Apocalypse Now(ish)

What if your antagonist is a man-made virus that infects 90% of the world’s population? (a.k.a. the many joys of writing post-apocalyptic fiction)

2012-01-11T15:34:00.000-05:00

In re-reading my notes for the manuscript I began writing a few months back, I realized that there just wasn’t enough tension to carry the story. Sure, life was kinda sucky considering a huge chunk of the populace died from a horrible disease. But now, the survivors have started to rebuild. There’s no threat on a daily basis anymore. Those who’re immune are obviously still alive, and those who weren’t are obviously, well, not. So now what?

I recently read a few really great post-apocalyptic novels in the name of “research.” Carrie Ryan’s “The Forest of Hands and Teeth” trilogy, and “Nightfall” by Ellen Connor. (“Nightfall” is also part of a trilogy, but I haven’t gotten to read the second or third books as of yet.) While the FoHaT trilogy is definitely post-apocalyptic, “Nightfall” starts up right in the thick of things. It shows the world starting to go to shit, which I thought was great. I want a little of that in my story as well.

“Nightfall” also gave me some inspiration for a better antagonist (or antagonistic force, since it’s not just one person/entity). In Connor’s novel, something happens to people when they are bit by other people who are “infected.” It doesn’t turn them into zombies, but it does make them into violent creatures who want to bite and infect others (or just eat them, depending on their mood lol). I realized my “virus” that killed off the majority of the world’s population can also do other things (like make people super cunning or extremely violent, etc.). This way, those who are immune to the virus aren’t necessarily “safe” after all. They still have to worry about the people who were infected but who didn’t die.

Now, I must come up with the nitty-gritty of how this virus/disease works. That’s gonna be the hard part, I think. But part of the joy of fiction is being able to just make shit up! That’s why I wanted to write sci-fi in the first place. I’m not stuck writing by the “rules” of the real world. None of that “that would never actually happen” crap. With science fiction, almost anything could happen! It opens up a whole new world of possibilities, which I love.

… BTW if anyone is actually reading this and wondering how I’m doing with my writing goals that I babbled on about in my last post, they were a big bust. I haven’t done any writing in the past 11 days. But yesterday I reaffirmed myself to WW (weight watchers) and today I am reaffirming myself to writing. I just signed up for the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood’s Winter Writing Festival (yes, yet another writing challenge lol). Hopefully I’ll do much better at this challenge than the other two!!!! I’ll keep ya’ll posted :)

How to Reach Those Goals (hint: we could all use some support!)

2011-12-30T17:36:00.001-05:00

Yes, I know I just did a post about my goals last week. But it’s my ~~party~~ blog and I’ll ~~cry~~ write about goals again if I want to! Because I know written affirmations/reminders can be a huge help, and I can use all the help I can get!

Another thing that can be a huge help in achieving your goals is having a support system. Which is why I’ve signed up for Change Right Now, Kelly L. Stone’s 90 Day Writing Challenge, and ROW80. (I also just signed up for Sparkpeople, which is a FREE weight loss community, but I don’t know enough about it to give a recommendation yet.) Change Right Now is for writers who want to become healthier, both physically and mentally. Participants have been set up into teams, and each team will report their progress each week. I think being held accountable is a great motivator to get my butt in gear! Weight Watchers, here I come (again! LOL)!

ROW80 and Kelly’s Writing Challenge are basically the same (except Kelly’s challenge lasts 10 days longer, lol). You choose how much you want to write, and commit to reaching that goal every day until the challenge is over. (Most people seem to be going with 500 words a day, from what I’ve seen so far. I haven’t decided on my daily number yet, but I definitely will by Monday!)

Change Right Now is no longer accepting participants, but you can still sign up ROW80 and/or Kelly’s 90 Day Writing Challenge if you’re interested!

For those of you that are more interested in revising your work in 2012, Merilee is holding a challenge at her blog, Not Enough Words. So be sure to check that out! She also has a great post about the importance of having a plan, which I found very helpful… Another post I read recently that’s chock full of good advice regarding goals and planning is this one from Vicki Hinze. If you don’t already follow her blog, you might want to remedy that situation. She’s got a ton of good info for writers on there.

Well, that’s all for me for 2011, folks. I can’t believe another year has passed us by so fast. I wish all my readers the best in 2012. I’ll be back soon with an update on how I’m faring with my goals and challenges! Happy New Year everyone!

ETA: I just realized I never mentioned the grade I got in accounting II, for anyone who might be interested. I ended up with a C+, which isn't fabulous, but it's what I needed to get to be able to take a class next semester. And it coulda been a lot worse. But, I also ended up with 3 As and a B in my other classes, so that C+ was the worst of my grades! Go me! ;-)

Where on Earth does the time go? Looking back on 2011…

2011-12-21T17:31:00.004-05:00

Today is December 21. We’re less than two weeks away from saying good-bye to 2011 and hello to 2012. How the hell did this happen?

It's the time of year when most of us take a look back and reflect on what we have (or haven’t) accomplished over the past twelve months. I decided to reread a few of my blog entries from a year or so ago, and I found an entry from January where I shared my goals for the upcoming year. They were:

finish, edit/revise and eventually query a (90,000 word) manuscript by the end of the year
lose weight (more specifically, lose 25 pounds by June)
get control over my spending
set up and stick to a blogging schedule
get my website operational

As it turns out, I didn’t reach ANY of those goals. I had almost 365 days to get sh*t done, and I blew it. Yes, I did go back to school. Yes, I did manage to complete 33 credits (11 classes) in 12 months, which means I’m only 11 credits away from graduating. But I had over three-hundred days at my disposal, and I couldn’t achieve even one of those five goals I set for myself at the beginning of this year. #completefail

Is it worth it to set the same exact goals for myself for a second year in a row? Is it sensible? Realistic? *shrug* What do I know? But those were my goals nearly a year ago, and they’re still my goals now. With a few minor adjustments for 2012, of course…

finish, edit/revise and eventually query the post-apocalyptic manuscript I started in November (NaNo 11) by the end of the year
lose weight (more specifically, lose 30 pounds by the time I leave for the destination wedding I’m going to in Puerto Rico in mid-May – might be a bit more difficult than last year’s goal, but it’s doable if I really work at it)
get control over my spending (a.k.a. GET A JOB ASAP and bring my overwhelming credit card debt down to a more manageable amount)
set up and stick to a blogging schedule (where I’ll hopefully blog a lot more than once a month LOL)
get my website operational (I’m debating taking a workshop on wordpress for beginners in Feb

I’m also adding one more goal: graduate from NCC with my associates in accounting (which hopefully should happen in December 2012).

As you can see, it’s quite obvious I need to step my game up BIG TIME in 2012... So who’s with me??? ;-)

Why I'm giving up on NaNo already

2011-11-14T02:35:00.000-05:00

I quit (just nanowrimo, not writing altogether!). I've decided that my writing needs to go on the backburner right now, unfortunately. The accounting test that I mentioned in my last post? I got a 56 on it. Yep, that's bad. It brought my average in the class down to a D, and I need at least a C in this class or I won't be allowed into one of the classes I'm supposed to take next semester (which I need to take in order to graduate in May). There are only two more tests left to take in this class for the semester, so if I don't do well on them I am pretty much screwed. On top of that mess, I have a test in my payroll tax class on Tuesday, a test in my income tax class on Thursday, a 2-3 page paper I need to finish by Wednesday night, and a group presentation I have to prepare for and do in class this Friday. So basically school is kicking my ass right now.

And right after Thanksgiving I need to start sending out my resume to any job that looks even halfway decent. My unemployment benefits run out the first week of January (unless the government passes an extension, which I'm so hoping for, but not counting on). I will have ZERO income unless I start working right away. It's not a good situation. I need to fix up my resume and get it out there asap, and then hopefully go on some interviews in December.

So unfortunately I am going to have to forget the idea of writing 50,000 words this month. I fell behind early, and it made me realize that I've got too much going on right now. I should've studied harder for that test I just failed (horribly). I am a slow writer, I can't bang out 1000+ words in an hour like some people can. And I'm way too easily distracted, which is something I need to work on - but not right now lol.

I'm definitely going to keep working on this manuscript because I actually like my story idea and I like my main characters. But I don't plan on having it finished in the next month or two. I did manage to get 8190 words written in the past two weeks (which is probably 8190 more words than I would've written if it weren't for NaNo, heh) so for that I'm glad. As an eternal Mets fan would say, there's always next year!

How are all my readers who chose to do NaNo this year doing? Are you sticking with it? And those of you who chose not to do it this year, are you regretting your decision or are you glad you chose to skip it this year?

My NaNoWriMo Progress: Week One

2011-11-05T21:58:00.000-04:00

Five days into NaNoWriMo and I've written 5,659 words. I'm behind by a few thousand words, but I'm not too concerned... not yet at least. On day one I managed to hit the daily target plus 50 words, which I was thrilled about. I missed the 1667 daily goal on days 2 and 3 thanks to school, headaches and bad moods (not necessarily in that order lol). Yesterday I managed to play catch up and rocked my word count with 2,467 words (yes that's "rocking it" for me!). But today I woke up late, went to the dog park, then out to dinner, to the bookstore, and to the mall. By the time I got home from all of that, I had a nice migraine to keep me company. Two hours (and two excedrin) later my migraine has dulled but not completely disappeared, and has left me feeling exhausted when it's not even 10 pm yet.

I'm hoping I'll start to feel better in a little while, or at least better enough to bang out a few hundred words on my story so I don't have a day 5 word count of ZERO. Also I don't consider midnight to be the end of a day since I never go to bed before midnight. To me the day ends when I go to sleep, so my stats on the nano site are a bit off from my stats on my wonderful Excel tracker spreadsheet. So even if I don't feel better 'till 1 a.m. and don't do any writing 'till then, in my mind they'll still be day 5 words.

Either way I will have to start having more big word count days. This week is going to be rough b/c I have an accounting test on Wednesday that I really need to study for. And I have a group project to work on for another one of my classes, and we have to meet outside of class to work on it (which I'm thrilled about, of course). But at least I don't have class on Friday since it's Veterans' Day. Hopefully having a 3 day weekend will be helpful.

That's about it for me. Anyone else reading this and doing nano? How's your wordcount? And to those who are reading this and not doing nano, how hard are you laughing at those of us who voluntarily signed up for this torture??? *wink*

where I’ve been and where I’m (hopefully) heading

2011-10-15T01:06:00.000-04:00

(note: I actually started writing this post a few weeks ago but then I got sick w/ a really bad cold, not to mention I’ve been swamped w/ school work.)

I’ve been in a funk for the past few weeks (months?). I haven’t done much writing. I haven’t done much of anything (besides the bare minimum of school work I can get away with doing while keeping my grades up). I usually love summer, but this summer was kind of a downer. The basement apartment I live in was almost always hot and humid. Thank goodness for the AC we got for our bedroom or we never would’ve been able to sleep at night! But who wants to spend the whole freaking day in their bedroom to stay cool? So it’s been hot, and I’ve been lazy.

But now it’s October. It’s been 2011 for ten months and I haven’t accomplished any of my writing goals. I’ve continued to take online writing workshops, but as far as working on my manuscript goes... that went nowhere. I actually was planning on attending the NJRWA conference (which is in two weeks), but I cancelled my registration a few weeks ago. A lot of it has to do with my monetary situation (my debt is slowly increasing since unemployment barely covers the bills) – I just can’t logically afford to go to a conference right now. But also, it’s because I’d thought I’d have a manuscript ready to pitch by now, and I’m not even CLOSE.

With NaNoWriMo coming up again soon, I figure now is a good a time as any to try again. I also think I need to write a serious outline for the new novel that I want to right. I think a lot of my giving up on my past manuscripts is that I get stuck 5, 10, 20 thousand words in and I can’t figure out what’s supposed to happen next, or how it’s supposed to happen. While I usually have an idea of where the story’s headed, I tend to leave the details to figure themselves out. And, as you might’ve guessed by now, so far they haven’t done a great job of it!

I’ve been working on plotting my NaNo novel thanks to Jennifer from Procrastinating Writers. I signed up for her “Creating Your NaNoWriMo Road Map” workshop and have been plugging along with the help of her worksheets. I think my idea is coming together nicely. It’s going to be a post-apocalyptic romance, a bit different from the two previous sci-fi romance manuscripts I worked on.

(Which also explains the aesthetic changes I made to my blog. I wanted to give it a more “end of the world” type feel, instead of the sci-fi, outer space one. You like?)

NaNo is definitely going to be tough this year, though. I have two papers due soon (for one class, our first draft is due at the end of October, but the professor is going to make us revise it if she makes changes to our draft; the other paper is due the first week of December but if I wait ‘till Dec. 1 to start it I’ll be screwed). Not to mention the usual school work and tests that come w/ five pretty hard classes (three of which have to do w/ accounting). So it’s definitely going to be a challenge, but I am gonna give it a shot!

So who else is w/ me this November? Leave me your NaNo name and once the buddy feature is working again, we can be friends! :)

So much for that idea...

2011-08-15T17:41:00.000-04:00

I actually DID sign up for Camp NaNoWriMo, and wrote for three whole days in a row. Of course I didn't meet the word count goal on any of those three days, which was disappointing and un-motivating. Then I didn't get a chance to write on day 4 (I can't even remember why), which led to me not writing on day 5, or day 6, or... you get the point. I got a total of 2,531 words written in those three days, and since then I have only written 73 more (one whole paragraph). I have been doing some plotting exercises for a workshop I am taking on savvy authors called Quilting 101: Patchworking the Perfect Plot. It's a cool, informative workshop and I'm glad I signed up for it. But unfortunately I haven't been progressing with my WIP.

I bought a book called Write Your Book Now! because I read a review for it on some blog (I can't remember which one). It wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. The product description says: "Ideal for aspiring authors who only dream of actually finishing their works in progress, this guide features proven, field-tested tools guaranteed to successfully complete that romance, expert guide to business success, or great American novel..." First, I felt like the book was geared much more towards non-fiction writers than novelists. Second, the "tools" were basically (a) outline your book and (b) make a writing schedule for yourself, two things I already knew. I would recommend the book to anyone writing non-fiction, but not to a novelist.

Then I found a review for Shut Up and Write! in this month's "The Writer" magazine. So I ordered that. I'm still waiting for it to be delivered so I can't give you my opinion on it. I hope it'll be more inspirational than the previous book. It has all 5-star reviews on amazon and I liked what I read about it on the author's website (here if you're interested). As soon as I finish reading it I'll come back and let ya'll know what I thought of it.

Do any of you have "motivational" writing books to recommend that have helped you break through a slump? I'd love to hear about them if you do! I know a lot of people rave about Stephen King's "On Writing", which I have read and I did enjoy. But I wouldn't say that once I finished it, I was filled with a great urge to go put pen to paper and get going on my story. I liked it, but it's not my favorite book on writing of all time. I like his fiction a lot better... but that's a whole other blog post! 'Till next time...!

Camp NaNoWriMo anyone?

2011-07-31T00:27:00.001-04:00

I'm debating signing up for Camp NaNoWriMo this August (if you haven't heard about it yet, click the link). I failed NaNoWriMo last year (2010), as well as in 2009 and a few others years that I attempted it. So what makes me think I can succeed this time? I really don't know. I do know that in order to win, I need to believe I can. Considering I've barely written a few hundred words over the past month, writing 1667 words a day will be quite a challenge for me. But August is the perfect time for me to try. My online summer class ends on the 4th, and I don't start my fall classes until September 1st. I have nothing coming up that I need to work on, nowhere to go, etc. If I'm going to bang out 50k words in a month, the time is now.

Whaddya think? Should I go for it? I'll have to stop sleeping 'till noon - 1 pm every day, for starters. But I want to do that anyway. I need to go back on Weight Watchers starting Monday too. And I need to start exercising. So if I start getting up at a decent hour, I can find plenty of time to write. Can I find the motivation to write is the question. That is what I've been severely lacking the past few months. Having a concrete goal (50k in a month) is a good place to start, but I'm just not sure if it will be to overwhelming for me.

Hmmmmm. I'll letcha know what I decide in a few days. How 'bout you? Are you doing Camp NaNo yourself in August? Did you do it this July? Do you think NaNo should just stick to November? I'd love to know what you think :)

I survived RWA Nationals 2011 :)

2011-07-03T14:24:00.000-04:00

So this week (Wed, Thurs and Fri) I attended the RWA conference in NYC. While a lot of people (mostly non-NYers who just come for a few days to sight-see) find Manhattan to be a wondrous, exciting place, I consider it to be an overcrowded, traffic-ridden nightmare. If you don’t understand how I could think such a blasphemous thing, try commuting to Manhattan on the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road for those not in the know) and pushing your way through Penn Station in the middle of morning or evening rush hour(s). Try battling for a cab (or if you’re the peaceful type, you could just wait on line for anywhere from 10 – 60 min) or walking (read: shoving) through hoards of people for countless city blocks. I’m sorry, but Manhattan is just NOT the place for me.

Oh, and not to be a Negative Nelly, but I do have one more complaint: the food. In a word, it sucked. The same exact thing 2 days in a row, except that Wed it came with spinach (I think – it was too dark in the ballroom to even be sure what I was eating) and on Thurs it came with asparagus instead. Chicken and mashed potatoes. Yuck. I know a good percentage of the population likes mashed potatoes, but I don’t. I never eat them… unless of course I’m starving and there’s nothing else to eat, and I paid $525 for a conference so I’ll be damned if I’m not going to eat the only free lunch I’m getting. All they gave us to drink was ice water and coffee. And, worst of all, NO DESERT at either lunch (which they claimed was due to the high cost of hosting a conference in NY. To that I say: bite me.) I do believe they were in cahoots with Starbucks, the only place in the hotel where you could get a small snack for under $5.

