Quick, give me something to grasp!

  I’m back to the revision cave to address feedback on C. This round will be tough, the   emotionally draining kind of layering because I need to add more emotion to my MC’s story. The reader doesn’t have anything to grasp, to hang on for the ride.

  It’s a dig deep to revisit my own humiliations, my own fears, my own times of panic, my own draw for courage.

 

Besides reliving my own history, I’ll have a playlist pulled together. No fluff or guilty pleasure music for this kind of revision! Lots if cinematic instrumentals and even a little opera,

How do you handle the emotional layering?

Happy Looong weekend, friends!

It’s Q&A Time

Fellow YA Campaigner, JE tagged me with some questions, my answers are in purple

1. What’s your favorite book genre?

YA is what I almost exclusively read unless there’s a MG my youngest is super-excited about.

2. Are there any beloved books that you don’t really enjoy?

Do statistics books count?

3. What was your favorite class in school?

Physics (I know, I know, how can I love physics and dislike statistics…)

4. Do you write under a pseudonym or use your real name?

Part real – part pseudonym 🙂

5. Do you prefer reading first person or third person?

Really depends on the story but it seems like most YA is in first person.

6. An old question, but e-books or paper?

eBooks because I ran out of keeper shelf space a LONG time ago ! There are some books I still buy in paper because I know all three of my children will read it.

7. You’re stranded on an island that has plenty of food and water, but no electricity or way to contact the outside world. But you have one object of your choice with you. What is it? Well since there’s not an iPad running on solar yet…hmmm… a manual sewing machine so I could practice my coconut weaving skills?

8. Which do you like more, Facebook or Twitter? Twitter. I’ve managed to avoid FB.

9. Coffee or tea? Right. Well, I should change my answer to #7. Coffee.

10. Pick one word to describe yourself with. Oh, this feels like the kind of question I’ll want to revise endlessly. But…optimistic.

11. If you had one wish, what would it be? (PS: no fair wishing for more wishes) World peace which I know is all John Lennonish but seriously, there’s a lot of crazy going on in the world.

Now my turn! Three Q’s to three of my campaigning and Twitter friends:

Meradeth (why does spell check want to change your name to Megadeath?!)

Morgan

And now I’m feeling pressured to continue my M streak but will resist and instead tag my state-neighbor, J.A. Bennett

The questions:

1. Favorite traditionally published and indie books you’ve read?

2. All of you are regular bloggers and Tweeters and writers. How do you balance social media and writing time?

3. If you could pick anyone as a writing partner, who would it be (and why)?

Hearts and Flowers!

Happy Monday! With Valentines Day tomorrow, let’s start the week with some hearts to things that help get the muse in the mood….to write, of course!

One thing I’m loving this morning…Wordpress blogs eye candy. I didn’t anticipate when I moved to WordPress was the access to all the other cool WordPress blogs. So much eye candy. I’ve discovered some talented photographers via their WordPress blogs. There’s nothing like a picture to get the muse in the mood to write a scene!

Another writing mood helper is music.To get out of a playlist rut, there’s nothing better than Pandora. What did we do before it?

And I saved my favorite for last. I’m an eye candy junkie…wonder if it’s unique to writers? This one’s a serious time sink, so beware… pinterest.com. It’s like an online scrapbook page filled with pictures and tips and how-to’s and so many things, you’d better have your daily word count goals checked off before you click on the site. There’s been talk about how to use this site to promote your books, so it’s not totally play. Yeah…that’s my story.

What websites do you love when it comes to getting into that writing mood?

Campaign for Writers!

Have you heard about Rachael Harrie’s Writers’ Platform Building Campaign? It’s a brilliant idea to get bloggers together, share idea, support each other and build a platform together. This is the fourth campaign and from some of the comments on prior campaigns, it sounds like a GREAT opportunity to meet other writers in your genre.

Connecting with other writers makes me feel like this:

The details and sign up are on Rachael’s blog here:

http://rachaelharrie.blogspot.com/2012/02/fourth-writers-platform-building_06.html

Hope to see you there!

Rejection Ejections

 Ack! Did someone forget to tell me it’s Rejection Week?

With all the talk about rejection in the blogosphere and twitter this week, I should have known better. I should have waited until the weekend to check email. Because, you know, it’s like a virus and if you stay inside and wash your hands and don’t share drinks and take your vitamins, you can avoided the dreaded R.

(Note I can only say the full R-word so many times. It’s kind of like he-who-shall-not-be-named…say it too many times and all sorts of evil hell may break loose.)

My much evolved R recovery strategy has three parts: first, I Whimper. Because no matter how nice, how close, how complimentary, it’s rejection and it hurts worse than a paper cuts between fingers. It. Hurts.

Next comes the Wilt. Picture a sweet puppy in midst of creating an accident on the floor. You glare and those sweet, silky ears just sort of melt against his head and all the life and exuberance…vanished. The Wilt is a mixture of what did I do wrong and I’m a absolute failure. This is the stage when your awesome, supportive critique partners, writer friends and those who know about your secret life as a writer rally around and remind you of your strengths. Yes, you have strengths and now is the time to list them all because you have a mission during The Wilt. You must revisit the R and focus on the WHY. And use your superhero writing strengths to conquer the reasons your work was declined, to prepare it for the world. Your story, version 2.0. Your story, BETTER.

My favorite part is the Whitmans…as in chocolate. Yes, it’s chocolate but that’s not why I enjoy it. There are so MANY chocolates and you never know what you’re getting until you bite into one. Lots of times my girls get into the box before me and take my favorites, forcing me to try something else. Sometimes it’s sweet, sometimes it’s a surprise, some good, some not so good. Which is a lot like what happens at this stage in the process, just not chocolate covered.

So what do you do after the Whimper-Wilt-Whitmans stage?

 

Friday Five-for-all

Hi Again!

The theme for this Friday Five-for-all is….Inspiration. These five websites never fail to get the creative thoughts flowing:

Zen Habits

A very cool site if you’re looking for a little more balance in life.

The Dainty Squid

Cute kitten picts, neato retro items and the prettiest hair colors around! If you’re a shoe or purse or tights person, be warned. She has quite the collection and includes links!

The Recipe Girl

To answer the daily question of what to eat.

Six Sisters

This is a lot of everything…siblinghood, recipes, crafts. The idea of having five sisters is cool and frightful all at once, lol!

Ladies Who Critique

Yes,  saved the best for last. If you don’t know about this site…it’s a fabulous place to give and receive critiques!

What’s one of your favorite sites?

Happy Friday!

Hello again!

Moving my blog over from Blogger so I can reply to comments and stay in the conversations!

More to come SOON 😉