Take It As It Comes

Interview with Christine Fonseca the Author of DIES IRAE

2012-02-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the release of my friend Christine Fonseca's novella DIES IRAE, a prequel to her REQUIEM series, I'm interviewing her :-). I read it this past week, and let me tell you, it is one heart-wrenching story that really calls on you to explore the definitions of good and evil, as well as how closely intertwined love and hate truly are. Now, on to angels, demons and the eternal battle between the two!

"Some sacrifices should never be made—even for love.

Mikayel lives by one rule—obey the orders of the angelic Council at all costs. That is, until he and his friends, Azza and Demi, are sent to Earth. Assigned as Watchers while they await their decision of which angelic order to serve, the three assume the bodies of teenagers and experience life as human.

The sensations are overwhelming as the angels experience a host of human emotions—rage, terror, love—and come ever closer to breaking one of the unbreakable rules—never fall in love.

But being human isn’t the only problem facing the three angels. Unbeknownst to the Council, demonic activity is on the rise, threatening to break a tenuous peace that has existed for a millennia; a peace Azza seems bent on destroying.

Caught in a struggle for power with unseen demonic forces and Azza, and fighting against his rising emotional attachment to Demi, Mikayel must now decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for his new found love—a decision that could reignite an ancient war and will threaten the only thing that matters to the angels, the survival of humanity."

How did the idea for DIES IRAE come to you?

DIES IRAE comes from a story in the novel LACRIMOSA and explains the history between two of the characters. When the decision was made to write a prequel novella, this was the perfect story to choose!

What is your drafting style like? Any methods you typically use?

Great question. Typically, I start with the basic premise and problem in the story. Then I stew. And stew. AND STEW. It is during this time that I usually find a song or songs that capture the emotional feel of the story. I listen to the music incessantly. And finally, after ideas have taken root in my subconscious, I loosely outline the major plot points using Blake Synder’s beat sheet. At this point I loosely outline the scenes/chapters. Then, when I am happy with a general structure, I write the “zero” draft. I am much better at editing than drafting, so I really try to word vomit out the draft as quickly as possible.

Why angels? Have you always had an interest in their mythology?

Tough question. The idea for the first story, LACRIMOSA, was always about angelic beings. I guess that is where is all started.

How long did it take you to write DIES IRAE?

Like I said, the basic premise of DIES IRAE was created more than a year ago. That said, I outlined DIES IRAE in a few hours, and drafted over a week or so. After editing, polishing and more editing, I would say it was about a month start to finish, and another couple of weeks after a few people read it. I don’t typically write that fast, but we were under the gun with this one – so yea….it was a fast process.

So this book is a prequel? Is the rest of the series out or are you still working on it? HA! It is definitely a work in process. LACRIMOSA is undergoing its final edits as I type this. There are then two shorts and two novels planned, all coming out over the next 12 to 15 months. I have outlined the short (MEA CULPA) and the second novel (LIBERA ME). Once edits on LACRIMOSA are finished, I will be madly writing in order to meet my deadlines.

I find that characters can teach writers about themselves and the world around them. What did Mikayel, Demi and Azza teach you?

I love this question too. I think the three of them really taught me about the complexity of good and evil, and the presence of both qualities within all of us. Nothing is black OR white, just many shades of gray – and sometimes what separates the shades is barely tangible. Most of all, the relationship between really pointed out how easily things can go from minorly confusing, to seriously a MESS. And how every decision, no matter what the motivation behind it, has consequences, many of which are unpredictable.

Why do you like to write for young adults?

First of all, I work with teens and LOVE this age bracket. Secondly, young adults are at a period in their lives where they really cannot distinguish things they way an adult does. There are in a period of self discovery. Everything is raw, intense, new, unknown. Since I enjoy writing about personal discovery and the inner journey we all take through our emotions, writing YA affords me a context to do this in a very authentic way.

Christine Fonseca is one busy lady and has many great books in the works, so keep an eyes out for LACRIMOSA, and in the meantime, pick up DIES IRAE through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For more information, and to Google stalk Christine, you can peep her blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

An Homage to My Critter on Our 2-Year Critterversary

2012-02-15T08:24:00.001-08:00

About two years ago, I entered the online writing community. Perusing the blogs of both the published and unpublished. Trying to get a handle on the reins felt the same as when I moved, halfway through my freshman year in high school. Everyone had their groups formed and here I was the dorky new-comer once again. High-school-Kristen was lucky enough to make a good friend who stuck by her, glaring at anyone who gave her a hard time.

Luckily, it wasn't necessary for grown-up-high-school Kristen to have a protector, since the online writing community is very open and accepting, but nonetheless I still felt like an outsider. I looked up to some of the "junior" and "senior" level writers who already were on their way to agents and book deals. One of these writers, spoke of the importance of a really good critique partner. One who will always tell you the truth, no matter how much it hurts. I was reminded of my friend in high school, who was the first to tell me when I was in the wrong.

I needed a writer friend who cared enough about me, my writing and my success to be a cheerleader and an a@#kicker when needed.

I wondered how to go about finding a critique partner. A personals ad? A website? "Married, white, female aspiring YA horror writer seeks open-minded individual who isn't squeamish and is willing to pull late nighters talking her off the writerly ledge."

Call it fate or divine intervention, but during this time I stumbled across a blog that would change my life, little could I tell from it's unassuming appearance. Tiffany Neal, "mother of three drama loving girls," reading teacher extraordinaire... I spent a night basically Google stalking her. I laughed until I had tears in my eyes reading of her escapades with her daughters, and in her voice I found a kindred spirit as Anne of Green Gables would have referred to it. She was my Diana Barry. I had to have her.

So, how does an adult-high-school-student-aspiring-writer court a CP, you might ask? A circle-yes-or-no-will-you-be-my-CP-letter attached to an incredibly awkward email that said something like, "Um, I know this is weird, and I swear I'm sane, but I think we are literally meant for each other. Will you devote your book babies to me?" Admit it, I know how to dazzle the ladaaays...

Strangely enough, and a testament to just how twisted my partner in crime is, she said yes two years ago today.

Since Tiffany has entered my life, my writing has taken so many turns. First off, I suck at grammar. Don't let my looming B.A. fool you. She schooled me (and threatened to lock me in a closet wallpapered with Beiber pictures *gag* *shudder*) until I learned from my mistakes. She lovingly pointed out my absurdly annoying obsession with adverbs until she broke me.

She has supported my love of the glittering new story high, and then seconds later tugged on my feet to pull me to the ground, forcing me to finish one manuscript before moving on to the next. That's right. She has also broken my fictional promiscuity, and turned me into be a novel monogamist *with the occasional wandering eye* ;-). If you know me, you realize what a feat that was.

She has spent countless hours on the phone and Skype, convincing me that I am indeed a writer, not an aspiring sidewalk chalk artist, and that I was just suffering through a rough patch.

I haven't told many people this, but right after Tiffany started working with me, an agent was interested in one of my stories. Tiffany spent two weeks of HELL working on preening this baby with me. It was me, her and 30STM. Do or die.

First the partial request had me calling Tiffany in a stupor, then the full had me screaming in her ear, and then months later, when it was rejected, I was in tears. But she was there to pick up the pieces and have unconditional faith in the characters and world I had created. At the same time, she helped me work through the agent's notes and nagged me until I licked my wounds and returned to the story. And that is why she is its godmother.

I'll never forget how vulnerable I was during that period of time, it reminds me of when I gave birth to my daughter and how the delivery room nurse was my lifeline. After my daughter was born, she helped put me back together again, and after the disappointment of that rejection, that is just what Tiffany was--a literary doula.

Most importantly, she makes me believe that if I work really hard, and stay positive I will be published at some point. The key is to keep an open mind and NEVER give up. She has inspired me to raise the bar non-stop, and push the hell out of my characters and feeble brain. And I love her for it.

The first year that we worked together, we also came up with an idea for a YA collab that we have worked on here and there since then, but the date to hammer it out is slated for this summer after my graduation and the end of her school year. She started out as a really good friend, we fell in love and are making a book baby. Yep. I went there.

Writing with her is just as natural as writing by myself, and actually more fun, because I don't have to talk to myself about the characters. I can't wait to embark on this new journey with her!

Outside of writing, she has been there for many important and tragic events in my life. Struggling through balancing school, illness and motherhood, she is my forever cheerleader. I know that no matter the situation, need, or time that I pick up that phone to call, she will be there wanting to help. In short, she started out as a CP, became a literary spouse and also the sister I never had.

I love you Tiffany. Happy Critterversary, thank you for taking a crazy schmuck like me on two years ago today. Thank you for making me a better writer, and a better person.

Debut Author Heather McCorkle's Dirty Little Secret...

2011-08-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

In celebration of the debut release of my friend Heather McCorkle's novel THE SECRET OF SPRUCE KNOLL, I have decided to ask Heather to reveal a dirty little secret about herself. But first, the awesomeness that is TSOSK:

Following the tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live with her aunt. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with “channelers”—a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands.

Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Now, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad.

The todlette is sold on the fact that there's an Aiden involved in the story--because that's the name of her Pre-K boyfriend *facepalm* I on the other hand, am excited to get into the mythology. The idea of "Channelers" is intriguing! So, since this is the tour of secrets, it wouldn't be complete without one of Heather's to share with you all.

Me: Who is your secret idol?It's Jared Leto, isn't it? *waggles eyebrows*

Heather: *blank stare* *recovers* Well, since I'm an author I'll give you two answers for this one. The author who I absolutely idolized from the first novel of his that I wrote is Joel Rosenberg who wrote the Guardians Of The Flame series. I fell in love with fantasy when I read his first book, then I couldn't get enough.

My other secret idol that most people don't know about is Bruce Lee. I've always loved martial arts and I still remember seeing my very first Bruce Lee movie and being captivated. Bruce's book, The Tao Of Jeet Kune Do is one of my favorite books of all time. When I was a kid a poster of Bruce and many posters of his son Brandon hung in my bedroom. When Brandon Lee died in March of 1993 during a movie set accident it broke my heart. This picture is from my trip to visit Bruce and Brandon's graves.

Me: I remember when Brandon passed away. It was so tragic... I loved the Crow, and still do!

Heather: Another fan! Best. Movie. Ever.

Me: I knew I liked you ;-). Thank you for stopping by on your Tour of Secrets. Congrats on your release! I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Heather: *waves*

So, there you have it--an awesome author with amazing taste in actors, movies, and books. I would say that this bodes well for the fantabulous factor of her book, no? You can order yourself a copy from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

Debut Author Denise Grover Swank Inspires My Bucket List

2011-07-25T21:51:00.001-07:00

More exciting news! My friend Denise Grover Swank's debut novel TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES was released on July 12th! Here's an excerpt:

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
A Rose Gardner Mystery

"It all started when I saw myself dead."

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She's had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone's toilet's overflowed, but she's never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

Rose realizes she's wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She's well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won't help with number fifteen-- do more with a man. Joe's new to town, but it doesn't take a vision for Rose to realize he's got plenty secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they'll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn't her biggest worry after all.

So in honor of Denise, who blows my mind with her ability to be an amazing mother, as well as an incredible writer, here is my bucket list in the form of a Vlog... Blogger is not letting me embed it, but if you click here it will take you straight to the video.

Do you have a bucket list? Leave it in the comments! Also, you can order your copy of TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF WISHES by visiting Denise's website here. So what are you waiting for? Go buy it!!!

Another Giveaway!

2011-07-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Carol Valdez Miller is hosting yet another awesome giveaway on her blog! Arcs of "Forever" and "Hades." RUN and enter here

20 Random Facts About Debut Author Eisley Jacobs

2011-07-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Since my good friend Eisley Jacob’s debut novel BORN TO BE A DRAGON is being released in 12 short days, I wanted to share how awesome she is with all of you by listing, “Twenty random facts that you may or may not have ever wanted to know about Eisley Jacobs.”

1. Eisley is not her real name. It’s a pen name cleverly disguised as a real name.

2. She has asked her husband on more than one occasion if she can change her name to Eisley. He says no. Party Pooper.

3. Eisley Jacobs means “to hold firmly onto…” Meaning, whatever her convictions, she holds firmly onto them and does her best to live every minute with love and integrity.

4. She loves dancing in the rain, but hates being wet.

5. Eisley is OCD about a lot of things, one of them being her house. When it’s messy, she flips. No really, ask her kids.

6. Eisley wears make-up three times a year. One of them was for her headshots on the website… the other two are up for debate.

7. She has a very tender heart and gets emotional at parts in a movie that she has seen twelve times. Even Disney movies.

8. Eisley wrote BORN TO BE A DRAGON while listening to Owl City (most of the time).

9. Eisley’s favorite bands of all times are: Red, Plumb, Skillet, Superchick, and The Almost. She can listen to these bands over and over and over. Then do it again.

10. Eisley loves coffee and is so generous that she has shared two cups of coffee with her laptop… and yet it still works.

11. She is a computer geek. She knows how to fix a laptop after it’s been drenched with coffee… twice.

12. She’s also a jack of all trades, master of none. And she doesn’t mind asking for directions or help. But you won’t catch her reading directions… often.

13. Eisley homeschools her three children. And loves it. And they don’t drive her crazy… on the most days.

14. Eisley knows American Sign Language. Well enough to carry on a conversation with her Deaf friends.

15. She has a size 11 foot.

16. She used to dream of being the first girl in the Major Leagues (baseball).

17. Her favorite color is blue.

18. Eisley doesn’t watch television if she can help it. She has too many stories to write.

19. She is very crafty and when she sees something she wants to do, she does it. Without reading directions. Usually it turns out okay.

20. Eisley is so excited about her upcoming release of BORN TO BE A DRAGON that she hasn’t slept in two days.

The 21st thing that you might not know about Eisley is that she inspires me. Not only is she an amazing friend, writer and a good mama, Eisley is a self-publishing guru who has made her dream come true—and yet she balances it all so well! I’m quite proud of her! Share in her success and pre-order a signed copy of BORN TO BE A DRAGON here.

I’ll even throw in a 22nd fact that could win you a brand spanking new NOOK! Eisley is so wicked cool that she is hosting a scavenger hunt that could win you the grand prize listed above. ;- ) Tomorrow’s question is, “What size are Eisley Jacob’s shoes?” Which is basically given to you in this post! So go follow Eisley's Blog if you don’t already and win that NOOK!

WILDEFIRE Arc Giveaway!

2011-06-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have been stupid busy with school, but I have a new idea in the works for my blog, so stay tuned to the ol' bat channel for more. In the meantime, there is an awesome contest going on *not that I am hosting it or anything*. I am merely the messenger
:-).

The wonderful Carolina Valdez Miller is giving away an arc of WILDEFIRE on her blog, go enter. This book sounds amazing!

Agent Celebration Mega Giveaway Contest Winner!!!

2011-04-04T07:37:00.001-07:00

Sorry I didn't post sooner but we had an incident involving toothpaste, hand lotion and my daughter's bedroom walls. *glares at todlette*

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for partaking in the festivities celebrating the fact that Carol is now working with her AGENT *eaakkk!* Vickie Motter. I know it meant a lot to Carol for everyone to cheer her on and partaaay with her.

As her friend, I want to thank you all for making her smile. The writing community never ceases to amaze me, how everyone bands together and supports each other while trying to get established. Once it happens, those people are still there offering support. You are all amazing. I can't imagine life without my writerly friends.

Alright, enough mushy stuff. Without further adieu...the winner is...................................................................

LEXIE :):):)

Please email your address to me at kristenyard AT Gmail (DOT) com so that I can get your copy of Personal Demons sent out.

Thanks again everyone! I have a two-week break between semesters at the end of April so I will be blogging a bit more regularly then. Taking four advanced-level courses with the todlette has been kind of rough (hence the halfway edible wall art...) but I look forward to blogging again, I miss it!

Have a great week!

Agent Celebration Mega Giveaway

2011-03-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

I love starting out a boring old Monday with FRACKTASTIC news! And a party.

My dear friend Carolina Valdez-Miller has landed an AGEEENNNNTTTTT. *Fudderwackens vigorously* Carol is now represented by Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary for her YA novel of awesomesauce, WHIMS OF A WISH.

For the few of you who are depraved enough not to know this wonderful woman, Carol is one of the most uplifting writer friends I have. There have been quite a few times where I was down about my writing and either she inspired me herself or one of her blog posts did. She makes me laugh, she is always positive and she is talented with a word or two. I couldn't be happier. It's amazing to watch your friends make it, when you know how hard they have been working. I had tears in my eyes when she told me.

Carol, I have no doubt that you will be on the New York Times Best Sellers list one day very soon, and I can't wait to buy a million copies of your book so that I can keep sending them to you to sign for me until you get fed up and move without telling me. *grins*

So, in the name of Carol's own personal Frabjous Day, we are having a huge party.

There are TONS of giveaways in Carol's honor. Carol is giving away 5 different prizes to 5 very lucky peeps. First, a first page critique from her agent Vickie Motter! Carol is also giving away a KINDLE (wait...shouldn't SHE be the one getting an awesome present?! That is just how sweet she is :). The third, fourth and fifth prizes are the following books: A signed copy of Escaping into the Open by Elizabeth Berg, a signed hardback of Shade by Jeri-Smith Ready and a signed hardback of Passing Strange by Daniel Waters.

I am giving away a signed copy of PERSONAL DEMONS by Lisa Desrochers.

The only requirements that I have, are that you are a follower of my blog as well as Carol's which you can find here, and that you leave a comment in the comment section of both of our blogs. In the comment posts, be sure to congratulate her! If you have a nice memory of sharing Carol's journey to publication, by all means share it :).