But, moving past all that, Nationals was a pretty good time. I met some nice women (special shot-out to Michelle M. who’s in Kat Duncan’s Savvy Authors class with me, who managed to spot me in a crowd of women outside the elevators on Wed) and had interesting conversations. I’d say ¾ of the workshops I attended were as good or better than I’d hoped they’d be. A couple were less than thrilling and I actually snuck out the back halfway through, but that’s to be expected at all conferences. It’s hard to discern what an hour long workshop is going to entail from a little blurb 1 or 2 sentences long, so you make an educated guess as to what will interest you the most, and you cross your fingers and hope for the best.

One presenter that I enjoyed immensely both last year and this year was Cherry Adair. She is a pisser. She is full of energy and excitement, and so friendly. She spoke right from the heart, not from a page like some presenters. That’s 1 thing that really bores me at workshops. Obviously I understand that a presenter will have notes to follow and read from when talking. But when the whole workshop consists of the person reading off note cards or power point slides, you might as well hand me a pillow cuz I’ll be taking a nap. Thankfully there were only a few workshops like those that I stumbled into. The rest were pretty interesting and informative.

Overall I’m glad I went. But the conference experience just isn’t the same when you have to commute to it every day. I wish I had stayed at least 1 night in the hotel and saved myself the aggravation of the train and all that walking. I had a much better time at the conference last year when it was in Orlando. Of course, staying at the Swan & Dolphin really helped. What a beautiful hotel. (The Marriot was a nice hotel as well, though the elevator situation was insane. They had 20 (?) elevators going to all different floors, and you had to press the # of what floor you were going to on a little screen and then the screen would tell you what elevator to get on. But I did sneak a peek inside one of the rooms and it was very nice, and spacious too.)

That’s about it for me. I’m thinking about signing up for a Round of Words in 80 days, a writing challenge which starts tomorrow. I’m hoping maybe having to “check in” with people every week will help keep me motivated to write. That is definitely my biggest problem – staying motivated. I’ll letcha know if I end up doing that or not. Meanwhile, I hope everyone is enjoying their 4th of July weekend! Eat, drink and be merry!!!!!! :)

Yes, I'm still alive (and writing... or at least trying to!)

2011-06-07T20:17:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! I apologize for disappearing for so long. I finished up my first semester of school on May 10. By some miracle (okay, it's b/c I actually did all my homework assignments and quizzes), I got a B in accounting. Unfortunately, I still don't feel like I have a fabulous grip on it. (I was hoping I'd get a bit of a refresher when I started accounting II, but no such luck, as you'll read below.) I had a two-week break from school, and then started the summer semester on the 23rd. I signed up for 3 classes - one online class which goes until the middle of August, and two in-person classes every Mon-Thurs from 10-12, and 12:15-2:45 until June 23.

But my accounting II (the second M-Th class) teacher was horrible. She's one of those teachers that doesn't actually teach. She'd break the class up into groups, assign problems for us to work on, and leave the room. She also assigned massive amounts of homework, and only went over it if someone actually requested she go over a specific problem. I decided I need a real professor who actually explains things, and I withdrew from the class. So now I just have the first class (Business Law II) 4 days a week from 10 to 12 and the online class ("Electronic Spreadsheets" which teaches Microsoft Excel, and luckily I'm pretty good with that program lol).

I'm still working on my writing, slowly (very) but surely. I have a little over 5k written in my current WIP. Unfortunately I still have a problem motivating myself to write, and motivating myself to stick with any kind of schedule. I'll keep working on it ;-)

Also, I'm excited to be going to RWA Nationals in a few weeks! At first I didn't think I'd be able to make it. I applied for a scholarship but unfortunately I didn't get chosen. Apparently there were three times as many applicants this year than in prior years. (But the economy is getting better, right? HAH!) But then my boyfriend offered to pay half the conference fee for me, and I knew I couldn't pass up that offer! Since it's in NYC this year, I can take the train there and save on hotel fees. (This is one of the rare times it actually pays to live on Long Island, LOL.) Even though I don't have a manuscript to pitch, I love the RWA workshops. And hopefully I'll be able to overcome my shyness and do a little networking too.

That about covers everything I've been up to lately. I hope everyone enjoyed their spring and is (almost) ready for summer! If you're going to RWA this year too, let me know. Maybe we can meet up before a workshop or something. 'Till next time...

Is anybody out there?

2011-04-29T23:12:00.002-04:00

The lack of comments I've received on my last few posts is giving me a complex. Where are my faithful commenters/readers at? :(

Time for another guest post! Please welcome Pepper O'Neal!

2011-04-26T13:40:00.000-04:00

Hello readers! I've got another guest post for you today. This one is from the lovely Pepper O'Neal, author of Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny. She's talking about basing characters on people you know in real life. Make sure to say hello and let her know what you think!

Also, if you haven't read my previous blog post about the ending of "Game of Thrones" episode 2, be sure to check it out after you finish Pepper's guest post.

And now, here's Pepper! :)

I make no secret about the fact I pull my characters from real life, using my friends and people I know to model them after. Writers are always telling me this is a no-no. They say you even if you do use real people, you should never admit it. To which I say, nonsense. I freely admit to my friends they’ll probably end up in one of my books sooner or later. After all, I’ve met some truly fascinating people in my life, and I seriously doubt I could come up with characters out of my imagination anywhere near as interesting as the real people I know.

Maybe I’m just fortunate in my friends, but so far none of them have ever complained about finding themselves in my books. Even when I cast them as villains, they still think it’s great. Of course, then they start demanding to star in the next book. The way it’s going, I won’t run out of stories to write for many, many years.

For me, pulling my characters from real life has several advantages, one of the best being that I have plenty of help with my work. I have lots of beta readers to check for believability and plot consistency, as well as to help smooth out the writing. And if I have trouble with a character and can’t figure out how he or she would react in a certain situation, I can go to the source and ask.

My friends know not to take my portrayal of them as a character personally. I always tell them I’m taking their core traits and embellishing them, so whatever they like about the character, I got from them, and whatever they don’t like, they can just assume is something I added for effect. They also know that, except for them, no one else will recognize their real life identity in my book. So if they don’t like their character, they don’t have to admit who they are.

I’m careful to respect my friends’ privacy and try not to make my characters physically identifiable to anyone who would know them in real life. Sometimes that isn’t as easy as it seems. Especially if physical appearance is one of the things about the person that fits the character in the book. For example, in my book, Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny, which comes out on April 30, 2011 from Black Opal Books, I’ve used a guy, I’ll call Darrel, who looks like Adonis in the flesh. In the book, he’s a side character named Drake. I combined Darrel with an Amur tiger to make Drake a weretiger. But since I was using Darrel’s physical description almost verbatim, I thought it only fair to ask him if he minded. And being Darrel, his only comment was, “No problem, but when do I get my own book?"

I can’t give you a real picture of Darrel, but I can show the picture I found to represent Drake. And yeah, he’s probably going to get his own book.

Visit my website: http://www.pepperoneal.com/

Learn more about Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny at: http:www. http://pepperoneal.com/blood-fest-series/

Read an excerpt of Blood Fest: Chasing Destiny at: http://pepperoneal.com/blood-fest-series/excerpt-chasing-destiny/

Thanks for stopping by, Pepper! Best of luck on your new release!

Overreacting Much? My take on some of the angry responses to episode 2 of HBO’s “Game of Thrones”

2011-04-25T23:46:00.001-04:00

Possible SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t watched yesterday’s episode of GoT yet but are still planning on it, come back after you’ve seen it (or risk having the end ruined for you)!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it in this blog (since I usually talk about my writing and/or school work), but I am a huge animal lover, and an animal activist. I believe that animals have rights, and that people that commit cruel acts towards animals deserve to be punished. I get upset when I watch a tv show or movie that shows animals dying (being killed or just dying by natural causes – both really bum me out). And I was upset for a good 5 min Sunday night after I watched the scene where Ned Stark kills his daughter’s direwolf, Lady. But when I heard how many viewers of the show were seriously outraged by the wolf’s death, I was blown away.

(If you haven’t heard about the comments people have made regarding the episode, check out this article from EW online.) First off, IT’S JUST A STORY. A novel, hence FICTION. Not real. Made up. It came from someone’s imagination. How can something that isn’t even real make people so angry? Sure, you might not like it. It might bother you a little. But to freak out to the point of saying you’ll no longer watch the show? Because a fictional animal was killed? I just don’t get it.

Maybe that's because every day REAL live wolves are brutally murdered. Do these commenters know or care about this fact? I don’t know. I hope so. I hope that the kind of person who’d get so upset about a fictional animal’s death would also care about the actual wolves out there in the wilderness. If you happen to be a person who cares about the wolves, I urge you to check out this site or this site. There are many things you can do to help save these endangered creatures. I myself just adopted a wolf family for $45, and am waiting for my plush wolf and other goodies to arrive in the mail any day now! :)

Then there are the other commenters (group B), the ones who bash the “how dare you have killed the direwolf!” commenters (group A). Group B is enraged. They want to know why group A is making such a big deal over the death of an animal, instead of being upset over the rape(?) of an under-aged girl, or the attempted murder of a ten year old boy. To group B, I say – why does it have to be either or?!?

I see this a lot on animal activism sites. People want to know why the activists don’t care about the abuse of humans. Why people are so vocal about saving the animals when natural disasters (such as the one in Japan a few weeks back) occur. What about the people? they want to know. My first answer is why do you automatically think I "don't care" about the humans because I am trying to raise awareness for the animals? Can't I do both? Can't I want to help the people and the animals?!?

Then there's the fact that the majority of animals (especially house pets) are defenseless against humans. And most of them depend on us, on human beings, to take care of them. To feed them, to shelter them, to protect them. They depend on us to survive.

Humans CHOOSE where they live, what jobs they work, etc. When a human family moves away and leaves their dog tied to a tree in the backyard, the dog does not have a choice! The dog is left there to slowly and painfully starve to death, while it’s “family” moves on with their lives in another town or state. When a ~~lunatic~~ person is sitting around bored and suddenly decides it would be amusing to light a cat on fire, the 10 pound cat is not able to fight back! Someone must stand up for these animals, and I have chosen to be one of the people who do.

*steps off soapbox*

Rant over. Feel free to leave me a comment telling me how you feel - about the show, the responses the episode got, animal rights, whatever. I'm all ears :)

Guest Post from Nicki J. Markus, author of the Time Keepers mini-series!

2011-04-20T16:43:00.000-04:00

Hello readers! I'm so sorry I haven't blogged lately, I've had a lot going on. I promise to write a post about it soon, but for now I have a special treat. A guest post from the very sweet and talented Nicki J. Markus. Take it away, Nicki! :)

Self-Promoting and Marketing: A Good Idea or a Deadly Trap?

From mid October 2010 till mid March 2011, I wasn’t working. That is to say, I was embarking on my writing career, but I was not undertaking any full-time employment of the everyday variety.

It was bliss.

Each day I could get up, check my emails at my leisure, open up my latest WIP and get writing. I had three e-books released in that period and it was no problem as I had all the time in the world to write them, edit them and then make book trailers, design posters and promote, promote, promote.

But now I am working again.

As a new writer, I understand the need to get my name out there, gradually build up a fan base (hopefully) and make sure my work gets seen. The problem is that promotion now seems to take up my every free moment.

By the end of March, I found myself in panic mode. I was three weeks into my new job and, aside from checking and replying to emails, nothing was getting done. I had guest posts to write, interview questions to both answer and prepare and a never ending array of blogs and author pages that needed to be kept up to date.

I spent all day the first weekend in April frantically getting through the huge ‘to do’ list and it is finally under control again. But my point is this. In the whole of that weekend, how much writing did I actually do? The answer: zilch, nada, nil.

My current WIP has sat languishing on a flash drive for a month with barely 1500 words written in all that time. I feel a sense of deep guilt now every time I sit down to do any sort of promotional work.

So, I guess the difficulty for any emerging author is striking the right balance. Of course you need to promote, network and do whatever you can to make sure your books get seen. But if you don’t put aside the time for writing too then pretty soon you won’t have anything to promote!!

Nicki J Markus was born in England in 1982, but now lives in Adelaide, South Australia with her fiancé. She has loved both reading and writing from a young age and is also a keen linguist. She launched her writing career in 2010 and has so far had manuscripts accepted for e-book publication by both Wicked Nights Publishing and Silver Publishing. To find out more about her and her writing, visit her website/blog: http://www.nickijmarkus.com/

Her latest release is the second part of her four-part paranormal Time Keepers mini-series. Her books are available from: Amazon, OmniLit, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and Bookstrand.

Time Keepers – Part 1 – Running Blind

"It seems like any ordinary day as Nick waits for the train, but then a chance encounter with a young woman turns his world upside down. What is it that she is running from and will helping her jeopardise his own secret, making him a target too?"

Time Keepers – Part 2 – The Beast Within

"With Nick’s secret now exposed, he and Ellie must run for their lives, pursued by the Governor and his Time Keepers. Will they be able to stay hidden or is their time nearly up?"

Thanks for stopping by Nicki!

Good luck with your new release! :)

Guest Post from new author, Christine Ashworth!

2011-04-04T13:39:00.001-04:00

Hello readers! I've got a special treat for you today. Christine Ashworth, author of Demon Soul, is here with a guest post. Welcome, Christine! :)

Meghan, thanks for having me visit your blog! I’m in a bit of a flurry right now, what with my debut book DEMON SOUL coming out any day now, and with the Romantic Times convention happening this week. It’s my first one, so I’m excited! I’ve got the perfect dress and mask and faery wings for the Venetian Masquerade Faery Ball, and a super dress for the Hollywood Glamor night…I just can’t figure out what to wear to the Vampire Ball, though…the theme this year is Zombie Strippers from Plan 9! Any ideas for me?

Being a debut author has been such a ride. I’ve been writing since 2001, and have over ten novels under my belt…this is my first sale and boy, the journey’s been so much fun!

First, the incredible high that came with someone actually wanting my book. Really? Wow! Nice! Then of course came the hard part – revisions. When an editor tells you to change something, you do – and you make it work. Unless you really can’t make yourself change it, and then you have discussions with your editor. But I will say I did my best to make every change asked for, especially when she was so totally right. Everything, from getting the cover to getting the final pdf file of the book – I learned so much. Next time will be easier, I’m sure!

In digital publishing, the wait time isn’t a matter of years as it can be in traditional publishing. From offer to first availability, it was just about six months! (DEMON SOUL is available currently for the Kindle at Amazon.com, but will be widely available soon). That gave me enough time to get my ducks in a row as far as marketing goes. I’m lucky to have RT to go to as well, as that will give me the opportunity to meet readers and sell some books.

Blogging will be my focus for the month of April, and doing giveaways too. And then I’ll crawl back into my writer’s cave and get the second book in the Caine Brothers series written because, you know, that’s my job! Feel free to drop by my website at http://christine-ashworth.com/ or follow me on twitter @CCAshworth

If you’d like to win a copy of DEMON SOUL, please leave a comment, below, and thanks for spending time with me!

BLURB:
Gabriel Caine stands on the edge of the abyss. A vampire has stolen his soul and if he doesn’t get it back soon, his next step will be into Hell.

Rose Walters has been sent back from the dead to complete one task – save Gabriel Caine. But this strong hunk of male doesn’t look like he needs anyone’s help.

Rose has touched the whole of Gabriel, making him yearn for a love he believes he can never have. Her willingness to put her human life on the line for him forces him to bring all three parts of himself – demon, human, and Fae bloodlines, and the traps and strengths of each – into harmony, and into the fight that will determine their fate.

BUY LINK: http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Soul-ebook/dp/B004USLO6W

Thanks for stopping by Christine. Best of luck on your debut novel! :)

Readers, you have until Friday at 4 pm (EST) to leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of Demon Soul. Good luck to everyone!

'Till next time...

FINALLY - my notes from the DFWCon 2011 :)

2011-03-24T15:06:00.001-04:00

Better late than never, right? LOL. I've been overwhelmed with school and writing and life, you know how it is. But, I promised a post on what I learned at the conference, and here it is. Enjoy! (If you're thinking it doesn't look like I attended that many workshops, keep in mind that I overslept BOTH mornings and missed both 8:30 am workshops! Mornings and I don't mix ;-)

High Concept – Colleen Lindsay
I took very few notes at this workshop, unfortunately. Colleen spoke briefly about her thoughts on what “high concept” is, and gave a few examples. (The only ones I remembered to write down were “Jurassic Park” and “Sum of All Fears” by Tom Clancy.) She did say that your high concept should be a “clear concept” able to be expressed in 10-25 words. For the rest of the workshop, Colleen took examples from the participants, and told them whether she believed their ideas were high concept or not.

Taxes for Writers – Diane Kelly
This was a very informative workshop. I did take some notes in this class, but I couldn’t begin to try to sum up everything I learned in the class. Diane is definitely one smart cookie. I recommend checking out her website for more info. She has also occasionally offers an online “taxes for writers” workshop.

Exploring the Action Dilemma – Weronica Janczuk
Another informative workshop. But it was VERY fast-paced and my notes aren’t exactly coherent. But, I’ll share with you what I have, in the hopes you can make sense of it :)

Your novel needs proactivity (no “reactive” conflicts)
Your character’s goal must cause tension
You must fit your character to plot, or plot to character
Your character must be unwilling or unable to change
Your first 50 pages must concentrate on one main and specific goal
That goal must be reflective (they will lose something)
Day to day tension is not enough (eating, sleeping, etc. is BORING)
NO INFO DUMPS
Fake tension = bad
The resolution must lead to a definable change

Eight Point Arc
1. (of course I missed the first point LOL)
2. Trigger
3. Quest
4. Surprise (unexpected but plausible)
5. Critical Choice
6. Climax
7. Reversal
8. Resolution (explain the change)

Scenes are like a mini-novel. Drive scenes with goals.
Scene beats:
Act I – pacing slow until inciting incident
Act II – fastest; speed up before & after each obstacle
Act III – slowest
To shape scenes, use syntax and diction
To shape a novel, events must affect main characters and entire cast
Your novel must have turning points – dual, major/minor, high/low
You have half of the first page to hook your reader
Clue in to supernatural things in the very beginning

It’s a Matter of Taste – Jessica Sinsheimer
Jessica set up a blog specifically for the info she generated for this workshop. Instead of give you my half-assed notes on what she said, I shall give you the link to her site: click me :)

Plotting for Non-Plotters – Candy Havens
Candy mentioned a site called totallythebomb.com which uses something called a story-saurus (I didn't go to the site, so you'll have to look it up yourself!

