Anna and the French Kiss

     Aaaaahhhhh, loved this book. Loved it loved it loved it. Seriously. I really did.
     I'd heard so much about it, lots of people raving, so I thought I'd get it from my library. There was a waiting list. So I decided, dash it all, I'll just buy the thing. (I usually don't say dash it all.)
     Anyway, SO GOOD. It didn't disappoint. It didn't even fail to live up to the hype (I hate it when that happens). It so far surpassed the hype that it basically blew the hype out of the water. Last night I went to a movie but the whole time was wishing I was at home with this book instead. And today? Well, I just read all day because I couldn't stop.
     Okay, I don't really know what I'm saying. I'm still in France. With Anna. And Etienne St. Clair.
     Speaking of, I know I already picked my crush of the week but can I pick a literary crush? Because it so would be St. Clair. It's not only American girls who love British accents. Well done, Stephanie Perkins. Well done. I just wish you (I'm speaking to you Perkins) would give us a cast list because I'd really like to know what actor you'd pick to play him. I've wracked my brain but I can't think of anyone good enough.
     Anyway, if you (yes I'm talking to you now) haven't read this book... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???

Mr. Darcy Goes Overboard

     I just finished the silliest book I've probably ever read: Mr. Darcy Goes Overboard by Belinda Roberts. Don't get me wrong, the book didn't suck, I didn't dislike it. Rather I found it quite funny. But it was totally silly. Sometimes ridiculous. But always amusing. If you like Pride and Prejudice and you like to read re-tellings- try this book out. You'll find lines like this:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a yacht must be in want of a female crew.

And this:

"I shall wear like my new pink sundress from Fat Face," declared Kitty. "Although I have only worn it like once, I have seen many a young man turn their heads to stare at me."

And this:

"You must know that I... that I fancy you. No, more! I have the hots for you, my dear Elizabeth, and with such feelings, I am desirous that you will be the companion of my future life."

     Can I just say... Bwahahahahahaha! I think it's hugely funny (and sometimes disconcerting) to see the proper Jane Austen way of talking mixed in with like and hot and the occasional whateva. The book stays very close to the original, only changing the locations- instead of Pemberley the estate, it's Pemberley the yacht and most of the book takes place in the beach town of Salcombe. Silliness is added in throughout, especially during the final proposal scene. It was the perfect summer beach read (even though it's no longer summer)- light, funny, easy, and to put it Jane Austen's way- diverting.

Giveaway and Crush of the Week

     I've reached 100 followers! Who'd have thunk it? Anyway, this calls for a giveaway, right? Well... sheesh, I've got nothing. Seriously. I don't get ARC's, I don't know any agents... I wish I could hold a super-awesome contest but who would judge, what would be the prize?
     Anyway, this is what I came up with. A read-through of your first 25 pages. I'll admit, and this isn't really going to make people want to enter, but I'm not the best beta out there. I don't do line edits really and I don't know all the "rules" (or if I do, I tend to break them). But if you're looking for fresh eyes, someone to give you their general thoughts or input, I'm your girl. Just comment on this post and I'll pick a random winner. It can be from a complete MS or an unfinished WIP- I don't care as long as there is a beginning in place (I couldn't enter my own contest because I haven't written the beginning of my WIP yet, I just jumped right in). So enter away and I look forward to reading someone's work.
     On to crush of the week...
     I saw the movie Crazy Stupid Love on Tuesday night starring Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone (who I love- she's awesome) and this guy, my crush of the week:

     I sort of have a soft spot for Ryan Gosling because I've met him before. His mom and I went to the same church when I lived in Burlington, Ontario and he visited a couple of times. This was back when he had just finished filming Remember The Titans so he wasn't a huge actor yet. I spoke to him a couple of times and he seemed like a very nice, down-to-earth guy. Now he's a very well-known actor and I'm happy for his success.
     Anyway, in Crazy Stupid Love, he's funny, and holy cow hot. The movie was really good, although I'm not gonna lie, there were a couple of parts I didn't like. Steve Carell was of course hilarious. He had the whole theater laughing out loud. But since this isn't about him, I wanted to share this short clip of Ryan/Emma moments. My favorite is right at the beginning- "Seriously? It's like you're photo-shopped!"