Other stops along the Blog Party Crawl A.k. a. Free Stuff High Way :) are:

Heather's Odyssey:

Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters or The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maas

From Critique Sisters Corner:

2011 Guide to Literary Agents or Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas

J. Koyanagi:
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg or How Not to Write a Novel by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman or Give 'Em What They Want: The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook

Simon Larter:
One of you lucky peeps will win all of this...
On Writing by Stephen King, Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury and Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott

LK Gardner-Griffie:
2 winners: 1 of you will win a signed copy of Misfit McCabe, while the other will win a canvas book bag

Sara McClung:
Sara will have 3 different winners! Winner 1 will get a signed copy of The Dark Divine. Winner 2 will get a signed copy of Raised by Wolves, and Winner 3 will get Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure

Lola Sharp:

$25 Amazon gift card

Elizabeth Davis:

A $25 Amazon gift card

Tracey Neithercott:

A Hardcover of Across the Universe

Jon Arntson:

A $15 Barnes and Noble gift card

Denise Grover Swank

Angelfire by Allison Moulton, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, and Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins

Last, but certainly not least because she is awesome :) Christine Fonseca:
101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids: The Ultimate Guide or A Partial Critique

So there you are, my friends! Carol's blog celebration of epic proportions will run up until April 1st at midnight. Check each individual blog of the contest that you are entering because there may be different guidelines and deadline dates, as well as entry forms.

My contest will close at midnight on April 1st, and the winner will be selected and notified on April 4th. Please include your email address in the comment you leave on my blog. Thanks and good luck. Annnnnddd... *Puts on party hat and tosses confetti* COMMENCE CELEBRATION CAROL ROCKS!!!!!

Happy World Read Aloud Day!

2011-03-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

LitWorld's Reading Decree

"Today is World Read Aloud Day.

We are uniting our voices in cities and communities across the globe.

We celebrate the power of stories and words to change worlds.

We join our voices for quality literacy education for every child worldwide.

Today 774 million people cannot read or write. They are denied the joy and light of reading every day.

Education is a human right and a means to attaining other human rights that we declare to be universal.

Literacy education improves the health of children and families, spurs economic growth and advances equality.

For many children worldwide, quality education is the difference between life and death, between hope and despair and being able to make the most of one's potential. This is our opportunity to give voice to the future.

By coming together and raising our voices on this day, we show the world's children that we support their lives: that they have the right to read, to write and to share their stories to change the world.

Today I pledge my passion for quality education and my support for the cause of literacy. I encourage everyone to take part in this day and this cause.

As a representative of my community, I will continue to advocate for the causes most important to us and I encourage all of you to join me in the fight for our children and all children's futures.

In observance of World Read Aloud Day, I invite you to take a moment to think about what you would miss most if you could not read or write.

It's time for all of us to join the global literacy movement. Through our voices we can be free and be part of words changing worlds."

*****

It might be hard to make it out, but this is my daughter after reading herself to sleep during nap time. In our house, books are a big part of life. I never say no to a book while at the store (and my kids know it and MILK it). I rarely skip reading a bedtime story. We love to read out loud, and to make up alternate endings to our favorite books (fan fiction anybody?) But, I have never stopped to appreciate the fact that I can read.

I can't imagine my life without it or my kid's lives without being able to curl up with a book, or write stories of their own. According to an article I read here there are, "774 million people around the globe who cannot read or write. Two-thirds of those people are women."

Scary.

So, since it's "World Read Aloud Day," I wanted to take a minute to thank my parents, teachers, and every person who has ever read to me, listened to me read or encouraged my writing, because a thought of an illiterate life almost brings me to tears. What would I miss most if I couldn't read? Everything--the ability to escape and connect with others through words.

What about you? Post in the comments what you would miss most, and as you read to yourself or your kids, or write today, take a minute to think of the millions who do not know how...

February 1st is Unofficial Post a Photo of Your Work Space Day

2011-02-01T08:19:00.000-08:00

I had no clue. How could I have almost missed something so fun and potentially embarrassing?!

Per usual Kristen style I found out about this last minute via one of my favorite Critters Jon, who posted his workspace here. Jon you rock and so does your writing area. The story he is working on right now is beyond awesome!

Here are a few pics of my work area, complete with air conditioner STILL in the window (even though it's like below zero here), book cover poster of my first manuscript that my best friend surprised me with (she's sooooo talented!), overly-stuffed booksehelves that could collapse on my husband and I in our sleep at any given moment and last but not least a-monkey-named-Hermione- jumping on the bed *can you believe the conditions I have to work under?!* Ha ha. She is actually quite handy, I run ideas by her all the time... She's also my excuse as to why the bed is never made *grins at todlette*

Now post your own hall of shame :)

2011-01-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

My Resolution for 2011...and the rest of my life really:

Relinquish control.

Yup.

You heard correctly this type-A-OCD-mama has made it her mission in life to learn how to roll with the punches instead of constantly sidestepping to avoid or deflect them. In 2010, (heck...ever since I started working on my bachelor's actually) I have stressed myself out to maintain my straight A's in school because I really want to get into a certain M.F.A. program that has stringent guidelines for acceptance. I have beat myself up thinking that although it's good for me to be in school, if I wasn't in school I could have even more playtime with the todlette, even though I am home with her and play with her as much as I possibly can. In the past year, I have also induced a horrible writer's block because I am putting myself on this makeshift time crunch for publication, which as I write this, sounds absolutely ridiculous. But I have. I told myself I wanted to be done with school and pubbed within the next three years. Apparently I think I am God or something.

So.

Dumb.

I have been fighting the greater powers in many aspects regarding to my career and personal life and it is like treading water infinitely. It's pointless, and impossible. Eventually you get tired and go under. I'm at that point. At the risk of sounding all emo-ish, I will say that I am lucky enough to be able to step out of the situation and look at things objectively. It's ok if I don't *CRINGE* maintain straight A's. B's are ok... I suppose if my dream school won't have me *GASP* *BITES LIP* *SUPPRESSES SOB* another school might take me.

As far as publication *EYES FILL WITH TEARS* If it's supposed to happen, it will. I will continue to study writing and literature, I will continue to hone my craft and learn but if that is my path it will happen. If not, there is a reason.

That is what I need to remember. Everything happens in its time and for a reason, even if we don't know why at the moment, someday we will. As far as some of the things in my personal life that I am struggling to relinquish control of I need to hand it over to the greater powers and understand that I am doing everything I can, and sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes there is nothing you can do to change a situation no matter how much it kills you, keeps you up at night or breaks your heart.

Sometimes you have to let go and let your life fall into place the way it is meant to in order for your soul to learn all the lessons that you are here to embark on. Otherwise you are running from the purpose of your existence. I have some thinking to do on many things in my life at the moment. I'm at a few crossroads and I would really kill for a cheshire cat to point me in the right direction... (or to have a tea party with Johnny Depp while I mull it over, but that's beside the point). Instead, tomorrow I am flying to TX to visit my critique partner/ bestie/ writing partner Tiffany (love her!). I am going to clear my head, work on our novel, drool over Jared, Shannon and Tomo...and then I am going to come home and reassess everything.

But, most importantly it will be the beginning of an end. Moving away from my OCD-ish self to one who has relinquished control. Your life is like the car your are paying off... not fully yours. The bank is the true owner basically until you pay it off and the vehicle dies. Our time here is borrowed, and I'm not going to waste any more time trying to plan every last second.

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

-The Dali Lama

2011-01-11T05:25:00.000-08:00

Things That Go Through Your Mind While Scraping Nail Polish off of Every Surface in Your Toddler's Room at 12:30 in the Morning:

1. Thank you GOD for somehow keeping this from getting inside her mouth, on her rug or on her bedding.

2. Curse the inventor of nail polish.

3. We really need to buy more nail polish remover. *eyes empty bottle*

4. "Mood nail polish" is a total rip-off. Otherwise the todlette's hands would be "fear-pink," as opposed to the same shade of blue the polish was in the bottle.

5.The todlette looks like a smurf. A sneaky smurf who scaled Mount McSmurf (baby gate) to break into Gargamel (big sis)'s lair to steal a secret potion (polish).

6. Maybe the todlette will be a world-famous painter who dabbles in nail polish as a medium. Twenty years from now I might be laughing about this over a martini with some interviewer from Nylon magazine.

7. Man I'm tired, and I still have a ton of homework to do. *sigh*

8. *glares at grinning todlette* SO not funny. *eyes narrow even further as todlette crows with laughter*

9. MAN the hubs is good at scraping polish off of furniture.

10. You would think that the manufacturers of nail polish could do something about the nasty smell. *wobbles on feet for a minute from fumes* Like can't they Wonkify it and make it smell like whatever fruit the color represents? Great. Then the todlette would drink it. Never mind. *plugs nose and proceeds*

9. I really need to blog....

10. What can I blog about? I know! About THIS...

Confessions of a Reformed Pantser

2010-11-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

You might be asking yourself what exactly Ian Somerhalder has to do with plotting vs. pantsing a novel. My answer to that?

Not a darn thing, but I doubt I'll hear any complaints about posting his gorgeous face on my blog. ;)

On the flip side, his TV character Damon Salvatore has plenty to do with plotting vs. pantsing. Damon is the epitome of why it behooves a person to plan ahead. He has gotten himself out of many scrapes by being a step ahead of everyone in Mystic Falls...except for that pesky little Katherine.

Damon has also been an example of why pantsing can sometimes be a bad thing...like by not planning ahead that he might fall in love with Elena and then wind up in a basement full of vervain, or a burning basement, or a tomb...
Can we sense a pattern here? If you rely solely on pantsing your way through life you will probably end up in a basement...and if you're really lucky it'll be on fire, or poisonous.

Ok, so that's reaching a bit but I do have to say as much as I have loved being a pantser it has left me in the dark on more than one occasion--written into a corner that I can't get myself out of.

NaNoWriMo was symbolic of a new writerly beginning for me. I decided that over the past year or so that I have begun seriously writing again I haven't gotten anywhere. I assessed my methods (or should I say lack thereof) and came up with a brilliant realization,"Kristen, you know nothing and you must be doing something wrong."

At that moment, I made a decision to pretend that the month of November was a ginormous opposite day that never ends...well..until Nov. 30th.

My Rules for Writerly Bliss *snort*:

1. VERY LIMITED pantsing.

2. Construct a plot map with chapter descriptions.

3. Have detailed character descriptions (in the past I left this in my mind and never wrote it down).

4. Write in CHRONOLOGICAL order-no matter how much my characters whine, shriek, stomp their feet and bribe me to get that first kiss scene on paper before I'm at that point in the story.

5. Do NOT mention the A word (agent), the E word (Edit) or the P Word (Publish) all month *errrr except for in this blog post... *smiles widely at finding a loophole*)

6. Fall in love with writing again, stop putting myself up to unrealistic expectations for dreams that used to be fun and not so stomach-curdling intense for me to try to achieve.

So far, my born-again writing challenge is working nicely. I have been brainstorming with my dream team Tina, Melissa, and last but surely not least my temporary roomie Tiffany. Seriously, I have a better team than Katniss did. Tina and I have been IM-ing back and forth as our characters which is sooooo helpful (and quite humorous). She has also threatened me when the pantser within tries to show herself by jumping ahead in the story. All three of these lovely ladies have read what I've written and offered nothing but support, good feedback and some fabtacular ideas, I love my girls :).

I still consider myself a pantser on the inside, but it has been immensely helpful to have an outline of where the story is going for the most part. I still get to wing it with some of the details, but having a guide offers organized chaos when under the time crunch that is NaNoWriMo.

Will I ever go back to my pantsin' ways? In the brilliant words of the hottest Salvatore brother, "That's for me to know, and you to dot, dot, dot." ;)

Friday Flash: Black and Starless

2010-10-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

As you read this I am on my way to Salem, MA. A trip that I have waited to take my whole life. It's our first family vacation and also a chance for me to research. I have started rehabbing my first manuscript FLASHOVER which takes place in Salem. It is also my first attempt at Friday Flash, so I thought it would be appropriate to post an excerpt of one of the character's back stories.

Enjoy!

My Elisabeth…

Executed for witchcraft when her only offense was her love for me. We were of different worlds, it was of no matter in my opinion. My father forbad our union so we planned to run away together, but the town tracked us down like a pair of criminals.

I was the witch, Elisabeth had no clue.

It still wasn’t enough to save her.

They escorted my Bliss out to the gallows the day before I was to die. As if it wasn’t enough to be burned at the stake, they had to annihilate my soul first by parading her past my tiny cell. Somehow, she managed to break away and come to me. I reached my hands out and we brushed fingertips—the touch of her skin against mine enough to make the world stop for a split second.

Why can’t we just stay like this…

The question tortured me more than my captors ever could.

She sought my eyes, hers sorrow-ridden as she whispered, “Be brave meus carus. True love prevails.”

I leaned my forehead against the bars to get closer to her, inhaling her sweet scent while I still could—embedding it into my memory. Grief held my voice captive, and I struggled to rasp, “I shall never forgive myself Elisabeth.”

Her fingers slipped out of mine and my stomach sank as panic set in. I searched the guard’s faces, Henry Cooper and Matthew Livingston. Men I had known all of my life I grew up with their sons.

“Henry—please you know she is innocent-” my voice cut off, smothered by a sob.

At least he had the decency to avert his gaze. Matthew glared at me, hatred contorting his features as he growled, “Quiet ye devil!”

He shoved a club through the bars, striking a couple of my ribs with it. Bones cracked and Elisabeth screamed—it was so like her, being led to death yet more concerned with me. Wincing against the pain, I stood up just in time to watch as they dragged my heart out of my chest by leading her away.

“Nathaniel!” she shrieked.

“Enough witch!” Matthew smacked her across the face and she whimpered. Blood trailed from her nose dancing along her cheeks—as though she were crying tears of blood. I gripped the bars and shook them with everything I had in me, but to no avail. I wanted to rip his head off.

I murmured spell after spell but nothing changed. The bars heated up under my hands. I cursed drawing my raw palms away. Iron. The old man was smart enough to know it weakened a witch’s powers.

There was nothing that I could do.

I had no choice but to watch as they hauled away the only person I had ever loved. I held onto her fading silhouette until I could no longer see her shadow on the cold stone floor. Her screams were quickly silenced, yet in my mind they never stopped.

What Are You Trying To Say?

2010-10-18T06:01:00.001-07:00

I'm taking a really interesting class this semester, "Mythology and Modern Life." Right now we're studying the work of Joseph Campbell, a brilliant man who spent his life studying mythology throughout many different cultures. One of his biggest points is that in modern society we don't embrace mythology and our spirituality the way that early man did. Mythology is necessary in order for man to understand his role in life (as well as the afterlife)--his place in the universe.

Campbell said that many teens are in trouble with gangs and the law because they don't have proper mythology to guide them, and they don't have "coming of age" rituals to perform, so they make their own up. Such as stealing, or gang initiation rites. The teens that opt for drugs are looking for the level of escapism that truly being connected to the universe can give you.

As an aspiring YA author this saddened me. We are telling teens to act like adults, but we aren't equipping them with what they need in order to assimilate into society and become a full-fledged grown up. How messed up is that? Sure, they an get their driver's license and go to prom--but they don't have anything that holds a candle to the rituals of the past.

Campbell said that the role of the shaman, or storyteller falls onto the wrong people's shoulders today, because society encourages teens to look up to celebrities. So movies and TV are the main medium of modern day mythology. He also said that there are not many writers and scriptwriters who can fit the bill as far as true myth writers.

I started to think about the YA authors whose stories have really left me thinking. Ellen Hopkins is the first who came to mind. "Burned," and "Crank," were both devoured in a day each and I was changed after reading them. She touched on some topics that are controversial but she reached out to teens who are in difficult situations and told them that they are not alone. She guided them without being condescending. In my eyes she is a master of the modern day myth. She imparts wisdom with each story, teaches a lesson and removes the blinders that people may wear in regards to risky subject matter.

Suzanne Collins is another one. The Hunger Games trilogy did crazy things to me (such as depriving me of sleep for four days straight while I read it all). She touched on every subject known to man and made it relatable for teens. Love, war, hate, greed, power, life death, sacrifice, the hero's journey. She did it all. She taught so many lessons that my head was spinning by the end and she did so with characters that I wanted to keep with me forever.

I think that YA authors need to stay true to themselves and their writing, but that we should also keep the message of our story in mind. Yes, stories should be entertaining and at the end of the day it's the parent's responsibility what their child reads, but we should strive to share some of the experences that we have gained in our lifetime. For the most part, we are older than some of our readers, and we need to reach out a hand through our words, settings, characters and plots that can shed a light on the twisted path of adolescence. We have to show them that the crappy things about being a teen do get better, but we shouldn't sugar coat world issues.

If they are going to read, doesn't it make sense for them to be able to learn something that will help them find themselves? When I was a teen I didn't fit in anywhere and books were my escape. Judy Blume, Edgar Allan Poe, Steven King, R.L. Stine, John Steinbeck, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Lois Lowry and so many others were my teachers, my guides.

I'm not saying that we should censor ourselves, far from it actually. I do not believe that teens should be talked down to at all. They are far smarter than adults give them credit for, and they can sniff out BS a mile away. I think that we should tell them the truths of the world, speaking to them on an equal playing field--but in a way that gives them hope and a few options of paths to follow.

Make your words count. Our readers are the future of our world--don't leave them to find their way in the dark.

How NaNoWriMo and Reversed Psychology Got Kristen's Groove Back

2010-10-15T04:34:00.000-07:00

Before I go any further in this post, yes I'm fully aware that we still have 17 days until NaNo starts. But that only demonstrates the power that is NaNoWriMo.

This summer, I struggled with writing. I had all the free time in the world with school out, but I accomplished nada--except for coming up with a short story. I have thought about why, and I came to an epiphany. My pursuit of an agent and fervent hopes of getting published are slowly blackening my muse's soul.

That's why she left me this summer see this post. I was putting too much pressure on myself therefore sucking the fun out of my craft.

There. I admitted it. My name is Kristen and I'm a fun-sucker.

Without the ability to black out and lose myself in what I'm writing in the process, I've thrown my equilibrium off. Me minus writing equals a miserable person. I feel energetically constipated (ew I know it's gross, but forgive me. My metaphors have just recently begun to work again and that's all I could come up with).

But this is where my night in shining armor--NaNoWriMo comes in. My awesome writerly friend Amalia gave me that little nudge that I needed to sign up for the the first time.

At first I only looked at the obvious. I'm too busy with, school, kids, cleaning, pulling my hair out over my inability to write even one page per day. *Gasp* how could I write upwards of 1600 daily?!