I took the most notes on Michael Hauge’s Six Stage Plot Structure. There are 6 stages, and in between each stage is a turning point

Stage 1 – Setup
Turning Point 1 – Opportunity
Stage 2 – New Situation
Turning Point 2 – Change of Plan
Stage 3 – Progress
Turning Point 3 – Point of No Return
Stage 4 – Complications and Higher Stakes
Turning Point 4 – Major Set Back
Stage 5 – The Final Push
Turning Point 5 – Climax
Stage 6 – Aftermath

The Changing World of Publishing – Faith Black
I must admit I didn’t take any notes in this workshop. Basically Faith spoke about epublishing and all that good stuff. She assured everyone that the publishing world isn’t going anywhere, regardless of any future changes in technology

Romance Panel – Candy Havens and Anna DeStefano
My first recommendation is for you to check out both of their websites.
Anna
Candy
Both are full of great info for writers. I didn’t take many notes in here because it was mostly a casual conversation atmosphere. But here’s what I do have:

If you’re going to write a good romance novel, you’ve got to:
•know your voice and how to fit it into the romance genre
•have a HEA (happily ever after)

For Newbies:
•hone your craft
•write and polish your book
•find an agent
•network

*Once you finish your first book, immediately start your second book

That's about it for me. I'm sorry if I've been a bad comment-leaver lately. My accounting class is totally kicking my butt LOL. Hope everyone is doing well and gettiing their writing done. Till next time...!

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!

2011-03-08T02:24:00.000-05:00

Yes of course, I'm talking about my date with blogger! I really meant to write last week, but life got in the way (as it usually does).

I got home from Texas last Monday night, after some craziness at the DFW airport. For some odd reason, American Airlines cancelled a 1:40 flight, and tried to re-book everyone onto the 2:20 flight (the 1 we were booked on). There ended up being FORTY-SIX people on stand-by. Then they actually asked a few people to wait (three hours!) for the next flight, b/c we needed to bring extra gasoline with us. This was b/c the weather in NY was so windy they were afraid we might have to be diverted to another airport. Thankfully we landed safe and sound at LGA a few hours later, and only {sarcasm} had to wait 25 minutes for our freaking luggage to come out on the carousel.

But the trip itself was wonderful. Everyone down in Dallas/Ft. Worth is so friendly! And the weather was so nice and warm. Temps were in the 60s on Fri and Mon, and in the 70s and 80s over the weekend. The conference was fun and I learned a lot. And, of course, I want to share it with all of my readers! But not in this post (*ducks for cover*). I still need to type up my notes from the workshops I took while attending the conference.

(School work has been keeping me quite busy unfortunately. I had 2 tests last week – accounting and business law. I got a 78 on my accounting test which was kind of a bummer, but at least I passed. I won’t find out my grade for business law until my next class. And, of course, the homework never stops.)

Since I don’t have conference scoopage for you this post, I’m going to share some links to blogs that are chock full of DFW goodness! They’re from last week so you might’ve already seen them, but in case you haven’t, check these out:

Gong Show meets Query Letters

Great recap by fellow DFW-goer

Follow this blog to read what you missed in Jessica Sinsheimer's workshop

I wasn't at this panel, but it sounds like it was pretty interesting

This is not a blog - Anna DeStefano mentioned this at the Romance Panel - TONS of good stuff on her site

If anyone knows of a blog/site related to the DFW conference that I missed, feel free to leave a link to it in the comments!

I will try to type up my notes over the next few days, and share with y’all my experience of the conference. In the meantime, have a wonderful week! :)

Taking a short blogging break...

2011-02-15T01:10:00.000-05:00

I've been overwhelmed the past few weeks, between school, writing workshops, and life in general. Accounting 101 is kicking my ASS. I knew it was going to be hard, but it's even harder than I anticipated. Intro to business is kinda hard, but nothing compared to accounting. Business law is boring as hell, but I wouldn't call it hard. Same with business math. But taking four classes is certainly keeping me busy.

Then I stupidly signed up to take not one but FOUR writing workshops this month. Genius, huh? I also applied to be paired with a mentor on the Romance Divas forum, but that doesn't start until March (if I'm accepted, which isn't a guarantee b/c the ratio of mentee to mentor applicants is like a zillion to one - ok not that bad, but close enough ;-)

To top it off, I'm going to the DFW Writers Conference in Dallas/Ft. Worth next weekend (26-27th). I'm excited to visit Texas since I've never been there before. I'm dragging my boyfriend as well, we're leaving Friday morning and coming back Monday evening. He's excited to do some sight-seeing while I''m in workshops. And we're both excited to eat some greasy, fried southern food!

I meant to write a post last week, but I never got around to it. So I decided instead of worrying about keeping up with bloggerland, I'd let ya'll {see, I'm practicing for Texas already LOL} know that I'm taking a break for the next two weeks. This way I'll have one less thing to worry about getting done while I'm trying to figure out assets, debits, liabilities, and why the hell I decided to go back to school for accounting! *rolls eyes*

When I come back in March, my goal is to set some sort of loose posting schedule. Hopefully you'll be seeing posts from me more than once every week (or 2). Until then, enjoy the rest of February!

Where do you get your news? (and I don’t mean the every-day, always depressing “the world is going to end” kind)

2011-02-04T14:06:00.000-05:00

I mean the kind about things you’re actually interested in. In my case (which may also be your case considering you’re reading my blog), it would be new books to read, what’s going on in the writing/publishing world, and of course all things sci-fi (books, tv shows, movies, etc.). How do you stay “in the know” regarding what’s going on in the world around you?

I ask because I’m looking for new sites to bookmark, to keep me up-to-date on a daily basis with things I deem relevant.

Two sites I follow for sci-fi articles are Blastr and io9. For instance, thanks to Blastr, I found out that Kristen Stewart turned down the role of Lois Lane in the Superman reboot (wtf is she thinking?!?). On io9, I read about the awesome new sci-fi(ish) shows that might debut this fall on network tv (I am most excited about the adaptation of Stephen King’s “the Dark Tower”). Annnnnd I found out via entertainment weekly that Warner Bros Studio is remaking King’s “The Stand” (I literally LOLd when I read #10, M-O-O-N)!

As for new book releases, and info on the writing/publishing front, I follow a TON of different blogs that usually keep me in the loop. Some of my favorite blogs on writing are linked on the sidebar on the right, feel free to check them out (if you’re not already following them). There’s also Goodreads for book reviews, but I have so many books on my TBR list already that I really don’t need to go looking for more at the moment!!! ;-)

So I’m asking you, readers – where do you get your news from? Do you have sites you check daily (or more often?) for scoopage? Can you recommend some sites I should check out? Let me know in the comments section. Have a great weekend!

So what’s on your TBR list?

2011-01-31T14:40:00.000-05:00

I usually try to not have too many books on my to be read list, because if I spend all my time reading, when am I going to find any time to write? But the other day I had $40 in Borders gift cards to use and nothing was jumping out at me from my amazon wish list, so I decided to go (online) browsing. I finally used Goodreads for what (I think) it’s intended for – finding book recommendations. I looked at a few SFR lists and wrote down anything that caught my interest. A few of the books I ordered with my gift cards, and a few I added to various wish lists. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Alien Tango – Gini Koch (sequel to “Touched by an Alien”, which I read a few weeks ago)
Wanderlust, Doubleblind and Killbox – Ann Aguirre (just read Grimspace a few days ago and really liked it)
Your Planet or Mine – Susan Grant (oldie, but from what I hear a goodie)
Song of Scarabaeus – Sara Creasy
Awaken Me Darkly – Gena Showalter
Across the Universe – Beth Revis (it’s YA which I don’t read often, but again I’ve heard lots of good things about it)
Mind Games – Carolyn Crane (more paranormal, less sci-fi, but it got great reviews)
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card (another oldie, but a classic I should’ve read a while ago)
Dragonflight – Anne McCaffrey (ditto my comment on Ender’s Game)
Sing You Home – Jodi Picoult (not paranormal or sci-fi, but I love everything she writes, and her new book comes out March 1)

Whew! I think there are enough books on that list to keep me busy for quite a while! Reading can become quite a problem for me sometimes, though. If I'm reading a book I really enjoy, I can’t put it down. I ignore everything else going on around me (with the exception of eating LOL) until I finish the book. I read Grimspace on Wednesday night in a little over four hours. (Years ago I read Stephen King’s “It” – which is over 1,000 pages – in less than a week.) So balancing reading and writing is hard for me. Any writer friends have suggestions on how to find a happy medium between the two?

What about you, blog readers? What books are on your TBR lists? Have you read anything on my list and want to offer an opinion? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I’m in love with someone who doesn’t exist

2011-01-24T18:15:00.000-05:00

I have this weird and sometimes annoying habit of falling madly in love with fictional characters. If they’re hot, it obviously makes it that much easier. But looks certainly aren’t everything. I couldn’t pick Odd Thomas out of a line up (partly because he’s not a real person, sure), but I’ve had a thing for him since I first got to know him a few years back (in Dean Koontz’s series of “Odd” novels). He’s smart, brave, and chivalrous. And he talks to ghosts! What more could you ask for in a guy?

Over the years I’ve fallen for a number of men who are completely and utterly made up. There was Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, of course. A reformed baddie who came to realize he DID have a heart. Sure he tried to kill Buffy quite a few times in the beginning (but hey, she tried to kill him too!). And yeah, he might’ve tortured a few of her friends and drank some human blood every now and again. The important part, though, was that, despite the whole evil vampire thing, his feelings for the slayer eventually did a 180 - from hatred to love. Once Spike came to grips with this fact, his love for Buffy made him want to change. Made him want be good. Come on, how effing romantic is that?!?

Up until recently, I was totally in love (not to mention lust) with Sawyer from Lost. Yes, he was a con man. Yes, he made some questionable decisions at times. And yes, he was a selfish SOB who had it in for Jack and didn’t bother trying to hide it. But, as you know if you watched the show, Sawyer changed as time went by. He watched over Claire and Aaron. He became good friends with Hurley (I loved watching their friendship blossom). He fell in love with Juliet (though I still to this day think he should’ve ended up with Kate – I’m a “skater” through and through) and it broke his heart into a million pieces when she fell down the well. Sawyer showed that there was much, much more to him than what you first thought.

Now, even though I usually fall for the bad-boy types, there was one good guy that I couldn’t help but give my heart to when I met him. Aidan from Sex and the City. I know the majority of SATC fans think Carrie and Big belong together, yadda yadaa whatever. But I always felt that Carrie could do better. Aidan was practically the perfect guy. Sweet, sensitive, hot, and a dog lover! (So Carrie had to quit smoking for him. NEWS FLASH: SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU!) After dating Aidan for a while, Carrie finally succumbed to temptation and cheated on him with Big… and Aidan (eventually) forgave her!!!! But she still chose Mr. Big in the end. Oh well, hopefully Carrie’s loss is someone else’s gain (in the fictional Manhattan of Candace Bushnell’s imagination, I mean).

At the present moment, my heart belongs to one (fictional) man only. His name is Peter Bishop. Back in the “Dawson’s Creek” days, I never found Joshua Jackson that attractive. And even though I stopped religiously watching the show after two seasons, I did catch a couple of episodes of the final season when it aired (yes, I cried when Jen died from her heart condition). I wanted Joey to end up with Dawson, not Pacey (what the hell kind of name is Pacey anyway?) but, like I said, I didn’t watch much of the show after the second season.

When it was first announced that Joshua Jackson was going to be on a new show, my first thought automatically was “Pacey?!?” I know he’d been in a few other things (The Skulls, Cruel Intentions, Cursed), but he was certainly best known for his role on the Creek. After a few episodes of Fringe, though, I was able to look at JJ and think to myself “Pacey who?” I loved the show from the beginning. And, also from the beginning, I wanted Olivia and Peter to end up together. They had great chemistry right off the bat. They grew closer as time went on, and discovered they had a lot in common, especially when it came to Walter’s role in each of their lives.

And then IT happened. Fauxlivia (a.k.a. Bolivia, or Alternate Olivia) snuck into “our” universe and set her sights on my Olivia’s Peter. I begged for him to see through her. I screamed at him when he finally did the deed with her. But all to no avail. I was pretty pissed at him. But then, when he got the phone call telling him the real Olivia was stuck in the altiverse, I started to forgive him. When Fauxlivia asked Peter if he was going to kill her, and he replied with “No, I'm gonna get answers. And if I find out that you did anything to Olivia, then I'm going to kill you” – THAT was the moment I’d been waiting for! Despite what he'd shared with Fauxlivia, he showed that there was only room in his heart for one woman: the real Olivia.

It’s going to be a long, hard road for Peter and Olivia in the next few months. Poor Olivia, I can’t imagine how it must feel to be in love with a man who thought he was with your when he was actually with your evil twin. Fauxlivia wore her clothes, slept in her bed, ate her food, and stole her man. I, for one, am hoping for a scene by the end of the season where Olivia just beats the ever-loving s%#@!* out of her alternate version. Karma’s a bitch! But until then, I’ll be crossing my fingers and hoping that Peter and Olivia can find a way back to each other. (Sure, I’ll be a bit jealous of her. But since I’ve got a boyfriend that actually does exist, I can’t get too upset over it ;-)

What are words for (when no one listens anymore)?

2011-01-14T23:23:00.003-05:00

This awesome (ly bad?) 80s song popped into my head this afternoon after I received a text message from a friend that shall remain nameless (in case she (or any of her friends) reads this LOL). I'd emailed her and asked her to call me (b/c I don't have her work phone number). Instead of calling me, she emailed me back and then followed up with a text message, saying that she was too busy to call me. If you're scratching your head right now, you understand how I felt a few hours ago. In the time it took her to email and text me to tell me she was too busy to talk, she could've called me and answered my one simple question that I needed to ask her.

It's beyond aggravating when you're trying to talk to someone about something, and they ask a question or make a comment that makes it totally obvious that they haven't been listening to a GD thing you were saying (the "friend" I mentioned above is certainly not the only person that I feel doesn't listen to me sometimes!). I swear sometimes I contemplate ripping the hair out of my head. I am not a big talker, so when I do talk, it means the thing I'm talking about is something I deem important enough to formulate words about. I really hate repeating myself.

*takes slow, deep breath*

I often feel this way about this blog, too. That no one's listening. Some of my recent posts have garnered enough comments to make me feel like maybe I do have a few readers. My last post only got one (comment). Was it the topic? Was the topic boring, or unrelatable? Too many links? Did my writing take a sudden nose dive into suckiness? Were my "followers" just too busy to leave me a comment this past week? (Or are they all alien haters? ;-)

Whatever the case, it goes back to a few posts I wrote last year wondering if this blogging before you have a book published (or even written in my case) is really a worthwhile way to spend time. I'm not going to rehash the arguement again. Many bloggers and agents have already weighed in on the subject, and so have I. I don't think it's worth it... but for some reason I continue doing it. Strange, huh?

This weekend I'm going to spend some time thinking about ways to make my blog more interesting, to readers and to myself as well. Because I don't think blogging should feel like a chore, and right now that's sorta how it feels to me. Maybe it's partly b/c I'm in a rut right now, with writing and with life. Maybe starting school next week will snap me out of it. (I can't wait for spring to come to snap me out of it cuz that's way too far away!) If anyone has some suggestions on how to make my blog more exciting, feel free to share with me. If there are any topics you'd like to see me write about, I can certainly do that.

For now, though, I'll leave you with the wacky video for the song that inspired this wacky (and sorta whiny - sorry about that) post...

Do you hear me?
Do you care?
Do you hear me?
Do you care?
What are words for
When noone listens anymore
What are words for
When noone listens what are words for
When noone listens
There’s no use talking at all

aliens invading our television sets

2011-01-06T20:28:00.001-05:00

I'm working on a cool, two-part post about ten movies/tv shows/books (ten total, not ten of each ;-) that are similiar to the genre I write in (namely sci-fi - or alien to get specific - romance). But in the meantime, I wanted to write a quick post on a few things happening in sci-fi land (on TV) at the moment.

First, check out the comments on this post by Charlie at Smart Girls Love Sci -Fi and Paranormal Romance. Her post is about the return of "V" this past Tuesday night (more about that in a minute). The comments debate the watchability (is that a word, or did I just make that up?) of "V" and a few other sci-fi shows on tv at the moment. "Dr. Who" (I've personally never seen it, but my friend Teresa, another sci-fi geek girl, is a big fan), "The Event" (I like it for the most part, but it does have it's flaws), and what I consider to be one of the best shows on tv right now - "Fringe."

(Yes I know "Fringe" deals with alternate universes, not aliens. But it's an awesome show so I still wanted to give it a plug!!!!) Fringe was recently moved to television's infamous "Friday night death-slot." This caused an uproar among fans, and a lot of viewers wondered if this might be the end of the show. A new sci-fi blog out there, Contact - Infinite Futures, posted about this very subject here. Personally, I think (and hope) this is far from the end of "Fringe." And according to this awesome video from producers, "Fringe" is going to rock Friday nights come Jan 21! Lets cross our fingers! :)

But, back to "V". According to io9, one of my favorite sites for sci-fi news, it's highly illogical that aliens would grapple with humanity. In my humble opinion, how can you say anything is illogical about creatures that don't even exist? If there are aliens out there, who are we to try to figure out what the hell they are like? Many humanity would infect them like the chicken pox or something! On the other hand, according to this article from tv guide, we're going to be seeing more of the Vs green, scaly side. And, possibly even some rodent eating. Ewwwwwww.

