Domino Project Book 2 Review

Hybrid by K.T. Hanna
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an ARC for an honest review.

Sai's hurt at the end of Chameleon and Dom had a hand in it. Not only does Sai have to learn to deal with her injuries and the recovery, her relationship with Dom takes a hit. There's something about Sai that brings out the humanity in Dom and I LOVE that. Their friendship makes both of them stronger and Hybrid opens with it being strained. It's refreshing to read a book where the stakes are about friendship and the survival of the human race, not reading the second book in a series where the brand new romance begins to unravel. Does the unrepentant romantic in me hope Dom and Sai will develop something? Um, yes, The sooner the better.But that's the best part about these books--there's so much more that draws me in and keeps me hooked. The world building is amazing, the Sci-Fi aspects of technology and powers captivates me. K.T. has created a vivid world with her writing. This second book isn't a "filler" as so many middle books seem to be. It's a fully fleshed out, thickly plotted story that has me dying for more--especially after that ending! The sooner the third book comes out, the better!

View all my reviews

Review: Hybrid

Hybrid by K.T. Hanna
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an ARC for an honest review.

Sai's hurt at the end of Chameleon and Dom had a hand in it. Not only does Sai have to learn to deal with her injuries and the recovery, her relationship with Dom takes a hit. There's something about Sai that brings out the humanity in Dom and I LOVE that. Their friendship makes both of them stronger and Hybrid opens with it being strained. It's refreshing to read a book where the stakes are about friendship and the survival of the human race, not reading the second book in a series where the brand new romance begins to unravel. Does the unrepentant romantic in me hope Dom and Sai will develop something? Um, yes, The sooner the better.But that's the best part about these books--there's so much more that draws me in and keeps me hooked. The world building is amazing, the Sci-Fi aspects of technology and powers captivates me. K.T. has created a vivid world with her writing. This second book isn't a "filler" as so many middle books seem to be. It's a fully fleshed out, thickly plotted story that has me dying for more--especially after that ending! The sooner the third book comes out, the better!

View all my reviews

Author Interview: KT Hanna

Chameleon Releases Today!

"Wow! A fast-paced, science fiction delight with fabulous action, a seamless world, and the most unique characters I've read in a long time." Elana Johnson, Author of the Possession Series.

 

An Interview with K.T. Hanna

You sound very organized. Any organizational tips? I’m only organized because of lists. I must have lists, if I don’t make lists to cross stuff off, I kind of lose it. What I’d tell people, is try to be realistic about your goals and make sure you could conceivably achieve what you’ve got on your list. Because if you don’t? It will overwhelm you. And always try to carve out some you time.

Was there any point in your writing journey where things just clicked into place? Nope. And it still hasn’t. Frankly, I will always second guess everything I write. And I will always wonder if I should just stop. But I think that’s part of being a writer, even if I wish it weren’t.

Were there points you really struggled to keep going? How did you persevere? Being quite honest, I still struggle. Every day. I have to juggle my toddler, a new puppy, my day job, the house, the internship… my relationship haha. Just writing it out makes me want to give up. But you know what? The only time you ever fail is if you give up. So I don’t. This is how I persevere.

Any writing foods you can’t work without? Coffee is a food, right?

2 or 42? This is just plain evil. 2 is my favourite number, but 42 is EVERYTHING.

Pick a color, any color. Purple!

 

The Blurb:

When Sai's newly awoken psionic powers accidentally destroy her apartment complex, she’s thrown into an intensive training program. Her only options are pass or die.

Surviving means proving her continued existence isn't a mistake--a task her new mentor, Bastian, takes personally. Her abilities place her in the GNW Enforcer division, and partners her with Domino 12, who is eerily human for an alien-parasite psionic hybrid.

After eliminating an Exiled scientist, she discovers nothing is what it seems. With each mission more perilous, Sai must figure out who to trust before her next assignment becomes her last.

Available at:

Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | IndieBound

If you'd like a signed physical copy, Watermark Books has them in stock.

CELEBRATION!

We're having a blog hop, and an e-card & mega swag Rafflecopter giveaway!

The blog hop stops are noted below. Each day has a different theme and you can find out about the process, the idea, and the evolution of Chameleon, and even a bit about K.T. by visiting each blog, when their posts go live.

4-Aug	5-Aug	6-Aug	7-Aug	10-Aug
Fun facts about the book	What I learned writing Chameleon	Author Interviews	The world of Chameleon	The Evolution of Chameleon
Manuel Soto	Marlo Berliner	Leatrice McKinney	Rebecca Enzor	Patricia Lynne
J Elizabeth Hill	Stacey Trombley	Dawn Allen	Sharon Johnston	Bex Montgomery
E.L. Wicker	JC Davis	Suzanne van Rooyen	Mandy Baxter	Madelyn Dyer
Jessie Mullins	Andrew Patterson	Heather Rebel	Jessica Therrien	Carissa Taylor
Emma Adams	Lady Jai	Elayna Noreme	Kendra Young

I’m giving away e-cards of your choice from B&N, iTunes, & Amazon – one to the value of $25, and three to the value of $10! Each prize includes a swag pack of a magnet, sticker, bookmark, postcard, and mousepad!

Just follow the options listed on the giveaway and you'll be entered!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

KT Hanna has a love for words so extreme, a single word can spark entire worlds.

Born in Australia, she met her husband in a computer game, moved to the U.S.A. and went into culture shock. Bonus? Not as many creatures specifically out to kill you.

When she's not writing, she freelance edits for Chimera Editing, interns for a NYC Agency, and chases her daughter, husband, corgis, and cat. No, she doesn't sleep. She is entirely powered by the number 2, caffeine, and beef jerky.

Note: Still searching for her Tardis

#CoverReveal #TDPChameleon

Chameleon (The Domino Project #1) is a YA futuristic science fiction story. It's set in the wasteland of earth after a meteor shower devastates landmasses, makes seas rise, introduces the psionic gene into the human race, damages the atmosphere, and gives the gift of an alien parasite to the world.

The goodreads blurb is as follows:

After Sai's newly awoken psionic power accidentally destroys her apartment complex, she’s thrown into an intensive training program. The only grades are pass or die.

Surviving means proving her continued existence isn't a mistake--a task her new mentor, Bastian, takes personally. Her abilities place her in the GNW Enforcer division, which partners her with Domino 12, who is eerily human for an alien-parasite and psionic hybrid. When her assassination duties are revealed, Sai understands the real reason for her training. On a mission to dispatch a dangerous Exiled scientist, she uncovers truths she never thought possible. Sai is unsure who to trust as her next mission might be her last, and a double agent seems to be manipulating both sides.

Without further ado - here is the cover, by the amazingly talented S.P. McConnell.

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It's finally here

Isn't it GORGEOUS!?!?!

Sit back and bask in this for a moment.

It's available for preorder for a special price of $2.99 from

About the Author

KT Hanna has a love for words so extreme, a single word can spark entire worlds.