But I sucked it up and created a NaNo home page. And then the unthinkable happened. I got all sortsa' excited as I found more and more of my writer friends (and lots of new ones too!). It was like a high school reunion with a bunch of people I actually CARED to see agin...errrr if I had ever met any of you other than Tiffany
in person.

Once I was all wrapped up in NaNo-Euphoria, something REALLY WEIRD happened.

I got an idea.

An idea I'm beyond excited to work on. Do you want to know how that came about?

I decided to use reversed psychology on myself during the month of November...

1. I am strictly writing CROSSED WIRES for fun.

2. I do not plan on doing anything with this book (as of yet...). At this point it's just a writing exercise.

3. I am not allowed to even character sketch (since I don't know how strict the rules are). I must let it all percolate for a couple of weeks so that by the time Nov 1st rolls around, I'm spewing everywhere. (Ok, EWWW again with the nasty metaphors, I promise by my next blog post that little issue will be worked out...)

4. The thought of an agent, or publication WILL NOT cross my mind ONCE during November.

5. I will not even let the "E" word (edit.... *gags*) haunt me whatsoever. November is for creation, and creation only.

The freedom of having no expectations for myself is beyond exhilarating. Now I'm left wondering why I haven't lowered the bar for myself sooner...

I've been having daily smack downs (Definition: When one writes with the amaz-ering Tina for at least a half an hour everyday, and sometimes the wonderful Melissa joins in. The rules? Must write for the allotted time or face the wrath of Tina. It's quite effective!).

During these smack downs I find awesome support in two of my favorite girls as I'm pulling my hair out yet again while editing my first MS. I highly suggest this if you're really stuck. Tina explained the psychology of it to me awhile back, basically if you are forced to write without thought in a smack down you will write SOMETHING.

Is it not the perfect prep for the Marathon of such that is NaNoWriMo? Not only that, but we have some pretty darn interesting conversations before and after each smackdown on hotmail complaining about things such as wordcount, lack of chocolate cake, screaming toddlers who won't take their nap, and how at the heart of it all we can't live without writing. In short, it's my favorite time of the day :)

Since this post is getting a bit long-winded I will stop here. In summary I owe the return of my mojo to these awesome writers, and the institution that is NaNoWriMo. I'm so excited for this (yes I even ordered a shirt because I'm that big of a dork :). I would love to find all of you on there! My username is kristenyard and you can find me here. So sign up!

I'll leave you with one more thing, if you are looking for a great read or a good flick for the weekend grab, "The DUFF ," by Kody Keplinger. It's freaking FRAWESOME (btw thank you Elana for the best word ever...). I devoured it after Tiffany had been basically giving me death threats for weeks to read it. I CANNOT believe this debut author is only 18. She is unreal!!!

Last night I watched "Haunting of Winchester House" with the hubs who made fun of me relentlessly because it was the first ghost movie in forever that I was actually hiding behind the DVD case for a big chunk of (until the jerkface STOLE the DVD case from me so I would cower against him *snort*). I don't know if any of you are familiar with the true story of the Winchester house, the wife lost her husband and child. She was told by a medium that the angry spirits of all of the people who died because of Winchester guns were haunting and cursing her and the entire Winchester family. The psychic said that the only way to appease said spirits was to never stop adding onto the Winchester McMansion. It's very interesting.

REALLY creepy movie, but the end? It punches you in the stomach. I can't think of the last movie that did that to me. The hubs said it was low-budget but I love those movies...The plot is soooooo good!

Have a great weekend, I'll blog again on Monday (I'm blogging Mon. and Fri. every week once more).

A Letter to My Daughter

2010-10-11T05:49:00.000-07:00

Max,

Three years ago today I watched a marathon of "Saved by the Bell" in a dimly lit hospital room. No better way to kill time as I waited for the moment I'd been looking forward to pretty much my whole life--your arrival. My mind was going a mile a minute trying to work past raging hormones to figure out if I'd packed the kitty hat I wanted to put on you as soon as you were in my arms, if I bought the right sized diapers and if I remembered the boyish outfit I'd packed (you know, just in case mommy was wrong about something for the millionth time in her life). Looking back, I realize that all of these silly concerns were a mask placed over a bigger worry.

How could I possibly be good enough for you?

The responsibility involved hit me harder than any contraction. Would I be able to teach you to believe in yourself? Or to be a leader and not a follower? Could your father and I instill enough love into you that you wouldn't need to look for it in other places? You see, I realized that one little mistake could hurt you, and the thought of that... it was unthinkable. Daddy said I was being silly--that's the beauty of our relationship. He's the yin to my yang for sure, always reeling me in before I can worry too much. But that day, his words didn't soothe the way they normally did.

What should've been a long day, ended faster than I could believe at 5:21 P.M. You were born and we had a scare because you weren't breathing correctly. I remember wondering how my best moment could so quickly turn into my worst. I was screaming on the inside, but all that came out was a tiny voice as I asked what was wrong. I didn't get an answer as the doctor and nurses worked on you.

After what felt like an eternity, you screamed, quietly at first, but soon the walls were shaking (ok, not really, mommy is a writer, I elaborate). That was my first taste of what a little fighter you are. (The precursor of your terrible two's?...)

Within your first minutes of life you had already taught me my first mommy lesson. Don't worry about what's coming so much. Get through the here and now and be thankful for every moment because you just don't know. When they finally placed you in my arms, the hat, diapers and all my other silly worries were forgotten. Do you know what made me realize everything was going to be ok? Looking into your pretty eyes, I saw the trust there. From the moment I first spoke to you, I could read it in your baby blues, you believed in me. I knew that as long as I had you, and Daddy it would be okay.

I still face the worries that all moms have. How will you do in pre-k next year? Will you like school? Did I cover every outlet because lord knows if you have a metallic object of some sort that's the first thing you will try to do with it... Will we always stay close as you get older? Will I be able to protect you from the dangers of this world without sheltering you so much that you miss out on life? I don't have the answers. But what I do have is your little hand in mine, your bright smile and trusting eyes that have the power to vanquish the cloudiest day. I know that we will be ok. You will conquer the world and I will be right behind you cheering you on.

I'm so proud of you. You're everything I could have wanted in a daughter and then some. You're smart, funny, sweet and braver than I ever was. I miss the baby that you were, but I'm excited to kiss some of the second year good bye (such as your poop art phase, clay is a much better medium, I promise) and move forward. Thank you for everything you teach me on a daily basis.

Happy birthday Max, I hope three is your best year yet and that many more follow.

I love you more than you could possibly know.
~Mommy

Light a Match or Pants it

2010-10-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

I finally did it.

I blew the dust off of my first manuscript, started reading through it and committed to the scary prospect of a MAJOR rewrite. The decision to shelve FLASHOVER a year ago was a hard one. I felt like I was giving up on my characters--shipping my kids oversea or something when I put it down. It sucked, but I moved on. I wrote another manuscript and started at least 3 others that are uncompleted.

No matter what I did, the fact that I had this finished-yet-still-not-quite-finished manuscript gnawed at my soul. I have to give it another shot. I decided that research is beyond necessary, as well as an awesome motivator, so I'm taking a trip to the location of the story in the next couple of weeks. I've rearranged my playlist, begun to re-map the plot, and as of the other morning my characters are now waking me out of a dead sleep apparently eager to fill me in on how much they've grown in the past year. (I'm surprised they're still talking to me after I snubbed them ;)

They're ready for their second chance.

The question is am I?

I have to take a complete manuscript and salvage what I can, or just start over. The big question... is it even possible to start over with a story I have so much history with? Can I really walk away from everything I have and start over fresh? I have no clue as to what I'm doing or how it's going to end up but I suppose that's the fun of it all.

My question for all of you is how do you go about the rewrite process?

A. Light a match
B. Pants it--you can start over from scratch
C. Map like crazy and rip your hair out over all you're getting rid of

Letter to My Muse

2010-08-25T15:22:00.001-07:00

My dearest Thalia,

How was your summer vacation? Did you backpack through Prague like you were telling me you wanted to? I bet you danced your nights away with handsome European men, sipping sweet wine and nibbling at cheese and whatever else you could get your hands on. You know, I was quite worried about you, considering I didn't so much as receive a post card letting me know that you were still breathing. REALLY?! Would it have been so hard to send a tiny bit of inspiration my way?!

That's beside the point now. You've returned home relaxed and tanned with a carefree smile still plastered on your perfect lips. Do you want to hear about my summer? Well it was spent painfully trying to pry ideas out of my tired mind. You see, you've left me with nothing for over two months now. I learned how to Vlog *snort*, discovered that Tiffany can eat a disgusting amount of goldfish crackers in one sitting and developed an affinity for making playlists for stories that I just couldn't seem to write without you.

I guess I can forgive you given the fact that you woke me up very early a couple mornings ago with the present you brought me back from your little vacation... a new idea. Perhaps we need a break from each other every once in awhile... but if you EVER think of pulling an Edward on me again for more than a week, WARN ME at the very least. *whispers* Or take me with you. Otherwise I will cut off your access to thesixtyone.com FOR-EEEVVV-AAAARRRR.

*Glares* I mean it you deranged little water nymph.

Glad to have you back.
Love
Me

PS: BTW I SO heart your fishnets....

On a serious note, what do you do when your Muse leaves you hanging?

My First Short Story Contest Entry

2010-08-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! this summer has been crazy! I swear it flies by faster every year! So I entered my very first short story contest and I need your help! I have to have at least 15 votes and 30 comments on my entry to even be eligible for the contest. Would you mind taking a look at it? Thank you!

http://www.shortstorybook.net/2010/08/10/water-angel-short-contest-story/

The Epic Krisiffany Kick-Off

2010-07-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

Tiffany and I have begun a new epic journey. We are co-authoring a YA novel together so we've decided to start up a blog that documents the co-authoring process as we stumble and find our way.

But wait... there's more.

We made a Vlog. And we have a contest. An epic one. Watch us make fools of ourselves in our first Vlog ever and then enter the contest over at our new co-authoring blog, http://www.shadeandsunshine.blogspot.com/

Barry Lyga Rocks!!!

2010-07-06T04:43:00.000-07:00

Carolina at Carol's Prints, Sara McClung at Babbling Flow, and Alexandra Shostak at The Publication Follies of Alexandra Shostak are hosting an awesome contest, an homage to a wonderful author who I'm so glad to have finally read, Barry Lyga. Thank you ladies for hosting this contest and if you aren't all following their blogs... what is WRONG with you?! Just kidding, but seriously. Follow them. Do it now.

I'm supposed to write a letter to Mr.Lyga... so here goes. Hopefully I won't make a complete idiot of myself by going all fangirl... ;)

Dear Mr. Lyga,

My critique partner Tiffany Neal recommended that I read one of your books a few months back. I did put you in my TBR pile, I swear but life interfered. Another friend Carolina Valdez Miller also suggested I read one of your books. If I'm told something by more than one person I generally start to listen, so this weekend I picked up "Hero Type."

It was so good that I purposely found a seat underneath a street lamp so that I could keep reading it while I was at the fireworks with my husband and daughter. Exhibit # 1:

I loved Kevin's voice as he dealt with going from zero to hero, being thrust into the public eye against his will. I was constantly snort-laughing and people stared at me like I was crazy (but that's ok, because after it got dark out and the fireworks started they ignored me). I also liked how real the characters were. They sounded like a bunch of kids I knew in high school. Kevin wasn't this drop dead gorgeous main character who had special "powers", he was just a typical guy trying to get through an extraordinary time in his life.

One of my favorite lines was, "You'd have to cut through ten miles of bad jungle overgrowth before getting within pissing distance of "looking OK" for me, but he's not pulling my leg. He seems sincere, a sure indicator of some horrible variety of brain damage. Poor kid. So young."

That was one of those lines where I just burst into hysterics and the people around me moved their blankets away a bit and slowly herded their children in the opposite direction. I'm looking forward to reading more of your books, it's always so exciting to find a new author and I haven't read anything this funny in quite some time. So, thank you for rocking Mr. Lyga, and keep those books coming!

Sincerely,

Kristen Yard

Bickering Blogfest

2010-06-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to thank everyone participating in the Bickering Blogfest :) Don't forget to check out all the other entries HERE they are guaranteed to be served up with a side of awesomesauce!

My entry for the Bickering Blogfest is from my MS The Little Death. In this scene Sari is extremely worried about Luke, who never showed up to school. She's trying to question her best friend Marta about his whereabouts but Marta's boyfriend Ethan keeps adding his two cents much to Sari's dismay. Ethan is like the annoying brother that Sari never had...or wanted.

Ethan is one of those anomalies who eats crap, smokes on and off, drinks, never exercises, yet he’ll live to be 110, dying in his sleep.

Seriously. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I wanted to.

That’s one of the things that aggravates me the most about him and genetics in general. I see so much suffering. Too many people strive to take care of themselves, but still die young anyway. Then there’s this fool who lopes through life without a purpose and he’ll outlive everyone I know. Well, I guess that’s a matter of debate since I’ve never been able to see my own numbers.

Ethan doesn’t let up on me, of course. “So my birthday’s coming up Sars.”
I roll my eyes at him. Ever since the outbreaks first started that’s been his pet name for me no matter how many times I threaten to end him over it.

“Congragi-friggin-lations,” I mutter, distracted as I look around the cafeteria, hoping that maybe Luke is in line and I somehow missed him.

“Touch-y!” Ethan teases, “You know, I was thinking instead of buying me something, maybe you could make me a batch of your brownies. I hear they’re awesome.”

Everyone at the table roars, including Marta until she sees the look on my face. “Oh honey, it’s not a big deal. I’m sure you’re not the first one to start the school on fire.” That sends her and Ethan into a fit of laughter once more. When I don’t join in, her smile is replaced with a brow furrowed in concern. “What is it?”

“Was Luke in algebra?”

She shakes her head and my heart begins to pound.

“What’s his number? I want to call him.”

Ethan cracks up again. “Way to be Sars, you put out with no contact info, I couldn’t be prouder.”

Heat rushes my cheeks and everyone at the table snickers. Marta sends her boyfriend a homicidal glare as she fumbles through her contact list, texting me the information.

Her eyes search me, “Maybe he has a cold. I wouldn’t worry sweetie…”

I take a deep breath. Um… easy for you to say!

“Or, maybe he just already got what he wanted from you yesterday and now he’s avoiding you,” Ethan cracks himself up. I chuck my uneaten apple at his head, missing my target. The apple smashes against the wall. I grab my bag and stalk away.

“What the hell?!” he yells. I hear a loud thud from behind as Marta finishes the job for me.

Her aim has always been better than mine.

Attn: Bickering Blogfesters

2010-06-28T09:35:00.001-07:00

It was brought to my attention that there is another Blogfest that is set to take place on the 30th. Let me know in the comments if you would prefer that we keep it on the 30th or if you would want to move it back a week or so.

Looking forward to reading all of your smackdown scenes! ;)

Top 10 Best and Worst Things About My Hospital Stay...

2010-06-23T06:01:00.001-07:00

I came home yesterday, sooo thankful for that! I learned a little bit from my stay in the hospital given this was my first time doing so without "new baby glow." I noticed a few more things as opposed to last time when I was love drunk with Max. Here goes...

Top Ten Best Things About Staying in The Hospital:

10. There are remotes for EVERYTHING. TV, the bed, call the nurse etc. There's even a "remote" that controls how long your guests can stay.

9. I didn't have to cook, clean or do dishes-- it was the closet thing to a vacation I've had since Max was born (yes, sad I know).

8. I had plenty of time for reading, writing and brainstorming (the only drawback was that I felt too crappy to do anything lol).

7. I had nothing but time to catch up on TV shows I wouldn't normally have time for.

6. My doctor was the identical twin of Carlisle Cullen. Yes I'm serious and yes it was mildly unnerving to talk to him while clad in an unforgiving hospital gown, and messy hair while being un-showered. *snorts* Gotta love HAWWT doctor!

5. I had hands on experience that helped with a hospital scene for one of my WIPS. I felt better the day I was discharged, so while I waited for my paperwork I actually wrote the hospital scene for said WIP, while being in the hospital and feeling what my MC would be feeling (to a certain extent) so that was PRICELESS!!

4. Drugs for pain and the silly things they made me say (Nope. Not sharing. that's between me and my roommate. Man am I lucky she was cool ;)

3. Ummm call me shallow but I would like to dedicate #3 once more to hot Doctor. Just kidding. I realized just how much my friends and family cared (thank you to all my Tweeps who kept me amused, and thanks for all your kind words and prayers!)

2. Nurses who in my opinion aren't paid enough for what they do. The nurses are what made my stay bearable. I have a TON of food sensitivities and couldn't eat much at the hospital without getting sick so one Nurse sent an orderly out to buy me food with HER OWN MONEY and REFUSED to take any money from me. She literally put tears in my eyes. I never found out her name, but I will never forget her kindness!!! Seriously to all Nurses out there I don't know how in the world you do it for 12 hours a day but thank you for what you do!

1. The look on my hubs and Max's faces when they picked me up. Absence DOES make the heart grow fonder. We spent yesterday on the couch, grateful that everyone was healthy enough to be together again.

Top 10 WORST Things About my Hospital Stay

10. Needles. Blowing a vein in my hand. My writing hand, no less.

9. Not being able to take care of myself or anyone else. I'm a self-proclaimed control freak, so that sucked. Also, not being able to get any sleep. Just when I would start to fall asleep they would check for vitals and wake me up..

8. Being forced into the realization that I've have been pushing myself waaaayyy too far-- and realizing that I need to slow it down a bit. Damned mortality.

7. Feeling so crappy that I couldn't lift a pen to write. That scared me the most. Also being seperated from my laptop. *tear...* that really blew a big one.

6. Being away from Max for the longest amount of time in her 2 years of life. Not being able to read her a bedtime story and tuck her in. I hated that.

5. Listening to Max cry when Daddy took the phone away from her. I wanted to rip the IV out, discharge myself and walk home to hold her.

4. Hospital food that literally made me sick and having hardly anything to eat because of dumb dietary restrictions.

3. Sunday night TV. Monday night TV (except for The Gates... that show is AWWWEESSOOMMEE)

2. Sharing a bathroom with a roommate. I am a bit OCD and this ooged me out beyond words.

1. Facing some scary treatment options (luckily it didn't go that route!). Being reminded just how fragile life is and that I'm not superwoman. I can't do it all. Being unable to move for a bit... having to work up energy just to walk to the bathroom and being exhausted after was a humbling experience for sure.