One last show mention before I go. Have any of you heard of Falling Skies, a new show to air on TNT this summer? I hadn't until my boyfriend told me he saw a trailer for it when he went to see "True Grit" the other day. It's about a group of people trying to get back on their feet after an alien attack. (Plus it stars Noah Wylie and Moon Bloodgood.) The aliens are still on Earth, and humans are trying to form a Resistance to fight them. It looks like it could be a great show if given the chance. I'm interested to see where it goes.

So,what do you all think of these shows? Are you a fan of any of them? Am I missing a show that simply I must put on my TBW (to be watched) list right away? Let me know!

Jumping on the 'Goals for 2011' bandwagon (better late than never)!

2011-01-02T18:50:00.000-05:00

2010 was a rough year for many people. My year wasn’t all that bad, but it wasn’t that great either. I lost my job in July, which has definitely put a financial strain on me. But I’m a whole lot happier now than I was while I was working at that job I hated with a boss that I couldn’t stand. And being out of work for five months helped me realize that I need to go back to school. While I do still hope to write and publish novels in the near future, I’ve discovered (mostly from reading blogs and websites online) that making a living from writing novels is difficult, and it can take years to make enough money from your writing to be able to quit your day job and still be financially secure.

I also discovered a lot about writing and publishing this year. Last January, I had no idea what getting a novel published would entail. Now I know all about agents and queries and synopsises. I participated in a ton of workshops to help me hone my craft. I read a lot of books, both fiction and non-fiction (the latter were mainly writing instruction). I joined a few writing organizations and attended two writers’ workshops (Pennwriters in May and RWA Nationals in July). Although I am proud of what I did accomplish in 2010, I am disappointed that I didn’t accomplish my goal of completing a (90,000 or so words) manuscript.

So that is my #1 goal for 2011. To finish, edit/revise and eventually query a sci-fi romance manuscript by the end of the year. I’d like to have my first draft finished by my birthday (May 12). It would be great if I could have it revised and 95% ready-to-go by RWA Nationals in June. But I don't want to push myself, especially since I will also be going to school full-time all year. It's going to be quite a change of pace for me.

Along with my goal of a completed manuscript in 2011, I also have the usual new year goals - lose weight (I'd like to lose 25 pounds by June, which is only a pound or so a week) and get control over my spending. I also want to set and stick to a blogging schedule (I'm thinking a Mon, Wed, Fri schedule should work), and come up with more interesting topics to post about (not that my fabulous life isn't exciting enough - HAH!). And I need to get my website operational. I'm paying hosting fees but I'm not updating the site. I even paid to have someone design the backgrounds etc. for me, but since I couldn't afford to have someone handle the whole 9 yards, it's just gathering (rehetorical) dust in cyberspace at the moment.

Oh, and for those of you (like myself) who like to be part of a group that reaches for goals together, check out Kelly Stone's 90 Day Writing Challenge. You make your own goal of how much you want to write each day. If 1000 words a day is too much for you, vow you'll at least get to 500 (which is what I did). Whatever works for you. I love one-size-fits-all challenges like this.

On that note, I have a few hundred more words I need to get written. Until next time... :)

The Coffee Wars - a Guest Post from Michelle Miles

2010-12-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

Since I had so much last week with my first guest post, I decided why not do it a second time! By the way, if any of my readers are interested in guest posting on my blog sometime in 2011, drop me an email and let me know. In the meantime, here's the lovely Michelle...

Hi, everyone! I’m happy to be guest blogging today at Meghan’s blog! Thank you so much for having me.

Today I’m talking about my latest release, THE COFFEE WARS. It’s the fifth novella in my series, the Coffee House Chronicles.

I started writing this series back in 2006 with the debut novella, TALK DIRTY TO ME. I never really intended to write a series, but it seemed like a natural progression after the first one was released and seemed to do well. I look back and it’s hard to imagine that I’ve written five stories in the same series!

I wrote TALK DIRTY TO ME in about six weeks. It was mostly for fun but one of my critique partners at the time urged me to submit it to Samhain, which was new at the time. After much cajoling, I did and lo and behold it was accepted. Imagine my surprise?

Next came NICE GIRLS DO, the story of Cara and bad boy Mark, followed by TAKE ME I’M YOURS with Graeme and Marion, and then SEX LUST & MARTINIS with Delilah and Sam. The theme of the stories is all rooted in the same type of story: people can change and often do for the ones they love the most. I set them against the backdrop of a coffee shop called The Bitter End.

When I set out to write a story for the Christmas line from Cobblestone Press, I really struggled with the idea. I mentioned it to two writer pals whilst at Nationals over drinks and dinner. It seemed painfully obvious to them I should write something in my Coffee House series. It was a “duh” moment for me.

So when I got back home, feeling all inspired from Nationals, I set out to write THE COFFEE WARS. I had a very tight deadline. In fact, I cranked it out in two weeks. In order to do that, I made myself keep strict

rules: keep the storyline simple and don’t go over 12k. I stuck to it and am pleased with the results. I was delighted to receive my contract on the new novella.

The story is about David and Lilly. She’s the hot owner of the new Java Perks, the coffee shop up the street trying to put The Bitter End out of business. David is the co-owner of The Bitter End, disgusted about the new competition. The two meeting and all their friction causes a lot of hot steam between them.

Here’s the blurb:

Lilly owns the new up and coming, Java Perks. She’s determined to be the number one coffee house in town, crushing her competition down the street, The Bitter End.

Meeting the mystery woman in his coffee house, David immediately wants her for himself. After a hot encounter on his desk, he can’t stop thinking about her. Until he learns she’s the owner of the place trying to put him out of business.

When David confronts Lilly accusing her of using him, she throws down the gauntlet. Now the two are at war and may the best woman win!
-----

It’s a fun story and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you’re interested in the other books of the series, following is a little blurb about each one. You certainly don’t have to reach each one in order as I’ve written them to be all stand-alone.

TALK DIRTY TO ME (Samhain, 2006) is about Claudia, who is a phone sex operator, and Blake, a lonely doctor looking for love on the other end of the phone. A chance meeting brings the two together and Claudia realizes the hot doctor could be the sexy voice on the other end of her phone.

NICE GIRLS DO (Samhain, 2007) follows ex-stripper, Cara, on her journey to reinvent herself and gets a job at the local coffee house, The Bitter End. But things go awry when she meets bad-boy Mark and son of the coffee house owner. Especially when he and his brother, David, vie for her affections. When Cara and Mark learn the coffee house is in danger of closing, they team up to keep the doors open and rescue the coffee house.

TAKE ME I’M YOURS (Cobblestone Press, 2009) goes in a little bit different direction with Graeme, whose love is painting but whose bread and butter is designing adult websites. When Marion, the jilted bride of his ex-best friend, comes back into his life, he sees it as a chance to get the woman of his dreams—and paintings. Marion is encouraged by her fashionista best friend, Delilah.

SEX, LUST & MARTINIS (Cobblestone Press, 2010) picks up where TAKE ME I’M YOURS left off, but this time Delilah is in the driver’s seat. Meeting up with her ex-husband after a long separation makes her realize she still has feelings for him, but he’s never been the responsible type. Sam does everything in his power to make her see he’s changed…and he wants her back for good.

Get your hands on THE COFFEE WARS here: http://cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/coffeewars.htm

Where I am on the Interwebs:
Website: http://www.MichelleMiles.Net
Blog: http://www.michellemiles.net/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MichelleMilesRomance
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MichelleMiles

I've made a big decision - I'm going back to school!

2010-12-23T13:14:00.000-05:00

Once the unemployment benefits extension was officially passed last week, I realized there could be no better time for me to go back to school for accounting than right now. NY state has a program where a person can continue collecting unemployment while going to school without having to look for a job. As anyone who's browsed the help wanted section/craigslist/careerbuilder etc. in the past few months can tell you, there are no decent jobs out there right now. The only jobs that are available want to pay you SH*T money. I'm talking $5-10 less (an hour) than what I was making at my previous job. It's disgusting. And it drives me nuts that the government and the media are trying to tell us that the recession is getting better. IT'S NOT.

But enough about that! I've realized that, as much as I love writing (fiction), it's not a career option for me right now. I don't enjoy freelance (article) writing, and even if I did I know that it's a really tough market to break into right now. I'm unpublished with two unfinished manuscripts to my name that are taking me forever to write. And I do not want to go back to working as a peon (or pee-on, which is how most of us feel), aka an administrative assistant. It's a horrible job where you get treated like crap. You do the hard work for a sh*t salary while you watch the higher-ups get paid the big bucks for having passing off their meaningless tasks to you.

I plan on taking classes through the summer and winter breaks, so it may be possible for me to graduate (with my associates, not bachelors unfortunately) in Dec 2011. It depends on how many credits from my past college courses they will accept towards the accounting degree. What I also love about it is that the college I'm going to (the local SUNY school) offers many of their courses online now! (When I first attended college in 1996 - this same college, actually -, I don't think I could've imagined such a wonderful thing! LOL) I might be able to take 3 of the 4 classes I need to take this semester through the internet. Woooooo hoooooooo!

Of course I still plan to continue writing. I'm hoping that going back to school may actually help me get more writing done, as crazy as it sounds. Because I've been suffering lately from that problem most people only wish they had - too much time on my hands! You know how they always say so many writers wish they could quit their full time jobs and spend all day writing? (Hell, I was one of those very people before I got laid off in July!) And then those same people end up finding other things that need to be done during the day and don't get nearly enough writing done as they should? Yep, that's me! I've been surfing the web (yes, mostly looking at writing-related things, but still), reading books on craft, etc. But I still haven't been doing any actual writing.

I need to set up a daily schedule and stick to it. The cold weather has turned me into a bear over the past month - I've been hibernating! I sleep till noon almost every single day b/c it's so nice and warm under my covers and I don't want to get up. But that's not realistic, nor is it healthy. Yes I hate winter and I hate the cold, but wishing away 4-5 months every year isn't a great way to live. I'm hoping I'll be able to snap out of my little funk once the new year hits!

On that note, I want to wish everyone who celebrates a very Merry Christmas! I hope Santa gets you everything you wanted and more (a publishing contract maybe?!? ;-) 'Till next time!

A special treat - my first ever guest post!

2010-12-20T16:59:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Can you believe Christmas is just a few days away? Where does the time go? =P

Anyway, last week I was approached by the lovely Tiffany Jansen who asked if I would like to have her guest post on my blog. I said sure, why not! I'm always up for something new and exciting! Tiffany has written a thought-provoking article on making a living as a writer that I think my fellow writers will enjoy reading. So, without further ado (and what does that saying really mean, anyway?), here's Tiffany...!

Writing’s not a real job by Tiffany Jansen

The hours aren’t steady, you don’t have a set yearly income, and it doesn’t offer the paid sick leave, paid vacation, healthcare and pension that a regular 9-5 offers. There’s no boss, no employer. Just you, the
freelance writer.

Thus, many people toss writing off as not being a ‘real job.’

Though you will have many supporters throughout your writing career, you will also have a number of nay-sayers. Some of whom will counter your writing aspirations with “But writing’s not a real job.”

If you confront them with names like Stephen King or mention that many make a living as bloggers or
journalists, they’ll agree but then point out that those people are not you. Those kinds of instances don’t happen every day and the odds of you being listed among them are not great. You’d be better off getting an office job.

And, in a way, they’re right. The odds of any of us making it big like Stephen King or Darren Rowse are not in our favor. In fact, the odds are very much against us. Many writers have to take on two or more jobs and stay up into the wee hours of the night to fulfill their writing assignments.

There are stories of writers having to live out of their cars because they couldn’t afford a place to stay. Even JK Rowling was once forced to do her writing at a nearby café so she could save on her heating bill. Then, she was a single mother, barely able to make ends meet.

Of course you hear of overnight successes, but in those cases the writer was either simply in the right place at the right time or worked their buns off to achieve the accomplishment.

If the outlook is that bleak and depressing, why would anyone in their right mind want to be a writer?
Well, perhaps it’s not a ‘real job’ but it allows us to leave our mark in the world. It affords us the opportunity to do something we love and to feel fulfilled. And, if it’s done right, one can make a good living as a writer.
We may work longer and harder than most of corporate America, but we can do it in our pajamas. We create work that touches, educates and makes a difference. How many people with ‘real jobs’ can say that.

It may take us years to get off the ground and start making enough to be able to take to the bank, but we’re in charge of what work we take on and what assignments we forego. We decide when we want to take a vacation and when we’re in need of a break. We get to work when we’re at our best and put our work aside if need be.

No, I don’t make enough via my writing to pay the bills. I don’t have tons of clients and I don’t get paid $1 per word. My writing doesn’t cover medical costs or continue to bring in the dough when I’m sick or go on holiday. I don’t have any grand notions that I’ll be the next Phillipa Gregory or Nora Roberts.

But none of those are impossible goals for writers. With hard work and persistence, they can be reached. Just allow us the time to grow and build before you tell us that writing is not a real job.

Tiffany Jansen lives in the Netherlands and, according to some, doesn’t have a ‘real job.’ Instead, she writes, performs, crafts and teaches on a freelance basis and manages to actually make some money. Catch her at Putting Words to Paper or on Twitter to lament over the various woes of freelancing.

How do I make my hero NOT so nice? (Advice please!)

2010-12-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

I was re-reading my WIP the other day when I realized something - my hero/MC's love interest is too damn nice. He cares about the MC/heroine from the get go, as soon as he has to carry her sick mother back to her room. This is not good. There needs to be some romantic (& sexual) tension. No one wants to read a book where the hero is all la-de-dah oh sure I'll help you, damsel in distress! You're sweet & beautiful & perfect, and I'm a hero so what else would I do?!? Hello snooze fest!!!!

I went back, edited a bit and got rid of some of his niceness. I emailed my first chapter to my friend to read over, and she told me that he's still too nice (which I'd kinda figured anyway). So now what? I don't want him to be an as*hole or anything, of course. But I don't want him falling at my MC/heroine's feet the moment they meet, either. Is there some sort of happy medium I can find?

For those of you who read (and/or write) romance, do you prefer if the male character starts out as a total d*ck and during the course of the book becomes a guy who actually does have a heart? (Keep in mind that he isn't my protagonist in this story, so I don't want the story to be all about his changes, but hers.) Or I could go the route that he is a nice guy, but due to miscommunications, etc., he seems like a giant douche bag in the eyes of my MC/heroine.

So whaddya guys think? Any thoughts? Or can anyone recommend an article/blog/book whatever that may help me figure out where to go with this? Help a newbie writer out and leave me some thoughts! I'll toss some virtual cookies your way (chocolate chip of course, unless you prefer another kind!) ;-)

Cart before the Horse? (or the confusion of an unpublished, newbie writer)

2010-12-06T20:27:00.001-05:00

Usually once someone decides they want to be a doctor, plumber, teacher, whatever, they research what needs to be done before they can start their dream job. That's what I did when I made the decision to get serious about my writing this past January; I started researching how to write a novel and get it published. I must say, I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of information I found on the internet about writing and publishing. I started off following a just few author/agent/editor/publisher blogs and I now follow well over a hundred.

I've joined Pennwriters (a writing group based in PA with over 300 members) and the Romance Writers of America (as well as a few subgroups of RWA, including my local Long Island chapter and FF&P (Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal) online).

I took Holly Lisle's six month online course How to Think Sideways. I've taken nearly thirty (yes, 30 - ask paypal, I'm not kidding.) online workshops this year. I've attended two conferences (Pennwriters and RWA), and I've already signed up for one coming up in February (DFW in TX).

I blog. I tweet. I facebook (although it's mostly a personal profile, I have added authors/writers as friends, and I "like" publishers, agents, editors, etc.). I'm on Savvy Authors. I'm on Romance Divas.

I subscribe to Writer's Digest and The Writer (magazines). I have bought I don't know how many books on writing (mainly on the craft itself) this year (probably somewhere between ten and twenty), as well as borrowing a bunch from local libraries. I copy/paste, format and print articles that I read online that I think are helpful and put them in binders (along with lessons from the workshops I've taken).

Now that's dedication! (Right?) I've certainly done my homework! I would never presume to submit an unedited first draft to a publishing house. I know about revisions, query letters, the dreaded synopsis. I know most publishers won't look at an unsolicited manuscript unless it comes from an agent. I am a wealth of information!

There's just one thing I didn't get around to yet this year - finishing a complete first draft. I began a sci-fi romance manuscript in January, got almost 30k written. I took an online workshop in June that completely confused the hell out of me. In a good way, I mean - it helped me find my plot holes and discover ways that my story didn't make much sense. But it meant major revisions to what I'd already written and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with that story anymore... so I put it aside.

I started plotting and planning my second (unfinished) manuscript in August, but didn't start actually writing it until November 1st. (Yes, I foolshly thought I could win NaNoWriMo.) Thanks to an almost last minute (less than three weeks prior) decision to move in the middle of November, I failed NaNo miserably (see my previous post). I have a little over 15k written on my current manuscript.

Of course, there are both pros and cons to spending the whole year reading up on craft and taking workshops. One big pro is that instead of learning from my mistakes, I can learn before the mistake is made - which (hopefully) won't happen thanks to all I've learned! I know about plotting and outlining and character archetypes and the three act structure and... shall I go on? (Yes, I know you're all shaking your heads and saying "please don't!") But the big con is, as I mentioned in my previous paragraph, I have no completed manuscript. As I've read many times in articles and blogs, you can't edit a blank page. You can't edit one, you can't submit one, and you certainly can't publish one.