Road Trip Wednesday- Adults to Teens

Hmm, today's topic is an interesting one...

What non-YA character would you love to see star in a YA book as themselves?

     This could be a hard question but I had one character come to mind right off the bat. I know I'm approaching the point of talking Persuasion to death, but I can't help but choose Anne Elliot. Actually, the reason I choose her is this: before starting my modern-Persuasion WIP I struggled back and forth between making the book YA or adult. Originally I thought adult. Then I thought, since I loved writing YA so much, why not YA? Then no, adult. Then back to YA. You get the point.
     Anne Elliot as a high school character might not be that interesting since her school days are before she ever meets Frederick Wentworth. And let's face it, Anne is such a good person that she might not be that interesting to read about before her love story happens (then un-happens). But I can't help but choose her because I've already imagined what her love story could have been like if it had taken place during High School instead.
     This is what I was going for... Anne meets Frederick in Grade 9. They date, but her friends convince her to dump him because he's not cute enough/good enough/rich enough/cool enough/captain of the football team/whatever (I hadn't figured that detail out). Then he moves away and comes back Senior year. Suddenly he's a hottie, all the girls want him, and Anne wishes she had never dumped him back when she was a silly fourteen-year-old. So she has to watch him date other girls, maybe even her friends, because he doesn't want anything to do with her since she broke his heart four years before.
     I think that would make a great story. HOWEVER... the one problem I had with it was how shallow Anne would come across (aka: dumping a guy because her friends think she should and then wanting him when he comes back because he's all hot? HELLO- SHALLOW). I've had a hard time with people seeing Jessica from my YA MS Daze and Knights as shallow (mostly in my query) and I didn't want to go there again. I'm sure someone else could write this story and not have this problem.
     But, I think that would make a great story. Anyone wanna write it? Cuz if they do- I'll be one of the first to read it!

Wither

     If you couldn't tell, I had lots of fun messing around with my background last night. I was sick of the orange and wanted to try something new. I had no idea blogger had so many options! Haha! Anyway, I'm worried it's a little distracting or hard to read so we'll see how long I keep it this way.
     It's the first day of school for my kiddies today (except for my pre-schooler) and I've got a bazillion things to do today. So just a quick post about a great book.

     I finished Wither by Lauren DeStefano last night. I picked up the book because I'd only heard good things about it. Then, after the first chapter, I thought- I'm not going to like this book much. Then... well, I changed my mind. I've said it before, but I'm not much of a Dystopian fan. But this... there was something about it that kept me reading and thinking about it and dreaming about it. (I didn't like the dreams much actually- they were a little creepy.) But anyway, the book was REALLY good. I think it was mostly the characters that kept me coming back. Characters that were twisted and flawed and good and bad and sweet and horrible all rolled into one. This wasn't a cut and dry good vs. evil kind of book, and I liked that. A LOT. Definitely one to read, if you haven't yet. And if you want to know what it's about, here is the cover blurb:

     Thanks to modern science, every newborn has become a ticking genetic timebomb- males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
     When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape- to find her twin brother and go home.
     But Rhine has to contend with more than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.
  

Flash Fiction

     The first challenge for the platform campaign is today. Flash fiction, 200 words or less, starting with, "the door swung open". I'm kind of in a hurry all of a sudden, so here's my entry with no edits, 200 words exactly, and I didn't manage to end with "the door swung shut". Oh well. I tried.

The door swung open and I bounced into the room. I couldn’t believe I was actually here. Finally. My moment had arrived.

It was dark in the theatre and I stumbled a little in my excitement to get down to the stage. Four people sat along the front row, papers stacked on a table in front of them. As I passed, I glanced at the topmost paper and saw myself grinning up at the four strangers. Man, I looked good in that picture.

I climbed the steps and headed to the middle of the stage, positioning myself right under the spotlight.

“Cassie Frank?” a man asked without looking up.

“Yep, that’s me!” I shouted.

Okay, I needed to calm down a little.

“It says here you’ve been in Hairspray, Chicago, Cats, and Mamma Mia.”

It didn’t sound like a question but I answered anyway. “Yes, that’s right.”

“But always in the chorus.”

I licked my lips. “Yes.”