I've been forced to re-prioritize my life. Yes my degree is important and it is my dream to become published but I can't keep pushing myself the way that I am. All it's accomplished is illness, a hospital stay and the inability to take care of anyone and write anyway. # 1 lesson learned? More time for me is in order. :)

The Bickering Blogfest

2010-06-04T18:29:00.000-07:00

So I was thinking. Perhaps it would be fun to host a Blogfest and meet some more writing friends! I wondered what this Blogfest could be about and I started thinking about the time of year.

It's hot.

People are cranky.

Kids are home from school.

Thus, The Bickering Blogfest was born.

Post an excerpt consisting of anything from a heated debate to an all out fist fight. It might be a helpful way for all you parents to get out your frustration over summer break. If anything it will be amusing. It will take place on June 30th so sign up with Mr. Linky below and get some wrathful scenes ready!

Dream Sequence Blogfest

2010-06-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Amalia over at Good to Begin Well, Better to End Well is hosting the DreamSequence Blogfest. She is an amazing writer friend of mine who is epically talented (yes I just made up a word SHH!) and a great shoulder to lean on when writing is a little more work than fun ;) When you are done with mine read the other entries HERE

This is an excerpt from my novel The Little Death. Sari is terrorized by "dream-mares" as she refers to them: all good when they start, but then they take a sudden turn for the worse as this one does. Who would've thought that a dream combo of Mr. Blue-Eyed Cutie and Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome could go so wrong...

I open my eyes. The sapphire sky speeds past the window in a blur. There isn’t a cloud in sight. My gaze lowers, taking in sprawling green fields scattered with cows and horses.

A light breeze ruffles the hair off my face. It sends my gauzy sundress dancing against my arms at the exact moment the sun becomes too warm. My lips turn up and I stretch all peaceful and lazy, with my bare feet propped up on the dashboard. My skirt slips back to expose my thigh. A hand whispers across it, just above the knee, such a familiar gesture. I smile knowing who it belongs to.

“Morning Grace,” he murmurs. “Drooling all over my seat belt?” My cheeks flush and he laughs. “It’s worth it just to watch you squirm.” I weave my fingers through his, biting my lip.

With no one around to object, Luke slows the truck to a stop. His bright blue eyes crinkle at the corners. He tugs me into his embrace. My feet fall to the floor. Powerless to resist him, I lean into his warm lips. They move across mine with so little effort, that they should be a part of the same body. In that moment, with his arms around me, and my fingers twisted into his soft brown hair we are one and the same.

He pulls away and kisses the tip of my nose when a car behind us beeps. I giggle and Luke smirks as he steps on the gas. “You’re going to be the death of me Sari Walker…”

His words wipe the smile off my face and I shake my head with fervor. “No! I won’t! I promise I won’t.”

A distracted silence falls over us and my focus moves back to the window. The farms are fewer and farther between. All of a sudden there are no other cars on the road. His fingers trace secret messages onto the back of my hand, but something about his touch changes. The sun ducks behind a cloud and the sky darkens dashing my carefree mood. My stomach flips for some reason and I drag my eyes up.

What I see makes me moan, and not in a good way. I bite my lip.

Hard.

But the pain is the last thing I think of. The dark haired stranger, who’s becoming all too familiar, sits in the driver’s seat. He’s the night to the day that was Luke. I glare at him for eclipsing my moment in the sun. Two buttons of his black shirt are open exposing a medallion of some kind that glimmers against his skin. His reptilian eyes of ice sear into mine.

I restrict my view to my lap, he continues to stroke circles on the back of my hand, which is now splattered with blood that drips from the cut on my lip. I shove his arm away, and try to open the door so I can jump out. But it’s like the backseat of a cop car. There’s no longer a handle.

Panicked, I beat against the glass until my hand cracks through it. Broken fragments bite their way into my soft skin and I cry out in pain. Yanking the seat belt off, I get ready to jump out of the window.

Not caring about the jagged shards of glass that stand at attention, ready to comb through me...

Not caring that I’m going to leap from a speeding car, and most definitely not caring that I will end up as road kill…

I just have to get away from him.

I stick my head out the window, but I’m pulled back into the passenger seat as he slams on the brakes. He stalks out of the truck and opens my door, dragging me along with him.

Thunder rumbles in the distance and lightening flashes through the troubled sky, taunting it into detonation. I struggle against him, but he’s so much stronger than I am and I can’t get away. He stops walking and releases me. I fall on my hands and knees. The rain beats down, calling for my attention. I lift my head only to face the same tombstone that has haunted me before.

Lucas Henry Maurin.

I scream, but it’s muted. Tears stab my eyes in competition with the raindrops. It all smears into black watercolors across my cheeks and forearms when I wipe at it. I dig out of desperation- rocks tear at my nails, until they’re a bloody mess. No matter how much dirt flies out of Luke’s grave it always falls right back before I have the chance to even make a dent.

I plead with those serpent-eyes.

His jaw tenses. For the briefest moment his glare softens, the pupils minimize to normal. He unclenches his jaw and opens his mouth like he’s going to say something to me for once. But it’s fleeting. His pupils enlarge again. He kicks a pile of dirt back into place on Luke’s grave, shakes his head and walks away.

I sit there cold, alone and lost.

Nosy Mondays: Courtney Reese

2010-05-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

So, today's ~~victim~~ interviewee is Courtney Reese, one of my dear writing friend.I have turned to this talented woman on more than one occasion of hair-ripping-head-banging-self-doubt in my writing. She's supportive, usually hilarious and an amazing writer (check out her blogfest entries to see what I mean). You can find her in one of three places:Courtney Reese, twitter, or CritThisWIP. All of these websites are full of inspiration, information and her twitter page is entertaining (to say the least ;).

So without further ado...

K- Welcome to Nosy Mondays at Take It as It Comes. Thank you for doing this! What was the reason that you started writing in the first place and how old were you?
C- I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember—since I could hold a pen. Even before I knew how to write, I was doodling, calling my scribbles a “story”. I wrote my first story (with actual words) when I was ten or so. At the time, it was pure awesomeness and I thought I was the coolest kid ever. I still have it buried in the bottom of my filing cabinet, but I don’t think it will ever see the light of day again.

K- You have GOT to let me read it lol! Why do you choose to write YA? I noticed from your blog that you also write contemporary romance, and urban fantasy. Which is your favorite of the three and why?
C- Until recently, I hadn’t written YA for about seven years. Since then, I’d been writing Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Fantasy, & Paranormal Romance—my main focus being Para Rom. Then one day, out of nowhere, I had this idea for a trilogy. I thought it had some potential, so I started plotting it…but it just didn’t seem to fit with adult Para Rom. So I thought, hey, I can try this YA thing again. Why not? And that’s how I got back into YA. As for which genre is my favorite? While I love the contemporary WIP I have going, I love my fantasy series’. Paranormal, Fantasy, YA—they’re where my heart lies. What can I say? I’m a rebel; I hate having to conform to the real world’s rules. With fantasy books, you make your own rules, create your own species, make up your own worlds—then get to write about it! Tell me, what’s not to like about that?

K- Yep. Nothing like making your own species. ;) What was the first book that you read that made you decide, “I HAVE TO DO THIS WHEN I GROW UP!”
C- I started writing “for serious” after reading the Harry Potter Series. I read the first book when I was in middle school and I was just amazed by it. I’d gone from reading Sweet Valley Kids to Frank Peretti, so I totally missed the whole YA type of books. It blew my mind that people could actually write about fantasy. From then on, I knew what I was supposed to be writing.

K- For me it was The Giver. I agree making up your own rules is amazing! In the past you have confessed to me that you are a bit of a high maintenance writer like I am. Explain to me your requirements for your writing time/ space. For example. I prefer to write during thunderstorms, I’m so weird that I have a sound machine that plays the sound for me when it’s not raining. I have a set play list for each MS that I have to have while writing. I have a writing candle and I prefer to write at night. (Yes, I’m obnoxious) now let’s hear your list of demands.
C- I do the same thing! I can’t sleep without the sound of rain—I actually use a little sound machine too. As far as writing, I think I’m more of a night time writer. I write best when I’m alone, so I can’t have anyone in the room (usually, though sometimes the voices in my head are loud enough to tune out real people, haha). I can’t be facing a window or have my back toward a door. When I write, I’m really focused on what I’m doing and I don’t want someone to sneak up on me...trust me, it’s happened before and it isn’t a pretty thing. I’m also a bit ADD, so music usually distracts me, unless I’m plotting. There are some exceptions though. I love listening to instrumentals when I’m writing!

K- Wow. I have a sound machine too that is on rain 24/7. The hubs has stopped questioning my sanity, but now I can tell him one of my crazy friends does the same thing. :) Your critique group has a started a new blog called CritiqueThisWIP http://critiquethiswip.blogspot.com that offers advice for writers. How about you shamelessly promote yourself? Come on…. You know you want to…
C- My critique group is phenomenal! We’re a romantic critique group, so we each write some form of romance, but we also blog about writing and the ups and downs that come with it. What’s better than that? Every Friday, we write and post a scene in a serialized story we call Friday Fiction http://critiquethiswip.blogspot.com/p/friday-fiction-story.html . If you haven’t checked it out, you’re really missing out. It’s a lot of fun.

Currently, we have 3 spots open and waiting to be filled by other romance writers, so if you’re a romance writer, seeking a super awesome critique group, swing by our blog to check us out. We’re holding a contest http://critiquethiswip.blogspot.com/2010/05/critique-group-contest-we-need-you.html to find the next CritiqueThis members and it could be you!
[What? You asked for shameless promotion… ;-P ]

K-Hey it's fine with me, get your shame on! :) So, one of the main characters in my MS is a God who is basically one of the most powerful beings to ever exist. If you were said God, what would be your number one priority and power?
C- Oooh. Now that is a good question. In my book I have a couple of people sort of like that, and it’s hard for me to come up with things for them to do. If I could do anything I would never work again and write all day. I’d probably want to fly too. And shoot fire bolts from my fingers.

K- Mental note: shooting bolts from fingertips would probably guarantee that the dirty laundry in my house would end up in the basket instead of on the floor. *shifty eyes* I might borrow that power...If you could spend an afternoon with any author (dead or living) who would it be and why?
C- Um, I would probably have to say JR Tolkien because his stuff is so complex and, at the time, original. He actually created his own languages and maps for his books. He had a whole little world in his head. Anybody but a writer would have to think he was crazy!

K- That is amazing! If your house was burning down (God forbid such a thing would happen to you!!) what would be the one thing that you would grab (after everyone made it out safely)? Why?
C- I would probably have to grab my laptop because it pretty much has everything on it…all of my writings, ideas, character and plotting spreadsheets…my life.

K- Agreed. My laptop is like my third kid (no wait... 4th kid. The hubs is the third) If you had a choice would you rather be a Reaper, Vampire or a Pixie, and why? Yes this is a serious question.
C- I think I would have to be a vampire because that’s what my books are about.

K- Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what is your method of mental Imodium?
C- I have writers block more often than I care to admit. I really try to find inspiration online through artwork, music, quotes... I’m really into CG art, so I go to the CG society and look through portfolios.

K- Mental constipation is the WORST, music tends to feed my Muse. If I were to look on your nightstand what book would be parked there right now?
C- Right now I’m reading Nefertiti by Michelle Moran. Excellent book, by the way.

K- I already added that to my reading list after you told me about it a few days ago! What is something that not a lot of people know about you but you WISH more people COULD know?
C- Um, I don’t know, I’m kind of an open book. I feel that if somebody should know something about me, I just flat out tell them.

K- Do you write with music? If so what is the band that is most inspiring your current WIP?
C- I usually try to write with piano music or my sound machine because sometimes the music gets distracting, but I do plot with music. Coheed and Cambria has helped me through quite a few blocks.

K- Love them! If your current WIP was made into a million dollar movie, like the next Twilight, ~~would you still talk to me~~ who would you cast as your leads?
C- That’s a wonderful question, and I won’t pretend I haven’t thought of that. Any writer who says they haven’t is a liar. I’d have to say Channing Tatum and Megan Fox minus the tatoos. Or maybe Odette Yustman.

K- What do you do when you are having a “down” writing day, like all of us face from time to time?
C- I try to just move on to something else and take a break from writing. Sometimes you need space to let things start flowing. Watch TV, do housework, blog… just work on something else and that helps a lot.

Well Courtney, thank you for gracing my blog with your presence. Now we all know alot more about you (especially that there is an interesting MS from your youth that I need to get my hands on. ;) Go check out Courtney's blogs and have a wonderful Memorial Day!

How To Stalk Your Characters on Nosy Mondays with Blog Neglect

2010-05-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

I have been majorly neglecting my blog and writing because I was finishing up the semester, but my last paper has been handed in so I'm baaaaack lol. I'm looking forward to a nice, peaceful summer of writing until my fingers fall off.

I will be continuing the Nosy Mondays feature that I started in the beginning of April where I will be interviewing my followers and other writers that I follow. My next interview will be posted this coming Monday barring any freak accidents :)If any of you are interested in being interviewed just comment below and I will get in contact with you.

Now that I have pulled my head out of the whole "school" frame of mind I'm trying to get back into the creative flow of things. My first step is to appease my muse. She's a little mad at me for neglecting her the past few weeks so I have to offer her wine, chocolate and shallow compliments that I don't really mean *snickers*.

I have a few ideas that I'm itching to get started on. But the first and most important thing that I need to do is to familiarize myself with my new characters. There is nothing like a well-developed fictional character who sticks with you years after reading. Jonah from "The Giver" is like an old friend to me and I love to check in on him every once in awhile (you know, see if he's burned the damn village down already). I hope to someday be able to develop the type of character that stays with my readers like that.

Sometimes a character comes to me so clearly that it's as though they are already alive. Other times it takes a little more to get them breathing on their own. One of the first things that I do is interview each potential character. It's fun and helps me get to know them a little better. In doing so ideas for the plot sometimes leap out at me.

Once I get my characters figured out I play around with point of view to see who is going to be the most interesting (and cooperative (unlike one of my characters,*cough-cough* Mavros... :) I research their school, their place of employment, any interests that they have- I basically stalk them. Sometimes they like it, but sometimes...not so much... In that case, it's too bad because I'm their God... *glares sadistically at fictitious characters while creepy music swells in the background*

On that note, I'm off to stalk some made up peeps. What methods do you use to get to know the characters in your world? How do you make your characters leap off of the page?

My Dirty Lil' Secrets...

2010-05-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Courtney Reese over at CritiqueThisWIP decided to interview me. :) It's my first interview which was exciting and fun, so go check it out here and find out all kinds of stuff ~~that you can hold against me later~~ that you might not have known about me or my WIPs.

The "Let's Talk" Blogfest

2010-05-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Roni over at Fiction Groupie is one of my fave blogger/writer friends. Her blogs are always insightful, interesting and funny. She is hosting the Let's Talk Blogfest. Go here to check out all of the other AWESOME entries!!!

My entry takes place during a school dance that Principal Duncan has forced Sari into working the drink table for. The problem is that Sari hates dances. Well...that's not the ONLY problem... enjoy ;)

FYI the "Myles" who she refers to is her boss.

*****
“Jeans. REALLY?”

I turn around knocking over the pile of plastic cups that I’ve constructed around the punch fountain. Marta looks amazing as usual in a glistening silver dress that hits above her knees. Her dark curls are loose and flowing around her heart-shaped face. Silver shimmer makes her eyes pop and crazy earrings jangle as she shakes her head in disbelief.

“It’s called the Snow Ball- not the hoe-down Sar. I would’ve let you borrow something.”

I shoot her a withering glare while filling a cup with punch. I thrust it into her hand before turning back to my work. “It’s called protest. You of anyone should be familiar with the word. I didn’t want to be here so at the very least I’m going to be comfortable. ”

She thinks for a moment and then shrugs. “I guess that makes sense.” Anything that has to do with standing up to ‘the man’ she’s all for- she’s like the younger, female, un-British version of Myles.

Principal Duncan heads over to us and I wave Marta off. She makes a face and sashays over to Ethan who’s dancing like an epileptic chicken. Principal Duncan nods at me before continuing on her rounds. She doesn’t seem to care about my attire.

The night drags by. Everyone comes up and snickers at the punch girl.

I envision spitting in more than one drink.

A couple of hours into the dance we run low on cups. Principal Duncan gives me the key to the supply closet and I wander the dark halls, the dull rumble of voices and pounding music follows me through the vacant parts of the building.

Just as I get to the supply closet I sense someone behind me. My stomach tenses. I spin around almost falling into Luke’s arms.

I do a double take. He’s out of his worn jeans and band tees, wearing black dress pants with a blue button down that has the first few buttons undone. His hair is pushed back from his eyes- the shirt makes them sparkle even more than normal.

“Why did you sneak up on me like that?” I mumble.

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“Mission accomplished.”

He eyes my outfit and cracks up. “Jeans?”

My cheeks burn and I glance at my feet. “Awesome. You and Marta share a brain. I’m protesting.”

“Nice. You know, you’re still the prettiest one…”

Ok-ay, do I take that as a compliment? I meet his gaze and he breaks away running his hands through his hair.

“So what are you doing here? You said you had plans tonight.” I shift my gaze down the empty hallway.

“I did, but I had to bring you this.”

I glance up in astonishment as he places an orchid corsage on my wrist.

“Marta told me it’s your favorite,” he murmurs. “I would’ve been here sooner but it seems that these little guys are kinda’ hard to find in the dead of winter.”

A chill travels the length of my spine at his words.

“Uh- thanks.” My cheeks burn even more and I’m so uncomfortable I wish I could just vanish.

“What are you doing out here? I thought Duncan has you serving drinks tonight?”

I dangle the keys in front of his face. “Refilling supplies.”

“Well in that case, let me help. It’s the least I could do after scaring the crap out of you.

“You didn’t scare me. You just caught me off guard, that’s all.” Injured pride sears through me. One of his eyebrows stands at attention but he doesn’t press the issue.