I don't regret any of the time (or money) I spent honing my craft this year. I just hope that it helps me in the future to be a better writer. I know I have talent and I've been told by others that they enjoy my writing. Now my #1 goal is to stop procrastinating by reading and researching how to write, and JUST WRITE. Please convince me it can be done :)

It's Official: I Quit (a.k.a. Utter NaNoWriMo FAIL)

2010-11-29T00:14:00.000-05:00

Moving in the middle of November was the absolute worst thing that could've happened to my nanowrimo. Packing took up way too much of my time. It utterly killed my story flow. Also not helpful was the cold I got the day after moving - which, btw, I still have!!!! I've been sick for 2 weeks now and it's driving me nuts! Trying to write and unpack while continually coughing and blowing your nose is hell. The basement apartment I'm in now is very condusive to sleep, which means I've been getting up later and later these past few weeks (which means less time for writing!). Oh, and I (temporarily) jumped off the Weight Watchers wagon after we moved as well!

I plan to get things moving in the right direction again starting tomorrow (technically "today" I guess since it's after midnight ;-). No more letting myself sleep 'till 10 or 11 every morning. I want to start getting up by 8-8:30 (on the weekdays - weekends I'll let myself sleep in). Tomorrow I'm gonna ease my way back into it by setting my alarm for 9 am. I'm also going back to WW with my friend on Tuesday, so I gotta get back on the ball with eating right starting when I wake up on Wed. I need to start exercising b/c I am way too lazy and out of shape. And, of course, I need to get more writing done. Less social networking, blog reading, etc., and more actual writing.

How do you get yourself back on track after being off it for a while? Do you lack motivation sometimes (a lot of times)? What gets you going again?

'Till next time...! :)

Blog Jog Day Contest Winner and Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I've been a lazy bum today lol. Without further ado, the winner of Sunday's contest and book of her choice is...

Jennifer Mathis!

Congrats Jennifer! I will email you so you can let me know where to send your book to! :)

Thanks again to everyone else who left me a comment and/or became a follower.

To ALL my followers, readers and friends (in America), have a great holiday!

Attention Blog Jog Followers/Commenters

2010-11-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. First off I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who became a follower of my blog and/or left me a comment on my last post. I know according to Carol, in regards to the numbers this Blog Jog day wasn't as much of a success as the last one. But I have 9 more followers now than I did 48 hours ago, so to me that's a big win! :)

I did notice, however, that only a few of the comments I received on my last entry left me an email address or a book choice. So before I pick the winner (aka having my boyfriend pick a name out of one of his baseball caps lol), I want to make sure that everyone who wants a chance in the raffle gets one. The only entrants at the moment are Disgruntled Bear (Kate - you didn't leave your email addy so I will need it if you win'!), Jennifer Mathis and Linda Henderson. So if you want to be entered for a chance to win one of the nine romance books I have for grabs, please let me know. Leave me a comment on this entry with your email address and book choice by this Wednesday (the 24th) at noon.

Thank you again to everyone who visited me on Blog Jog day. I found a lot of new great blogs, and I hope those who found me think mine is a great blog too! ;-)

The Fine Art of Blogging: more complicated than it sounds!

2010-11-21T00:02:00.001-05:00

First off, I’d like to say hello to anyone reading this who found me through today’s Blog Jog. I hope you enjoy your visit to my blog. I’m giving away a romance novel (details at the end of this post) to one lucky reader, so don’t forget to leave me some comment love before you go!

I started this blog in February of this year. I was reading whatever I could get my hands (eyes?) on about how to write and how to get published. I kept hearing about this thing called a “platform”. Everyone said that writers needed to build an “online presence” and start blogging, tweeting, facebooking, etc. I figured blogging would be pretty easy, considering I’ve always loved to write (especially about myself – LOL). Over the past nine months, I’ve discovered blogging is a lot harder than it sounds. Coming up with new topics. Finding the time to write posts. Keeping up with comments (if you’re lucky enough to have a post that gets a lot of attention, that is).

Reading blogs can be difficult too, especially if you follow a lot of them. I follow 135 (I just double checked). But that doesn’t stop me from always being on the lookout for more. Most blogs I follow have something to do with writing. I follow authors, editors, agents, publishers. I also follow other aspiring authors like myself. It’s nice to remind myself that I’m not on this journey alone. I can’t say that I read every post from every blog I follow. If I did, I’d have no time in my day for anything else! Usually I decide if it’s something I want to read by the title of the post (which works in most cases, though definitely not all).

Despite all the cons, however, there are also a ton of pros. I’ve met some great people thanks to social networking. I’ve also won some cool prizes by entering blog contests. Especially for writers, it helps a lot to know there are other people out there dealing with the same things you are. Writers block, rejection, doubt. You’ll always be able to find someone who can relate to what you’re going through. In my mind, that makes it all worth it.

What about you? How long have you been blogging, and do you enjoy it? Are you looking for more blogs to follow, or do you think you follow too many already? Leave me a comment with some of your thoughts, and you’ll be entered to win your choice of one of nine paperback romance novels. Title/author listed below – please let me know which book you’d prefer in your comment! Oh, and did I mention that if you follow my blog in addition to leaving a comment, you get 3 extra entries? ;-) Good luck!

Sugar Creek by Toni Blake
Enemy Lover by Karin Harlow
I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown
Wicked Becomes You by Meredith Duran
Dangerous Desires by Dee David
Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl
Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz
The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick
Master of the Highlands by Veronica Wolff (this one is actually signed by the author herself!)

Thank you for stopping by my Blog! Please explore all this Blog has to offer, then jog on over to A Book Inside. If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, go to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com/

NaNoWriMo Week 3: Even farther behind (and hey, are you Blog Jogging tomorrow?!?)

2010-11-20T11:59:00.001-05:00

Moving was quite the pain in the ass, as I'd known it would be. But as if that wasn't bad enough, I managed to catch my boyfriend's brother's cold! (I blame my dog for being a germ-spreader. He licks people he likes on the face. I know it's kinda gross, but I always thought it was too cute and never broke him of the habit lol.) I've been sick practically all week so I got very little unpacking done (and NO writing until Thursday night when I finally started feeling better). Thankfully I am feeling decent today, and I plan on cleaning and unpacking all day with my boyfriend (wheeeeeeeeee hah). If I'm lucky, I'll be able to fit a writing break in there somewhere.

My NaNo count is a little over 14k, which I believe is less than half of what I should have by now. Will I make it to 50k by Nov 30? It's looking doubtful, but I never say die! This weekend I will probably spend the majority of my time unpacking/cleaning, but on Monday I am getting back to writing! If I can make a strong showing next week, it's possible I can pull it off. My family doesn't do much for turkey day, so I should definitely be able to get some writing done on Thursday too. We'll see how it goes - wish me luck!

Tomorrow is the second Blog Jog Day and I'm hoping it will be another success. I am giving away a romance paperback (winner's choice - check back tomorrow for the ones I have to offer) to one lucky commenter! It should be a lot of fun. If you want to check out some new blogs and win some cool prizes definitely take the jog tomorrow!

Now I am off to open some boxes. See you all tomorrow I hope! =)

NaNoWrimo Week 2: over 11k behind and falling fast

2010-11-14T18:46:00.000-05:00

Packing for a big move SUCKS. It has monopolized almost my entire weekend. I wrote maybe 100-200 words on Friday, and no words yesterday or today. We're about 95% done. Everything that isn't in a box at this point isn't breakable and will just go in a plastic bag or something (except for the desktop computers which my boyfriend is waiting for the last minute to pack, despite the fact we both have laptops). Tomorrow the movers will come get the bed, couch, bookcases, tables, chairs, & computer desks (yes my boyfriend and I each have a desk lol).

I'm hoping I might be able to get a little writing done tonight, but I'm not betting on it. Tomorrow is basically a wash out, the whole day will be spent cleaning & opening boxes and all that. So I hope and pray that I can back on the ball on Tuesday and play catch-up for a week or so and get back in it. At least with unpacking, there's no real rush.

Also, I completely went off the Weight Watchers wagon this week. Between stress and eating out, I just couldn't stay OP (that's WW lingo for "on plan" or "on program"). Apparently WW is revamping their entire program on the 28th. I have no idea what they're doing, they've kept it pretty hush-hush at the meetings. So it'll be interesting to see what they've come up with.

I guess that's it for me, back to packing/cleaning. If you're doing nano along with me this month, I hope you're word count is higher than mine! If not, we can try to catch up together this week! 'Till then... :)

NaNoWriMo status update: Week 1 - behind schedule

2010-11-06T11:49:00.001-04:00

How many words should've been written by the end of day 5: 8,355
How many words I've written so far: 5,672

I hurt my neck sometime last week, and it continued into this week. I usually sleep on my back, but the pain was so bad that I did most of my sleeping on my side. I woke up a lot during the night from being uncomfortable, so I didn't sleep very well. My monthly visitor also dropped by (sorry if that was TMI for anyone!) and drained me of a lot of my energy. On top of that I decided November was a good time to join Weight Watchers (wtf was I thinking?!?) so I went to my first meeting Tues night. Dieting always takes a toll on me, especially for the first week or 2. So it's definitely been a rough week for me.

I went to the chiropractor on Wed - didn't wanna go cuz I have no health insurance, but my mom was nice enough to give me $20 towards it and the visit was only $40 - and he cracked by neck back into place which was unpleasant but it helped! So I'm feeling better today, but my boyfriend and I have a TON of packing that must be done. I hope to get back on schedule in the next few days.

How's everyone else doing with their word count? And if you're not doing nanowrimo this year, are you completely sick of hearing about it yet? ;-)

a few Halloween pictures as promised!

2010-11-01T14:58:00.001-04:00

I had a lot of fun on Saturday night, but I paid for it yesterday if ya know what I mean!!! =P

my sister and I

my friend Kelly & I

my adorable chihuahua (who's dressed as a mailman) & I

just me :)

P.S. I started NaNo today, only 568 words so far. I gotta pick up the pace!!!!

Nanowrimo and moving out!

2010-10-30T18:15:00.002-04:00

It's gonna be a very busy next few weeks for me! My boyfriend and I are moving on November 15, and we haven't started packing yet. Luckily I'm still out of work (that might sound strange, but in this situation it's true!), so at least I don't have to worry about balancing nano and packing (and then eventually UNpacking) with a full time job. Plus I finally got my laptop back from HP yesterday and my boyfriend helped me put back on all the programs it had before I sent it away. So it is finally nano-ready!

But am I nano-ready? I have a little plot and character info prepared, but not as much as I should. I hope to work on that a bit tomorrow (not tonight, since I'm hosting a Halloween party that starts in less than 2 hours!). Apparently the downstairs tenants managed to knock a cable wire out somewhere while they were moving yesterday or today, so the television in the living room isn't working. My man is obviously annoyed, but it's good for me 'cuz that means he'll be out most of tomorrow watching football at someone else's house! ;-)

I'm a bit nervous about finishing 50,000 words while packing and moving, but to be honest I think I'd be nervous even without the move. I've mentioned before - but it bears repeating - that the most I've ever written for one manuscript before throwing in the towel is 30,000 words. So if I can finish November with 50k (I'd love to write even more than that, but I don't wanna pressure myself) I'll really feel like I accomplished something.

My plan as of now is to post once a week (most likely every Friday) on how I'm keeping up with nanowrimo. Considering I don't usually post more than once a week as it is, it shouldn't be much of a change for my followers anyway *wink*

OK time for me to do my hair and get all dolled up for my party tonight. (I'm going to be the cowardly lion from the wizard of oz, my little chihuahua is gonna be a mailman! I'll try to post a few pics tomorrow or the next day if I can.) Meanwhile, let me know if you're going to be doing nano along with me (and if so, add me as a friend !) or if you think it's totally overrated! And don't forget to have a Happy Halloween!

I am in computer HELL

2010-10-20T23:03:00.000-04:00

My boyfriend is a Mac, I'm a PC. My first computer was a Gateway, my next was a Dell. Both desktops, and both served me well. Then last summer when I was planning on going back to school for psychology (which I can't remember if I ever mentioned before or not, but it doesn't much matter b/c that never happened lol), I decided to finally treat myself to a laptop. So I got an HP, a G series whatever that means. It wasn't long before I started having problems w/ it (namely it would shut itself off inexplicably when I'd pick it up or put it down, or occasionally even just move the monitor part).

I put up w/ it for as long as I could, until it started happening way too much. I called HP tech support, they did this, that & the other thing until it seemingly was fixed... and then a few weeks later it started happening again. I again put off calling them until it really drove me nuts. The second time I called they told me to mail it into them & they'd fix it. This was in June if I remember correctly. Being without my laptop for a week sucked, especially b/c I no longer had my Dell desktop (it was gathering dust in my parents' basement). I had use of my work computer and my boyfriend's computer, but it wasn't the same.

When I got my laptop back, it was fixed... for about a month. Then the problems started happening again. But b/c I had hated being laptop-less so much, I decided to just deal w/ it. Which I did, for a few more months. Until my boyfriend actually got so annoyed by it that he called HP himself to try to get it fixed. Again they did stuff over the phone and it seemed to have resolved the problem. Again, guess what started happening a week later.

So a few weeks ago I called them again and again they said send it back to us & we'll fix it. I sent it back. One of the tech guys called me and told me that they tested it for over 24 hours & couldn't "duplicate the problem" I'd had. They did more testing after that & still couldn't figure it out, but they did discover an issue w/ both the hard drive and the mother-board, so they replaced both of those. Finally they shipped my (supposedly fixed) laptop out to me on Sat and I got it (this past) Monday morning.

As soon as I got my laptop back, I wanted to put everything that was previously on it (Microsoft Office, Windows 7, etc.) back on it. While upgrading to Windows 7 I got an error message about the keyboard that I kinda ignored b/c I'd done this previously (well, technically my much more technologically-savvy boyfriend had done it, but why get picky) and everything had been ok. What I'd forgotten in my hurry to return my laptop to it's pre-completely wiped hard drive state is that my boyfriend had uninstalled a driver before upgrading the OS, and then reinstalled it after upgrading. Whooops.

Long (yes longer than it's already been) story short, after 2+ hours on the phone w/ HP trying to fix it, it turns out the laptop needs to go back AGAIN b/c for whatever reason, it won't boot up from the recovery disks. Do I want to scream and pull every strand of hair out of my head? YOU BETCHA! I actually went to my parents house, dusted off my old Dell (which hadn't been used in I'd say 10-11 months) and brought it to my apartment and set it up. And that's what I'm using right now to type this! =P

I've never had a problem w/ a PC until this POS (piece of sh*t) HP. (I don't like Macs - I used my boyfriend's a bit over the past 2 weeks & it drove me nuts - so don't even suggest it! ;-) And I'll never buy an HP again. Now I must wait for them to send me a box & shipping label so I can send it back to them again and wait another week or so for it to be returned. I really hope it's here before Nov 1 so I can use it for nano. *sigh*

Well that's my sob story. Now you know (just in case you were wondering lol) why you haven't seen me around that often lately... Anyone have their own computer from hell story to share?

'Till next time...

Book in a week? Or a month? (How long does (or should) it take to write a manuscript?)

2010-10-12T23:17:00.000-04:00

I just took a great workshop from April Kihlstrom called “Book in a Week” (for more information click here). The point is to give yourself one week where you do as much writing as you possibly can, and hopefully get a big chunk of novel completed in 7 (technically 9 if you count 2 Saturdays and 2 Sundays) days. It’s like nanowrimo divided by 4.3 (weeks in a month).

The first 2 weeks of the workshop is set-up: April gives great lessons on the craft, as well as providing insightful questions to ask yourself when thinking up plot and characters. I really got a lot out of her lessons. Week 3 you’re basically on your own because it’s the writing week. Unfortunately my laptop crapped out on me and I had to send it back to HP to get fixed, so I got very little actual writing done.

But that’s okay, because nanowrimo is almost here! Just a few more weeks ‘till the crazies attempt to write 50,000 words in just 30 days. I must admit I’ve attempted nano in the past and have not yet succeeded. However, each November I gave it a shot, I’d had a full-time job. This year (unless a miracle happens!) I won’t. There will be NO excuse to not find the time to get it done. In fact I’d like to be able to get to 75,000 words in November. (I’d say 100k, but then I’d be pushing it – not that it’s not possible for anyone, it’s just *highly unlikely* for myself personally.)

I’ve never written more than 30,000 (approx) words for one story before. I’ve never been able to finish a manuscript. I certainly can’t become a published author if I don’t write. I believe I have it in me, I just need to start having faith in myself. My problem seems to be that the more I write, the more doubts I start to have. My idea sucks, the characters suck, the plot sucks, etc. I start beating myself up and end up putting the story to the side and starting something new instead. IT NEEDS TO STOP!

So how ‘bout you? How long does it usually take you to finish a manuscript? Are you doing nano this year? Do you have any advice for me on how to finish what I start?

Hi, my name is Meghan and I’m a writing workshop-aholic

2010-10-03T23:13:00.000-04:00

When I found and signed up for my first online writing workshop, it was love at first yahoo group. I’ve already taken a TON of them this year, but for some reason it seems a whole bunch of good ones got scheduled for October. Presently I am taking (or will begin taking tomorrow):

Book in a Week by April Kilhstrom (more about this workshop next entry)
Finding the Book Ho in You
The Purpose Driven Scene
Character Journey workshop (Alicia Rasley)
Plotting for Un-Dummies
Magic, Monsters and Amour
Story, Theme and Vehicle
(Foreshadowing and Other Tricks ended as of today)

On top of that, next week starts the Muse Online Conference (which is free! But it’s way too late to sign up for this year’s if you haven’t yet, sorry to say)!

Usually I try not to take more than 3 (4 max) workshops a month, but as you can see I got a little carried away this month. I was actually lucky enough to WIN my way into the Alicia Rasley workshop from a comment I left on a blog post. The blog was giving away a free entry into the workshop and I doubted I’d win cuz I never win anything, but I did this time so that was way cool.