Born in Australia, she met her husband in a computer game, moved to the U.S.A. and went into culture shock. Bonus? Not as many creatures specifically out to kill you.

When she's not writing, she freelance edits for Chimera Editing, interns for a NYC Agency, and chases her daughter, husband, corgi, and cat. No, she doesn't sleep. She is entirely powered by the number 2, caffeine, and beef jerky.

Note: Still searching for her Tardis

Celebration!

To celebrate, we're giving away 2 x $10 Amazon e-gift cards (open to anyone who can receive and use an Amazon e-card) Just click on as many options as you like and enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Writing Diverse Characters

After posting sporadically a blog for a year, I'm gonna give you two in one week (shhh, I wrote this one on Tuesday but figured out how to schedule it for later--I'm learning!).

There's been a huge push for more diverse characters in stories. *Gasp* There are more types of people in the world than white, blond people--who'd've thunk it! It may be easier to write that because it's what you know (if you've seen my picture you'll know I'm a white, blonde person). But you don't go to school with people of one race or hair color. You don't work with people of one race or hair color. Your friends aren't all the same race with the same hair color. I think you get what I'm saying. Adding people from different races or cultures has been intimidating for me--more because I don't want to ignorantly offend someone. In the tradition of paranoid writers everywhere, I'm not going to tell you what ethnicity my new MC is--I don't want you to steal my idea. The very most important thing you can do when writing a character of a race or ethnicity you're not afraid of is to find someone who is. I'm very fortunate that I have a friend who's of this ethnicity and she's even picked the brains of her family members for me.

The internet is a huge, massive resource for writers. There are websites dedicated to certain ethnic groups with common phrases and cultural breakdowns. Get on message boards, reddit or twitter and find someone who's willing to help you learn about a group of people different than yourself.

Is it bad to write about blond, white people--no! But when the community is inundated with stories about the same types of people, they start to run together and can become boring. I'll start envisioning Jennifer Lawrence as all the main characters (I may read your character as looking like Dakota Fanning, but my mind always pictures someone else--I'm just strange that way).

Perhaps the best way to get more diverse characters is to encourage more diverse writers, but there's nothing stopping me from learning and writing about a culture or race I'm unfamiliar with. And just remember, any mistakes or stereotypes are completely my own fault--and remember, I'm human and I'm learning.

Red Ink Tank Podcast

I guess since my other two critique partners have shared the news, I won't be spoiling anything--I'm actually very good at spoiling things, usually on accident.

For at least five years now, I've had the pleasure of hoarding Anna Banks, NYT Best Selling Author, as my critique partner. About two years ago now, I had to start sharing her with Kaylyn Witt, a very talented writer who wanted to subject her manuscript to our red pens. Earlier this year, Anna brilliantly suggested that we start a podcast--offer writing tips, critiquing tips, and stories of our overall journeys with other writers.

Soon, very soon, we will start recording these podcasts and unleashing them on the world.

We are funny, irreverent and full of wisdom and sarcasm. We'll be broadcasting at least twice a month and we want to know what you want to hear about. Anna's blog had someone suggest we discuss how we found our critique partners--that is an excellent idea. Critique partners are vital to making your story the best it can be and give you outlets for the frustrations of trying to become a represented and/or published author. 

Be on the lookout for our website and the date of our debut podcast. Let me know if you have any writing, querying, critiquing questions you want us to answer.

But beware: pages WILL bleed. 

How It Should Have Ended...FRIENDS

Lately, I've been catching all these awesome reruns. Older episodes of The Big Bang Theory (love!), Full House and FRIENDS.

In May, 2004, after the last episode of Friends, I wanted to raise my hand in the air and offer a suggestion. A big, huge, major suggestion on how the whole show should have been changed--starting from the birth of Emma.

Here it is. Picture this. Rachel's laying in the hospital bed, snuggling with her new, precious baby girl. She's as beautiful and fresh as every woman after a delivery on TV. Her and Ross agree to move in together (which, yes, I know does happen). They both look at the life they created and think, "Hey, let's give it another shot." Hilarious moments ensue. Ross can throw around the "We were on a break!" after he and Rachel fight. Rachel can toss back, "Well we're not on a break right now." They'll fight, kiss, be jealous...everything that's supposed to happen in a sitcom. But here's the big change: they're together.

A few things I would love to have deleted from the entire show: Rachel and Joey together. Ever. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Then they decided the show was almost over and they couldn't have Rachel and Joey together if everyone wants to see Rachel and Ross back together by the end. So the most awkward kissing scene in the history of television ensued. *DELETED* You're welcome. That whole debacle is gone. Never happened. You know why? That's right: Ross and Rachel are together.

Here's a good change: Phoebe's engagement and wedding get made into a bigger deal. Did anyone else feel like she got glanced over. Like, "Oh, she's in love. She needs her happy ever after, too. Here, get married in the snow. There you go. All done. Let's move on." Phoebe looked gorgeous in her dress, the wedding in the snow was beautiful, but Ross's failed marriage to Emily and his elopement with Rachel got more hoopla than Phoebe's wedding. Me no likey.

Speaking of Ross and Rachel's elopement, here's where it gets sticky. On the one hand, they could've stayed married. On the other, Ross could have followed through, gotten the annulment, THEN proposed to Rachel to get married for real, in front of guests and in a church. What? That's just crazy talk.

Now, for the grand finale. The last episode. At some point in the seasons after Emma was born, Ross proposes romantically to Rachel--maybe at the planetarium at the museum where Ross and Rachel, you know, for the first time. Anyways, on to the last episode. What I like to call "The One Where Ross and Rachel Get Married"--not witty or ironic, but to the point. This is what the last episode should have been. Emma as the flower girl. Ben is a groomsman. And in the middle of the ceremony, Erica (Monica and Chandler's babies' momma) goes into labor. And you know Anna Farris could have done an awesome over the top labor scene. And in the ensuing chaos, Ross and Rachel say "I do," kiss and rush off to see the twins born.

The End. And that's how it should have ended.

Blog Hop

Okay, so I'm super excited. Not that I have anything life-changing to offer, but because I was invited. Personally. By the very talented and awesome KT Hanna. 

So--this is my writing process. Ready to be confused?

What am I working on?

I am double-minded right now. I'm working on the sequel to Dare You--which will be in the same world but a New Adult contemporary romance from two different characters POV. The other top secret project I'm working on is a 3rd revision of a story I've been working on for at least three years now. I'm changing it from a YA to NA--paranormal, magical realism-ish. Which makes no sense, but that's okay, because I'm not too sure, either.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Because I make it all as real as possible. I am completely on board with suspending disbelief--and with my stories there's a degree of that needed. But I'm a nurse and some things just don't make sense to me--I need to be able to explain them medically. So in my top secret 3rd revision project, that's what I'm doing--medically and realistically explaining every single part of why this creature is the way it is. I think of it like Michael Crichton--I can't tell you how many times I read The Lost World. I can tell you I checked it out so often I reached the limit at my library for checking out the same book in a year--I didn't even know that was possible. Back to Michael Crichton--he realistically explained how you could clone and recreate dinosaurs and bring them into this century. That's what I'm doing. Except without the dinosaurs.