I unlock the door to the storage closet, which is more of a tiny classroom. The musty air smells as though it’s decades old. A lone light bulb swings from the ceiling and I step up onto my toes to reach it, almost crashing into a shelf full of cleaning supplies when I lose my balance.

Luke grabs the back of my shirt just as my nose grazes metal. He releases me once I have my bearings and I turn to face him.

“You know, it never gets old watching all the different ways you almost kill yourself on a daily basis.” His eyes are trained on me as he reaches for the box of cups, grabbing it with one hand.

“Smooth,” I murmur, his lips inches from mine.

His eyes widen and his arms flail. We slip to the ground and the contents of an economy-sized box of red plastic cups rains down on us.

After the last cup bounces off me and the empty box lands on Luke’s head, laughter forces its way out of my nose.

“So you snort?” he accuses.

“So you’re secretly a klutz?” I fire back while lifting the box up a bit so I can see the smile stretching his lips.

“Not until I started hanging out with you.” he retorts.

“Sounds like I’ve helped you to develop some pretty desirable character flaws in the past week.” I slam the box back onto his head and push myself up to standing. He chucks it across the room and gets to his feet, laughing.

“Ugh. We can’t use these cups,” I moan.

“Why not? Five second rule.” His face is dead serious and I shake my head. Typical guy response.

“Yea, only it’s been more like 5 minutes,” I argue.

He leans in close, his arms trail up my wrists and a smirk teases the corners of his lips. “Well all the alcohol that Ethan just dumped into the punch will kill any germs.”

I stifle a giggle. “Oh man, Marta’s gonna kill him.”

We snicker together and I wriggle my way past him, scooping the cups back into the empty box. Of course they don’t fit in as well as they did before.

Whatever. Punch duty sucks- peaceful protest at its finest.

“He doesn’t think before he acts, does he?” Luke dumps an armful of plastic into the box and cocks his head at me.

I stop what I’m doing and stare at him. “You’re one to talk Mr.-I-don’t-play-the-what-if-game.”

He’s between me and the box before I even realize it. Deranged butterflies populate my stomach as his fingers slip into my belt loops. He drags me to him, until we’re hip to hip.

“Au contraire.” His eyes lock onto mine. “I planned on finding you this exact corsage. I also planned on surprising you. Believe it or not the whole closet thing is on the itinerary as well.”

“Oh, there’s an itinerary?” I tease, leaning into him without even thinking about it.

“Uh-huh.” His mouth is just a few sweet inches from mine.

“What else is on it?” I whisper.

“This…”

I stop breathing.

He strokes my cheek; his eyes hold mine captive, asking permission. The music from the gym is fast and pulsates through us but it doesn’t matter. It’s a slow song in comparison with our racing hearts.

He pulls me closer and we sway to our own beat which falls somewhere in between the two. “Let me in Sari,” he whispers.

I know I should break away.

Make up another excuse and run off.

But I’m out of brilliant covers, so I close my eyes and obey.

His lips are soft at first and then they mold around mine harder- urgent. I pull away to catch my breath. His fingers twist my hair coaxing me back into his embrace, his lips take mine over once more. My arms wrap around his neck and trail down to his chest.

His lips are warmer, and even more delicious than my dreams promised. I cling to him. Not wanting it to end.

Because after this everything will change.

My priorities.

His death.

My life.

Two worlds that should remain separate have collided- a meteor tearing through the sky just waiting to crash onto some poor fool.

Yup. That’s me and Luke’s relationship in a nutshell.

I pull back with a lazy smile, not caring.

Someone knocks on the door and we freeze. Luke pushes me into the corner and whispers, “Wait here.”

Mama's Day and... a WINNER... finally ;)

2010-05-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, stepmoms, grandmas, godmothers, aunts and all women who put a child's best interest before their own. Being a mom & stepmom is the hardest thing I've ever done, but also the most rewarding aspect of my life. I'm grateful for every second that my girls are with me. They have taught me so much and I would be lost without them. I love you Peanut & Max!!!

Positive female role models make a HUGE difference in a child's life. You all rock and I wish that I had books to give away to all of you for everything that you do on a daily basis. That leads me to the second order of business for the day. *cringes* I know that I was supposed to post the winner of the signed copy of "Wings" on Friday. I'm sorry, but this weekend has been crazy!

So, without further ado... the winner of the signed copy of Aprilynne Pike's "Wings" is Christine Fonseca.

Christine's dream team of YA writer Roald Dahl and Horror writer Stephen King got me all sorts of excited as I pondered what deranged and creepy tale two of my all-time favorite authors would've weaved together.

Hmmm perhaps a BFG that dies and winds up buried in a pet cemetery only to come back to life, wrecking havoc on a small town.

Or a group of child-hating witches who meet in a haunted hotel for a conference where the agenda is killing off every child in the world. One little boy tries to stop the witches but his hands are tied when his grandma goes all Jack Torrance and tries to kill everyone...

The possiblities are endless. There would've been beautiful offspring out of that literary marriage for sure. :)

Well anyway, awesome job Christine! Email your address to me at kristenyard(at)gmail(dot)com and I will get your prize off to you. :)

To everyone else, thanks for playing! I loved reading all of your awesome author pairings! Have a Happy Mother's Day!

Spreading The Awesome: Books That Deserve 10 Stars Aprilynne Pike's "Wings"

2010-05-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday) Elana Johnson is hosting Spread The Awesome: Books That Deserve 10 Stars. So when you are done reading this, check out the link to the other awesome posts and find some new books to add to your summer reading list ☺
I chose to write about “Wings,” by Aprilynne Pike. Here’s a tidbit from the inner cover:

“Laurel was mesmerized,
staring at the pale things
with wide eyes.
They were terrifyingly beautiful—
too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again,
her eyes on the hovering petals
that floated beside her head.
They looked almost like wings.

In this extraordinary tale of magic
and intrigue, romance and danger,
everything you thought you knew
about fairies will be changed forever.”

This novel stands apart from any book about fairies that I’ve ever read. Aprilynne Pike’s mythology is beautiful and unique. Her descriptions and three-dimensional characters pull you in from the very first page, holding you firmly until the end. The story begins with 15-year-old Laurel Sewell starting at a new school. She deals with the normal insecurities that position would leave anyone in… until she notices a bump on her back that just won’t go away.

Laurel embarks on a journey in which she begins to find herself with the help of David, the cute guy at school who takes her under his wing (yes, pun fully intended- I'm a dork like that!). Then… enter Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome… Tamani. I love David, but I’m always a sucker for the mysterious dark haired strangers… *le sigh*

What I really liked about this book was the balance between the romance, magic and day-to-day struggles of any regular teen who doesn’t have anything paranormal brewing in the background. Aprilynne pulls it all together seamlessly in a way that leaves the reader begging for more!

Her sequel “Spells” will be on the shelves tomorrow *squee!* May 3, 2010. I’m psyched to get my hands on it! I can’t wait to find out what else is going to happen to Laurel, David, Tamani, Chelsea and anyone else we get to meet ☺

Another thing that makes Aprilynne’s books so chock full of awesome is the author herself. She's very sweet and loves her fans. She has signed a copy of Wings that I am giving away to one you lucky people, so onward and upward to the contest!

Since my critique partner Tiffany Neal and I are co-authoring a YA book titled, “Path” this summer, it got me thinking. What if I could pick a YA author to co-author with any author, past present, dead, alive YA or any other genre? The possibilities are endless! So now I am passing this question on to all of you.

My choice would have to be Edgar Allan Poe and Suzanne Collins. Why might you ask? Well, Poe managed to take the darkest aspects of human nature and make them beautiful somehow. I feel that in a sense Suzanne Collins did this in "The Hunger Games." Katniss was thrust into a horrible situation but there was a beauty and strength in her actions. Both authors explored the evil that humanity is capable of, and it would be interesting to see what they would have been able to create together.

I like dark *shrugs* what can I say? Ok, so now it’s your turn *taps fingers together* Name one YA author and an author of any other genre that you would like to see collaborating on a novel, and explain why you think they would produce something awesome together.

My only rules are that you must be a follower of my blog, and one of your authors has to be a young adult author, the second can be from any other genre- let’s make this interesting ☺. Leave a comment with your answer. You can enter up until Thursday May 6th. I will be posting the winner on my blog on Friday May 7th. Good Luck!!! In the meantime, head over to Robin Mellom's Blog to read about "Fat Kid Rules the World" By KL Going, and go buy “Spells” by Aprilynne Pike on Tuesday!!!

From MIA to Spreading the Awesome: GIVING AWAY A SIGNED COPY OF APRILYNNE PIKE'S "WINGS"

2010-05-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

First of all- yes I am still alive.

I would love to have an awesome excuse as to why I haven't posted in forever.

But I don't.

For the heck of it, here's my fun excuse. I was abducted by aliens. Yea, that's it. They took me back to their planet and made me their leader until I told them I missed my DVR and laptop. It was heart-wrenching for them, but they loved me so much they released me (wait a minute... this is starting to sound strangely similar to "Where the Wild Things Are"... only in space...)

The truth? I was out of town, and sick. NOT FUN. Would've much rather been a Space Queen.

Enough about all that is boring. On to fun things, Elana Johnson is hosting "Spreading the Awesome" this Monday May 3rd. What is this spreading the awesome you might ask?

It's made of awesome that's what it is.

The blogosphere will be taken over by blog posts giving many of the awesome YA authors of today a much deserved bow. I chose Aprilynne Pike. Her book "Wings" is amazing and I'm excited to talk about it. Aprilynne was sweet enough to sign a copy for me to give away to one of you lucky people.

You're probably wondering how to get your hands on such a prize.

Ready?

Ok. First, stand on your head, while holding your breath and crossing your eyes. And stay like that until Monday.

The last one standing gets it.

No, I'm serious.

Lol, you will have to check out my blog post on Monday and I will list the real contest rules- as long as my alien minions are kind enough to return my brain to me before then.

I seem to have left it on the space ship...

Nosy Mondays: Tiffany Neal

2010-04-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I didn't already have enough on my plate, lol. I was thinking about it and while it's awesome that published authors are interviewed, why not interview the future best sellers of America? I would love to get to know more about the writers that I follow on blogger, or tweet and I thought it would be fun to share what I dig up about everyone :)

I will be posting a new interview each Monday under the title "Nosy Mondays", my first victim is none other than my awesome critique partner turned writing partner Tiffany Neal. We are collaborating on our first co-authored YA novel titled, "Path." Since I talk to/ email/ text this talented woman more often than my husband throughout the day, I figured I should do a background check on her of some type. Here are the results of my first time in the interview chair and her first time as the interviewee...wow. That is alot of firsts for one paragraph ;)

Interview with Tiffany Neal
K- So. You’re my “speshul” little guinea pig. Welcome to Nosy Mondays at Take it as It Comes. Do you feel like you’re going to puke? Is the pressure too much? Yes? *taps fingers together in Mr. Burns voice, “EHHHHXXXCCELLENNT.” *

T- *insert nervous laughter* Now that you mention the whole feeling sick thing … hold on I’ll be right back.

K- *taps fingers on desk and waits for Tiffany to return* Ok. I already know a lot about you since we’re crit partners and everything… but I’m going to dig deeper. Are you scared?

T- Very.

K- You should be. Since this is the first time we have collaborated on a book together what are your fears? What excites you about it?

T- I really don’t have any fears. I think what excites me the most is getting to bounce ideas off of somebody and being able to get a super story out of it. Taking two really great ideas and combining them into one.

K- Off the record, how do you REALLY feel about your amazing critique partner Kristen Yard? *holds out microphone with an ominous smile*

T- Off the record she’s the shiznit. That’s just off the record though if it were on the record it would be a different story.

K- Um... ohhhkaaayy. Should I be offended? *shrugs* How old were you when you started hearing character voices in your mind? For example I was 5 or 6 but I didn’t take them seriously until I was in middle school. Shut up.

T- Well I didn’t know they were characters but I’ve been hearing voices my whole life practically.

K- You might not want to share that little tidbit with too many people, just sayin.' Do you prefer to write by hand or laptop?

T- Hmmm... *crickets chirping* Definitely laptop. I used to really like to write by hand but now its definitely laptop.

K- One of my characters, Mavros, is a God with some pretty intense abilities (but you already know that wonderful critter ;). If you were a God what would be the first thing that you would do- and what would be your main power?

T- *laughs* Yea hold on a second… can we hit pause? *laughs again* Hold on I’m tweeting you.

K- Ummm ok. Why?

T- *crickets chirp again* I’m thinking about my answer. I’m thinking that it would have something to do with my book boyfriend blog post. Be able to create my own book boyfriend for real.

K- OMG you could totally start your own business. Think of how much you would make if you could do that for a living? *wipes drool away* Ok, moving on. What author(s) had the most influence on your decision to write?

T- Um, Gosh, ok this is going to take a minute because I have a really bad memory… *insert jeopardy music* Ok. I've got it! Lois Lowry definitely, Cornelia Funke, Kate Dicamillo, Neal Schusterman, Neil Gaiman, Suzanne Collins because she rocks, and because she had books that I tore through Stephenie Meyer, Roald Dahl, and William Faulkner,

K- If you could be alone with any fictional male character (including one of your own)… who would it be and why?

T- Mavros from your WIP The Little Death because he’s frickin hot. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a God...

K- *blushes* Thanks :) This next question is extremely important. Cupcakes or ice cream? (Choose carefully… or else it could be the end of our crittership…)

T- That isn't an easy question are you kidding me? I ate ice cream tonight… guess it depends on what kind of ice cream or cupcake. It would have to be ice cream especially if it’s fro-yo…

K- That’s it. I’m quitting you. Ok... I'm over it now. Favorite character that you’ve written and why?

T- Valory because she’s kick ass and digs a tracking device out of her hand with a little bit of whiskey and a knife.

K- I agree. I love Valory. Craziest thing that ever happened to you that sounds like it should be fiction but isn’t?

T- Hmm ok, um- there’s so many of them it’s almost impossible. Probably the time I was held at gunpoint for parking in the wrong parking spot at my old apartment.

K- Wow. Um here’s some fro-yo to compensate for your horrible flashback. *holds out cup and spoon* Where does your muse tend to harass you the most? For me it’s the shower. Uber annoying I have to keep my iPhone with me for the voice recording. I’ve almost dropped it in the shower at least 6 times now.

T- Mine is when I ‘m trying to sleep at night, that’s usually when it appears or when I’m trying to get ready for work which makes me late every single day.

K- *shifty eyes* Yep. Your tardiness every morning has NOTHING to do with me Skyping with you too late to work on "Path." So...how many iPhones have you destroyed?

T- Well I never destroyed one. On the other hand, Apple has given me a malfunctioning one but that was totally not my fault at all- so technically I'm on number two and number one died from natural causes.

K- I'm sorry for your loss. Why do you write MG and YA?

T- This one's an easy one. I write MG because I teach that age group, so I would love to write a book that my students can pick up and read and love. I write YA because I just love it so much. I have a passion for it and I have an inner high school teacher in me. Or inner 17 yo that won’t escape.

K- Yea my hubs has one of those too *grrr* Favorite line from your most recent WIP?

T- “She could choose to lie down and let them take her life without a fight or run and have the chance to escape.”

K- Wow, Just so everyone knows, I was lucky enough to read the first chapter of this future NY Times best seller. It's AMAZING. This one line is just a tease really. The whole thing is made of awesome. So someday when you are famous don't forget who you gave your first interview to. Kay Tiffany? Tiff??? *gets up and looks around* Apparently she's left me to go get some more fro-yo. I just can't compete with it's sugary goodness. SIGH.

So there you have it. My pick of the week for Nosy Mondays (EWWW lol couldn't resist). I'm fully aware that it's not Monday, this week was just out of control in my house. I hope that you enjoyed this crazy interview (and that you were able to follow it. Me, Tiffany and sugar is just a BAD combination!)

If you want to get to know more about Tiffany, check out her blog Tiffany Neal. It's amusing, thought provoking and always guarantees laughter until you are in danger of peeing your pants. :)

Next Monday I will have another interview up. Let me know if you guys are enjoying this and I will keep doing it every week... hee hee hee that means that NONE of you are safe. Soon you will all be summoned. It's like Jury duty... only I don't pay you for it :)

The First Page Blogfest

2010-04-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you Kelly Lyman for hosting the First Page Blogfest. I'm kind of nervous to post this. I just re-tooled the opening scene of my WIP... so here goes... This is the first page of "The Little Death."

-Thursday December 3rd 1:31 P.M.-

THWACK!

A crumpled ball of paper smacks the back of my neck. Defiant curls rise from my shoulders, whipping my face when I spin around in search of the culprit.

Before I can react, my best friend Marta flails her hands to get my attention- or put out a small fire. “Omigod it’s Luke Maurin!” she hisses, her delicate eyebrows nearly meet in surprise.

I follow the direction of her gaze and sure enough, the urban legend of Sweet Home High leans against the wall, like he’s doing it a favor or something. My eyes trail up taking in his faded jeans and black Nine Inch Nails tee. His tousled brown hair is now so long that it hangs in his face.

Not bad. A year in the slammer or a gutter somewhere must not have been so tough. As if reading my mind, he reaches up and pushes his hair back. My eyes lock onto his clear blue orbs, and I gasp.

What?! This can’t be happening- I sort of know him…

My heart pummels itself. All of my senses are amplified by about a million degrees. I’m being dragged toward him, everything around me blurs until it’s like I’m floating inches from Luke's face. The numbers boot up above his oblivious head:

2 weeks, 1 day, 9 hours, 28 minutes and 60 seconds.

A groan parts my lips.

Behind me I hear Marta mutter, “Oh crap.” She knows what’s coming.

The substitute teacher clears his throat. “It appears that we have a new student.”

“He’s not new,” someone snickers from the back of the room. The class erupts into a roar of excited whispers, like lions over the kill.

I try to focus on the conversations that swirl around me, but I’m already being sucked into a vision of where Luke’s going. It’s not pretty. My hands grip the desk and I’m assaulted with a play-by-play of his death.

Snow covers the street in a downy blanket that draws a sharp contrast to the starless sky. We’re both in his truck, and even in my winter coat I’m shivering. A musky but inviting scent envelops me, although I’ve never smelled it before it’s familiar.