What about you, readers? Do you love online workshops as much as I do? Do you prefer the workshops you can attend in person? Or maybe you'd rather just read books or articles on writing instead of the whole “workshop” vibe? I’m curious to see if I’m the only one with this crazy addiction ;-)

Time is something you can never get back...

2010-09-23T16:10:00.002-04:00

I’ve been “trying” to write a novel for over nine months now (technically many years longer than that, but I really started working towards my goal in Jan). For months I wished I’d get laid off from my job (or win the lottery, though I knew that option was much less likely) so I could stay home and write every day, but still afford to pay my bills. At the end of July, I finally got my wish! My job let me go, but I can pay still pay my rent (thanks NYS unemployment). Although rent is about all I can afford to pay right now, but that's another post...

Now you’d think the first thing I’d do after being laid off would be to start writing, right? Right. Except, no, wrong. Considering the company I worked for let me go on the Friday before my planned trip to FL for the RWA 2010 conference (nice place, right? Let’s let her go right before her vacation so she can worry the whole time about being broke when she gets back home!!!!), I figured I’d wait until I returned from my vacation (slash learning experience heh).

But then I decided to join the WWBC. For those who’ve read my previous entries, you know what I’m talking about. For those who haven’t, I’ll just say that it’s sort of like a critique group, except one person is in charge. Anyway, my intention for writing this post is not to talk bad about anyone, or to say “that sh*t sucked.” So I won’t trash talk it. But basically, it was a waste of my entire month of August, and most of my September.

Our first assignment was character profiles. I had to come up with an antagonist and write a background for him/her. I decided my antag was going to be my protag’s mother. I wrote up a profile. I sent it out. I was told that she didn’t make a good antag and I should come up with another. Hmmmm, I thought this was MY story here?... So I made a new one, an evil alien guy. Except, well, he wasn’t evil enough apparently. I revised him three times before I was told “ya know, he’s an okay antagonist, but how ‘bout you go back and work on the mother again.”

Hmmmmm.

I rewrite the mother’s profile a few more times. In the meantime I also wrote my protagonist profile, and my world-building profile (since most of the story is going to be occurring on an alien planet). Both of those I also rewrote three or four times (and each of these profiles is 9-10 pages btw). Not to mention I'm still working on making the alien guy more evil. By now, I am getting tired of this.

If I had simply filled out a character questionnaire (or something along those lines that you can find all over the internet), I would’ve finished my characters in a week or maybe less. But because between each of my profile rewrites I had to wait around for my next batch of “critiques” so I could rewrite my characters with everyone else’s opinions in mind, I ended up spending nearly 2 months just on my characters. No plotting, no scenes, no nothing else. Just three freaking characters (I hadn’t even gotten to the heroine’s love interest yet!!!) and a planet that was still a bit too similar to Earth.

Last night I decided to break free. I am no longer doing WWBC. I’m not waiting around for other people to tell me if my writing is good or not. ‘Cuz I know it is. You learn by doing, not by waiting. And if my writing isn’t “publishable” yet, I’d rather at least have written something than to say “well I’m waiting for the go-ahead from my crit partners.” Like I said earlier, it’s MY book. My story. No one else’s. If it sucks a-s-s, it’s mine. And if it gets published and people actually enjoy it, it’s - guess whose? - mine!

So now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some writing to do. I’ve got almost two lost months to make up for! ;-)

Do you believe in psychics?

2010-09-17T12:44:00.001-04:00

This Monday night, my friend and I went to see a psychic. It was my third time seeing one, and I was a little nervous. I’m very shy around total strangers for one. Then there's the fact that I was going to listen to someone I'd never met tell me things that may (or may not) happen to me in the future. It’s kinda freaky, if you believe. And I’m not saying I believe that all psychics are right about everything they tell you. Obviously some psychics are full of sh*t, and have their manipulative ways to figure out what the right things to tell you are.

I do believe that some people have a power, though. A sixth sense maybe. They can’t predict the winning lotto numbers (or there’d be a hell of a lot more rich psychics out there!), but they can get a feeling for future events. That’s just my opinion of course. I know many people have many different thoughts about psychics, but fortunately that’s not what this post is about lol.

The psychic told me a lot of things on Monday night that really rang true. He mentioned my financial trouble. (Yes, I know the economy sucks and almost everyone is having financial trouble now. But I have over 10k in credit card debt, which not everyone else can say.) He said starting next year things will get better and I’ll slowly start to claw my way out of it (fingers crossed). He told me that he sees a lot of doors opening for me in the next few months. He said I have a lot of things going on that I need to focus on.

He told me I have a big decision to make soon regarding my career. (For those who don’t know, I was laid off from my job at the end of July. I’m still unemployed. I did some research into freelance writing full-time, but I don’t think it’s for me. Now I need to teach myself Quickbooks so I can hopefully get a job in bookkeeping, b/c I don’t want to go back to being a lowly administrative assistant.) He also said that he sees angels watching over me (that part I’m not so sure about but who knows).

The best part of this, of course, was that he said my writing is going to work out. He said he could see me at a book signing. He asked how old I was (32) and he said he thinks I will be either 35 or 37. He described the cover of my book to me – black with swirls (like dust swirls from rings around planets) and a big red star right in the middle. He also said he saw me writing paranormal and sci-fi, and I admitted I am working on a sci-fi romance at the moment. Pretty freaking cool.

So whaddya you guys think? Think there might be a spark of truth to what he told me? Or do you think he was full of dog crap? If any of you reading this have been to a psychic before, I’d love to hear what you thought of it. (Even if you hated it and felt the person was a total rip off.) Let me know your thoughts!

Check out my new blog layout!

2010-09-05T15:53:00.000-04:00

I've made a few changes to the layout (as I'm sure you can see, this background is quite different from my previous pink one!). Next will be changes to content. But until then, let me know what you think of the new look!

P.S. Work on my actual website is soon to start! I am talking to a web designer about how much I need her to do vs. how much I can logically handle myself (in terms of how much HTML / CSS I need to know). I am very excited! :)

I'm still here! and a REALLY funny article

2010-09-02T23:43:00.002-04:00

No progress on the website yet, but maybe this weekend depending on the weather. Earl will be passing my way, but since I'm on the west end of Long Island I probably won't end up with more than just a rainy day.

I usually don't share articles and such on here, but this one I read today had me laughing my ASS off. I'm not sure how many non-NYers will appreciate the humor. I know some people think of the Big Apple as some glamorous place that they're dying to visit one day. Others think of it as a scary place where insane people run loose on the streets, and crime is completely and utterly out of control. To be honest, it's not really either of those. What it is is overpopulated and overtaxed. And, well, ok, you're right - full of crazies.

8.4 Million New Yorkers Suddenly Realize New York City A Horrible Place To Live

where I've been and what I've been up to

2010-08-25T18:59:00.000-04:00

I'm still here, fellow bloggers. I haven't blogged because I haven't had much to say, and because I've been working on (aka thinking about) getting a personal website together. I bought the domain a couple weeks ago (meghanschuessler.com, of course) but that's about the only thing I've done with it. I've been taking a basic HTML class from savvy authors which has been helpful. I need to practice more, though, before I actually put anything out there on the web. I really know nothing about how to build a website or HTML or CSS or any of that! I debated hiring someone to build my site for me but (a) I'm broke & unemployed and (b) I'd like to learn how to do this stuff for myself for future reference and in case I need to change/fix anything, ya know?

I've also been looking into freelance writing, but again looking is the key word. All the sites I've checked out want to read a writing sample, and I've never done freelancing before so I don't have a sample! Most sites say they want to see a how-to article or something like that, they're not really interested in reading your fiction. So I'll have to whip something up eventually, or else start looking for another dreaded desk job (*shudders*). Unemployment helps me pay the bills, but it's not enough to pay more than the minimum on my credit cards and there's certainly none left over after paying bills to put in a savings account!

On the novel writing front, I am officially one of the three members of the Beta (aka online) group of Warrior Writers Bootcamp, run by Kristen Lamb. We've been working on character profiles so far and I've been really challenged to go deeper than I'm used to. Also since I decided to write a sci-fi romance, I get to do an extra profile for my story. I get to do world-building yaaaaaaaaaay! (Please hold your applause LOL). So I bought a book from amazon and rented a few more from the library because the fiction I can handle, but the science part is way over my head. I know almost nothing about planets and space travel and possible alien life forms. I just happen to be a fan of "Roswell" and "V" and "Battlestar Galactica"! ;-)

I guess that's about it for me for now. If anyone has any advice on the website building, please let me know. I'm thinking about using Joomla! but I don't know much about them except what I've read on their site. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of August and a great Labor Day! I'll be back soon, once I've figured out the website thing probably. TTFN! :)

Blog Overhaul!

2010-08-05T15:27:00.000-04:00

I've been gone for a while, and I see I haven't been missed very much lol ;-)

While I was away, some interesting (*cough*not really) things happened - I got let go from my job, managed to get strep throat, went to RWA Nationals (while still getting over strep), and most recently came down with a bad summer cold! Needless to say, the last few weeks haven't been so great for me.

Moving on though, I have decided to give in and really work on this blogging/twitter/platform ~~nonsense~~ experience. I'm reading a fabulous ebook about social marketing by Kristen Lamb called We Are Not Alone. It's extremely helpful and easy to understand, I highly advise checking it out (& for $7.99 how can you not!). I'm also going to be participating in the Book Bloggers and Authors Online Conference this weekend. Basically it deals with online promotion and how to make it work for you. (You'll get a better explanation of it by clicking on the link lol.)

I will be working on fixing up my blog - as well as possibly setting up an actual website - in the days and weeks to come. I look forward to seeing what you'll think once it's finished. If you're also in a platform predicament, definitely check out my links above. See ya'll soon! :)

Sorry I've been MIA lately

2010-07-11T14:29:00.000-04:00

To be honest, I really haven't had much to blog about as of late. I've made a little progress on my story - not word count wise, but GMC wise. I realized that my FMC wasn't much of a MC after all. She was kinda just there, along for the ride but not having much to lose. So I was able to think up a way for her to have something to lose, and in the end of course she'll have much to gain too. Unfortunately this means rewriting half of what I've already written. Meaning I won't be moving past the 30k mark for a while, until everything's changed to make the story make sense.

The hard part about that is explaining to people when they ask how many words/pages you've written. It seems that most non-writers judge our progress by numbers. It's difficult to explain why I have to go back and change things. Tho for the most part it is my own fault, since I didn't flesh out my premise or plot enough before starting to write. But it is my first serious attempt at a complete novel, so I knew I was bound to make mistakes (and I will certainly make more in the future too).

I'm working out the kinks right now with the help of a great workshop I'm taking called "Laws of Motion - Plotting a Compelling Story". The instructor, Laura Baker, is wonderful. She takes her time to really read and understand what you send her so she can give you the best possible advice. And it's a big class, so it's certainly not easy for her! If you ever get a chance to take a workshop with Laura, DO IT! I promise it will be one of the best workshops you've ever taken. (And no, this was not a paid endorsement. Considering I only have 25 followers, I doubt anyone would pay me to endorse anything LOL!)

That's about it for me. I have to admit I'm losing my enthusiasm for blogging. There are many reasons, one of the biggest ones being not having much to say. We're all going through similar things as writers, we all know the drill. I don't have anything to tell you that'll make you say "oh sh*t that's brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?!?" So if my blog posting frequency decreases for a while, don't be too surprised. I'm really starting to think this whole blogging thing (in the sense of "platform building" to get people to buy your books) is overrated. But I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that a time or two before ;-)

Until next time...!

Depression and Writing – are they related?

2010-06-30T10:04:00.000-04:00

Not to say that every writer out there suffers from depression. But I do believe depression is common, for a number of reasons. I read a great quote this morning which is actually the inspiration for this post: “depression is anger turned inwards”. That explains so much for me. I have always had anger issues and depression, stemming from childhood. (I’d like to say “I have a dysfunctional family”, but that phrase doesn’t carry nearly the same amount of weight that it once did. Now everyone says (or thinks) their family is dysfunctional.)

I’ve suffered from depression for as long as I can remember. My classmates in eighth grade signed my yearbook with messages like “cheer up, it’ll get better” and “don’t kill yourself”. I’ve gone to shrinks, I’ve tried a ton of different medications. I’m at the point where my depression has become “manageable”. But I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will most likely suffer from it for the rest of my life.

I’ve also always loved to read and write, since I was very young. Reading has always been an escape for me. If the story is good, I get sucked right into it. I can forget about what’s going on IRL (in real life) for a little while. I block the whole world out when I read, and if the world minds I tell it to bite me.

Writing is a bit different for me. I need to concentrate on the words I’m typing. It’s a lot more difficult than reading. So while I do enjoy it, it seems a lot more like work than reading is. That itself may stem from my depression, though. My feeling of not being good enough. Everything I write is crap. How many times have I said to myself “this story sucks, I should just chuck it and start a new one”? More times than I can count. Depression makes me think my ideas suck, and thinking my ideas suck makes me depressed. It’s a lose-lose.

What about you, readers? Do you struggle with depression as well? Do you think the fact that you choose to write has anything to do with it? Or are you a happy-go-lucky writer who doesn’t see how depression and writing could ever be related? Share!

Why writers make excuses: What if it’s not fear? What if it’s just laziness / lack of motivation?

2010-06-28T11:45:00.000-04:00

In my second-to-last post, I pondered the possibility of getting more writing done without my laptop. As you know if you read my previous post, I got some writing done – but at work, not at home. Last Monday & Tuesday I got around 200 words (total) written, some at work and the rest using my alphasmart. Then my laptop returned on Wednesday, which was earlier than I’d expected.

I haven’t done any writing (just a little revising) since it’s return. I did a little on Thursday at work, but nothing on Friday or over the whole weekend.

Here’s the kicker – I even bought a new desk on Friday so I’d have my own little writing area instead of being stuck either on the couch or at the dining room table. It didn’t work. The unbearable heat this weekend probably played a factor in my complete lack of motivation, but I still feel crappy about it. I didn’t even look at my WIP until 6:30ish last night, and I only spent about an hour editing it before I gave up.

I can’t understand why I continue to self-sabotage myself. When I’m at my day job I can squeeze in some time to write. But when the weekend comes and I have a ton of free time, I can’t get anything accomplished! At first I thought it was fear; fear of success, fear of failure, fear of change. Now I’m thinking there’s more to it than that. When I really want to do something, I find a way to do it. I am good at organizing things, and I’m good at using my brain to figure things out (at work for example). So why do I keep NOT doing everything I need to do in order to finish this book???

It’s so much easier to just sit down and read a book than it is to try to write one. I’ve always loved reading and it comes naturally. Writing – although I have done some over the past 20+ years – does not come naturally at all. Because it’s harder? Because I’m lazy and don’t like to have to put forth a lot of effort if I don’t have to? What is it?!?

Maybe I should talk to a shrink, but I really can’t afford that at the moment (even with health insurance, the co-pays are outta control). All I can do at the moment is try to figure it out on my own. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just have to push myself to write, despite the nagging voice inside my head that tells me I should just pick a book out of my TBR pile instead of opening that word document. I only wish I could shut that annoying voice up for good, and keep on writing.

“Nobody said it was easy, but no one ever said it would be this hard” - Coldplay

A generous (writing-related) gift from a stranger

2010-06-21T12:11:00.001-04:00

When I was in my plot obsession mode a month or two ago, I came across something (online) called the Prescription for Plotting workbook. I thought it sounded great and I wanted to purchase it. When I saw the price (which is quite reasonable, but unfortunately I am eternally broke), I sent an email to the woman (Carolyn Greene) who created the workbook, asking her if it could be purchased in .pdf form for a lower price. She replied and asked me for my mailing address so I gave it to her.

A few days later, I received a package in the mail. Carolyn had sent me a plot workbook as a gift! I was so surprised; I’m not used to such generosity from complete strangers. I felt a little strange accepting something without giving anything in return, so I sent her $10 by paypal. I also told her that I was going to blog about her kindness, in the hopes that maybe someone out there who needs some plot help might find out about her workbook and realize it’s the perfect thing for them!

The workbook consists of a 3-ring binder that holds a folder, a spiral notebook, a pencil case with a pencil and post-its, and plotting worksheets. (More info is available on her site, so please go check it out.) I’ve only skimmed through the workbook as of yet because I had a busy weekend, but there is some great stuff on Carolyn’s plotting sheets! She really knows what she’s talking about!

If you need some help with plotting, or know anyone else who does, I highly recommend the Prescription for Plotting workbook. You can make copies of her worksheets so that you can use it for each and every story you write. If you'd like to pass this story along, please feel free to do so. I am very grateful to Carolyn for giving me something that she obviously put a lot of time and hard work into.

One last thing – how am I doing without my laptop? Eh, not so good. I managed to write almost 1,400 words on Thursday and over 700 on Friday... but that was at work (I love slow days lol!). I got just about nothing accomplished this weekend, except I did start reading “Contact” by Susan Grant because it’s a paranormal romance, and I know you’re supposed to read as many books as possible in the genre you’re writing in. I like it a lot so far, 2 thumbs up. But let’s hope I get my laptop back soon, preferably by Friday or Saturday!

That’s all for now, hope everyone had a nice weekend (& I hope Friday gets here before we know it!)!

Will I get MORE or LESS writing done without my laptop for a week? (An experiment forced upon me by HP)

2010-06-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

My new-ish (bought it about a year ago) laptop needs to be sent to HP to have its random shutting off problem fixed. I shipped it today, and am already having withdrawals. (I am writing this now on my work computer and will probably finish it on my boyfriend’s computer later, if you’re wondering). I know I’ll be without it this weekend, but I hope I at least get it back by next Friday or Saturday.

