Stealing Mona Lisa

    
     I love reading a great book. It makes my day (or days, depending on how long it takes me). I just finished a great adult historical book called Stealing Mona Lisa by Carson Morton. If you like heist novels- you'll like this one. Here's the blurb from Goodreads:
    

What happens when you mix a Parisian street orphan, a hot-tempered Spanish forger, a beautiful American pickpocket, an unloved wife, and one priceless painting?

The charming Eduardo de Valfierno makes a very respectable living in Argentina fleecing the nouveau riche—they pay him to steal valuable pieces of art, and Valfierno sells them flawless forgeries instead. But when Eduardo meets the beautiful Mrs. Hart on his latest con, he takes a risk that forces him back to the city he loved and left behind—Paris. There he assembles his team of con artists for their final and most ambitious theft, one that will enable them to leave the game forever: The Mona Lisa.

But when a member of the team turns up missing, and Mr. Hart shows up in Paris, Valfierno and his crew must stay one step ahead of a relentless police inspector, endure a devastating flood, and conquer their own doubts to keep the priceless painting in play—and survive.

Based on the actual theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911, and published on the 100th anniversary of the crime, Stealing Mona Lisa is a sophisticated, engaging caper, complete with a richly imagined group of con artists and a historical mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.

    
     This book had great characters, a wonderful setting, I love historical, I loved learning about the art, it was fast-paced, and the end surprised me. I really like the fact that it's based on actual events, even though the author obviously took liberties. Still, love that.
     My only complaint- the blurb is a little misleading. It doesn't happen exactly the way blurb says, which annoys me, but isn't a deal breaker obviously. Another thing I love, which is kind of silly- short chapters! I LOVE short chapters. Honestly, it keeps me reading longer. It'll be late at night and I'll skim through to see how long the next chapter is and if it's long, I won't read. But if it's short... well, I probably end up reading more short chapters than if I'd read just the one long chapter. Seriously. Just a note to all you other writers out there. Long chapters- BOOO!

Beautiful Covers

     Ooh, I like this week's Road Trip Wednesday prompt:

What are your all-time favorite book covers?

     I've talked about covers before and how they can totally draw me in. For example, I wanted to read these two books and bought them, merely because of their gorgeous covers (and oddly enough, I loved one of them but the other- not so much):

     Other covers I've loved:

     And then there's the covers that I didn't love at first, but once I read the book, I love them now because they represent a particular scene from the book:

     I think it's interesting that most of these are Yound Adult books. I think they really do a good job trying to draw in younger readers with excellent covers. I know there's more that I haven't thought of, but these are the ones that I probably love the most. I do have to note that I love movie-tie-in covers. When I've seen the movie first and decide to then read the book, I usually try and buy the movie version of the book cover. Like these:

Entertainment Tidbits and Crush of the Week

     1. Last night I watched the movie Street Dance. Like all dance movies it had occasional weak dialogue, cheesiness, and predictability... but the dancing didn't disappoint. Once I got over the initial shock that it was British (I don't know why that shocked me but it did, I just wasn't expecting it), I really enjoyed the movie. If you like dance movies, give it a try.

     2. In that movie was this great song called "Life Is Beautiful" by Vega 4. I've been listening to their whole album today and it's pretty good. Give them a listen, especially that song- it's beautiful.

     3. I heard another song in the store the other day and loved it. Reading a magazine this morning I found out the song is called Skyscraper by Demi Lovato. It's an amazing song- listen to it!

     4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out on DVD on November 11th. Yay! Can't wait for that.

     5. Crush of the Week: John Krasinski. I watched Something Borrowed the other day and I just love him in that movie. *Spoiler alert* I really wanted her to end up with him in the end. It made sense to me in the movie (even though it didn't when I read the book because his character isn't as important). He's just so endearingly cute.
   

Slump-ish-ness

    
     Does anyone else go through the mid-book slump? This is actually the first time I'm experiencing this particular problem. I'm 40,000 words in. I know exactly where my WIP is going. I know what's going to happen next. I'm not having problems with plotting. I know how the story ends. But for some reason, I've lost that manic enthusiasm I had in the beginning. I wonder why. I feel like I'm dragging and therefore it feels like the story is dragging. Not good.
     So how do you get that enthusiasm back? What do you do?
     I know some people just put the story aside, even for a little bit, and work on something else. I'm way too neurotic to do that. I have to finish this. But how can I get excited again? Because I feel like when I'm not fired up, it reflects in my writing. I don't like that. I need it back. I need my writing mojo back.
     Any suggestions?

Vampires, Witches, and Trailers, Oh My!