Why do I write what I write?

Because I have read so many disappointing stories, ones I feel could have gone soooooo differently, done better. The romances are too cheesy and I'm sorry, but I love you just isn't enough sometimes. I 100% believe in infatuation and lust at first sight--I don't think you can truly love someone until you get to know them. You can't get to know someone in a matter of days--maybe weeks if you are with each other all the time with no breaks. That's the same reason I write paranormal, Sci-Fi, fantasy, etc--sometimes they give me great ideas to spin off of, sometimes I feel it could've been done better and I want to try, and sometimes it's just too unrealistic and over the top and I have to write something I know I want to read.

How does my writing process work?

Hahahaha. Writing process. That's great. I'm slapping my knee as I giggle. Using Scrivener has actually helped focus me a lot. And surprisingly so has going back to school. I have my associates degree and decided I want to be full of BS and am going back for my bachelors of science. Writing a paper a week and doing online discussions has actually focused my brain more than before I started school. 

So this is what I do: I open Scrivener, play a game of solitaire, listen to my iTunes, write a bit in Scrivener, play another game of solitaire, switch it up to spider solitaire if my brain hasn't worked out what I need to write next, write a bit, play more solitaire, get a snack, read a bit in a book--whether it's a new book or a re-read--write a bit more...you get the point. I don't have a set process. I work 2-4 days in a row and by the end of my night shifts, the voices in my head are very ready to come out. So I spend my 4 days off writing, doing school stuff, exercising, reading, and every few weeks cleaning my house. I have no set process. I would love to be able to plot like a crazy woman (like KT does), but I don't. Every story I've written (and Dare You is my third) goes in completely different directions than I've planned. So I let the story go where it will, as long as it ends in a happy ending.

And on to the tagging: 

The very talented Mr. Jamie Manning:

30ish. Writer. Addicted to The Vampire Diaries. BLOOD BORN & BLOOD AWAKENING out now, BLOOD REVELATION coming soon. @byJamieManning

And one of my favorite NA authors Brenna Aubrey:

I write New Adult contemporary romance about geeks & nerds. I'm also a mom, teacher, geek girl, Francophile, unabashed video-game addict & eBook hoarder. @BrennaAubrey

GO READ THEIR BOOKS! And thanks for reading my rant!

R-mance versus X-mance

I am an unashamed romantic, but it's not all I'll read. When I write, I need a thread of romantic plot running through the story. It doesn't have to be the main focus, but it's there. And that's what I like to read, too. I grew up with Disney and I crave the Happily Ever After. I can see the poetry in a tragic ending, but they always leave me empty--like it's unfinished. And I know there are plenty of people who crave those stories, prefer them, but I'm not one of them.

Now, before I start rambling off in a different direction, defending both points of view on romance, happy endings versus the tragic, Iliad type endings, I'm refocusing this blog on this:

R-mance versus X-mance.

R-mance. I mean full on romance--wooing and falling in love and seduction. Candlelight, flowers and mood music, essentially. These type of books would most likely be rated R in movie format. They focus more on the romance, the building of feelings, the feeling of feelings, the expression of feelings. Of course there's sex--usually there's one or two scenes fleshed out (pun intended), but a lot of them are "off camera".

X-mance. Full on, almost nothing but sex. There's the instant burn of attraction, the sudden hit of lust and the characters fall into bed together within the first fifty pages. Or, once they get it on, they get it on in every chapter for the rest of the book. And these books would for sure be X rated in movie format. There'd be no showings on HBO or Showtime, either--no discrete covering of lower body parts. It's the opposite of the R-mance, if anything there might be one or two scenes "off camera".

Here's the rub: X-mances being hyped out as romance, when most of them should fall under erotica. Except, erotic might not even be the right genre for them. They're sort of stuck in the middle.

Maybe I read too much too fast--it feels like there's been an inundation of X-mance books and a severe lack of real R-mance books, and I'm feeling very frustrated.

Let's take a few examples of great R-mance books. R-mance books tend to be best sellers and stay at the top for a while--they're the books that get passed on and on and on because of all the feels. They're talked about a year later, five years later, something I pick back up again because I want to feel it all again.

The best example (except for me the movie format hits me better than the book) is The Notebook. Yes, we have the epic scene in the rain, stumbling into the house soaking wet and pulling off stockings. But the book is about Noah's love for Allie--from teenage, summer romance to nursing home, Alzheimer's affected, love you till we die. I'm for Noah the whole movie, charmed by his youthful pursuit of the snooty Allie, watching him pull her out of her shell and falling into the kind of love parents put down as puppy love but roots so deep within Noah's soul he refurbishes a house because of what he knows it would mean to Allie.

A lot of great, popular, self-published examples for me are Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, Easy by Tammara Webber and Slammed by Colleen Hoover. These books sky-rocketed to the top and stayed there. Slammed doesn't even have a lick of sex in it--a lot of angst, desire and kissing. But it's all about the forbidden, how love happens whether you want it to or not, whether it's right or wrong. Beautiful Disaster gets us all with the bad boy--the reformed rake, if you will. Sleeps with every willing female until he finds THE ONE. And he pursues her and (spoiler alert) gets her. Then there's Easy which I love for the fact that there's more going on than the romance. The hottest scene in the book is when Lucas sketches Jacqueline--fully clothed. You can feel the electricity spark off them as you read it. Yes, a lot of that is good writing, but it's also the tease, the building of anticipation.

A recent read that I loved was Love Like the Movies by Victoria Van Tiem. The best part of this book is it takes the most epic scenes from our favorite romances--the guy pursues his girl using her love of rom-coms, puts her into recreations of these scenes that we've all fantasied about partaking in. It's a perfect R-mance, maybe even PG-13 because there's not a lot of dirty talk and the only sex scene is very mild, which doesn't mean it's not poignant.

All this could be person preference. I want to see them fall in love, fight for that love. Yes, that could happen while they're getting sweaty between the sheets, but my problem with X-mances are the lack of anything that could really build a relationship outside of whatever surface they're doing it on--and it's usually a wide variety of creative surfaces. This frequently pulls me from the story because I'm trying to visualize the feasibility of some of the positions and surfaces. Yes, the couple could go at each other non-stop, but when they're not connecting elsewhere I find it very hard to buy their professions of love as anything more than lust and attraction.

Am I against a good sex scene? Nope. Sometimes they're perfect and exactly where they're supposed to. It's just these X-mances get read by me so much faster because there's so much sex for sex's sake that there's very little else to the book and I skim through it, they leave me, um, unsatisfied.

