a million revisions etc...etc...has been a hard lesson for me.

BUT I'm seeing the pay off in a manuscript that is much stronger than it was even a month ago. And, if I'm chosen for Pitch Wars, maybe I can make it even stronger.

 Bottom line is--the lesson I learned this month was to restrain my enthusiasm for being "done." DONE has become a seriously subjective word. I'll just keep going slow. I'm making sure I do all that I can do.

Hope you guys are all doing well and that you are having an awesome holiday season!!

Teaser Tuesday...

So, it's Teaser Tuesday again, hosted by: Should Be Reading. To play along: 
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that
 page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure 
that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t 
want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants 
can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your tease

My tease this week is from a book I just started, but I love the author and I know I'll love the book!

Nobody in the house ever really doubted that Blue was destined to kill her true love with a kiss. It was a threat, however, that had been around for such a long time that it had lost its force. Picturing six-year old Blue in love was 
such a far-off thing as to be imaginary. 

I LOVE Maggie Stiefvater. Reading her books is like reading poetry. I'm already sucked into this one. :)

AND YOU ARE????

So, today is the "AND YOU ARE" Bloghop, hosted by Tammy Theriault and Emily (Sorry, my computer wasn't working right and I couldn't find the link for Emily). Thanks for hosting such an awesome bloghop, guys!! I can't wait to read everyone's answers. :)

1. How many speeding tickets have you gotten?

Truthfully, only about three

2. Can you pitch a tent?

I can sit in my van with the AC on and watch my husband pitch a tent. Does that count? 

3. What was your worst vacation ever?

That would have to be the time my husband surprised us with three extra days in Disneyworld, only to find out that the travel agent had skipped town with the extra money he gave her. So, we had no hotel booked or tickets to the park and our flight home wasn't leaving for three more days (The travel agent was supposed to pay for the hotel/tickets)

BUT--after a VERY stressful day of trying to figure out where we were supposed to go for three days, we contacted the front desk at the Disney Hotel we were staying at. We told them the story. And they comped us tickets to the parks and let us stay in our room for free. And THAT is why I love Disney. Cause they treat their customers right!

4. What was the last thing you bought over $100?

Two birds this weekend for my daughters birthday. Who knew parakeets would be so expensive? (Birds/birdcage/food/toys etc...etc...)

5. We're handing you the keys to what?

A 1967 Mustang Convertible, preferably in red or black but, if your gonna be nice enough to hand me the keys, I won't complain about yellow. Just don't make it green and we have a deal. 

6. What was the last meal cooked that made even you sick?

That's a fairly easy one, since I get sick whenever I eat pork. So, I tend to stay away from it. No snacking on poor Piglet for me. 

7. Fill in the blank: Oh my gosh! Becky, look at her butt! It is so big. She looks like _____?

A total prostitute. Best song ever. 

8. What was your first car? 

1975 Caddy. That thing was a TANK!

9. Your best friend falls and gets hurt. Do you ask if he/she's okay or laugh first?

Definitely see if she's okay...and then laugh. 

10. What's the worst song ever? 

ANYTHING by Blood on the Dance Floor. They're GODAWFUL!

So...I'm re-reading Harry Potter. Again.

And I want to go to Harry Potter world! I am desperate to see Hogwarts and the talking portraits and go into Hogsmeade to get some butterbeer. I’ve been there twice, but it’s never enough. Haha. I’m especially excited that at the rumors that they’re expanding.

 Since my daughter first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at the age of eight—she’s twenty-two now—and convinced me I had to read it as well, I’ve been captivated by the wizarding world. JK Rowling managed to accomplish something few other authors ever have. Her characters affected the world in ways that people wouldn’t have dreamt a book could. Who out there has heard of Wizard Rock? Can you imagine writing a book that inspired a whole genre of music?

And think about Harry Potter World! They built a theme park based around those books!

As writers, we all strive to create characters that will have an impact on the world, so when we find a book like Harry Potter, we have to ask ourselves--what is it about those characters that inspire such fervent loyalty?

Harry himself is the reluctant hero—at theme we have seen repeatedly in great stories. He is loyal and brave and—most importantly—just a regular guy who often makes mistakes, despite   his wizard status. He has his gifts, but they aren’t so over the top that we can’t believe in them. He muddles through a lot, sometimes by the skin of his teeth (anyone remember the lake challenge during the tri-wizard tournament?) He needs his friends to survive and his loyalty to them is his strongest quality.     

Hermione and Ron are the perfect sidekicks, one smart, one funny, and both as fiercely loyal as Harry. The romance between them further adds to the story. Who out there wasn't rooting for them to realize their true feelings and get together? Who wasn't crushed when Ron stupidly chose Lavender Brown? One of my favorite scenes in the books was their first kiss, in the middle of the search for the final horcrux, because Ron thought to free the house-elves. It was awesome!! (Then again, I am a girl. I was also a huge fan of Harry and Ginny--although the Ginny in my head was way better than the one in the movie version)

 Voldemort is an excellent villain who has a believable agenda. We have a smaller villain as well though, so the story isn’t overwhelmed by Voldemort. Malfoy is the perfect foil to Harry--and a character anyone who has ever attended school can relate to. Even the characters without as much page time, such as Fred and George, Lupin, Dobby, the horrible Dursleys— are all SO alive and layered.

The fantastic setting of the story plays a huge role as well. What child since hasn’t secretly hoped for his Hogwarts letter? Who among us Potterphiles has not wished for an invisibility cloak or longed to go have tea in Hagrid’s hut and see his latest monsters?

So, my challenge to everyone is this--Using the HP books or any other books you’ve loved-- pick out the traits that make a character impossible to walk away from.  Tell us about a world you are so immersed in that it becomes a real place to you.  Give us the aspects of a great story that draw you in and keep you reading. IE: Harry Potter--The underdog vs. the evil overlord and how he triumphs.

In other words, what are your favorite books –but, more importantly, why? 

Thursday's Children

To participate in Thurdsays Children, just click this pic on my blog.

My inspiration for this weeks Thursdays Child post  is short and sweet.

HOPE.

Hope springs eternal and all of that. As long as I hang onto hope, it doesn't matter if I have bad days, or if getting published takes way longer than I want it to. I can always hope for a better day.


As long as I can hope, I believe my dream will come true.

How about you guys?  What inspires you?