The good thing is that at least I have an alphasmart (a.ka. Dana or Neo)! (For those of you who don’t know what they are, you should totally check them out. Much cheaper and lighter than a laptop, perfect if all you really need it for is writing. And you can almost always find a decent amount of them selling for pretty cheap on ebay.) I just hope that I’ll actually use it for the next 5-10 (???) days while my laptop is MIA!

And of course I can also use this laptop-free time to read. I’ve bought a few books on craft that I haven’t done more than skim b/c I’m always on my laptop. I also have a few books on my new kindle my boyfriend got me for my birthday a month ago. Not to mention I'll have time for some non-writing or reading activities (*gasp* did I really write that? LOL) So maybe this time without a laptop will end up being beneficial to me. Guess only time will tell!

I'll keep y'all posted on how I’m surviving without my addiction to constant internet availability. I've been thinking that I really need a break from it anyway, I've become way too wrapped up in tweeting, blogging (more reading than posting obviously lol), workshopping, etc. over the past few months & haven't spent enough time on my actual writing. What about you guys? Do you find yourself wasting way too much time on the internet? And if so. do you force yourself to take a break once in a while, or do you just make excuses (like I usually do) and say you're doing "research" or taking a "quick" (which it never is!) break etc.?

Blogging etiquette, or what’s your stance on following and commenting?

2010-06-10T12:35:00.000-04:00

I read a blog post a few days ago that got me thinking. It concerned how people keep up with their blogs – should we respond to every comment left for us and should we follow every blogger that becomes a follower of ours? I’m not going to name names (or sites) because the blogger who wrote this particular post isn't following me, despite the fact that I started following her a few months back. She writes about us (writers, bloggers, whatever) being so busy that we just don’t have time to follow everyone back, and respond to every comment we get.

Well the commenting thing I get. And honestly I read a lot of blogs without leaving comments, not because I am too busy but because I don’t have anything to add. Sometimes I don’t know enough about the subject of the post to really have an opinion. Other times I see that my thoughts/opinions have already been stated by someone else, better than I could’ve said it myself. It feels dumb to me to just leave a comment so that someone knows I was there. But I’m curious to know: would you prefer that? Would you like someone who read your blog to leave a comment just to say “I read your blog, good job” or something like that?

As for the following (or not following as the case may be) bloggers back, that I don’t understand. I follow nearly 100 blogs. Yes it’s time consuming to read all the posts (especially in the morning, cuz it seems that everyone posts after I go to bed at night lol). But you know what? If I don’t have the time, I don’t read every post! If something sounds completely uninteresting to me, I skip it. Does this make me a horrible person (please say no)? And, to be honest, there are a few blogs I follow only because they follow me. Would you be mad/upset to discover that someone followed you on blogger just to reciprocate your following them, but they rarely, if ever, actually read your posts? (Just curious again, folks.)

Personally, my answer to that is a resounding NO. Do I want all my followers to read every single one my posts? Eh, it’s not that big of a deal to me. Sometimes I know that I don’t have much to say, and I wouldn’t want someone to waste their time on a post that bored them to tears. I really wouldn’t mind if someone only followed me to be polite. Because I’d still have the numbers, and the numbers are what count to the editors and publishers. They want to know how many blog followers do you have? How many twitter, facebook, myspace (well maybe not myspace, does anyone even use that site anymore???) followers/friends do you have?

So please, feel free to follow me and never read a word I say! Feel free to tell your friends or blog followers that if they want an extra follower (who may or may not actually read their posts), they should come on over to my blog and follow me, and I will happily follow them back!

I am curious to know what other bloggers’ opinions are. Do you agree or disagree with what I wrote? (I promise I won’t be mad if you disagree lol.) Do you think it’s more important to actually get feedback on your posts than to just be able to say you have 100 followers? Do you only want people to follow you if they are going to read everything you say? Let me know what ya’ll think!

Goal of a big writing weekend = epic FAIL

2010-06-07T11:39:00.000-04:00

Remember my lofty goal of getting 5,000 words written this past weekend? Well, take off one of those zeros and you’ll be a lot closer to the amount I actually wrote. I wrote 486 words of a new chapter, and then I did a little editing of the last few chapters I had worked on (my chapters are very short b/c each one is in a different POV – odd numbers in my FMC’s and even numbers in my MMC’s). So I might’ve written a little more than 500, but I also deleted a few things here and there so that could’ve brought my total word count down a bit *sigh*

My new goal is to write at least an hour a day Mon - Fri, from 7-8 on weekdays (obviously if I have to do something during that hour, I will have to reschedule the time) and try to get at least an hour total of writing done on the weekends. Hopefully with crappy weather weekends I’ll get more done, to make up for weekends that I’m at bbqs or whatever else. I told Mike about it, and I told him to make sure I stick to it. Hopefully he will help.

I also have a non-writing goal, one I’ve had for months but haven’t stuck to at all – losing weight! My cholesterol is 240 or so (I can’t remember the exact number) and I am 30-40 pounds overweight (I haven’t weighed myself in months but I know that half my clothes are becoming too tight on me and that is NOT good). So I need to start eating better like now. I wanted to start getting up earlier this morning to do a little exercise, but I slept like sh*t last night cuz it was hot in the bedroom even with the a/c on. So I’m gonna attempt to do a little after work, maybe I’ll pop on one of my many exercise videos lol.

How bout you guys? Did you have a good weekend, writing-wise or otherwise? Have you been keeping up with the goals you’ve set for yourself? If not, are you beating yourself up over it?

Friday night check-in, or how am I doing with my goals?

2010-06-04T21:02:00.000-04:00

Last night I didn't get any writing done at all, I was feeling kinda depressed and tired, so my mind was not in the right (write lol) place. I went to bed by 10:30, which I haven't done in a few weeks actually. But I did manage to finish my outline! I did it at work when I had some free time *wink*

It's almost 9 pm now, and unfortunately I haven't done any writing yet tonight. Of course I did spend over half an hour on the phone with HP because my laptop is fraked up (I will be shipping it out to them soon, which is gonna be devastating for me cuz then I'll have to share Mike's computer for a week or so, waaaaaaaah). I also cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom (yuck), ran to the dollar store to get napkins, cups & a table cloth for the party, and baked cupcakes (also for the party). So that took up a large part of my evening unfortunately.

The good news is that since I got all of that stuff done tonight, I won't have to do it tomorrow and will be able to devote almost the whole day to writing! The bad news (well, it's good news, but bad for me getting my writing done) is that plans changed with Mike and his friends and they are now coming back late tomorrow night instead of Sunday night. So it will be much harder for me to get writing done on Sunday, but I'm gonna try anyway!

Well I guess that's it for now! I'll probably post again on Sunday and let everyone know if I actually got some words down in my WIP! Have a great weekend!!!!! :)

Will my “to do” list actually help me get something done?

2010-06-02T14:34:00.000-04:00

In my last post, I said I was going to get my plot outline done by (last) Friday so that I could do some writing over the weekend. Not only did I not get any writing done this weekend, but I didn’t even start my outline.

I could sit here all day and make up excuses about why I didn’t get to write this weekend. I went to too many bbqs, I had to help my boyfriend clean the apartment, I wasn’t feeling well Monday (not hungover, just worn out), etc. But the truth is, I could’ve gotten at least a little writing done this weekend if I had really tried. Instead I wasted too much time on the internet, went to a few bbqs (of my own free will) and started paying more attention to Mike’s favorite new show (“Battlestar Galatica” – not technically new, but new to both of us) than my WIP.

Now it’s Wednesday and I’m back at work. And since Mike is going away with his friends from tomorrow until Sunday night, I spent last night watching tv with him and tonight we’re going to the local fair. I don’t expect to get any writing done tonight but I plan to make up for it this weekend (I hope!).

I am making new goals for the rest of the week/weekend, and these I have no excuse not to keep. I have all of Thursday and Friday nights free, all day Saturday - until I have friends over at 8 pm - and all day Sunday until he gets home sometime after 9 pm. The only thing I have to do in all that time is clean up the apartment and buy some snacks for my get-together Sat night.

So here is my “to do while Mike is away” list:

Complete WIP plot outline
Finish my character worksheets for 2 MCs
Work on my “vision board”
Fill out monthly and five-year goal worksheets
Write at least 5k words in WIP

I want you to hold me accountable for these! I am going to try to check in quick on Fri, Sat and Sun and let you all know how I’m doing and if I’m making progress on my goals. If I’m not, feel free to caps lock at me and tell me to get on it already!

Do you make to do lists or goal sheets for yourself to keep you on track? Do they work? If not, what does work for you?

Am I doing my research and learning the craft, or am I just putting off writing my story?

2010-05-26T16:42:00.003-04:00

I still haven’t picked up my WIP. If you’ve read my previous entries, you know it’s been about a month now, maybe longer, since I have written actual words in my manuscript. When I think about how much I could’ve accomplished this past month, even if I’d written only half an hour a day, I want to beat myself silly for not having done anything. But I keep telling myself that I’m not ready.

Between when I started my manuscript in January and when I last worked on it at the end of April, I wrote about 21k words. Not a whole lot for four months time, but certainly better than nothing at all. During those four months I found lots of info on the internet about writing techniques, what a story consists of, etc. And I began to tell myself “I have no idea what I’m doing. My story has no plot, I don’t know what the conflict is…” and on and on. I decided I had to plot my novel and figure out what it was all about before writing any further.

So I’ve been taking online workshops. Buying e-books. Checking a ton of books out of the library (which I basically scan to see if they have what I’m looking for, and if not I return them right away). I read blogs every day searching for words of wisdom. I skim through twitter every day for links to articles about writing. But I DON’T WRITE.

(If you want to get technical, I did write a two-page synopsis of my story for a synopsis workshop, and a few 3-line pitches for a pitching workshop I took. And if you’re asking “why would she take synopsis and pitching workshops if she’s only a quarter of the way done with her WIP?” I don’t blame you. (Although I have read in a few places that it can be helpful to have a synopsis before beginning your manuscript.) I think I am becoming workshop obsessed, but that’s a whole other post!)

Am I avoiding writing because I’m scared? Or because I think I don’t know what the hell I’m doing? Maybe because I want my story to be perfect, and it won’t be perfect until I learn everything there is to know about novel writing!!!! Whatever the reason is, I know it’s not a valid one. I can write complete sh*t every day and save what I learn from workshops and books and articles for when I get to the revision stage. (One good thing is that I’m dumb enough to think that I won’t have to go through one, two, five revisions before my story is ready to be submitted.)

My goal is to have a basic outline for my story done by (this) Friday, so I can start actually moving the story along this weekend. If I can write even just one stinkin chapter this weekend I will be happy. Even accomplishing a small bit of writing will inspire me, and make me feel like I’m not stuck anymore. Or at least that I’m getting myself un-stuck slowly but surely. Because in my rational, left-brained mind I know that no matter how many workshops I take, or how many articles and books I read, nothing is going to get me a publishable manuscript except writing the damn thing!!!!!

I should be writing... or plotting... or making some kind of progress on my WIP!

2010-05-21T21:44:00.000-04:00

Here I go again. Another night that I had planned to spend working on my (still stalled) manuscript, and instead I have wasted the majority using the internet. While the internet is fabulous because it connects you to people you might otherwise never meet, and you can find almost any information you're looking for by simply "googling" it, it's also a major time suck. Some people have will-power and can shut their computer off, or simply keep their browser closed so they can concentrate on writing. I have no such power. (More proof that I have no will-power: the last time I tried to diet (3 weeks ago) I lasted 4 days before giving up. I haven't been able to stick with dieting since Oct 09.)

The way I justify the (sometimes excessive) time I spend on the internet is by telling myself that it technically is related to my writing. I'm learning about the craft by reading all these articles and blogs. I'm blogging and tweeting to help built my "platform". I'm doing more writers workshops (which I love but are a major money suck!!!) to help find ways to improve my WIP or expand my writing ability etc. While all these things may be true, all the time I am spending on the internet is time I am not spending writing my story!!!!!

I know I need to buckle down, and I did manage to do a little work on my plot tonight. (I am using Martha Alderson's "Blockbuster Plots" method. Has anyone ever tried it / read the book / seen her website / heard of her or her system?) This whole scene and plot thing has been a struggle for me. Whenever I've started writing stories in the past, I always just wrote. I had a general idea and I would write whatever came into my head and moved the story along. But obviously that way doesn't work, because I have never finished a manuscript! I don't want to keep making the same mistake, so this time I am going to figure out how to plot this story. Period, end of sentence.

I apologize for this rambling post. I had an idea of what to write about when I started this, but then I got lost along the way. Sometimes I really think that I have adult A.D.D. because it is so easy for me to change the subject or go off on a completely unrelated tangent. Another thing I need to work on. I should probably write a list so I don't forget all of it! (On top of possible A.D.D. I also have a horrible memory, which is a problem that I am way too young for!)

Thoughts, advice, opinions? Are you a plotter, or more of a pantser? Do you have a system that works for you? Or do you have some will-power you're willing to share with me? Or do you think I should shut up and go write already? ;-)

Home Sweet Home... (but the traffic still sucks!)

2010-05-17T16:30:00.000-04:00

My boyfriend Mike and I left the conference at 11:30 yesterday morning, hoping to beat some of the traffic. The drive through PA wasn't so bad, but once we hit NJ it slowed down a bit. Then it was bumper to bumper on the NJ turnpike trying to get on the GW bridge. So we took some kind of detour (gotta love GPS!) that moved a little faster, though not much. After the GW the traffic cleared for a bit, until we got closer to the Throgs Neck. Another nightmare. Once we got off that, traffic finally started to move - even the Cross Island Pkwy which never moves was doing okay. Still, we didn't get back until 5:30, and we only made one quick stop on the way (at Sonic, YUM!). A trip that took 3.5 or so hours on Friday morning took almost 6 on Sunday. What a mess!

That whole paragraph was either extremely boring or confusing or both to my readers who are unfamiliar with NY (and if you are, consider yourself lucky) so I apologize. Back to the conference... I took two workshops in the morning, one about "hooking" your readers and one about relationships which was pretty much for romance writers. Then I took two more after lunch, elements of romance and a social media class with THE Janet Reid. It was packed, as I knew it would be because everyone thinks she is funny and super smart, which of course she is lol!

Saturday night was uneventful and I was completely exhausted (learning really wears you out!). Sunday morning I had two more workshops before we left - showing vs. telling, and one on revising. They were both informative and both instructors were very nice. I didn't stay for the closing ceremony because, as I said earlier, Mike and I thought we'd beat the traffic if we left before noon. Overall, I had a very good time and I'm glad I went. I learned a lot and met a few nice people. My next conference is going to be RWA in July! Is anyone else going???

At the Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA!

2010-05-14T23:40:00.000-04:00

This will be a short and sweet post because a) I'm exhausted since I've been up since 4:30 am (although I did take a quick 2 hr nap earlier) and b) I need to go to bed soon so I can get up around 7:15 tomorrow for breakfast before the first workshop starts.

So my boyfriend and I drove up from Long Island to Lancaster, it took somewhere between 3 - 3.5 hrs. I can't make a better estimate of the time because on the way we stopped at this HUGE smorgasbord place called Shady Maple. YUM. It was only $8.25 a person for an all you can eat breakfast buffet. If you're ever in the Lancaster area (it was probably a little outside of Lancaster but I don't know the actual town name) I recommend checking it out.

Because of our breakfast break, we got to the hotel around 9:45 so unfortunately I missed the first workshop. But I caught the second one with agent Alex Glass, who's super smart and nice (and cute, but shhhhhhhhh don't tell my boyfriend! heehee). I didn't go to the nextworking lunch cuz it cost $22 extra, so my boyfriend and I went to Friendlys nearby. (OT - Friendlys seems to be much better food-wise outside of Long Island, I'm not sure why. But their ice cream is delicious in ANY state!!!!)

My second workshop was "getting conflict on the page" but I can't remember the author's name (my bad). He was nice and funny as well. Then I attended the agent panel with Alex Glass, Jenny Bent, Janet Reid (the query shark) and another woman who's name I don't remember (yes, as you can tell I am bad with names). Her name wasn't on the schedule either, or I'd go look it up. Anyway, it was very informative and Janet Reid is as funny - and snarky! - in person as she is on her blog.

After that I relaxed for an hour and then it was nap time from 5ish 'till 7:30. Once my boyfriend and I woke up, we showered and went to dinner downtown at Annie Baileys. It's a pub/restaurant type place, it definitely seemed like "the place to be" on a Friday night. Good food, nice waiter, and not a totally out of control crowd. I give it an A+ (lol I feel like I'm writing an ebay review or something!) And now I am trying to wind down so I can get to sleep by midnight (wish me luck!)

Well this post ended up longer than I expected, and it's time for me to hit the sheets. If anyone has a specific question for me about the conference, the hotel, the agents, etc., leave me a comment and I will try my best to answer you if I can. And if anyone who reads this happens to BE at the conference too, let me know. Maybe we can meet up for a drink or coffee or a quick hello! Until next time... :)

Go on a Blog Jog for Mother's Day :)

2010-05-09T00:08:00.001-04:00

Thank you for stopping by my Blog! Please explore all this Blog has to offer, then jog on over to http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com/

If you would like to visit a different Blog in the jog, go to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com/

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my blog. What can I improve on to make it more interesting / read-able etc.? And of course I'd love if you decide to follow me! ;-)

You can't change the past, and what's with all this "platform" nonsense?

2010-05-05T19:31:00.000-04:00

I wrote a whole post whining about turning thirty-two next week – then I deleted it. It has nothing to do with this blog, and it had very little (10% maybe) to do with my writing. What it comes down to is that I’m not where I thought I’d be in this stage of the game, and I’m disappointed by that. But unfortunately no one has invented a time machine yet (at least not that we know of) so I can’t change what’s already done. Wishing I’d tried harder or spent more time on something won’t make it so. All I can do is promise myself that in the future I will do something with my life.