Murder She Wrote and #writemotivation

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Veronica Roth received a lot of grief last year after the release of the finale to her Divergent trilogy. I absolutely loved the first book and held off on reading the second so I wouldn't be stuck on a cliffhanger for a year. From the reviews I've read, I'm glad I did. And it's not because Veronica Roth infamously killed off the main character. It has more to do with complaints that the book is completely different from the first two--that the third book doesn't even seem to go with the previous two.

All the hub-bub got me thinking. Dangerous, I know. To kill or not to kill. The Hunger Games trilogy is all about death and murder--and in the first two books, all the character deaths were legit. Then Suzanne Collins released Mockingjay and no, just no. The death of Finnick seriously ruined the book for me. I've had many debates and discussions about Prim's death and that one seems less controversial than Finnick's. After everything you learn that the Capitol forced him to do and he finally marries Annie...then she kills him off? No. Just, seriously, no.

Even in TV shows--I stopped watching Revolution after they killed off Danny. It felt very Prim to me--the entire plot for the first season was Charlie's determination and quest to rescue her brother. Then in the first episode of the second season they kill him. Why? The same thing with Prim in The Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to save her sister--then at the end of the third book Prim's killed off. To me it defeats the whole purpose of the entire series. Okay, maybe Katniss had to go to the Hunger Games in order to become the symbol, the Mockingjay, for the revolution and Prim's the impetus for that. What did Danny's death accomplish in Revolution? Nothing that I can tell from grilling my husband after each episode--I still refuse to watch it, but I get curious every now and then.

Why is any of this relevant to me? Because I have an idea for the death of a character and not only am I dealing with the emotions involved in killing off someone I really like, but worrying about working it into the story so it's understandable. So that the reader feels the loss of the character but can accept that it had to happen for the main character to move forward the way she needs to in the story. It all makes sense in my head, but it has to make sense in the reader's head, too. That's why I write--to engage and compel the reader, to make them feel and become so immersed in the characters and story they cry like I did when that character dies. But I'm not doing it to be shocking but because it's really the only way the story can go.

Veronica Roth apparently said she felt like Harry Potter should've died at the end of the 7th book--that his death was the only way to prove his love and was the ultimate sacrifice. I disagree. And technically I think Harry did die there for a minute, along with the horcrux attached to him. I will confess to reading the very end of the 7th book because I wanted to be prepared for his death if it were to happen. I still cried like a baby when he was in the train station with Dumbledore, but I felt very satisfied with the ending. Death's not the only way to prove love or the ultimate sacrifice. But sometimes it's the only option.

Now: Writemotivation!

#3: Read something relevant to my genre: The book I read last week was Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young. I freaking love this author. She hit a homerun with On Dublin Street and continued with Down London Road. Before Jamaica Lane is the 3rd book in her New Adult series. Maybe my hormones were peaking last week, but, holy crap, this book made me feel all the feels. The premise usually comes across as a tool some writers use to push two characters together, but Samantha Young wrote it spectacularly. An inexperienced and confidence-lacking librarian, Olivia has a crush on a guy who comes into her library. After sharing with Nate her predicament, he volunteers himself to help increase her, um, confidence and experience. Of course, even though they both swear they won't develop romantic feelings for the other, they do. And it panics Nate, who still hasn't dealt with losing his girlfriend ten years before. The interaction between Olivia and Nate and the rest of the group from Scotland--I love all of them. We still get to watch Joss and Braden, Ellie and Adam, and Jo and Cam. The writing's fantastic. Olivia's story is engaging and funny and heart breaking, as is Nate's story. I'm telling you, I was so absorbed in the story, my stomach pitched with Nate breaks it off with Olivia and I was right there with Olivia when she made Nate work harder to win her back--of course, I would've taken him back sooner, but his grand gesture in the library...perfect. I almost cried there, too. Seriously. Stupid girly hormones.

#1: I bought a special notebook with three subjects (and new pens, of course) so I could work on my main story along with the two sequels I'm planning in that world. Yes, each idea gets its own subject section--I'm not as OCD as some people (*cough* KT), but I have my quirks.

#4: Blog weekly. Okay, I'm a couple weeks late, but this counts, kind of.

#5: Had my critique group with my awesome panhandle people last Thursday. They're so freaking amazing--geniuses. And they love my writing, so I'll keep them around a little longer :-)

#6: Once this is posted, I'm visiting some of my co-writemotivation people and checking out their blogs.

Leave me a comment! What do you think about killing off characters?

Clothes not required

For as long as I can remember, the library's been one of my favorite places. Every time I walk into one I feel full of hope and possibility--all the lives to live and worlds to visit fill me with excitement. In high school, my genre of choice of regency romance. Fewer, um, intimate scenes and loads of romance--especially the reformed rakes. I'd close the cover on the paperback novel and daydream in my head about the story. Frequently, my imagination would take it other places. I'd grab my notebook and pen and start writing. Then I'd get to the part where the MC was heading to an elaborate ball (practically required in regencies) and I'd get stuck. I would skip those words in the book because I know nothing about fashion--silk, I understand; lace, I understand. The complicated details the authors would get into detailing the woman's dress, even the colors, were way beyond anything I knew. Short of plagiarizing a book or a fashion magazine, I had--still have--no clue how to describe clothes. So instead of pursuing any writing, I kept my stories in my head and continued to read other people's. 

Then, as it happens with many writers, I had a character that would just not shut up. She plagued me, telling me her story all the time and I finally gave in. I described with ease the hospital room she was in, the drive home, the smell of the ocean off her back porch. I had no trouble describing the horribly tacky hospital gown she wore. And, as my story required, my character had to go shopping. I could see her in my head easily. Transcribing that image onto paper was another story. So I glossed over it. And probably went into too much detail. Seriously. The fact that she bought five pants, four shorts, socks, undies, t-shirts and button up shirts...snore. So I decided I would be one of the authors who wouldn't document every detail of my character's clothing. 

For all I cared--they could go naked. Now, I wasn't writing that kind of story, but I think you get my drift. For years, I let my perceived inability to write about clothes keep me from writing at all. Moral of the blog: Don't let that happen to you. Gloss over it. Leave a large space there and get a fellow writer to help you with it. Don't let something you think you can't write about stop you from writing at all.

Part 2: Book review time. I was born a Rebel. Literally. Best last name ever. I tried to get my husband to take it when we got married, but he wanted to stick with tradition. Boring. Lol. Fortunately, my brother has two sons so the Rebel name will continue. And, to the point. If there's a book with Rebel in the title, I'm naturally intrigued by it. I'd see the first book in this series everywhere and the cover caught my attention every time. So when the second book came out and I saw several authors I follow on twitter promoting it, I decided to jump in and read it. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes was hailed as Game of Thrones for YA. I can see why--she kills people off frequently and has borderline incest between two siblings who end up not being related anyways. Rebel Spring was the whole reason I decided to read the series. I almost did-not-finish the first book, but I hoped, really hoped, the second would be better. Nope. Maybe it's personal preference--I didn't like the frequent POV changes. This may sound weird coming from me, but how frequently the characters fall in love with each other, and how fast they do, absolutely drove me up the wall. I'm all for romance. But two characters meet and two chapters later they're in love. Beat my head against the table. I found the "history" confusing--I think the story would have been better without the Watchers. I guess Morgan Rhodes is setting it up for more intrigue in future books, but in these first two it confused rather than contributed to the story. The only reason I gave the books 2 stars on Goodreads was because I masochistically plan on reading the third book--only because I'm curious about Jonas. But I figure that's enough to warrant 2 stars rather than the 1 I wanted to give it.