He peered at me over the paper. I forced myself to hold still under his gaze. The other three at the table weren’t even looking at me.

I gathered my courage, lifted my chin and said, “I’m perfect for the lead. Just listen.”

Set Fire to the Rain

     I'm really behind on my So You Think You Can Dance Canada shows. Like ten episodes behind. At least I was last night. Trying to catch up I came across this number which I thought was amazing. Love the song, love the dancers, love the emotion. Just wow.
     Set Fire to the Rain (by Adele):

     You might have noticed that my playlist has been expanding. Or you might just mute it, whatever. These songs are solely songs that have either inspired my WIP or I've actually mentioned in my WIP- a lot of them the latter. When a couple of your characters are musicians, it's hard not to mention music. The scene I have planned coming up will have yet another song in it. Can't help it.

     Anyway, have a good labour day weekend. I have family coming to stay and then the kids start school on Tuesday. Yay! Ahem. I mean, sniff. My daughter in Grade 3 and son in Grade 1 and another daughter in playschool twice a week. I can't believe it. It means that for two hours twice a week I'll only have one kid at home. That doesn't seem like much but to me it's... well, HUGE. Hopefully that means I'll get a lot of writing done.

What's Old is New Again

     It's interesting how you can have one story and twist it a million ways. I guess that's why "they" say that you don't ever have something new, you're just writing something old in a new way. Actually, that's not what "they" say exactly, but I couldn't quite remember the right way to put it.
     Anyway, since I'm obviously not the first one to write a modern version of Persuasion, I wanted to read some of the others that are out there already. There aren't many (luckily), and I could only get my hands on two. I found them both VERY different, and my version very different also. Phew. (Although I did have to rethink a couple of character names.)

     They were both good books. The Family Fortune seemed more adult to me, probably because the MC was in her late 30s, whereas the MC in Persuading Annie was 27 (which is the age of Anne Elliot from the original). I found myself a little disappointed with the end in The Family Fortune- I knew what was coming and everything but I found it wasn't enough. I'm a sucker for romance and I needed more of that. I needed something bigger. I liked Persuading Annie better, mostly because I found myself giggling through a lot of the book. Melissa Nathan is a British author and there's just something about British humor that totally gets me. Like this:

"Annie's hand flexed into karate chop position. I could kill him from here and be out before the adverts."

And I love this line:

"When the door opened and Jake stood in front of her, her mind, which Angus had left numb, was now blown."

     They were both good books, and I'm left with the hope that I can spin Persuasion my way just as well as both those authors did. I hope I can fill out my world and characters like they did with theirs. If I've done that, then I have nothing to complain about.

RTW: Persuade Me

     It's Wednesday again which means, Road Trip Wednesday. This week's topic:

What's the best book you've read in August?

     Well this one's easy-peasy. The best book I read this month would be this one:

     And can I just say, I love this cover- I wish mine looked like this. Anyway, I read this (again- a reread) because I'm rewriting it- modern style. I took pages and pages of notes on it which really helped me to appreciate the characters and all their different personalities. I feel like I really know them now, which is important since I'm writing them. It's interesting because I'm writing a book that's not my own, the characters aren't mine, nothing is mine. And so it's extra important to get to know them, to understand them, so I can stay true to Jane Austen's original characters. And then after all that, I'm trying to make the characters, and my version of the book, my own.
     Anyway, if you haven't read Persuasion, you should. Aside from Pride and Prejudice, it's my fave Jane Austen. Where I love and admire and wish I could be like Elizabeth Bennett, I really feel for and relate to Anne Elliot. Knowing you made a huge mistake and therefore ruined your happiness, and then having to watch the man you love court other women... well that would be absolute misery. The book also deals with different family relations, snobbery, and the duplicitous nature of certain people (which all of Jane Austen's books deal with, just in different ways).
     Read it, it's awesome. And then, a few years from now, read my version. Because it'll be just as awesome. HAHA.