     Last night The Vampire Diaries came back on- YAY! I love that show. What can I say, I love teen shows. The season opener didn't disappoint- Damon was funny, Elena sweet, Stefan heartbreaking. Of course it can be overly dramatic at times, but what do I care? I don't. I love it. If you don't watch, here's a sneak peek...

     I also tried out one of the CW's new shows- The Secret Circle. Although I wouldn't call it a favorite yet, I was hooked. I'll definitely watch more to see where it goes. My favorite part was in the forest with the floating water drops. Here's a sneak peek of that...





     I know there's a lot of Twilight haters out there. I am NOT one of them. Breaking Dawn is probably my least favorite of the four books (except when it's in Jacob's perspective- I love that). And the first teaser trailer that came out a few months ago made me laugh. But watching this trailer has made me excited to see the movie. I love watching favorite characters come alive on screen. And I'll probably reread the books around then too so I'm excited for that. Anyway, enjoy the trailer.

 

     And PS- my playlist is sitting on the right side of the screen if you scroll down a bit, just press pause and you can shut off the music. I know it can be annoying to some but it's my WIP's playlist and I listen to it while I write. (And it's obviously distracting while watching a video.)

Love and Winners

     Here's this weeks YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday Topic:

What themes, settings, motifs, scenes, or other elements do you find recurring in your work?

 

     So, um. Huh. This is a little hard because the first MS I wrote Daze and Knights, and then its sequel (which is 90% done), both take place in the past. Different times in the past. Daze and Knights in Medieval Times, Untitled Sequel in 1781 Virginia. The WIP I'm working on now, Sway, is contemporary. So there really aren't any similar settings. We're talking castles to Colonial Houses to LA Mansions. Medieval villages to rural outdoors to beaches.

    The one recurring theme in all three... well, that's easy. Love. Love. Luuuurve. I didn't really think of my first two MS' as romances, or even love stories as I was writing them. But really, they are. And so is Sway. I've realized that I like to write about relationships. Those are the scenes that go easiest for me. The scenes I love to write. Anything to do with love, heartbreak, jealousy, and pining after someone shows up in all three.

     I can't help it. I love me some luuuurve. (And I love saying luuuurve.) (And there were so many pretty heart pictures, I couldn't choose just one.)

     And because I love to spread the love, last week in honor of reaching 100 followers, I did a contest to enter your first 25 pages for me to critique. Since there were only three entries, I hereby name you all winners.
     So, Jenna Cooper, Kirsten Lopresti and Prerna Pickett, you can all email me your first 25 and I'll take a look at them. Email me at mmstanford(at)hotmail(dot)com.
     Love you all!

Adversity

     The talks in church this past Sunday were all about adversity. And it got me thinking... I haven't had a whole lot of adversity in my life.
     Now before you snort in derision or even throw food at me, I haven't exactly had it all. I've lived a fairly middle-class life. Growing up our houses were all big enough to fit seven kids, but not mansions. I did a lot of thrift-store shopping but my mom made sure I never wore clothes with holes in them. We had an in-ground pool in three of the houses I lived in, but I never got a car until I could afford to buy one myself (age 20). My parents are very frugal and I grew up that way.
     But, I've never had to deal with major illness, poverty, tragedy, etc. Even death hasn't been all that prevalent in my life until recently.
     I realized that one of my adversities is not succeeding. Writing is fun. But there's that voice in my head that says, you suck, you'll never be a good writer, you'll never get published, no one wants to read your stuff, this is too hard just quit... that's adversity. One of the speakers in church talked about how this world is a world of instant gratification. And I thought, nah- I don't expect anything instantly, I don't expect things to be handed to me. And then I thought- wait, do I?
     It shames me to admit that when I finished my first draft of Daze and Knights I thought, I did it. I'm done. Now I'm going to be a bestseller.
     Man, was I stupid.
     I've learned since then that this is not easy. That writing one draft of a book does not an author make. That it is a hard road and no matter how much I work and work at it, the stars may never align in my favor. I may never be published. I may never be a bestseller.
     So do I just quit?
     Heck no. Because now that I'm facing a challenge in the face, I'm not going to bow out, slink away, or hide out in shame. I'm going to look my adversity in the face and say, BRING IT. I will last. I won't give up. I will work, work, work at this.
     I had a motivator song before I started writing Daze and Knights. It was Simple Plan "When I'm Gone". Here are some lines (from the two verses) that really spoke to me, because I was afraid they WERE me and I didn't want them to be me.

I look around me, but all I seem to see

Is people going nowhere, expecting sympathy

It's like we're going through the motions

Of a scripted destiny

Tell me where's our inspiration

If life won't wait

I guess it's up to me

Procrastination running circles in my head

While you sit there contemplating

You're wound up left for dead

Life is what happens

While you're busy making your excuses

Another day, another casualty

But that won't happen to me

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?