Okay, that's all for now. Time to write--or get sucked into the internet and procrastinate a few hours. 

Finding your voice

The more you write the better your craft. Everyone knows this. Something else I've found that makes me a better writer is reading other writer's WIP. My very first critique partner and I started at a local critique group on the exact same day. I handed my pages off, arrogant and waiting for the exultant praise for my pages I knew they were due. Um, yeah, no. That was the day I learned all the rules--we all know the rules. Watch your -ly words, don't repeat the same word too many times, show don't tell. I pretty much got my ass handed to me. Fortunately they weren't mean about it, it wasn't malicious. And I needed to hear all of it. Then came my CPs pages. I was immediately jealous. Snarky, witty, and fun, her pages were everything I wanted mine to be. Of course there were problems with them, but they were still good. I went home that night and began working on a new project that had been nagging me for a little while. The whole time I heard my CPs voice in my head. And it helped me find my own.

Cut to two years later and I was working on another round of revisions. Maybe all my positivity about doing another round of revisions was gone. For whatever reason, I lost my voice. I wasn't writing badly, just the magic of the very first version was gone. And I couldn't find it. For months--months--I wrote and rewrote and rewrote. I found a new opportunity to submit to new agents and sent them the beginning of my new version. I liked it, thought it was good, but I knew it could be better. Still, there was some of my old arrogance there. Then one agent responded and told me some of it read like "Sci-Fi parody." Ouch! That hit me where it counted. And it woke me up. I turned off my laptop, pulled out my notebook paper and began to write again. This time, I didn't write my story, I wrote facts about my story. Details about each character, details about the world, details about the enemy. I expanded on them and reminded myself of all the things I fell in love with about my story.

Maybe I needed the hit to my pride for me to find my voice again. Whatever it was, I feel like I found it. I actually woke up today wanting to re-read my pages because I love them so much. That hasn't happened in a long time. I once read--If you don't want to read your pages, why do you think other readers would?

By George I think I've got it and #writemotivation

First, I will confess, I totally googled the "By George" above to make sure I got it right. The frequency in which I use google to verify phrases...yeah, we'll just say it's a lot.

This phrase has been my personal mantra all week long: Get over yourself and just write already.

Years ago I was searching for a writer's group in the Pensacola area I could go to, a place where we could critique each other's work and I'd learn how to be a better writer. What I found was a group of people who wanted to sit around and give excuses as to why they weren't writing. I didn't go back until several months ago, hoping to find something different. Fortunately I did. This week I was so completely ashamed of myself when I realized that was what I had been doing--making excuses to myself as to why I wasn't writing, why I couldn't write that day or at that time.

Doing my normal "ooh, look at all the shiny things on the internet" procrastination technique, I saw this retweet on my feed (okay, so I tried to embed the tweet onto my blog and it didn't work--I need a little more practice at this stuff, instead, I'll just quote it below...)

Maggie Stiefvater tweeted on Sept 18: In fact, every writer get off Tumblr & Twitter right now and finish your damn manuscript. Yes, I mean you.

At first, the rebel in me (honest, I really was born a Rebel) told Maggie to shut up (in my head, not Twitter, because that'd be rude), she can't tell me what to do and I kept scrolling through Twitter.

Then I started talking to myself--really, it's okay, that's normal. I told myself, "Self, she's right. You need to get off the internet and write." I whined back, "But, but I just can't. You don't understand. You're not telling me what to write. It's all crap." So I responded, "Stop being a whiny brat and write your book. If you don't write it someone else will." And, ooh, that really scared me. So I shut up and started writing. And finally, finally, finally I am writing. And it's flowing. And my brain's cooperating and giving me the story. And all the crap I had before can be worked in somewhere so it's not all crap, just wasn't right for the beginning.

I have at least ten different Word docs saved on my desktop of various beginnings I thought I liked, then I didn't like, but I can't delete because I never know when I might want to use that one specific turn of phrase I hashed out in that doc. That doesn't even count the number of times I deleted a whole page or doc because it just didn't work at all.

I cleverly (in my opinion of course) tweeted a while ago: My computer keyboard gave my fingers the eye and told me, "This book ain't gonna write itself."

And it's really not. So, to summarize: me writing; it's good.

Writemotivation updates:
            1.) Did a lot of writing--doubled my ten page goal. Yay. A lot of copying and pasting, but it still counts!
            2.) Have you ever loved a book so much, been so affected by it that you're scared to read another book that you know will affect you that way? Especially when it's traditionally published and takes a year or more for the next one to come out. And you're just trying to spare yourself the emotional trauma. No, just me, okay. Well, last week's Sarah J. Maas books still have me aching inside, so I decided to give myself a break and reread Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series--freaking LOVE Bones. Cat really annoys me, frequently, and I feel as though Jeaniene Frost's writing of her is awkward at times--but she is always spot on when it comes to Bones. His voice, his personality, just all of him. She said she visualizes James Franco when she writes him, but I totally see Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer--especially when Bones has his blond hair. It might be that he so completely and unashamedly loves his Kitten and it's nice to read a story where they're not constantly fighting their feelings or finding reasons why they can't be together...anyways. Rereading the 2nd-5th book in that series, not to mention the new adult garbage I read this week (none of it's worth mentioning--not good enough nor bad enough), that's how I met (sort of) my reading goal for the week.
           3.) Here's my blog--3 for 3 so far. Yay me! Next month my goal will also be to comment on other people's blogs as well, but that's a challenge for another month.
           4.) Not letting myself focus on any other books besides my current WIP because I'm finally focused and don't want to distract myself again. So, that's a fail. But I'll accept it.

I got lotsa -ly words and parenthesis above...kinda cringing. But it's 2:20am and I still have words in my head ready to get on the page and a goal to meet for next week. Ready. Set. Go.

Expecting more from New Adult and #writemotivation

I follow several self-pub'd New Adult authors on Facebook. All of them like to rant when they read a reviewer talking about the devolution of writing because of the self-pub'd industry. I've read many, many book blogs that recommend self-pub'd books, effusively praising the story and how amazing it is and they give them all 5 stars. Eighty-five percent of those books make me want to beat my head into a wall.

First, a disclaimer--there is absolutely nothing wrong with self-publishing. It takes a lot of work to promote your book after the hard work of writing it.