Omigodwhatthehellisgoingon? Why am I in the vision?

Reaching for his iPod to switch the song, Luke takes his eyes off of the road for one second… that’s all it takes. By the time he looks up, the oncoming headlights blind us.

I shriek out a warning but I'm invisible, even though I’m right next to him. He’s frantic in his attempt to maintain control of his truck, but he can’t get out of the ice skid.

He’s too far-gone.

I reach for the wheel but it’s like I’m stuck in a glass box and I can’t get to it. I shout, “Pump the breaks don’t lock them up!”

But it doesn’t matter.

His truck careens off the road propelling us toward the brick siding of our school. I brace myself, knowing that it won’t do any good. The force of impact thrusts Luke’s head into the steering wheel with a sickening crack.

The last thing that I see is my face heading for the windshield.

I'm So NOT a Multi-Tasker...but I Have an AWESOME Excuse for Once!!

2010-03-29T14:44:00.001-07:00

I'm really sorry that I've slacked on the blog. But I have exciting news!

During our crazy Skype crit sessions, me and my wonderful critique partner Tiffany Neal have come to a few conclusions.

#1.) We're both slightly insane.

#2.) We have a very similar voice and writing style.

#3.) We're both addicted to cupcakes (any form of sugar, really). We also don't mind operating on virtually no sleep, if it means we've worked on our WIPS.

#4.) We were either separated at birth or one of us had a partial lobotomy and donated brain tissue to the other at some point in life because we are soooo on the same page that it's almost scary.

That being said, we've decided that since we already shared the brain we might as well share a WIP as well! We've been tossing around an idea for about a week now, but she was officially born a couple of nights ago. A bouncing baby girl, with beautiful hazel eyes. :)

It's fun to do the research and outlining of the plot with another person. You automatically have someone else to throw ideas (or other things) at. It's also nice to have another person as immersed in your new world and imaginary friends as you are!

Tiffany:
You're an awesome Crit partner, and a wonderful writer. I'm so glad that you've decided to cross over to the dark side and join forces with me! BTW I'm the chick in the picture with the black leather and the headband...just sayin. ;)

So, if Tiffany and I are spaced out (more so than usual that is, LOL) and aren't updating blogs or twitter as frequently you can blame our muses now that they're in cahoots! :)

PG Love Blogfest

2010-03-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I’m a moron.

Simon over at Constant Revision is hosting the PG Love Blogfest. I completely misunderstood the rules. I thought we were supposed to write an MG love scene. You know sickeningly sweet, puppy love. I figured out what we were really supposed to write way after this excerpt was finished, and I honestly couldn't do it.

I'm sorry to break the rules, and that I'm a PG Blogfest Rebel (ooh now THERE'S a title ;)- but here's my excerpt. I have never written MG before this, and it was really hard! So, it was a valuable exercise, either way :) Enjoy!

Ashley tucked her wavy blonde hair over her shoulder and pushed through the crowd, eager for February 14th to just give into the 15th already. It was a nauseating, Hallmark holiday that’s only purpose was to remind her of how unpopular she was.

All of the girls at Sweet Home Middle who were considered “worthy,” were carrying bouquets of roses or pink carnations… and Ashley had her iPod.

Awesome.

Just as she closed her locker, her friend Matt jumped out from behind it eying her nervously while holding a tiny bag.

She wrinkled her nose, “What’s that?”

His cheeks reddened. “Uh- I dunno, my mom got it for you.”

Her eyebrows furrowed first in confusion, and then concern. “Thanks… hey are you ok? You look like you’re gonna puke.”

He refused to make eye contact, and his words flew out of his mouth so fast that she could barely understand him. “Happyvalentinesdayorwhatever. Gotta go...”

He dropped the bag into her hands like it was diseased, and then ran off before she could say a word. Biting her lip she peered inside and found a box of her favorite sponge candy and an amber ring that she had fallen in love with from the mall.

Her disbelief was eclipsed by a million hyper butterflies that suddenly overpopulated her stomach. A grin threatened to split her face in half. She flew out of the door, heading through the whirling snow in the direction that Matt took to get home. She had to run, but she caught up with him.

“Hey!” She yelled, struggling to catch her breath, her lungs burned as the cold air tore through them.

His shoulders stiffened and he paused for a moment before continuing on.

“You aren’t invisible, idiot.” She rasped. He stopped again and she shuffled alongside him. “So, uh the gift.”

His eyes remained on his shoes, “I’m sorry my mom was all insisting that I give it you. I know it’s kinda stupid…”

She smiled at him, bashful now that she was pretty sure he felt the same way about her. “I loved it. Thank her for me.”

His eyes lit up for a minute and then dimmed once more. “Oh! Yea, ok. See ya.” He began to walk away and she tugged on his jacket sleeve.

“And thank you, too.”

He turned around, and she took a shaky breath before planting her lips firmly onto his. He stood there frozen in shock, eyes wide open and staring at her in wonder as her lips moved over his, warming them.

Ashley pulled back, cheeks raw from the chilly air and her boldness. “See you tomorrow.”

Matt nodded, eyes focusing past her as she turned around and flounced back through the school parking lot to board her bus.

SQQUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

So... during yoga tonight, I did the downward dog position without falling (although it most DEFINITELY was not pretty)!Hang in there, that isn't the exciting part-

Just as I was completing my yoga for the night, my phone rang and it was my critique partner, Tiffany Neal. She instructed me to go directly to my laptop (without passing go or collecting $200...) and to open my email NOW. In my mind I started thinking to myself, "Hmmm, maybe she really didn't like the last two chapters that I emailed to her..." lol.

She made my night by telling me that I'm a semi-finalist in the YAlitChat contest that I submitted a page and synopsis of my latest WIP to!!!! I made it through the first round of eliminations!! Woo hoo!!!! This is my first writing contest... (well, since I won that tree from Border's as a young'un *snorts*).

I just wanted to thank Tiffany for being an awesome crit partner who tells it like it is in the sweetest way possible ;). You are more helpful than you could possibly know! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have entered this contest. I also wouldn't have found out so quickly that I made it through the first cut, so thank you!!

What Can I Say? I'm Blogularly Challenged.

2010-03-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

I have a million excuses as to why I haven't posted in over a week. I could just go with pleading laziness; but honestly I have been crazy busy. Ahem...

1. With the help of my awesome Critter Tiffany Neal, I finished a short story in time for the deadline to submit it to my school's literary magazine. *fingers crossed*

2. My best friend moved. :(

3. One of my classes is finished in less than a week, so I'm working on cranking out the coursework.

4. Our toilet exploded. Ok, so not really- but it's old and we discovered that it was leaking underneath our bathroom floor. *shudder* So, we have been ripping our bathroom apart all week :) FUN times. Construction bites, but I have a shiny new bathroom :) er... well I WILL have it in a few days (I hope!!!).

5. The stomach flu visited our house last week (thankfully prior to the exploding toilet). Need I say more?

6. My muse has returned!! My latest WIP has been halted because I re-tooled some major aspects of the story line. I have been intimidated by the thought of moving on. I was trying to hold onto certain aspects of the old. Yesterday I decided, out with the old and in with the new and wrote almost 2,000 words. I know it's not alot, but its' a start! :)

So there you have it, my sorry excuses as to why I haven't blogged. I've been a procrastinator, and I'm also hoarding an award wich I will most likely post tonight or tomorrow... barring any unforseen craziness that might pop up between now and then.

How are all of you doing? How are your WIP's coming? Have you ever decided to gut a story when they were halfway through it before? What were your end results? Stronger plot? More believable characters? Massive migraines that even Excedrin can't help? Bald spots from pulling your hair out? lol...

Whoops! Blogfest

2010-02-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

In other words... an excerpt from just about ANY day of my life (minus the hot guy LOL).

Laurel of "Laurel's Leaves," is hosting this awesome blogfest and I thought I would try my hand at it. Here is an excerpt from my first MS. To set it up a bit, Blythe has moved and this is the first time that her best friend Chess (Francessca) is visiting her. They are at the local coffee house that everyone hangs out at. Joe (from Blythe's new High School) is interested in Blythe but she just looks at him as a friend... Chess on the other hand is more than happy to oblige ;)I hope you enjoy Blythe's "Need a Twix Moment" lol...

I picked at my panini and fries while Chess wrinkled her nose at the salad that she clearly wasn’t enjoying.

“Why did you order that if you don’t like it?” I asked her.

She scowled at me in irritation, “I'm not very hungry, that’s all.”

I laughed, “Let me guess, you’re on another crash diet that you keep falling off of because all you’re eating is rabbit food.” She shrugged but didn’t deny my claim; I had hit the nail on the head.

“I have to look cute to land a date for your birthday party.” She snapped. I smiled at her benevolently.

“Chess, you don’t need a date I’m not going to have one. Believe me there is no one at this school that is even remotely interesting.”

She glanced at me curiously as she speared a tomato with her fork. “What about that Joe guy that you mentioned?”

I shrugged, “He’s a really good friend but that’s it.” I averted my gaze from her all too perceptive eyes. She slammed the table with such ferocity that half of the people in the coffee house looked over at us.

“I KNEW it! You DO like him!" I felt the color staining my cheeks as I slid down in the booth hoping to melt into it.

Once everyone looked away I kicked her shin as I grumbled, “Smooth. Can you try to keep it down? You are just visiting; I actually have to live here.”

“Sorry,” she said, not looking even a bit remorseful as she lowered her voice. “Let me guess, it was love at first sight.”

“No,” I hissed.

She grinned knowingly, “Liar. You are holding out on me. If it’s not this guy that you are all blissed out over, then there must be someone else. I mean you are practically glowing, it's nauseating... really.”

I winced, “I…uh- can’t talk about it here, but I do have some big news. I’ve been waiting until I could tell you in person.”

Her eyes lit up, she loved a good mystery. Suddenly her attention was diverted. I knew that face all too well- her eyes had glazed over like my mothers’ do before she leaves for Fall Fashion week. Apparently Chess had found another possibility for a date. She looked past me excitedly.

“OH EM GEE. A total hottie is coming over here! How do I look? Do I have lettuce in my teeth?”

I snorted, “You haven’t changed one bit, have you?”

She tapped her fingers on the table impatiently. “Losing time here!”

I rolled my eyes, “you are stunning as always.”

“Teeth?” she demanded.

“Perfect.” I reassured her. She ran her hand through her short black hair and made eyes at her next victim. I couldn’t wait to see who the poor fool was. I picked up another fry and dipped it in my ketchup as a shadow fell over the table. This had been record timing even for Francessca.

“Hey Blythe.”

At the sound of Joe’s voice I started to choke on my french fry. I couldn’t breathe and my hands flew to my throat. For a split second I mused, "why does anyone do that? It doesn’t help at all."

My vision was fading fast and then I felt two strong arms around me. Chess was screaming in the background. Leave it to her to ever be the dramatic one; her best friend is dying and she stands there doing her best Scarlet O’Hara impression.

The arms that were around me yanked me to my feet and then were around my back pushing up against my ribcage. Within seconds my mangled french fry was soaring through the air. It landed in Chess’s glass of water, splashing her in the face.

“Okaayy…ew!” She cried in disgust as she cleaned herself up with a napkin.

Air rushed back into my aching lungs. I coughed so hard that I had to lean against the table to catch my breath.

Joe whirled me around and gave me some water, “Here drink this and try to calm down.”

As I took a tiny sip, I felt my cheeks burning. Just then I noticed that everyone in the coffee house was staring at me; they had even stopped the freaking music. Was that really necessary? Joe gently wiped the hair off of my sweaty forehead and then followed my eyes with his to see what had caused me to blush.

He turned to all of the spectators, “She’s fine. I have that effect on women, you know charming them to death," he chuckled tensely at his own joke.

Everyone started laughing and gradually the music was turned back on. Joe moved closer to my side still holding me around the waist to help me stand. I had to admit that he was gorgeous. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a tight t-shirt that showed off all of the hours he spent working out and playing football. His light brown hair was tousled. As he noticed me staring, he ran his free hand through it nervously.

Don't get me wrong I wasn't interested, but I did realize that I was living every girl's dream come true just then- namely Chess’s. An amazingly attractive and sweet guy saves your life…leave it to me to make an utter fool out of myself in that "fairy-tale" moment.

Picasso Award and Rewrites

2010-02-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

I went to Border's last night and picked up a "Color Your Own" graphic novel of Bram Stoker's dracula for the toddler. Aww, who am I kidding? It is SO going to be mine lol. I also took Tina Lynn's suggestion and grabbed "The Hunger Games" (yes I know it must seem as though I live in a cave since I haven't read this book already). I can't wait to get started on it, but first I have to get some homework and housework done *groan*.

I also had a fairly productive critique with my Beta which led to a few pretty cool changes in my MS that I am excited about. For the most part she was happy with my rewrites, pheww! *wipes sweat off brow*

In other news, I have an award to hand out to you lovely bloggers. Roxy from "A Woman's Write" was nice enough to pass it along to me. Check her blog out, she is too funny- and now, in no particular order (or sense of logic) I present to you 7 random things about moi:

1. I am a CB2 addict. There. I admit it, I have a problem. If you have never heard of them you should check out their website, they are uh-mazing. *sigh* If only I could have unlimited gift cards there and to Border's...

2. I LOVE PURSES. Why you might ask? They always fit. Even when I was pregnant, they never let me down. ;)

3. I can kind of speak a tiny bit of Italian. I took a class last semester. I should really brush up on it so I don't completely forget everything in a matter of months. What a beautiful language!

4. I rarely write in chronological order and it is almost painful for me to do so. As an exercise I am trying to do it for one of my WIP's, but I don't think it will last too long. Scenes from my stories come to me out of order (like filming a movie, dumb analagy I know but it's all I've got this early on a Saturday). I feel that my writing is stronger when I write a scene as I am totally wrapped up in it and passionate about it. I tend to write better late at night. It's a must for me to have my particular MS playlist and my writing candle from Bath and Body Works. Yes, I am fully aware that I am high maintenance, my husband reminds me on a daily basis. ;)

5. I am gluten intolerant, and have a ton of food sensitivities. It's really not so bad, there are alot of substitutes out there. On the bright side, it has forced me and my family to eat healthier.

6. I despise all forms of housework, laundry, etc. (in other words my to-do list for today, grrrrr). I would much rather spend my time writing or doing something with my family (I am sure we all agree on this one!).

7. I read the last page first in most of the books that I read. Before you yell at me...there is a method to my madness. If I know where the story is going from the beginning, I am able to pick up more as I read. *shrugs* It makes sense in my little world, plus it drives my best friend absolutely crazy hee hee hee. *taps fingers together evilly*

Ok, now that you know 7 useless facts about me, it's time for 7 of you to follow suit:

Tiffany Neal from "Tiffany Neal"- Since you are my newest Critter, I am picking on you first. Plus you are awesome (so drop that basket of laundry and start procrastinating like I am, you're making me look bad here lol).

Kayeleen from "Kayeleen's Creation Corner"- Since you are a newbie follower and your name rocks (her blog is awesome too!)

Elana of "Elana Johnson"- Also a newbie on my blog, her blog rocks and she is hosting a very cool contest. :)

Courtney Reese of "Work in Progress"- Another newbie to my blog and her blog is very cool,

Tina Lynn from "Sweet Niblets"- Because she suggested an awesome book to me last night and she is just full of awesomeness herself.

Heidi from "Holey Rusted Metal, Batman"- Because I just love typing out the name of her blog (I mean Batman WAS my first love after all). *le sigh*

Anne Elle Altman of "All Write with Coffee" - Because her blog is oh so informative and she is very cool.

So get cracking and post 7 Items of Randomness!

An Excerpt From One of my WIP's

2010-02-19T06:19:00.001-08:00

I thought it might be fun to start Friday out with a little fictional drama... This is one of my WIP's that is momentarily on the back burner. To set it up a bit, Ailie is waking up somewhere that she has never been before in the company of a man she has never met...

I stretched and brought my hands to my forehead. It was pounding. I've had some outlandish dreams recently, but this one left me with an intense feeling of dread. I peeled one eye open reluctantly and then quickly opened the other. Wincing in anticipation, I steeled myself against the routine assault of sunlight that usually pours through my window. As I took in my unfamiliar surroundings, my heart stuttered and I let out a gasp. This was all wrong.

I was in a damp basement that housed a few cots and mismatched chairs. I heard someone clanking dishes together amidst a Lynard Skynard song that was playing softly in the background. There were no windows at all and the only light came from a lone, swinging bulb that was hanging from one of the rafters by a thread.

A small dorm-sized fridge sat in the corner next to a cluttered card table. On top of it there was a hotplate, a few random dishes and an assortment of dirty pots and pans. I glanced down and realized that I had been sleeping on an army surplus cot. My mind started to run off in a million directions as I tried to figure out what had led to this and what was to become of me. I began to hyperventilate and I sat up quickly only to have an unfamiliar hand grasp my shoulder.

“Lay down.” He commanded in a rough voice. I tried to shrug it off but he was incredibly strong. I started to fall back onto my makeshift bed feebly wondering who this guy was, but I stopped myself and swung blindly. I smiled in triumph as my fist connected with his jaw, emitting a satisfying thud.

“Damn it!” He growled dropping one of the pans to the floor spilling its contents. Good riddance. Whatever it was it had smelled like crap. I drew my arm back and then leapt up from the cot to make a run for it. I had a newfound appreciation for the self defense classes my mother had dragged me to before I left for college.

I assumed that this pervert had broken into my room and abducted me. Who knew if he was planning to rape me? I sure wasn’t going to stick around and find out. As I started to run I became dizzy and short of breath, falling to the ground instantaneously with a grunt of defeat. I heard him approaching from the corner he was hunched over in clutching his jaw, his voice was harsh.

“You have to take it easy, you’re too weak.”

“Like hell,” I snarled. “You picked the wrong girl jerk off; I’m not going down without a fight!”

As he came closer I remembered something I had seen on a talk show that instructed women on what to do to distract a rapist. The thought of it cast a nervous pitch to my voice that was sure to make him call my bluff- but what choice did I have?