Awards

     So first of all I want to thank everyone for their comments yesterday. I spent hours and hours researching and finally worked out my MC's new job and all of my locations except one. I'm too much of a control freak to leave it. Then I had to go through my 80-some pages and fix a bunch of stuff. But I'm glad I got that done. It only added about 500 words to my word count so I've got some catching up to do today.
     Wow, I've gotten some awards! Yay me! I'd like to thank my parents for being so awesome, my husband and children for putting up with me, and especially the Academy... oh wait. I'm not at the Oscars. Scratch that last. I'd like to thank Prerna Pickett at The Sands of Writing, Mel Fowler at Adventure Writes and Emily Stanford (my sis-in-law) at Write About Nothing for awarding me these awards. *cue the rounds of applause*

From Prerna, I received these two awards:

Here are the Rules:Thank and Link to the person who nominates you
Share Seven Random facts about yourself
Pass the award to five more blogger friends
Contact and congratulate the blogs nominated

So, the 7 random facts about me... hmm, I've already got 10 going on at a different page, but I'll try to think of different things...

1- I'm a boy band lover. It started with New Kids On The Block when I was very young, then more than ten years later came Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, 98 Degrees, Boyzone, and Westlife. 'N Sync was my fave- I've seen them twice in concert and This I Promise You is my wedding song. Seriously. I still listen to Westlife now and I have a love for certain Big Time Rush songs, but mostly my love of pop boy bands has changed to punk/rock boy bands: Boys Like Girls, Simple Plan, Faber Drive, Marianas Trench, These Kids Wear Crowns, and One Republic.

2- When I was 18, I did a ten-day mini-mission in Perigueux, a small town in France. It was the only time I've travelled outside Canada/US. (Until this november when I go on a cruise- squee!)

3- I accidentally glued my eye shut once. It was very early in the morning, I was in a hurry, my contacts were stinging, and instead of grabbing the tiny white bottle with the blue label saying "eye drops", I grabbed the tiny white bottle with the blue label saying "nail glue". Oops. Luckily my mom was smart, wet a cloth, and told me to hold it to my eye for forever until the glue loosened it's hold on my eyelashes.
     To my disgruntlement, a few years later another girl did the exact same thing, called 911, made a huge fuss, and ended up on the Rosie O'Donnell show where she got lots of free stuff. All I got was some missing eyelashes.

4- I meticulously choose all of my characters names. In fact, I probably put way too much effort into it.

5- I started jazz at age 8. My first recital, I was a pigeon. My second- woody wood pecker. Luckily I've never had to dress as a bird since.

6- I collect dragons made by Tudor Mint. Yep, dragons. (I have the one above) I also have two Harry Potter shirts, one Twilight shirt, and one a mix of both. I try not to look like a nerd, but clearly, I am one.

7- I'm a huge Friends fanatic. I could probably quote you almost every episode in its entirety. No joke. And I laugh out loud during every episode.
("FORGET THE BUBBLEWRAP, THERE ISN'T TIME!")


     And from Mel and Emily I got this award (Liebster means friend- awwww):

THE RULES:1. Show your appreciation to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the camaraderie of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers.
5. And best of all—have bloggity fun and spread the love.

So, this may be a cop out, or maybe I'm just extra nice (you choose), but I'm going to award all three awards to the following five people...

1- Rachel- Dreamer, Bread Baker, Story Maker

2- Aimee Renee

3- Bookish Bird

4- Katie On Fiction

5- Magpie & Pen

Problems

     So I'm going really strong on my WIP. I'm at just under 25,000 words which is pretty good I think for only three weeks of work. It could have been more of course if not for life getting in the way as usual (like WriteOnCon, and a spur-of-the-moment camping trip this past weekend).
     Anyway, so I was thinking about my WIP last night and realized that I have a problem. Or two.
     I. Hate. That. I want to keep moving forward, keep writing. I don't want to have to stop and go back and fix something. Some people say, never go back until the whole thing is finished. Heck- I even say that sometimes. But one of my problems is this: I need to change my MC's job. This is an adult novel, not YA this time, and a job is pretty important to a person's life. I need my MC to have a job, and yet I need it to be in the background. A job that isn't daily 9-5. I thought I had it set, but then I realized, there is NO WAY my MC would spend four years of schooling to become a nurse (yes a nurse is what I picked) and then not actually NURSE. That's just not realistic. I can see it if she had kids or something. But she doesn't. In fact, if anything, she would want to get away from her family to do her job. So it makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER for her to get her nursing license and then not practice.
     So. Crap. I have some changing to do whether I want to or not. Because I can't move forward when this major part of my MC's life isn't sorted out.
     And this problem doesn't even include the fact that I haven't totally figured out my novel's locations yet. Yikes. Right now I have a whole lot of question marks where the places should be named. I need to figure this out too before I move forward.
     Am I the only one who needs to resolve problems before moving forward? Or can you ignore those things and fix them after the whole book is done?