Here's my problem--the lack of editing. As I've ranted before, they don't maintain the tense. They flip back and forth between present and past and I don't think half of them have heard of past perfect. Using then versus than. And my favorite so far: "He wondered off to the other side of the club." Wondered? Wondered? The word you're thinking of is wAndered. Another author describes the MC as having her head on her love interest's shoulder. The MC "elevates her head to look at his face." I understand wanting to avoid cliches and wanting to find a different way to say what has been said a million times. However, elevate is awkward at best. Maybe it's because I'm a nurse and we elevate broken extremeties to reduce the swelling.

I'm fairly certain I've discussed those in a previous blog, so I'll stop there. Obviously it bothers me.

Now, is the traditional publishing industry jumping on the New Adult bandwagon? When I search for New Adult books, most of what I find is self-pub'd. Maybe that's because they're so much more popular due to the lower cost. I'm not sure.

I obeyed one of my September writemotivation commandments this week: read a book in my genre I'm writing. I, of course, read several self-pub'd New Adult books--those are so easy to read and I devour at least one a day. The books I read this week for my Young Adult genre are the first two books in a series: Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. Can I just say WOW!

Throne of Glass follows condemned assassin Celaena Sardothien in her quest to re-claim the title of royal assassin. I couldn't stop reading this book Thursday night, probably finished it about 3 a.m. Deciding I wanted to see where the Crown of Midnight started, I told myself I'd read the first couple chapters and go to bed. One-hundred-and-fifty pages later, at 7:30 a.m., I forced myself to stop so I could sleep. The first book was completely and utterly captivating and amazing. The second took that farther. Her love interest straightened itself out a bit, she suffers a horribly heartbreaking loss and the ending she reveals the big secret about herself that left me speechless. Speechless. And so completely frustrated that not only is there no release date for the third book, there's no title yet. I know it probably won't be out for a year and I can't freaking wait. I haven't felt this way about a series in a very long time.

I think the thing I love best about this series is Celaena's active struggle with readjusting to life outside of the salt mines she had been condemned to the year before. Her thought processes and emotions are real and relatable and I feel them so deep in my stomach I ache for her.

So, writemotivation goals:
                   1.) Did some writing, nothing towards my current WIP. My very awesome agent decided she wants to focus her career in a different direction and passed that news on to her clients last weekend. I allowed myself the week to be in a funk and now I'm making myself snap out of it. She was such an inspiration and I wouldn't have started my New Adult without her and my YA WIP wouldn't be where it is now without her. Also, without her, I wouldn't have found the awesome K.T. and her writemotivation and I wouldn't be doing this blog. There's me focusing on the bright side!
                   2.) Read a book in my genre: as noted above, very two awesome books by Sarah J. Maas.
                  3.) Here's the blog!
                  4.) Haven't focused on sketching out a new story because I let myself funk.

Now, onto the writing, because the voices in my head won't stop if I don't.

Superheroes and September #writemotivation

Looking back at my previous blogs, I did my very first writemotivation last September. Ha ha! And then I really slacked off...oops.

And, as many writers know, the writing world is very much a waiting game. The industry is super busy and your MS will be reviewed in the order in which it was received--which could take months. So while I funnel my limited patience to, well, waiting, I'm getting my tush in gear (again).

I'm currently very fortunate to have the work schedule of every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Because of that, I'm going to bend the writemotivation rule for posting my blogs on Mondays and due them on Thursday/Fridays instead because Fridays are my Monday. This gives me the whole week to work towards my goals so I can update my progress, etc.

As the entire world knows, Ben Affleck's been cast as the new Batman in the far-far-far-away Superman sequel. In the entire superhero universe, Superman is my most favoritest superhero. Now, I haven't read any comics. This is based solely on movies and TV shows. I will confess that my love started with Dean Cain on Lois and Clark. And I did not completely hate Superman Returns with Brandon Routh, honestly I kinda liked it. Then, there's Tom Welling on Smallville. I'm not forgetting Christopher Reeve from the original movies--I love his "aw, shucks, Lois" Superman.

When they cast Henry Cavill as the newest Superman/Clark Kent: fangirl overload.

Every single actor they cast in the movie I love, with the except of Russell Crowe. That almost put me over the edge, but that can be for another blog.

Anyways, the casting of Ben Affleck of Batman I didn't immediately love or hate. I, again against the norm, enjoyed Daredevil. Do I think they have some serious screws loose to recast Batman this close to the "retirement" of the amazingly awesome Christian Bale's Batman. Oh, yes, totally crazy of them. Few actors completely embody a superhero so completely.

The most relevant example of this is Robert Downey Jr as Ironman. Perfect. You don't see RDJ on the screen, you see Tony Stark. The second closest is Christian Bale as Batman. But the difference there is the entire Batman trilogy focused on Christian Bale AS Batman, not so much of him as Bruce Wayne.

Now if you're thinking about Affleck having been Daredevil and seeing him take on a new superhero facade, think back to Chris Evans as The Human Torch in The Fantastic Four. The only actor in that movie I think was more their character than Chris Evans was Ioan Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic. Chris Evans is another actor who becomes his superhero character so well that I forget I'm watching Chris Evans and see Captain America on the screen.

I'm cutting myself off there because thinking about Captain America makes me think about The Avengers and that makes me think about Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk (both also awesome casting choices).

Why is this all relevant? Because this isn't going to Christian Bale's Batman in the next Superman movie. This is what the new Batman's going to be:

     "I want you to remember, Clark. In all the years to come. In all your most private moments. I want you to remember my hand at your throat. I want you to remember the one man who beat you."

Holy goose bumps, Batman.

Again, I've not ready any of the comic books, but apparently Batman has not beaten Superman once, but twice. The only person to have done so. Do I love this--of course not. I love it as much as I love seeing Superman kissing Wonder Woman in fan art instead of him kissing Lois Lane--which is not at all. But is it going to be badass...hell yeah it is!

Okay, gotta wrap this up before I ramble on some more. Because that can totally lead me into a Justice League movie and who's gonna be The Flash (personally I think Ryan Reynold's would've been a better Flash than Green Lantern) and who's gonna be Wonder Woman (and I'm sure every fanboy across the world can't wait to see that movie poster).

Writemotivation:
                 1.) Here's my blog!
                 2.) Met my writing goal plus some (yay!)
                 3.) May have cheated on my reading--I re-read the Significance series by Shelly Crane. It falls under my genre, but it's self-pub'd and a series I'd already read.
                 4.) Have begun mentally exploring another idea and I'm going to start putting an outline into a doc next week. Hoping it won't take away from my WIP, which is currently acting like a petulant teenager and cooperating with difficulty.

To end this blog with some alliteration:

Superheroes, September, and Sexy Superman :)

Choose your words wisely

Writers everywhere want to avoid cliches like the plague. Sometimes as I write, I just let the words throw themselves up onto the page and decide I'll go back to edit later. Sometimes I painstakingly choose every word, trying to get the right feel and emotions I want conveyed right then. Words mean something--we're not just happy and we're not just mad. There are different levels for each emotion.

