I'm Back and I Brought You Some Eye Candy

Wow - what a week!  It was hard, but I mostly stayed away from the internet.  I did read a few blogs here and there - you're all so awesome it's difficult to stay away and I enjoyed keeping up with a lot of you through twitter.  I'm so excited because I had some specific goals in mind when I decided to unplug. Did I meet them? Read on and you'll find out.
Monday I cleaned and cleaned.  My Christmas tree was still up - that's how bad my house was, but I took care of all of that. But when I tried to write on Monday I was so tired I fell asleep.  Oh dear, I stumbled and fell right from the get go and I was feeling very discouraged, until I read this blog post by Natalie Whipple. Natalie is a writing machine - did you see her word count from last year? Anyway when she admitted that sometimes she just didn't feel like writing - I felt better.  Natalie's advice is to DO IT ANYWAY!  That's what I did.  Tuesday morning I started anew determined to make up for the day before.  I learned something this week. I need to write in the morning.  I've been trying to write while my 2yo went down for naps in the afternoon, but lately his naps have been hit and miss or I keep falling asleep.  So I've switched to mornings and it's working a lot better.  I write from 5:30am until 7 before my kids wake up. I'm fresh from sleep and I'm not bogged down yet with all the things I need to do.  

 I also discovered something else.  As I described my male MC I realized the picture in my mind looks exactly like Eric Bana. 

 Does anyone else think Eric Bana is HOT?
Sorry guys I didn't post any eye candy for you this time.

Some other awesome things that happened this week is that I hit 100 followers and it's still growing. Yay! I can't believe it. Thank you so much for reading my blog and becoming a follower. I think I need to hold a contest.

Another exciting moment came when my blogging buddies Wendy Sparrow from Where Lady Bugs Roar and Diana Paz from Writing Roller Coasters put up pictures of themselves.  Finally I get to have a face to put with their awesome blogs.  You're both beautiful Wendy and Diana - check out their blogs if you haven't yet.

And finally we come to my word count.  My goal for the week was to write 6000 words. Did I do it? Yes I did! 6002 to be exact. I've never written that much in a week before and I'm thrilled.

I'm excited to be back and hope to be commenting on all of your blogs soon.

So, how was your week?

An Unworthy Writer Amongst Awesomeness

 Friday, I enjoyed an evening with writers.  Good food, amazing women, fun time.  Most of these women I'd never met in person, but because I read their blogs and many of them read mine, I felt like I was among good friends. As the evening progressed and we shared our writing history and accomplishments with each other, I began to feel more and more small in a room full of giants.  How can I call myself a writer when I haven't even finished my rough draft yet. In fact, I haven't written anything of consequence for weeks.  Despite feeling small I took home a renewed incentive to finish my story.  I want to feel worthy.  Worthy in my own eyes and theirs.

This morning I awoke early and instead of reading blogs I wrote. It felt good.

 These are the full of AWESOMENESS women it was a privilege to spend an evening with.

Suzette Saxton: http://suzettesaxton.blogspot.com

Elana Johnson: http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com

Angie Lofthouse: 
http://notesfromthewritingchair.blogspot.com/

Tess Hilmo: http://tesshilmo.blogspot.com

Ali Cross: http://alicross.blogspot.com/

Jenn Wilks:
 http://lifelongbookworm.blogspot.com/

Windy Aphayrath:
 http://windyaphayrath.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Vawdrey:
 http://checkerboardsquares.blogspot.com/

Natalie Whipple: 
http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/

Michelle Argyle: 
http://theinnocentflower.blogspot.com/

Nichole Giles:
 http://nicholegiles.blogspot.com/

Jaime Theler:
 http://jaimetheler.blogspot.com/

L.T. Elliot: http://lexiconluvr.blogspot.com/

Yay! Finally I have Pictures Of The Dark Divine Launch Party and Some More Shameless Name Dropping

My friend Alaina finally sent pictures and she is feeling sheepish now, because they were so much easier to send than she thought.  To read my previous posting about the book launch go here.

So without further ado - pictures:

Me and Alaina hanging out while we wait for a chance to meet Bree.

We were late and the place was packed. That pile of books I'm standing by, along with a another pile by the register, were gone before we left.