Nothingness (Or more accurately- I'm A Rock Star, Crush of the Week, and A Couple Videos)

     I am such a rock star! Okay, maybe not, but I was interviewed over at Michelle Merrill's blog Perfecting the Craft. which makes me sort of feel like one. A little. Maybe if I play some Guitar Hero that will amp up my whole rock-star persona. Anyway, check it out. Michelle has an awesome blog, one of the first I ever followed.
     I missed Crush of the Week last week- my mind was too busy with WriteOnCon to be crushing on anyone (haha). But I've got one this week. Okay, I've mentioned Rupert Penry-Jones before, but I can't help it. He's the inspiration for the love interest in my WIP Sway. And by inspiration, I mean he is the guy. Usually I don't do this. Usually I have the character in my head and then as the book goes along I have fun coming up with different actors/actresses who could play my characters even though none really look like the version in my head. Not this time. Not with my character Eric Wentworth. He is this guy. I can't help it- RPJ is just who I picture as I write Eric. Another reason why I've chosen him for Crush of the Week is that this week I watched two movies he's in (research purposes, you know): The Four Feathers, and The 39 Steps (see pics from both movies below).

     And because I love videos (thanks to all those people who take the time to make them and post them on youtube- I didn't make this video, I'm borrowing it), I thought I'd add this video, in case, you know, you wanted to see more RPJ. Heehee.

     And speaking of videos, I went to the Taylor Swift concert last weekend and mentioned how amazing I thought it was. Then this week I found her new video for her song "Sparks Fly" which is clips from her concerts. So I thought I'd post the video in case anyone's interested in seeing what her concert is actually like. Enjoy!

    

What's the Spark Blogfest

     No, I haven't forgotten that I signed up to be part of this blogfest. I just figured mine would be a one-day post instead of all week.
     So what's my spark? Haha, I have no idea. Nice, right? I mainly signed up for this blogfest because I was really interested to hear what sparked other people to write. This week as I've thought about my own reasons, I came up with... well, not much.
     I was in grade 2 when I first wanted to be a writer. I don't remember why. I wrote a ridiculously long Alvin and the Chipmunks story and I think it's been since then that I decided to make writing my impossible dream. I wonder if a teacher or one of my parents, after seeing my enthusiasm for writing said to me, "You should be a writer!" so I was like, "Okay!" (Sort of like that flashback Friends episode where Chandler tells Monica she should be a chef and she says, "Okay!" Sorry, getting off track...)
     Since then I did a lot of story beginnings. Some very interesting (aka crappy) poetry. Even some sketches of imagined characters (these were even crappier than the poetry). But why did I want to write in the first place???
     I. Don't. Know!!! How lost does this make feel, I'm telling you.
     I remember reading Roald Dahl books when I was younger, Pippi Longstocking, the infamous Dear God, It's Me Margaret, and lots of ghost stories. I still even have some of those books. It wasn't until fifth grade, and one of my older siblings gave me this book that I think writing became more of a reality to me:

    

     Since then, I couldn't stop reading fantasy. Any Dragonlance book I could get my hands on, Lord of the Rings, anything by Piers Anthony and David Eddings- all these books became my life. And I knew I wanted to write fantasy. I was captured by made-up worlds of Elves, Dwarves, other fantastical creatures, and mostly- MAGIC. I wanted magic so badly. (Still do actually. Hence the HP love.)

     So I guess the Spark for me would be all of the above. And it would be all thanks to my older brothers and sisters who read and loved fantasy first and introduced me to that world.

     Funnily enough, I'm not writing fantasy now. I tried it and failed miserably. But I'm pretty sure that one day I will go back to it. It's my first love, and we all know how hard it is to forget a first love.