The thesaurus offers many, many options for happy: blessed, blissful, blithe, captivated, cheerful, chipper, content, delighted, ecstatic, elated...on and on and on. I'm stopping there because two of the words you can substitute happy for are perfect for making the point I haven't gotten to yet.

Happy is such a broad, general word and is used frequently. As a writer, not only do you want to convey the level of their happiness, you want to choose words that are different and not used all day, every day. Utilizing the thesaurus, you can show the depth of your character's happiness by subbing in cheerful--in my mind it's on the more mild level of happy. Your main character's boyfriend finally proposes, your character loves him and wants to spend her life with him--she's happy. How happy? Is she cheerful? Probably, but that wouldn't necessarily be the right word. Is she content? Again, probably, again not the right word. Ecstatic? Yeah, of course she is. She's jumping up and down, smiling, laughing, hugging and kissing him, shouting "Yes!" for the entire world to hear.

Now, what's my point? My point is just because the thesaurus offers you hundreds of options, or even a few options, for the word you feel is over used--don't do it! I read a book last night where the character was snuggling with her boyfriend, head on his shoulders. When the car stopped, she "elevated her head." Really, pretty sure saying the character lifted her head would have been okay. In fact, the ordinariness of it would have been better because elevated read very awkwardly and pulled me out of the moment. She also wrote that "her mouth sinks into a frown." Again, awkward. Her mouth sinks? Makes me visualize a face that's melting and the mouth sinks down because the skin's, well, melting.

I was using the thesaurus to replace "too much." As I read through the synonyms offered, I came across fulsomeness. Could I choose fulsomeness? Yes--except when I read its definition, it was more of a "too much" in the sense of the parties the Capitol threw in The Hunger Games--offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive. Not the right context. I found, and chose, overabundance because it's a common enough word that readers will know and it fit my scene perfectly. And I also figured, it'd be conspicuous if I used fulsomeness instead of overabundance. The reader, at least I would, think, "hmm, someone's been playing in the thesaurus."

Use words you use, not words you wished you used. Some writers get away with using big words because they use them correctly and without making me feel like they're rubbing their intelligence in my face. Other writers use big words and you know it's because they're trying too hard or they've been playing in their thesaurus.

Avoid being cliche without using awkward words that really aren't appropriate for what you're writing. "He's full of passion"--in romance novels, very cliche. However, it's cliche because it works so well and saying "He's full of ardor" sounds awkward and like maybe he's smelly.

Agent-Author-versary

That's my dorky way of saying it's been a year since I became an agented author.

January 11, 2012, I received the most amazing e-mail. Ever. The agent I had an e-mail conversation with the day before wanted to call me. As in, dial my number, speak with me on the phone and talk about the manuscript (MS) I had sent her the day before. I had to breathe. Deep, slow, deliberate breaths. Otherwise I was going to bounce my butt right off my bed in my giddy, happy shuffle (that's what happens when you check your e-mail while you're still in your pj's, tucked under the covers). The hubs didn't understand what I could possibly be so excited about. Duh, hello! If she wants to actually talk to me it has to be good! And it was!

Right after I submitted my full MS the night before, and she asked for exclusivity on my submission for 72 hours, I read back through my completed 84k document. And found errors. And more errors. And a major potential plot point that would move the story forward faster. And she was reading this imperfect bunch of crap I had the audacity to think was ready for submission.

So in my most professional, yet not ridiculously formal, words I e-mailed her back. Of course, I'd love to talk to her. These are the times I'm good (all day, I'll sit with my phone in my hand and stare at it until it rings). Then she called. I squealed before I answered the phone, jumped up and down in place, then took several more deep, slow, deliberate breaths so I didn't sound like a complete moron when I answered the phone.

She loved me. Er, it. Well, I guess me, too. And she asked if I'd have any problems changing things and I told her the brain storm I'd had the night before. And she loved it, too. We were both very excited.

The super-official, you know it's really, really, real part happened--I signed a contract, she signed a contract. Then we got to the fun stuff. Revisions.

Re-writing the first time was more about adding. Adding this new plot point and changing the little, minor details to reflect it. I also added 12k words. That made a whopping 96k word MS.

Then came the time to trim the fat. Tighten it up. Make the major plot point I added occur sooner in the story. I condensed the beginning from about 105-120 pages down to 50 or so. Then there was more fat trimming throughout the rest of the book. The liposuction dropped the MS down to 73k words.

All this happened by about May/June. The literary agency conned students into being interns for them and my agent got a very smart, very into-my-genre intern who was allowed to attack my MS. And, being the very intelligent Yale student she is, she helped me see that my MS needs mini-peaks to help keep the tension levels up as it built to the climax, keeping the reader interested and engaged. I even outlined. *gasp* It didn't kill me. It's, not surprisingly, helped keep me focused on how this new version's getting from beginning to end with all the meaty, juicy, good stuff in the middle.

Now, we're on round 4 (this is just with my agent, this doesn't count all the times I re-worked my MS before I started submissions 18 months ago). It's  like renovating an old house without indoor plumbing or electricity--the shell and foundation remain the same, but the details change. Which I'm great with--I wouldn't do anything I wasn't comfortable with. I'm all about maintaining my story and not folding into what's popular or guaranteed to get me pub'd, but I do want a book that will sell. I do want a book people will read and enjoy. So I needed to make changes. And I am.

Out of the roughly 75-80k words I'd like to have at the end, I'm at 35k. I've been re-writing almost the entire thing, copying and pasting from the previous edition as applicable. And I'm freaking falling back in love with this story all over again.

In my crazy, nerdy, dorky mind, I've labeled the previous edition of my MS as this Universe and the one I'm working as the other Universe. Like in Fringe, where the characters and everything's exactly the same, but their lives are different because they've made different choices and decisions than their alternate selves in the other Universe.

So that's the abbreviated version of how this last year's gone with me and my agent and my MS. I receive lots and lots of love and encouragement from my agent and I couldn't be happier with me choosing her and her choosing me.

Now, I've gotta finish the other Universe so I have something to sell to publishers in this Universe and I can start working on the next book in my planned series--I don't know which Universe that one'll take place in, yet!

I feel like an owl

Over two months since my last blog...might be a little over due. But I do have, um, excuses as to why I haven't been blogging. Back in high school I wrote poetry. A lot of angsty, moody poems. I thought most of them were great. I captured the essence of my angst and hid them away so none of the, well, boys I wrote them about knew about them. I found the folder not too long ago and had to shove it back into the bookcase to keep from burning it. Gah, I was such a teenager!

But that's neither here nor there. Way back in high school, I noticed that journaling routinely kept me from being able to write poetry. I figured it was because journaling was a type of emotional release, i.e. "So-and-so smiled at me today. *sigh* What did it mean? Was he smiling at me? Or the girl behind me? After lunch, he said 'Hi' to me. Did me mean hi? Or hi?" You know, the important things girls in high school think about. So because I journaled about my confusion, I wasn't able to write a poem about it. Or at least not a good one I wanted to keep and sigh over later. "Brown hair and eyes of green/ which never had I seen/ look at me the way I knew/ I always looked at you." (Made that up on the spot--about the same quality of crap I wrote in high school!)