This is the crowd milling about outside of the main room while Bree talked about her writing journey. The bookstore baked up some cookies with purple icing in honor of Bree's book - I didn't eat any, but the water was fabulous.

That's me at the top of the stairs.  I'd never been to The King's English Bookshop before and since I couldn't hear a word of what Bree was saying I decided to check the place out.  I was trying to look cool when Alaina took this picture, but I've decided, it's impossible to look cool when you have a double chin. Double chins are so not cool - *sigh*

Alaina, Me, Sara Zarr, Natalie Whipple and Jenn Johansson

 
Okay I have to squee now - squeeeeeee! I love Sara Zarr and I was so excited to see her there. I've read all three of her books. For my review of her books go here and here. Also another squeeeeee for meeting Natalie Whipple of Between Fact and Fiction - love her blog.  Natalie was already buying Sara's book and when I saw her with it I introduced her to Sara, you know, because Sara and I were already old friends by this time.  Also got to meet Natalie's friend Jenn Johansson, who is very nice and blogs here and it looks like she's having a contest right now - better check it out.

Emily Wing Smith, Me, Brodi Ashton, Alaina

I mentioned in my last post about Bree's launch party, that she did a fantastic job of promoting her book. Organizing a street team to get the word out about her book was one of the ways she did that. Alaina was apart of that street team and that is how I learned about Bree.  When I checked out Bree's blog I also learned about her critique group - they call themselves The Six and they wore t-shirts specially made for the event.  Brodi Ashton is one of The Six.  I began reading her blog after reading Bree's.  If you've never read Brodi's blog, you really should. She's hilarious and I laugh every time I read it.  Brodi was nice enough to offer to read the first page of anyone's WIP who wanted to send it.  She read mine and her advice was incredibly helpful - thank you Brodi.  Brodi also did a book giveaway that I won and when I gave her my address, we learned that we live close to each other. So, she delivered the book in person and we got to meet. So cool and she is very nice.  Emily Wing Smith is also a member of The Six and she has a book out called The Way He Lived - so fun meeting her and she is super nice too.

Bree Despain, Bree's little boy, and Alaina 

I had my picture taken with Bree too, but it didn't turn out well.  Alaina is the one who really deserves to have her picture up anyway. 

This was my first book launch and I had an awesome time, hope to do it again soon.  

Yesterday was Bree's B-day and she is doing a giveaway on her blog.

Don't forget to check out 

The Dark Divine

Create An Emotional Impact

"I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions." - James A. Michener

I've been trying to discover the secret to creating a beginning scene that will make a reader want to keep reading.  Almost everyday I get a Daily Kick in the Pants e-mail from David Farland author of the Runelords series and I really like what he had to say about beginnings:
 "The single most effective way to promise a powerful experience is to write an opening that in itself creates an emotional impact.

The first scene can be anything--a funny incident that introduces one of your protagonists, or perhaps an argument that leaves your reader shocked. Maybe you'll write a scene that will leave your reader admiring your protagonist and cheering for her, or perhaps you'll introduce your tale with a gruesome murder that will leave the reader horrified but burning with intrigue.

In short, whatever you do in the opening of your story, a great opening scene will almost always find some way to arouse a powerful emotional response in the reader--and the impact of that scene will convince the reader to delve further into the tale, hoping for more." 

I think he's right. I think if there is a secret, eliciting an emotional response is it. 

One of my favorite books is The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.  I like to study my favorite books to try and pin-point what it is that makes me want to keep reading.  With one sentence Hale has me hooked:

 "She was born Anidori-Kiladra Taliana Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she did not open her eyes for three days."

With one sentence I know what sort of world I will be in and I have an emotional response to a baby that won't open her eyes. Brilliant! 

What is the emotional impact you are hoping to evoke with your beginning scene?

In my last post I borrowed an analogy to explain the importance of being a draft horse to become a prolific writer.  Some people thought it made writing sound very dull, but I think L.T. Elliot from Dreams of Quill and Ink explained it perfectly:

 

"I think I'm a draft horse--but a happy draft horse. I might be doing the same thing and it might be hard work but I take a lot of joy in the smell of freshly churned earth. I revel in the feel of muscles pulled taut. Even that wrung-dry, weary plop into bed at night is praise for work well done."