“I have gonorrhea! Don’t touch me you’ll be sorry!” I screeched at the top of my lungs.

He paused for a moment and then I heard him laughing, a deep throaty laugh. I hated him more than anyone I had ever known at that moment. He was bent over from the force of his laughter and had his hands on his knees. As he straightened up he took another step closer to me, still cloaked by the shadows as he chuckled.

“Well then it’s a good thing that we’re not dating.”

“In your dreams, creep. Why did you bring me here?” I asked venomously in an attempt to keep the conversation going. If I kept up the small talk it would buy me more time to try to find a way out. His eyes searched my body and he snorted, as if he could sense all of my fears.

“Actually it would be my nightmares, don’t worry you’re not my type. I never was one for redheads- more trouble than they're worth.”

It sounded as though he was smiling but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I tried to scramble backwards on my hands and feet and hit a wall of concrete, letting out a wail of desperation. He slowly stepped towards me. With a grunt, I attempted a roundhouse kick aiming for the crowned jewels. He caught my foot in one hand and crouched next to me in a guarded position.

“You know, you sure have a funny way of thanking someone for saving your life.” Anger swirled inside of me as I yanked my foot back.

“You. Abducted. Me. You want me to thank you?” My eyes met his and his lips turned up at the corners.

“Well that would be nice, but I’ll settle for a truce. I would really appreciate it if you would stop trying to kick my ass, I have some friends upstairs and I will never live this down if they witness it.” I grunted. As he held a hand out to help me up, his tone softened slightly. “I swear I have absolutely no intention of harming you.”

I studied his face fixedly as I considered my options. My eyes swept over his disheveled, chin-length, light brown hair; a few strands of it hung in his eyes. He had a square jaw with a hint of stubble covering it. His face was chiseled and had I met him under any other circumstance I might have found him to be attractive. He was wearing a gray t-shirt over a pair of dark washed jeans; I could tell that he was built. So why wasn’t he using any force one me? Perhaps he was telling the truth.

I shrugged and offered him a sweet smile. He grinned and took my hand helping me up. I took in a deep breath and gathered as much energy as I could before flipping him onto the ground so that he was lying on his stomach. I twisted his arms behind his back and crouched over him whispering into his ear.

“I swear to God, one wrong move and I will snap your neck. Now you are going to tell me exactly why you took me from my dorm room and brought me here.”

A door slammed open and I heard feet pounding on the stairs. A guy with black hair and a girl with flaxen ringlets came running to his aid. The dark-haired guy burst out laughing.

“Wow Ev. Losing your touch, huh? I never thought that I would see the day that you would have your ass handed to you by a girl.”

“Shut up,” he grumbled from underneath me. He turned his head as far as he could in my direction wincing with the effort as he spoke.

“Listen, I swear that we mean you no harm. I would never hurt a girl-“ The blonde haired beauty stepped forward cracking her knuckles.

“Well, I would…” as she advanced on me he called her off fiercely.

“Alina don’t touch her.” She looked mildly disappointed as she sauntered back over to the other guy who was standing with his arms crossed wearing an amused smile.

“If Evan was going to try something, which he won’t, you can apparently take care of yourself.”

I looked nervously from his kind face, to Alina’s angry scowl, and finally my vision rested on the side of Evan’s face that wasn’t planted to the ground. As my eyes met his clear blue orbs I felt the little reserve of energy that I still had left crumble.

Exhausted and overwhelmed, I let go of the stronghold I had on him and crawled off of his back remaining on the ground. He did a push up and was instantly on his feet, turning his neck from side to side and cracking it before he held his hand out to me once more.

“Now, let’s try this again shall we? Since you apparently don’t know how this works let me clarify it for you. I help you up. You get up. You sit on the cot. No more of your little stunts. I might refuse to impart physical force on you but Alina over here has been dying for some action for quite some time now.”

I rolled my eyes, muttering under my breath, “Bring it.” He snickered as her eyes tapered in my direction and she took a step towards me. The dark-haired guy held her back hooting with laughter. I grudgingly accepted Evan’s outstretched hand and as he lifted me to my feet my knees buckled. I was so worn out that I sank into his side.

He wrapped his arm around my waist leading me back to the cot as he muttered, “I am surprised you even had that much in you after what happened to you last night.” He set me down on the cot and I dropped onto it like a pile of bricks. He gestured to himself and his friends.

“So just to do this properly, I’m Evan and this is Nick and Alina. What’s your name?” I snorted as my eyes burned into his.

“Oh so you don’t premeditate your attacks? I'm not telling you a damned thing.” He leaned back against one of the cement walls and smirked at me.

“Fine. Then I won’t tell you what’s going on, I’m too tired for this right now anyway.” As he spun around I caved. I had to know what this was all about.

“Call me Ailie,” I muttered sullenly. I was fighting to keep my eyes open. No! Don’t you fall asleep- get some answers, I pleaded with myself.

“What exactly happened?” I demanded. Evan gently nudged my shoulder pushing me down. I propped my elbows behind me locking them as I glared at him. He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair.

“Oh for the love of God are you this difficult all the time?” I kept my eyes on his unflinchingly.

“Yea, pretty much. You know… Irish girl, it kind of goes with the territory.”

Evan snorted. “Figures…” With a weary sigh, he poured some coffee from a decanter into a mug. I was getting beyond impatient at this point and I snapped at him.

“So last night- what the hell happened? Why did you abduct me-” he blew up at that.

“Goddamn it will you stop saying that?” I shrunk back as his eyes flashed wildly. He whipped the mug across the room just missing Nick as it shattered into a million pieces.

“Jesus, Ev! I think it’s time to sign up for that anger management class.” Nick had jumped out of the way and glanced at Evan feigning annoyance. Alina wandered over to pick up the broken shards shaking her head.

“Honestly Evan get a frigging grip. I’m sick of cleaning up after you.” Nick sank into one of the chairs next to the table and threw his hands in the air as he noticed the spilled food on the ground for the first time.

“Aw come on man, what happened to lunch?” Evan ignored them both as he moved over to my side. His eyes a combination of grief, anger and fear.

“I didn’t abduct you I rescued you.” I was getting a little sick of his mind games and rage tore through me, coating my words.

“What does that mean? You keep saying that but it doesn’t make any sense. I was in my room, perfectly safe. Who are you? How did you get in there? What do you want from me? My family doesn’t have any money if that is why you are doing this.” He sat down next to me and stared into my eyes, his voice lowering in remorse.

“I had to take you. You were dying.” I felt the blood draining from my face as I spluttered trying to find something intelligible to say.

“Th-that’s c-crazy, I was sleeping…”

“Exactly, you were the most vulnerable so they attacked.” I sat up and leaned closer to him entranced by what he was saying.

“Who?” He grabbed a pile of newspapers that were sitting on one of the chairs and dumped them into my lap. My brow furrowed in confusion as I looked down.

“Surely you haven’t been living in a cave for the past few months Ailie. You are aware of all of the murders and accidents that have been occurring, no?” I nodded trying hard to swallow but my mouth was too dry. He stood up and poured another cup of coffee this time delivering it safely into my hands.

“What would you say if I were to tell you that it was all murder- that there were no accidents?” I slowly raised my eyes to meet his and my hands began to shake. He grabbed the cup from me just as the tears began to pour down my cheeks. Everyone in the room gaped at me as I wept openly.

Evan and Nick both sat down beside me while Alina kept walking towards the stairs and looking at the door nervously before glancing at her watch.

“What is it?” Nick asked tenderly.

“I knew it. All along… no one listened to me. I knew Aidan didn’t kill himself…” Evan leaned in closer as he pulled my face towards his roughly.

“What are you talking about?”

“My twin brother Aidan- a few months ago he supposedly killed himself but I knew he didn’t do it.” My breathing began to even out and my tears diminished as anger and a lust for vengeance overtook me.

“Who did it?” I hissed. All three of my captors had a silent conference with their eyes, finally Nick spoke up.

“It’s kind of strange….” I cocked my head to the side and stared him down.

“Try me.” Evan ran a hand through his hair again and then spoke softly.

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

Happiness Award

2010-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Yay, another award! This time it's from Tina Lynn over at Sweet Niblets. I am supposed to list 10 things that make me happy, so here goes:

1. My daughter and stepdaughter. They always bring a smile to my face no matter what.

2. My husband. He is very supportive of my writing which is oh so wonderful. The attractiveness factor shoots up even more when he does the dishes so that I can get some writing time in. There is nothing hotter than a man with a dishrag or a vacume and kids hanging all over him ;)

3. Spending time with my muse...she is a real person and I love her to death!

4. New book smell. SERIOUSLY the best thing EVER. My husband teases me relentlessly for this one and calls me his little bookworm but I don't care!

5.Uninterrupted writing time...sigh

6. The honeymoon of a new story idea, then the developing phase and finally seeing it as a complete product...priceless.

7. Thunderstorms. What's NOT to love??? The way that the earth smells after the rain is amazing too...

8. Old houses. What can I say? Secret passageways with the possibility of being haunted are fun. As my stepdaughter so eloquently puts it, "Old houses are real." I love that kid. She just gets it. Ya' know?

9. Marathons of "Ghost Hunters," and "Paranormal State."

10. Lazy Saturdays at Border's. I heart that store. They are beyond supportive of local writers. LOVE THEM.

Bonus Answer: I love hanging out in cyberspace with my writer friends :)

So there you go. My little rays of sunshine in a nutshell. Now it's your turn and you are ALL being recruited (except Tina Lynn, you are free from earning the award you have already earned lol) List ten things that make you happy:

Marta... get bloggin' sister!
xbox-360 addict (I'm guessing your list will be 10 specific video games)
'Nise of Writing to the Wind
Hilary Wagner of Hilary Wagner ~Writer
Heidi of Holey Rusted Metal, Batman!
Tiffany Neal of Tiffany Neal
Roxy of A Woman's Write
Ann Elle Altman of All Write with Coffee

10 of My Eccentric Lil' Quirks...

2010-02-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, so in order to win the "Honesty" award from Tiffany Neal, one of my dear critters (aka critique buddies), I have to embarrass myself publicly. Not that it's any different than any other day of my life- at least I get a prize for it for once ;)So here we go a la Letterman style:

10. I talk to myself...alot whether or not there are people around me. I usually do not even notice. My husband is always sure to point it out though. *eye roll*

9. I hear voices all the time. My characters talk to me constantly especially when I am in the shower or mid-diaper change. Usually it's the most inopportune moment so I repeat my thought in my mind over and over until I can write it down or talk it out into my voice recorder on my iPhone that I just discovered (yes I know pathetic). That leads me to #8.

8. I am insanely technologically challenged. I'm surprised I could even figure out my blog layout. All these little back links that lead you to websites or blog posts, yea I have no clue how that works. Cue the micro-manager from Office Space: "so...uh... if you want to leave a comment and tell me how to do that, that would be greeeaattt"

7. My first boyfriend was Batman- he just never knew it. What can I say, I have always been a sucker for a man in uniform...preferably black leather...le sigh....

6. My first kiss was in kindergarten.I know, what a hussy ;)He liked batman, it was beyond me *shrugs*. It was just a peck on the lips people!

5. I threw up all over the lunch table in 5th grade. I was getting over the stomach flu and my mom sent me back to school too early. One of the boys was being a dork and making his goldfish cracker dance before smashing it on the table. Dunno, I thought it was funny and laughed so hard I ralphed all over his lunch and half the tables'. They all got free lunches and I got to go home early so in the end, everyone won. (well, except for the fact that I was tormented by being puke-girl up until high school) I actually wrote that memory into my first MS ;)

4. I have set playlists for each manuscript that I write. While I am "in the zone" writing a certain story I CANNOT listen to any music that is not on my playlist. At all. I know it's odd. So needless to say the playlist on my blog right now is for my current MS.

3. I won a writing contest at Border's when I was like 8 or 9 and won a tree...hmmm maybe I should put THAT in my query lol...just kidding ;)

2. When I was growing up I won the watermelon seed spitting contest at our park cook- out, beating out all of the boys in the neighborhood each year. That always brought a tear of pride to my mother's eye lol...

1. Yea... this is kinda embarrassing, but I'm going for the gold here. When I was preggers I was UBER paranoid of accidentally killing my precious little angel baby somehow so I was really ridiculously careful of everything. Towards the end when I was monstrously huge, I leaned over towards the stove too far and burned my stomach on the side of a pan (through my shirt!). Needless to say I freaked out and called my Doctor. Without further ado I give you, "Doctor, I Think That I Have Burned the Baby."

Dr: Kristen, what happened?
Me: I B-BURNED THE B-B-BABYYYY *insert hysterical wailing*
Dr: What do you mean?
Me (explains scenario)
Dr: *trying not to sound annoyed* Can you SEE your uterus?
Me: *looks down* No....
Dr: *Finally sounding annoyed* Then I highly doubt that you have burned the baby.
Click.

I felt insanely stupid after, I blame the hormones. 3 years later the toddler is unscathed and the scar on my stomach from the burn is finally beginning to fade, lol...

So there you go. Hey Tiffany, can I get a paper bag along with that award??? *slinks off into the shadows*

And now to share the wealth, I am passing this purty little award on to:

Heidi @ Holey Rusted Metal, Batman!
Tina Lynn @ Sweet Niblets
Roxy @ a woman's write
Ann elle Altman @ All Write with Coffee

Contest For a Query Critique

2010-02-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

So check out this awesome contest that YA author Elana Johnson is having:

http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/2010/02/pay-it-forward-query-critique-contest.html

There are some amazing prizes including having your query critiqued by one of these agents:

1. Kate Testerman-Shafer of KT Literary (critique will be posted on her blog, Ask Daphne)
2. Michelle Andelman of Lynn C. Franklin Associates (my fabulous agent!)
3. Mary Kole of Andrea Brown Literary Agency
4. Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency
5. Joanna Volpe of Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation

Also, 5 more winners will win a copy of her ebook, "From the Query to the Call." 5 other winners will win a package of the ginormous post it notes (seriously, what writer wouldn't love those ;)

The contest starts today and ends on Sunday at 10 PM(MST). The winners will be announced on February 22.

Good luck!!!

A Momentous Occasion Lost...lol

2010-02-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

*in Steve Irwin's voice...aww Steve sniff...* "Observe! The disgruntled two-year old finally acquiesces to nature taking the elusive nap. The first in 3.5 weeks" ( ahem... not that I'm keeping count or anything).

*back to Steve* "Witness now as the mother takes advantage of this truly momentous occasion, ready to make a mad dash for her laptop for the first uninterrupted block of daytime writing in nearly a month. Wait... her shoulders are slumping, her forehead meets her palm...why might you ask???

The sleeping toddler is draped across her mother's lap."

SIGH.

What this has taught me (in no particular order)

A. Keep your laptop, both phones and the remote control near you at all times. Why you might ask? That leads me to B.

B. NEVER under any circumstances have "The Wonder Pets" on while the remote is across the room. You might find yourself in a similar predicament. Sleeping toddlers woken are rabid, so it is less painful (only by slight comparison) to wince through 45 minutes of such television in return for a non crabby tot.

C. NEVER set a timer that you might not be able to turn off. UGH. 45 min of “The Wonder Pets” was bad enough but raise it by 20 additional minutes of a timer I had set and couldn't get up to turn off. Epic fail. Of course the toddler slept right through it.

D. Steve Jobs and company you ROCK. If it weren't for the notepad on my iPhone I would have wasted over an hour of precious writing time (yes I wrote out a good chunk of the short story I am trying to finish on that crazy little keypad). This led to a rip-roaring good time of a headache between squinting eyes, annoying TV animals with lisps and incessant beeping.

E. Keep something close at all times to throw at your smirking husband who walks in the door and bursts out laughing at the look of sheer agony you are wearing before walking as slowly as possible to turn off the TV and said timer. GRRRRRRRR all I had was my iPhone and I was so not willing to throw that.

F. Take advantage of all chances to use the bathroom throughout the day. You never know when a sleeping toddler might have you on lockdown...

G. Most importantly... treasure it, because if your toddler is anything like mine you will understand, this is the longest cuddle-time I have had with her in months :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:09:00.001-08:00

The toddler simply couldn't understand why nobody would share their chocolates with her. Needless to say she received her own this year ;)

I hope that you had a wonderfully chocolaty, Valentine's Day free of sticky little fingers taking a bite out of your favorite candy before slipping it back into your box (grrr..lol)

Question...

2010-02-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Do any of you know where there might be a list of writing contests? I have a short story that I want to try to enter somewhere...

The Health Hazards of Rewrites

2010-02-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman's name out of a satire then wrote a piece so that she could still be recognized anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to be a writer - and if so, why?
-Bennett Cerf

Hee hee, this quote made me gigggle...

I think I have imprints of my laptop keyboard all over my face from constantly banging my head against it. I'm not even a week into my rewrites and I am pretty frustrated. By changing one little thing it has kept snowballing and now there are so many changes that I am seriously considering junking the 200 pages I have finished and starting over.

It's frustrating because I will think that I am on track, a scene pops up in my mind-like last night for example. I wrote almost 10 pages only to find it really doesn't fit in with what I originally wrote. In my rewrites my MC has more of a back bone and I love her to death for it but it's not consistent with what I originally wrote (and nothing peeves me more than inconsistency in characters!). So I'm thinking I will be doing a complete rewrite for the most part.

I keep getting confused as to the order of it all between old ideas and events and the new. Ugh. Perhaps I need to set it down for a bit and let it simmer in my mind. I also came up with a new story idea a few weeks ago it is unlike anything I have written yet so I'm excited for the challenge! Perhaps I will get started on that for now, I just hate the idea of leaving something in limbo or unfinished. I keep picturing my characters frozen in time in the last scene I have written in my rewrites (like that camera commercial with the kid jumping into the pool but he is frozen mid-air as he pleads with his mom to print the pictures). I feel bad for them lol, I know it's ridiculous.

I have a ton schoolwork right now and I'm running around in circles trying to balance everything. When I wrote my first manuscript last summer I truly felt like I lived it as I was writing. I was in my MC's house with her I was right there as she experienced everything. With my latest one that I'm rewriting I'm having such a hard time living it. Plus my toddler is going through a rough phase in which she won't sleep at all which is wearing on me. I'm running on an average of 4 hours sleep per night myself between homework and writing time after the kids are in bed.