My story may not be the same sort of emotional release that writing poetry was and blogging's not the same sort of emotional release journaling was. At least not lately. But, my excuse, is that I noticed my writing on my story decreased when I was blogging more frequently. Was I pacifying that piece of me that needs to write just enough by blogging? Probably not. Probably I'm just using these excuses as, well, excuses as to why I'm not focusing more on what I should be doing--writing my story.

A good friend gave me a great idea. I asked awesome agent to give me a deadline for my next chunk of pages. Much to my delight, many of my As on papers in school were awarded to papers I wrote in haste the night before or the morning they were due. As of right now, my next 50 pages are "due" on February 4th. She gave me this "deadline" last week. Have I started yet? Pssh, please, of course not. Of course, my excuses now are Christmas and sickness and family and, and, and...I really, really, really want to impress her and get her my pages long before the deadline.

Now, why do I feel like an owl? I've been reading a lot of self-pub'd and indie books lately. Mostly because I'm cheap and I can get 3-4 books for the price of 1 traditionally pub'd book. With how I eat books, it makes more financial sense for me to do it this way. The most common grammatical error I come across in these books is their inability to use WHO. "I'm the girl that--" NO! It's WHO! "I'm the girl WHO--" "Sally's the barista that--" NO! WHO! "Sally's the barista WHO--!" When you're talking about a person, they're not "that".

Am I the grammar police? No. Should I be using whom instead of who in any of the examples above? Possibly. All I know is that using "that" is wrong and it's really becoming a pet peeve of mine. Along with changing tenses in the middle of a paragraph/story. "I was walking to school when I saw him. He is the one I've always loved." NO!!! Oh, and the lack of contractions! And the passive tense they use! Don't say "I was walking" say "I walked".

Arg, and commas. I am a comma lover, guilty of comma splicing all over the place. However, the one place I know for sure a comma is ALWAYS used is before and after a person's name when you're speaking to them. "Why are you always late Bob?" "Maybe because you never give me the comma I need, Bill."

I started with my excuses at the top because I thought my ranting about WHO wouldn't be long enough to justify a whole blog. But obviously I found more to moan and groan about. And I don't even want to know how many grammar/punctuation errors I made in this blog! All I know is I didn't misuse who/that, I didn't change tenses, and I don't have to worry about commas and names because I wasn't talking to you anyways.

Laundry is never done #writemotivation

Should totally be in bed right now, worked the last 3 nights and signed up for tonight and possibly tomorrow, but I need clean scrubs. The hospital might frown on me showing up in real pajamas. So I have about 20 minutes left on the washer before I throw the wet clean clothes in with the dry clean clothes still in the dryer. I'm running low on socks so I might actually have to put them all away at some point.

Accomplished one of my weekly goals last week--went to the gym three times! Yay, me! Went again this morning and I felt good as I was driving home. Almost satisfied, like my muscles were waiting for the workout and happy with what I did. *Sigh* Guess that means I'll be going again.

Got to finish one book while I was on the elliptical/treadmill. That accomplished my weekly goal from two weeks ago. In my defense, I started The Girl of Fire and Thrones but knew within the first chapter I was going to love it. Now I know what agents mean when they read a submission from a potential author. You. Just. Know. But I digress. After I got into the second chapter, I had to google the series to see when the second book comes out. Tomorrow. It comes out tomorrow. And that's almost too long a wait. I knew I'd be like this, antsy and impatient for the 2nd book, so I waited to read it until the release date was closer. But do you know what comes next? The wait for the 3rd book. Which I'm sure will be even worse because 2nd books tend to do that.

Let me just tell you how much I needed The Girl of Fire and Thrones. I read Struck beforehand and was kinda disappointed. The writing was good, but the story frustrated the crap out of me. I knew half-way through what the "plot twists" were going to be and the character's Lois-Lane-esque ignorance about another character's true identity made me want to face plant into the desk.

My biggest "Yay" moment was being able to send my awesome agent my next 50 pages. I think I might have bitten off more than I could chew by wanting to do 50 pages a week...but I did do about 30 pages in one day, so maybe I just need to keep reminding myself that I have a story I love that I want the world to love and I actually have to get it out of my head in order for that to happen. Do you notice this common theme in my posts? Get your head out of your a-- and get it done?! I do. :)

Mood Music #writemotivation

I remember friends in high school who had to study to music and it drove me nuts. Music distracted me. I didn't want to listen to it, I wanted to sing along. When I started writing my first book forever ago, I found myself writing on my laptop in the car. The hubs' conversations on his phone and with our passengers were beyond distracting and I started bringing along my headphones so I could tune them out (pun intended!). Now I can't seem to write without it.

Now here's the weird part--you know there had to be a weird part. I can't listen to a mash-up of all those genres. This past week proved it to me. I made a playlist of all my music in iTunes from The Band Perry to Journey to Def Leopard to Seether to Taylor Swift to Jessie James to Usher. I couldn't get myself to focus on a single freaking thing. Tuesday I wrote about ten pages that I deleted on Wednesday and rewrote another 6. About half of those pages were deleted on Thursday and I proceeded to write another 22 pages.

What was the difference? I put on Pandora to today's country music. I know, I know. It must be living here in Lower Alabama that has me hooked on the Country. But it's really not my fault--if the pop stations wouldn't play mainstream versions of Taylor Swift or Lady Antebellum or The Band Perry, I wouldn't pull up a playlist on Pandora for The Band Perry. And I wouldn't hear other artists I like as much. And I wouldn't give in and stream pure country music. In my defense, there's a bunch of twangy artists I block, but still. I'm listening to country music.

And here I'll put the breaks on to keep myself from being even more defensive! *Takes deep breath* I. Like. Country. Music. Deal with it.

The purpose of my rambling? My writemotivation goals from last week. Technically I revised 38 pages last week, even though only 22 stuck at the end. That's 12 pages short of my goal. Instead of focusing on the fact that I didn't meet my goal, here's my motivational thought for the day--This is a new week. A new week where I can accomplish the goals I set for myself. I don't have to worry about last week, just look forward to this week. And I'm going to kick ass at it!

Worked out yesterday and today (Yay!). Yesterday was a dud on the epiphanies, but today landed me a pretty darn good one. The reason I stopped writing Thursday was because I got stuck. I knew I should go back and write more about an important event in one of my character's lives, but I cut it short. Way short. And while I was on the treadmill today thinking about it, I remembered this--publishers are always going to cut words. Why aren't I writing all of it? If it's too wordy or not necessary, they'll be quick to massacre it with a red pen. So this evening, when I get up from my nap, that's the second thing I'm going to do. The first is correct all the embarrassing typos and grammar errors I found as I read through my pages this weekend. *Smacks palm to forehead*

So there we are. Mood music and epiphanies. Sounds like a great way to start the week!