Are You A Draft Horse?

After reading an analogy by Karen Mittan I learned I'm not a draft horse yet, but I want to be. 

Here's a portion of what she had to say:
"...In my experience, constructing a story that has thought, continuity and flow is not particularly pleasurable. It’s tedium ad nauseum. Like the draft horse’s routine work, in order to finish a story, an author must do the same thing over and over and over: apply the seat to the chair, the fingers to the keyboard and the brain to the project at hand.
It’s repetitious, too. While the draft horse may pull the plow in a new field tomorrow, he’s still pulling the plow in the same general pattern his owner determined for him today. So, too, the writer may be working on a new story but it has to have the same basic elements, the same general plot structure, the same carefully constructed language. And he’s not working for himself, either. His reader is his owner. Like the draft horse, if he doesn’t work hard to please the ‘owner’, he may not have too much food on his table next winter.
I think there’s a reason why draft horses were/are frequently called ‘plugs’. According to Webster’s finest, the word has a double meaning when applied to draft animals: ‘a worn out animal’ and ‘to work hard and steadily’. I think both definitions frequently fit writers just as well. We do become worn out with the seemingly endless drafting and rewriting of our prose/poetry projects. However, we also must work hard and steadily if we're to accomplish the task at hand.
So I identify with the ‘draught’ horses. I think we have a lot in common. Do I work hard and steadily? I try to. Do I always enjoy what I’m doing? Frequently not. It is, after all, work. Do I gain pleasure as I write? Sometimes. When the prose is flowing easily, when the humor bubbles up, when an acute phrase pops into my head, then my work is a pleasure. Most of the time, however, I just plug away, knowing that, if I’m careful and consistent, the pleasure will come at the end of the day when I’m turned out to grass and I can read what I’ve written and call it good.” - Excerpt from David Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants

So, what about you? Are you a draft horse? Do you even want to be?

A Rambling Post With Some Shameless Name Dropping While I'm Waiting For Pictures

Last Saturday I attended the book launch for Bree Despain author of The Dark Divine.  I went with my friend Alaina who took pictures, but Alaina needs her husband to help her figure out how to send them to me via e-mail so I don't have any pictures yet.  But, if you go here you will see a picture of me and Alaina and you can also learn more about my new friend Brodi Ashton. If you go here - you can read how Natalie Whipple mentioned meeting me. Yep - I met Natalie Whipple from Between Fact and Fiction - so awesome.
This was my first launch party and the place was packed.  Alaina and I arrived a little late because, well, we're late for most things.      In Utah, The King's English Bookstore is the place for author's to launch their new books.  It was smaller than I thought it would be - very cozy and cool. One of the bookstore workers said they've had a lot of famous authors there, but they've never had a crowd like this before.  It was wall to wall people and they sold out of her book.  So awesome.   I'm reading her book now and will be doing a book review soon.   Bree is definitely an author to watch out for.   Bree has a critique group of six women and I thought it was really awesome how they were all there to support her.  They all wore t-shirts with The Six on them.  Bree is not the first from The Six to get published.  I met Emily Wing Smith and bought her book The Way he Lived - of course I had her sign my copy. Brodi is also one of The Six and she has her book Echos with an agent.  I'm very impressed with the way Bree promoted her book.  She played up the color purple from her book cover and has all kinds of purple swag - like fingernail polish that she handed out to people.  She also set up a street team, which my friend Alaina was apart of, to help get the word out about her book.  I also met Sara Zarr - very, very awesome. Love her! Oh I wish I had pictures. Soon, I promise there will be pictures soon.  To sum up, it was an awesome experience and I'm glad I went.  Oh and check out The Dark Divine.

A Bright and Shiny New Year

Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it.

- Anne of Green Gables

In 2010 I want to look like this:

Well, at least look a little less like this:

I want to spend more time in places like this:

While I write of a place that looks like this:

 

I want to do more of this:

and maybe a little of this:

Surrounded by beauty like this:

Where I can ponder over this:

 

I want my house to look like this:

And no longer like this:

But mostly, I want to do more of this:

Welcome to 2010 Everyone!