My alpha reader and best friend tells me that is because I wrote my first MS last summer when I didn't have school to worry about. I was fully focused on my story. She said I have alot going on right now.

Sigh... If only there was a way to freeze time or forgo sleep entirely...

I know things will improve eventually (like at the end of the semester lol!)but it's so annoying to have the words on the tip of my tongue and not be able to get them down on paper the way that I want to!

Back to the Drawing Board

2010-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

"Kill your darlings."
-William Faulkner

After a very helpful review from an excellent new critique buddy (yay! you know who you are and thank you!!) as well as a nice stroll through Border's while discussing my MS with my alpha last night
(Sigh...I heart my alpha reader) I decided that I need to scrap basically the first half of it.

I thought I was going to be upset about this revelation, but I'm not. That tells me that this is right. My lead character was missing something, so I made some adjustments. One of the changes was to a secondary character, causing me to revamp the entire plot. It is so funny how an alteration to even the tiniest role can cause a ripple effect throughout the plot of a story.

I have to cut some scenes that no longer make sense. There are a few that I really liked and I will be sad to see them go, but it is a necessary evil. I feel alot better about where I am headed. Granted the fact that my toes are merely grazing the precipice of a TON of work, I know that it is making my character more realistic, so I am therefore ok with it.

Ugh. I have alot of re-tooling to do *clears throat and makes best attempt at a Scarlett O'Hara impression* "Oh fiddle dee dee, I'll think about that tomorrow" ;)

Looking at my Manuscript with Fresh Eyes & Reverse Psychology

2010-02-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

So I have figured out the secret to helping my ideas and writing flow a litle easier. Play mind games with myself. Yes I am serious and no I am not crazy... well at least not to the point where it's a bad thing.

I have pretty much taken myself off of a writing schedule. I wanted to have my current MS done within the next month but when I stopped and asked myself why, I didn't have any good answers. So I thought back to a conversation my best friend had with me the night before an Italian exam I had to take (she always knows the right thing to say to reel me in and reassure me and I love her for it!). She basically told me to act like it doesn't matter in order to calm myself. You trick your body into thinking there is nothing wrong and the whole annoying stress/ cortisol issue is avoided.

Last night I told myself, "it doesn't matter, just wite about anything, flying monkeys, leopard print horses that spit marshmallows at ogres, etc, etc." By letting up on the reins the stress eased a bit and between last night to this morning I have bridged the gap over a rough section with about 20 pages! This is huge since the biggest contribution I have made all week involves editing a few typos...lol. I was really blocked but came to find that the wise words of Radiohead ring true yet once more, "you do it to yourself"...

I have the beginning and the end completed now it's just a matter of tying it all together and I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel! ~~At least until I move on to the cavern of editing and revisions.~~

Ugh. So not going there right now!

I have been forming a character in my mind for weeks and it just came together last night so I am quite happy about that and will look at my MS as half full instead of half empty. I am slowly learning to let the small achievements weigh more than the large obstacles that stand in my way. That is why I love to write. It is a constant journey and there is always something to learn!

That being said, my new mantra is "Pretend it doesn't matter when it does the most..." er... yea, that's it! :)

R.I.P. J.D. Salinger

2010-02-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

“There is a marvelous peace in not publishing. It’s peaceful. Still. Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure.”
-J.D. Salinger

I didn't want to include this in my weekly posting, this needed to be addressed on its' own.

The world lost a brilliant author last week. Mr. J.D. Salinger, thank you for all of the work you have left behind for generations to appreciate. Hopefully now you are able to get the peace that you yearned for while on earth. You will be missed :(

From UGH. to The Honeymoon Phase :)

2010-02-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

There was one day last week that I was completely reduced to tears. Not only had I started the day with two rejections, one of which told me that my work "has merit" but just wasn't for that particular agency. It was a nice rejection, what a paradox I wasn't quite sure what to make of it...Well, at least they didn't say, "this is horrible." In comparison to what was around the corner this was nothing-

Move over Alexander, that was just the beginning of Kristen's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I had finally convinced my toddler to take a nap. This is becoming an epic battle as of late. We are apparently getting too big for our 2T britches and cannot be bothered with sleep; I am starting to wonder if she is a vampire or something. The kid never sleeps even at night, but I digress. She finally fell silent about ten minutes later and I naively interpreted it as "oh she must have zonked out" and eagerly hacked away at some revisions on the manuscript I am trying to gain representation for.

After awhile, a sneaking dread crept into the pit of my stomach yanking my head from the clouds. Every parent knows that a quiet toddler is not necessarily a sleeping one. I tiptoed to her room and leaned over the baby gate blocking her doorway, groaning at what awaited me. Apparently my two year old had much more important things to do than nap... such as (If you are eating just walk away from the computer...do it now...) smearing every conceivable surface and toy in her room with poop *shudder*

I shit you not.

I was in her room for 4.5 hours scrubbing the rug, walls, everything. I had to wash every article of clothing that she owned and every single toy. Unfortunately, I had to throw out quite a few toys that she had just received for Christmas. I saw a reknowned psychic a few months ago who told me that she sees my daughter as being very artistic as an adult. I truly hope that this isn't going to be her medium of choice...echhh.

Then, as I finished cleaning her room, I received another rejection. My already frayed nerves lead me to burst into tears. I want to establish myself as a writer so badly. There is nothing I would rather do with my time but I think that I am pushing myself so hard that it is harming my creative process. I decided that I was just going to relax and watch some tv, completely distancing myself from my manuscript for the night.

That lasted for about one episode of the office, and then the wheels were turning. I was trying to come up with a new idea, researching mythological creatures but quickly becoming discouraged because it seems like everything has been written before. With a heavy sigh I took my laptop to bed and kept looking. Just as I was about to nod off an idea hit me.... why is it that ideas come to me when I'm deliriously tired??

The only way I can explain a new story idea to someone who doesn't write is that it is like when you are in the honeymoon phase of a relationship because of the excitement and novelty of it (no pun intended ;) The manuscript I am working on now is like a spouse that I have grown comfortable with, it annoys me, I am fed up with it at times, but at the end of the day I do love it (even when no one else seems to...) It is a relationship that needs work to be maintained.

A new story on the other hand is all about wine, flowers and the electricty behind the first kiss. I stayed up until 3 in the morning getting the framework of the story set up and getting to know my characters. It was like the first date I went on with my husband, neither one of us wanted to be the first to end the night because we had so much to discuss and a burning desire to get to know more about each other. I was thrilled to meet my characters!

I am very excited about this story! Although it is the same genre I have been writing it is completely different than my normal style. I figured that perhaps I am doing something wrong since no one is interested in my first two manuscripts, so I am going to write from a point of view that I have never written from. Also, instead of a series this one looks like it will be a one shot deal.

I have decided that instead of forcing myself to sit down and write regularly I am going to ease up on myself a bit, in hopes that it will help the creative juices flow a little bit better. I also need to do some research for this story so I am going to start on that and try to finish up my last manuscript before I'm all gung-ho on it. Not to mention, I still have school and my family to take care of. There is never a dull moment in this house. Ooooh and I have a second follower now woo hoo... *whispers* It doesn't matter that its my husband, right? :) Hi baby, love you!

I am going to focus on school work and try to bask in the honeymoon phase of my new story while struggling with some of the loose ends in the manuscript I am finishing... it's all about balance right? If that's true then I am in trouble according to my Wii fit trainer guy...Sigh. More soon, and hopefully some better news!

Almost There! ...well sorta'...

2010-01-26T20:11:00.000-08:00

*I would like to dedicate this post to my one and only follower lol... you rock!*

“The difference between a published author and an unpublished one is one day. It only takes one day, one moment, for your whole world to shift. I firmly believe that if you work hard at improving your craft and you simply do not give up, your day will come. The question is: will you quit before then?” –Mandy Hubbard

I have to say I was having a mediocre day until I read this quote and then something inside of me lightened. Writing is one of the hardest jobs to become established in. A writer invests so much time and energy in creating something that might not be seen as worthy by the public, agents etc.

Sometimes this fact leads me to doubt myself. When that happens I overthink everything until I am writing absolute crap. So at times like that I take a step back, take a deep breath and read through my file of inspirational writing quotes like the one above. How can you not feel rejuvenated after reading something like that from an author who worked her tail off to get to the point she is at today?!

I don't fear the hard work or the constant reinvention of yourself and work that a writer faces. Those traits will only help me to become a better writer. What I fear is not having those experiences that will help shape my writing. I don't want to spend decades of my life holed up in my office writing manuscripts that never improve over time and never see the light of day.

Then again, even if I knew for sure that I would never be published I would still be doing this because apparently I am a masochist ;) Seriously, though, there is nothing I would rather be doing. I just hope that some day I can look back at all of this and smile, knowing that it paid off!

Since my last blog I was lucky enough to have a couple of people that I know look over my query and offer me their thoughts, including an uber generous New York Times Best Selling author who shall remain nameless :) This author's work is brilliant, and I am so grateful that said author found the time to help me out.

After a few weeks of revisions I basically got the thumbs up on my query and have sent it out to three more agents. So I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed, which makes it kind of hard to type... Ok that was lame. What can I say, it's late...

My brain is mush after adding 6,520 words to my manuscript today! I was so excited about that since I was sick over the weekend and couldn't write. I kept staring at my laptop longingly, knowing that I should be working on my book. Yet, my body wholeheartedly disagreed. Damn mortality, an inconvenience most can't escape.

Luckily today I was inspired and went to town thanks to my muse who bounced some ideas back and forth with me as well as Mr. Reznor and Nine Inch Nails! The best writing music there is! I love when I write a scene that moves me to feel the emotion the character feels. Especially scenes that make me cry.

Woohoo, boy this one didn't fail to deliver in that department. I am slowly piecing it all together. I cannot write in chronological order. Different scenes come into my mind randomly and I find that the writing is more sincere when I write in the moment.

I was so busy with school over the past few weeks that I had to distance myself from my manuscript which I hate doing because I feel as though I lose my characters. I actually wrote a couple of one shots from different characters perspectives in the story in order to get back into the swing of things. Luckily my characters were very forgiving of my neglect and welcomed me back with open arms. They are once more talking my ears off :)

As far as school goes, remember the history class that was so boring that I had to hold my eyes open as I read the text? Yea... well I somehow managed an A- in the class. I literally asked my advisor to double check when she told me. I am still taking 5 classes but they are basically all literature courses so my writing time is more freed up thank God! I feel like I am being smothered to death without my writing time.

Sorry that this blog was so long-winded but I had a few things to catch up on,it's been awhile. Ms. Hubbard (the quote above) basically says that as long as you are willing to work for it and strive to hone your craft you will make it some day. The question is will you quit first. As daunting as it can be, will I throw in the towel?

Hell no.

Rejections + Potty training = epic failure?

2010-01-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

Why is it that it is socially acceptable for kids to have a fit and howl, "Noooo!!" at the top of their lungs when life throws something their way and yet adults are supposed to just take it?

I am trying to potty train my two year old, I barely remember when we potty trained my step daughter because that was eons ago and she was unnaturally easy-going about it. Seriously it was like a week at most and the kid was potty trained. My daughter is VERY spirited. People say she's gets her ahem... "attitude" from me. I vehemently deny that and blame it on her father *shrugs*. Either way we were trying potty training again yesterday.

We had a little pink potty but my daughter is very tall for her age and would grumble each time her little legs were squished as she tried to go. It looked horribly uncomfortable so I bought her a bright Dora potty chair to go on the big potty. She hated that one too. (do we notice a pattern here?)

After finally convincing her that the potty is not seem evil death trap she aquiesced. She has gone a couple of times but it is always on her terms. Fine, I can respect that. I praise her when she goes, with lots of hugs, kisses, stickers, suckers etc. When she doesn't go I look her in the eye and tell her how proud I am of her for trying (even though she peed on my leg somehow ;) and that I know she will get it soon.

So, my question is as an adult in the writing world why isn't there such encouragement in the face of failure? Why don't rejection letters come with a "sticker" or "pat on the back" saying you made a good attempt but try a little harder. I know you are probably spitting your drink out while laughing at me saying, "This chick is crazy, she had better choose another field to work in if she is this sensitive."

I am not though, I could amass a million rejections and I will still be writing because that is all I know. Writing is my life, I was just thinking yesterday (as my open history textbook was staring me in the face of course)- what would the world be like if our perception to failure was different? Why is it so bad to fail?

With children we try to be gentle when we are reprimanding them, or teaching them something new that they aren't quite getting. Yet with adults, we sometimes show less consideration than we would to a bug on our counter. If we were more compassionate towards each other's feelings I wonder just how different all forms of art would be...

That being said, I am done with my rant now. I fully understand that said agent is extremely busy. She has millions of queries to sort through and I am honestly impressed that she responded to me the same day I submitted it. Now that is organization (and makes me even more bummed out that she wasn't interested because clearly she has her stuff together and is very good at what she does).

I just wish I had a way of knowing what it was about my query that didn't float her boat. I researched her blog before submitting it and made sure I had what she was looking for but I failed somewhere. I know agents don't have the time but it would be wonderful to have a little note explaining why in the standard rejection letter (I know, I know- it will never happen they are way too busy!!!)

SIGH. So needless to say, today we are back to the drawing board; my daughter and her little dora potty and me and my laptop. At least I can always count on my daughter to share her stickers and suckers with me in the face of my failure :)

Why I'm Here

2010-01-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

So as I have said in my previous blog, I am doing this to reach out to other writers. in order to do that I might as well share what I have done thus far...

I have loved writing ever since I can remember. Over the years it was pushed to the wayside with kids and school (I know bad excuses). Last June I was going through some difficult things and I reverted to writing short stories that were fun and entertaining, but they weren't going anywhere. My best friend read them and then reminded me that I was a lot happier when I wrote in high school and early into college.

So thanks to her and my husband who also suggested that I try writing a book I embarked on my first novel. It is a YA paranormal romance which has just become my genre. I adore writing about teens because they are at a point in life when anything can happen and adding supernatural occurrences to the story makes it all that more interesting.

So over the course of summer break I wrote my first 600 pg novel. Then came the fun part (note the sarcasm in my tone...) da, da, da, da, dummmm editing. So not fun, but a necessary evil. I shaved off about 150 pages and then proceeded to start sending out the queries and realized that writing a query letter makes editing seem like a tea party.

After finally getting the query down (or so I thought!) I sent it out and received 15-20 rejections. My favorite was, "The premise of your story does not enthuse me."

Ouch.

After a month I received a request for the first chapter. I will never forget that day Friday October 9th, 2009. I was getting ready for the big birthday festival in my house that weekend (October is a huuuge bday month for us, my stepdaughter and daughter's bdays are in the same week). I picked up my iPhone to check email and saw "query" in the subject line. I opened it quickly expecting the standard rejection, but instead did a double take and stopped breathing for a moment.

"Thank you for your query, please send the first chapter."

I don't think I would have been happier if it said, "You have inherited $500,000.00."

That led to much squealing and dancing around the house as my stepdaughter came running to see what in the world was wrong with me. I spent a few days revising my first chapter and my best friend and one of her friends came over the day before she was leaving the country on a trip (now THAT is a friend!! I don't call her my muse for nothing, she has definitely earned her title;)

They came over and critiqued my work. I was just grateful to have two intelligent people who literally dropped everything to help me out and were willing to tell me the truth. We concluded that the first chapter dragged so I performed literary surgery and removed the first chapter and bumped up the next chapter to the first since there was more action at that point and the first chapter really wasn't necessary to the story after all.

So after more polishing I sent it off, and never heard from the agent again. I emailed her a few months later and received no response. Apparently the literary operation wasn't successful...

I was disappointed (to say the least) as I gathered my manuscript which by this point I was sick of looking at and put it away. I plan to look at it again next summer, maybe by then I will be able to give it what it needs.

In the meantime I had constant ideas for new stories. I started working on another YA fiction (paranormal romance- from this point forward just assume all of my stories are paranormal romance unless I say otherwise lol). I had a dream that was entirely too creepy and set it to motion in this story.

As I was working on my second story, I was working on schoolwork at the same time and getting ready for the holidays, taking care of my kids etc. I wasn't getting enough sleep and the one night I woke up at like 4 AM. The whisper of a very intriguing thought still fresh in my mind I bolted out of bed for my laptop.

My husband glanced at me with a look on his tired face like, "What the?!" But he shrugged and rolled over. He is used to my craziness when it comes to writing. Within 20 minutes I had the storyline and characters for my favorite out of all of my manuscripts to date.

I am really excited about this one. It is coming along, in the month of December I finished the first half of the novel (the characters just will not shut up in my mind :) I have a clear idea of where it is going, so I wrote my query. I was overexcited and got ahead of myself sending the query out with half the manuscript left to write (I know that is REALLY bad, but what can I say I work better under pressure...)

And today I was rejected. Ugh. You would think it wouldn't be bothersome anymore... So, I am going to keep on keeping on; work on the query (perhaps finish the manuscript first this time *snicker*) and then try, try again.

Blogging Neophyte

2010-01-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

So as I was poring over my history textbook my mind was wandering (bad mind!!). I have dreams of being a published writer in the YA genre, that being said- I love to write. It's 2010...so why have I never blogged?!

Those thoughts in combination with the fact that this was considerably more interesting than the sentence that I had re-read about ten times in the past 15 minutes led to this.

My name is Kristen, I am 26 I am a stay at home mom to my beautiful, and smart 9 year old stepdaughter as well as my adorable and adventurous 2 year old daughter. I have been married to my high school boyfriend for 5 1/2 years now. My family is great, and I am blessed :)

I am a full time student pursuing a degree in Literature and Creative writing. My goals are to be a published writer and work on my Masters degree in Literature at some point in all of this craziness.

I started a blog to connect with other writers after being inspired by a wonderfully informative and encouraging blog I read. Writing can be a tedious, discouraging and lonely career path at times... (ok that's putting it mildly for me at this point lol I feel like I keep running into a wall head first at full throttle) but I love it notheless. There is nothing in this world that I would rather do.

Hopefully that wasn't too painful for a first blog *cringe* :)