     So what about you? What's your SPARK?

    

Road Trip Wednesday

     This week's Road Trip Wednesday Prompt:

How do you beat writer's block? Do you go for a jog? Read a book? Go to a movie? Come on, share your secret - we're dying to know!

     Hmmm, when I started my first for-real book back in my late teen years, well- I didn't beat writers block. I would write when I felt the urge, or had a scene in my head, and then not write when there was nothing there. Let me just say that I don't recommend this method since I got maybe 15,000 words written in about oh, um ten years. Yeah. Not cool.

     When I started writing Daze and Knights, I didn't really have this problem. But, the main reason for this is that when I would clean, or run on the treadmill, or right before bed, I'd plan future scenes. I'd play them in my head. Sometimes, they would be what I needed next, other times they'd be scenes that would happen later on. That way, even if I wasn't writing the book from start to finish, at least I was writing. A lot of times I would have to fill in the in-between bits later.

     If I'm really stuck on a spot, I'll quit for the day. I'll just be like, screw it, this isn't happening today. But then I go right back to it the next day, sometimes deleting what I did the day before, but usually with a better way, or a way to carry on the scene. Or if I really don't have a way to fix that problem, or move forward right from that spot, I'll move onto to something later. I'll come up with a way to fix the problem eventually.

     So really, the best way for me is to just be able to think, away from the computer, on what I want to happen. On how I want my characters to interact. And usually I come up with something. Basically- I daydream.

    

Blog Birthday and Campaigning

     Just a few things...

     First, I can't believe I have fifty followers. It's seriously hard to believe anyone would care what I have to say as I ramble along on this blog. I started the blog a year ago now- I don't remember the exact date but it was last August- mainly as a journal for myself. A way to keep track of my writing journey and whatever else I have going around in my head. This past year has been great learning not only about myself as a writer, but meeting lots of other writers out there who are going through the same things I am. It's truly incredible.

     Secondly... okay, the word "secondly" sounds totally hoity-toity to me, I don't know why. Anyway, I'm joining up with the Platform Building Campaign. You can find it here. It sounds like a great opportunity to connect with even more writers out there. Check it out if you haven't already.

     Thirdly... there actually isn't a thirdly. Or maybe there would have been but I completely forgot what it was because I have two crying kids right now. (And no, I don't have a picture for that.) So...

     Now they're screaming at each other. Gotta go!

WriteOnCon and Taylor Swift

     Can I just say that WriteOnCon was totally amazing?! Ha- of course I can. Sure there were some things I knew already, but I learned a ton as well. But not only that, it just... filled me up. It's like when I go to church on Sundays, I leave there feeling spiritually refreshed. This was the same except now I'm writerly (is that a word?) refreshed. It made me really want to go to a live conference. I've balked at them before because of the cost, the trip I would most likely have to make alone- which also adds to the cost, and asking someone to babysit my four kids while I take off. But this feeling I have of being part of the writing community (even though I was at home the whole time) is just so awesome.
     The hardest part for me was trying to simultaneously ignore the housework while trying not to ignore the kids while trying to take part in everything going on. My control-freak-ness was hard to overcome. And I think I have permanent numb-bum, but that's another story.
     Anyway, I'm so thankful I took part and I'm grateful to all those wonderful people who made it happen.
     And on a completely unrelated topic... the Taylor Swift concert was awesome. If you're a fan but unsure if she'd do a good concert- yes! She does an amazing concert. About every two songs had a story to go with them, with actors/dancers and new sets and costumes for everyone. It was pretty cool. I was really impressed. And my seven year old daughter loved it!

Jade- right when Taylor Swift popped out of the stage. (And me with my nose looking pointy!)

     So last week was a little crazy. I didn't get the amount of writing done that I wanted to. But life happens and taking the time to do WriteOnCon was definitely worth it. I'm currently at 15,000 words for my WIP. But I'm back on track for this week. So here we go...
    

Week Off for Taylor Swift

     Hey everyone! I'm going off the map... off the grid... I'm blacking out... what's the right way to say it about a blog?
     Anyway, I won't be posting this week because I'm "attending" WriteOnCon. It's my first time- I'm a newbie- but I'm really looking forward to it. Then on Friday I'm going on my one and only trip this summer- to Edmonton (which sadly is only a couple of hours away so it doesn't really count). I'm very excited for this trip though because I'm going to see Taylor Swift in concert! Yay! I can't wait! And just because this post is so short, I thought I'd add Taylor Swift's music video for "You Belong With Me". It was that song, and "Love Story" which inspired me to write for young adults in the first place. Have a great week!

Goals

    
     My goal was to have 10,000 words written by today. I got there yesterday. Ooo-aaa! Ooo-aaa! (Okay, that sounded fine in my head but it looks funny written down.) Go me, go me. I'm psyched. If I can keep it up, 10,000 words a week, I could have the book done in about 6-8 weeks. Wouldn't that be sweet! I'm obviously on a writing-high... we'll see how long it lasts.
     I'm finding it really helpful to set goals. My goal is a thousand words a day, not counting Sunday. But striving for 10,000 a week isn't a bad idea either.  I know every writer is different, some set goals, some don't. Some write whenever they can. With Daze and Knights, I just tried to write everyday. I didn't care how many words or how many pages. But I remember once I really got into it, I went crazy, writing as much as I could. This time, especially since I know exactly what's going to happen in the story except for maybe some minor details (I still haven't worked out location- eek), there's really nothing to stop me except myself. So a goal is necessary. I'm also hoping that by spilling this all on my blog, I will keep up with the goals so I don't embarrass myself. Haha.
     Anyway, wish me luck and I wish all of you out there luck on whatever it is you're working on. Cheers!

Hands- Who Needs More Time?

     I've been thinking a lot about Time since Wednesday's Road Trip Topic about finding the time to write. I just barely started my new WIP last Friday. I set a goal for myself to write at least a thousand words a day except Sundays. This past week I had it done no problem. Until I got to Thursday. It was a full day, I had cleaning to do, I spent the afternoon in Calgary, and once the kids were in bed, we watched The Return of the King. It was over by 10:30pm and I just wanted to go to bed, but I felt guilty that I hadn't gotten my thousand words done. So I worked for a bit but only managed a few hundred.
     I bring this up because since I've written Daze and Knights, a lot of family members and friends have told me they've always wanted to write a book but they can never find the Time. I totally get that. Kids, jobs, responsibilities, heck just life, gets in the way. We always have other things to do. Things that seem or are more important.
     What I've learned in the past few years is that if you want to be a writer- you will be one. You will write no matter what. You will make time for it. But if it's just a matter of having a story in your head that you think will make a great book, time will be harder to come by.
     I want to be a writer. I am a writer (just not published). I write because it makes me happy. I'm going to sound totally cheesy here but- it completes me. Whether my stories suck or not, whether I ever become published or not, I've learned about myself that I will continue to write., no matter what.
     BUT... that doesn't mean it's easy. I've got this great idea I'm all fired up about, but I still had a hard time finding TIME yesterday. So even if you're serious about it, it's still hard to find the time. And it's hard to sacrifice other things to write, although it has to be done sometimes. And sometimes, the writing has to be sacrificed. That's just the way it goes. It's not easy, it's never easy. But you do it because you have to.

Crush of the Week

Crush of the Week: Neil

(see him dancing above and a pic below) Aaaahhhhh, who wouldn't want to dance with him?! It's pretty obvious I love me a great love story, and the dance above is just that. A love story that's passionate, complicated, heartfelt, painful... all in less than 2 minutes. It gives me chills. Especially the part where Melanie literally runs, launches herself into the air, and Neil catches her. Amazing.

And some Random Thoughts...

   1. I'm joining The Spark Blogfest over at The Writer Coaster. You blog about what/who/which author inspired you to be a writer. I'm interested to see what other people's inspirations are.

   2. There's a post over at YATopia today that I just loved. Especially when she said, "NEGATIVITY- WE BANISH YOU!" It's like a mantra I want to repeat in my head daily.

     3. I've been watching Lord of The Rings with my hubby this week. We've got the last movie still to go, but I've been watching it and marvelling. J.R.R. Tolkien really did so much for the writing and the fantasy world, and I see how so many writers nowadays have been influenced by the world he created.

     4. Writing makes me so happy. Enough said.