I have made progress, which is good. I started taking this writing life seriously in January (look at that, a New Years Resolution that I actually kept!), and in that time I have written 21k+ words. Now that’s certainly not a lot for four months time, but it’s more than I’ve ever wrote for one WIP. I am going through a bit of a rough time writing-wise at the moment, but I’m hoping to get myself back on track asap (if not before the Pennwriters conference, then right after). I have to work out the plot more before I can get back to the story, so I don’t have another “I got stuck” crisis.

Moving on... This has been a hot topic on blogs lately and I can definitely understand why: Should you blog, start a website, etc. to create a platform before you even have a completed manuscript? I find this subject interesting because I’m approx. 25% done with the first draft of my novel, and I started blogging a few months ago because I read a few articles about how important it is for (both aspiring and established) authors to have a platform. But I wondered then, as I still do now, what is the point? No one cares about me or my attempt at a novel except maybe a few of my friends.

What could I possibly have to say that would interest a complete stranger? There are thousands of people who want to write and be published. Many of them have blogs and can probably think of interesting things to say (I mean, isn’t that what writing is all about anyway?). I doubt anyone wants to read about me, my boyfriend, my dog, my debt, my sucky job, my problems sticking with a diet… I could go on forever, but I’ll spare you. It comes down to this: I just don’t see the point.

I see the point in general, of course. Publishers want someone with a “built-in fan base” so if they publish the book, it will sell to at least those people. They don’t want to take a risk with their money on someone who’s completely unknown and doesn’t even have a twitter account to attract new fans. I get it. But for myself, I don’t understand why I need to be doing this, at least not right now.

I’ve read a lot of different opinions on the subject, but I feel like these best sum up the arguments for (publishing before completing a novel) and against…

FOR
LEANING MORE TOWARDS AGAINST (for some reason, I can’t get a link to a specific post, only to the whole blog. But if you click on “marketing” in the categories section in the right column, the post I am referring to is titled “Balancing Platform and the Novel”)
AGAINST

Personally, I’d love to have more blog followers, but I don’t have time to write a blog every – or every other – day. And I don’t have the patience to go around the internet asking people to please follow me. I think my current schedule of posting once a week (or so) is enough for now. When I have more to say, when I am further along in my manuscript, and if I somehow think of a way to find more hours in the day, maybe I’ll write more.

What do you guys think? (“You guys” being ANYONE who happens to be reading this, and I really hope someone is.) Agree? Disagree? Don’t care? Discuss!

I have a confession to make…

2010-04-29T11:57:00.000-04:00

I haven’t written in over two weeks. Okay I wrote one little scene that was less than 1,500 words. But I’m not even sure where that scene is going to fit in yet, definitely not for another 10-20k words for sure. I haven’t given up on my WIP, it’s more like I “stalled”. Last time I wrote, I was at that point where you ask yourself “okay, what next?” People who outline their plots before beginning to write don’t usually have this problem. Unfortunately for me, I am not one of those people. I started my WIP in January with nothing more than a vague idea of what the story would be about (which, as you can imagine, has changed a few times since then).

So when I got stuck at the “what next?” point, I stopped writing. Decided I needed a few days off to collect my thoughts. Do some character research. I did that, but it didn’t get me back in the writing groove. I decided I should do some research on plot, how to define it, how to make it work. Did that (sort of, though I definitely could’ve done more and will probably end up going back to that this weekend). In reading about plot, I kept coming across the word “scene”. Hmmmm, apparently a scene is not the same as a chapter. Any idiot should know that, right? Well I’m not just any idiot I guess! It seems I need to take some time to figure out how to craft a scene. Great.

The majority of my non-writing time over the past two-three weeks has been spent on twitter and blogger in search of advice on how to get my story together. Larry Brooks (storyfix.com) has great info on his site, but honestly it’s too freaking complicated for me. I can’t do all that planning before hand. It’s like writing the whole story w/out the details, and then going back and filling in all the good stuff later. No thanks. As always, Holly Lisle has info to help out. I downloaded 2 of her ebooks, one on plot and the other on how to create page turning scenes. I have skimmed them but I need to really dig in. Hopefully this weekend. I also found a blog that gives tips on both novel writing and screenwriting which I think is very helpful. http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/ I highly recommend it.

I have to say that I’m getting a little tired of feeling like I never have enough time to get everything done that I want/need to. I remember the good old days when I used to have so much free time I’d get bored. I remember when I used to spend a lot of time READING. Reading fiction, not articles and books about writing! I can only imagine how many books I might’ve read in the past four months if I hadn’t been spending all this time on writing. And it leaves me, again, wondering the same thing I wondered in my past few blogs – is it worth it? Unfortunately I still don’t know the answer. Especially since I keep reading about authors who are forced to keep their day job to pay the bills, even after publishing their first book. I want to become a writer so I can stop being an administrative assistant. If that’s not possible, then wtf am I wasting my time for?...

The cost of writing... or DAMN how did I spend all that money?!?

2010-04-23T12:43:00.001-04:00

A few days ago I started wondering how much money I’ve spent in the past four months on writing-related things (books, workshops, etc.). So I went through my receipts and credit card statements and made a spreadsheet. The grand total completely blew my mind. Even though about $500 of what I spent is going to the Pennwriters Conference in a few weeks ($235 for ticket & $280 or so for the hotel, but I’m hoping I can get my boyfriend to split the hotel cost with me!), I have still spent $1,100. In four months. On workshops, ebooks, print books, binders to hold things I print out, and on and on. I honestly hadn’t paid much attention to the amount of money I was spending, not thinking about the fact that $20 here and $40 here adds up pretty quick!

One of the more expensive things I’ve bought is the ongoing “How to Think Sideways” course by Holly Lisle. (If you’ve never heard of her, go google her right now. She has so much great stuff for readers it’s amazing.) It’s $47 a month, and a new lesson is sent every week. If you asked me “is it worth it?”, it would be hard for me to give a good answer. One, because I am broke as hell and $47 is a lot of money to me, while to other people it might not be as big a deal. Two, because unfortunately I have not followed the course as closely as I should’ve. I took a few weeks off, then I did a few lessons in one day, stuff like that. But I do think she gives a lot of info and great ideas, and if you follow along and do the exercises, it will help you immensely (and this is just my opinion, I am not getting anything out of “endorsing” her).

I’ve also done a few workshops and have a couple more starting soon. If you’re interested in checking some out, you can google “online writing workshops”. Or if you write romantic fiction, definitely check out savvyauthors.com. They offer a ton of workshops, between $10-30. I always print out all the posts from the workshops to save, because you never know when something you’ve read there might come in handy. And of course it always helps to participate too! You can get feedback from your instructors and from other writers taking the course as well.

Then there are the business cards I bought. I read a few articles saying they’re good to have even if you’re just starting out. It makes sense because I’m going to that conference in a few weeks and if I get lucky and happen to meet an agent or editor that likes my idea, I will have my contact info ready. If not, I’ll just hang onto the cards until I need them, it’s not like they expire or anything (I just can’t change my cell phone number any time soon lol!). I can’t remember all the sites I read tips about what to put on your business cards, but I do remember one. inkyfreshpress.com (cool name, huh?). The posts also link to a few sites that will make your business cards (I used zazzle).

There are a few more random things that I spent my hard earned cash on, but for now this is all I can handle admitting to hehehe. What about you guys? Have you spent any money on advancing your writing? A little, a lot? What did you spend it on? And most importantly, do you think it was worth the (monetary) cost?

Making time for writing

2010-04-16T16:31:00.000-04:00

Well I got over my negativity from Tuesday. I have been researching online all week about character and plot development. I plan on spending this weekend working on all of that and basically doing what I probably should’ve done before I started writing. I have a little over 21k words written, which is more than I’ve written on one manuscript ever. I don’t want to give up, but I get very frustrated sometimes. Not only is it hard to work a 40 hour week and try to write in your free time, but it’s hard when you’re at your job thinking about how much you hate it and wish you could be at home writing instead (which is what I’m doing *right now*). But I am in debt and paying rent and I can not afford to quit my 9-5, not now or anytime in the foreseeable future.

So what’s left is for me to fit in time for writing somewhere else in my schedule. Which is going to be hard because I already spend a lot of my free time on twitter and blogger, keeping up with new info and tips and blogs and on and on. (Which reminds me, I keep seeing articles being tweeted on how you should blog every day. EVERY DAY? Sure, who needs sleep? Certainly not me!) I don’t watch much tv, but the shows that I do watch, I watch with my boyfriend. And he’s already gotten upset with me, saying that I haven’t been paying enough attention to him since I started “this writing thing.” And I’m not saying that he hasn’t been supportive, because he has. But he wants me to make time for him too, which is completely understandable.

**I now interrupt this blog to say thank you to Heather Sunseri and Katie Lovett who both wrote great blogs that I read today, reminding me why I need to spend less time on the internet (aka the biggest time-suck EVER) and more time doing actual writing.

I'm feeling a little cheerier now and I don't want to waste anymore time complaining, so I’m gonna end this right here. Until next time! :)

Overwhelmed and Underenthused

2010-04-13T16:42:00.000-04:00

I’m having another one of those days when I ask myself if I’m sure that writing is really what I want to do. Yesterday I was reading (for the zillionth time) about how important it is for both established authors and beginner writers to have a “platform” to help market themselves. Twitter, blogger, on and on. How am I supposed to find time to keep on top of that stuff and write my novel while I work a full time 40 hr/week job? People always say you can find more time if you straighten out your priorities and maybe give up a few things. But I don’t have that much to even give up, and the few things I do spend my time doing I don’t want to give up.

I love my boyfriend and I’ve already been spending a lot less time w/ him than usual since I started my novel. I only go out two or three nights a week and I refuse to become a recluse who wont leave her house. And sleep? I need sleep, I love sleep… What it comes down to is I wanna know why I can’t be a writer and still have somewhat of a life? Or more accurately, why *shouldn’t I be able to*?

Yesterday I also spent TWO hours making business cards for myself. First I couldn’t choose a design, then my laptop shut itself off in the middle and I lost everything and had to start over. Then I was fixing fixing fixing because I am a perfectionist. But what I failed to realize during these two hours is that I am putting the cart way before the horse. I have 21k of a first draft written, and I’m concerned with business cards?? Ugh.

Today I started doubting myself and thinking that maybe my WIP sucks. Maybe writing in 1st person POV with two characters both narrating is a bad idea. Maybe I can’t pull it off, considering I am quite a novice. Maybe I should chuck the whole thing… Thankfully my boyfriend talked me out of it, and I decided what I need to do is some character development (which I failed to do when I first started writing, because I hadn’t done any research on how to write yet). But, like I told him, sometimes I feel like I’m just running around in circles getting nowhere fast.

I’m not throwing in the towel just yet, but I need some inspiration or something positive to happen to keep me going. If you've got any to share, please send it my way!

Is it worth it? (Am I meant to be a writer?)

2010-04-08T15:22:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling a little bummed today (possibly b/c I am dieting (again), or maybe b/c I have a huge knot in my upper back and it hurts like hell). For some reason it dawned on me this morning that there are so many writers out there who work hard every day at getting their book written. And so many writers are already published, and no one has ever heard of them. In my internet research the past few months, I've come across blogs & websites from authors that have published five, ten, maybe more books. I had never heard the names of these authors before hearing something about them on a writing/publishing advice site. I never saw their books in the bookstore (or even Amazon). I wonder how many more authors are out there that I've never heard of (well, okay, I bet a lot because apparently many people get published).

So what I'm wondering is this: is it worth it? I want it to be, but I just don't know. I work 9-5, Mon - Fri at a job I hate. I am writing with the goal (more like purpose) of getting published and earning enough that I can quit my job and have writing become my "career". But all I keep hearing about is how unlikely that is to happen. Who's going to buy a book by a no-name author they've never heard of? And even if I do sell some books, it probably wont be nearly enough to live off. If I decide to continue writing, I'll have to keep plugging away in the evenings and on weekends, while still stuck doing a job I hate.

On the other hand, I could go back to school in the fall for my bookeeping degree. Then my free time would be devoted to studying, and I'd really have no time for writing. Bookeeping isn't really what I want to do for the rest of my life, but it's probably a lot easier to make a career out of that than writing.

And another thing. I always see quotes about writers having stories inside them that need to come out. Writers NEED to write, they couldn't bear not writing. But I don't feel that way. I enjoy it, sure, or I wouldn't bother. But if I couldn't do it, I'd survive. I don't have stories inside of me that are dying to come out. I find it difficult to make up stories, hard to figure out what comes next. Maybe I'm not cut out for writing after all. I'm just totally and completely unsure of myself today...

Interested in new writer's communities?

2010-03-30T21:49:00.001-04:00

Being new to the writing biz, I'm always interested in learning more. I love when I find a website or blog that teaches me something new, or a site where writers can get together and share their knowledge. I've recently joined 3 writer's community sites that I really enjoy, so I figured I'd give them a plug here (even though I only have 5 blog followers at the moment, but hopefully more people will stumble upon this entry eventually). Check them out, one (or all!) of them might be just what you've been looking for...

1) Savvy Authors
This site deals mostly with the romance genre, but there's plenty of good information for everyone. There are blogs posted by authors with tips and advice. They also offer a ton of workshops that will be going on over the next few months and most are free for members (membership is $30/year). I am a member and I enjoy their perks, but there's plenty you can do on their site for free as well.

2) Inkwell
I only joined this site a few days ago, but it seems to have a lot going on. There are a ton of conversations going on, and many different forums (YA, paranormal, picture books, etc). to choose from.

3) SFR Brigade
That's Science Fiction Romance, which is probably how I'd categorize my WIP. This is a very new group and they're hoping to carve a niche in the SF writing world. If you're into sci-fi and/or romance, definitely check them out.

4) Writer's Digest Community
OK, this one isn't new, but I figured I'd put it out there anyway. Like Inkwell, there are different forums and blogs full of useful information. It's definitely worth a look

Well "Lost" is on now so I've gotta split, but I hope you give these sites a try. If you do check them out, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Until next time!

You may ask yourself - "How did I get here?"

2010-03-26T11:38:00.000-04:00

I've probably said (typed) this already, but I only began seriously writing and researching the publishing world a few months ago (end of Dec/beginning of Jan). I've always been an avid reader, and when I was younger I wrote lots of stories. As I got older I wrote some poetry, but it definitely wasn't my best work! Unfortunately, I did very little writing in my 20s. I have a few failed nanowrimos to my name, but thats about all. Then I had - hmmmm, what would you call it? Is 31 too old for a quarter-life crisis? (I guess so considering I doubt I'll live to reach 124.) It's too young for a mid-lfe crisis though (at least I hope so!). A crisis of faith? A career crisis? I don't know, but whatever it was, it made me decide I had to make a change in my life. Not only do I hate my job, but I hate my career path. I'm a 31 (almost 32) year old administrative assistant. Yeah, that's something to brag about at the 15 year high school reunion! I hate taking orders from people and being treated like a peon. It's seriously a horrible job (unless you enjoy being bossed around by people who think they're better than you).

The first idea I came up with was not "become a writer", though. No, my brilliant plan was to go back to school to be a psychologist! Despite not even having my bachelors degree, I decided I should go get my masters in psych! I spent all of last summer researching careers in psych, reading books, looking at graduate schools (cart before the horse much?!?) and so on. I was deluded in thinking I could tolerate taking night classes for the next 4 or 5 years while working full time to pay the bills (not to mention after that I'd have to go to grad school - if I could even get in - full time so I wouldn't be able to work & then how the hell would I make any money???). I was absolutely insane in thinking this was the road I should take. I guess I figured since I've always been interested in how minds work (especially criminal or insane ones), I should pursue a career in pyschology. My first night of school was at the end of August 09 and I was signed up for two classes. All it took was a few hours of listening to professors talking about what they expected from the class for me to decide I did NOT want to do this. No way, no how. Too much school, too much money (student loans etc), too much time and way too much work.

I've always answered those "what is your dream job?" questions with "(novel) author". But when I answered those questions, I hadn't actually done any serious writing yet. Like I said, my 20s were pretty much just a waste of 10 years (which really bothers me considering how much I could've accomplished if I'd picked something to do with my life back then, but that's another story for another time). The thought of actually attempting to make a career out of writing wasn't something I'd considered a possibility. Even now I know that it's still a long shot, but I'm tired of working at jobs I hate all day and only dreaming about doing what I love! Dreaming isn't doing, and you can't succeed until you try. So even if I don't end up getting published (ever *sob*), at least I can say I tried, I gave it my best shot. At least I didn't waste away my 30s like I did my 20s. At least I put effort into something intstead of letting time just pass me by.

And that's how I got to where I am now. It's not quite where I want to be yet, but I hope that with hard work and perseverence, I can get to that place eventually. Cross your fingers for me.

~Meghan

random late night post

2010-03-20T23:20:00.000-04:00

I've been sitting at my dining room table, working on my writing for the past two hours. Usually I sit on my comfy couch or ikea chair when I'm home, but tonight my boyfriend has two friends over and they're watching t.v. in the living room. My laptop was off, so all I had was some print-outs of character sheets, novel worksheets, etc., and the latest version of my ms (currently a little less than 16k words). The main problem with my WIP so far is that I didn't do a damn bit of plot outlining before I started. I had a main idea and I just ran with it. So about 5k words ago I started to run out of steam. I read some blogs and writing tips online, and realized that my WIP was missing a very important thing - conflict.

I'm sure you can imagine how bad a novel without conflict could be. I mean, there's a background conflict (there are some good aliens on earth, and some not-so-good ones), but when it comes to the main characters there wasn't a real reason why the two of them couldn't / shouldn't get together. I sat here, thinking (as opposed to websurfing!!!), and was able to expand on smaller ideas I had in passing about the story. And I was able to write down a pretty good synopsis of the story. Granted it's still WAY early in the process and a lot can change, but at least now I have something to come back to if I run out of steam again. I have a plan, an idea of where to go next. I may decide I don't like it, I may change it or delete it or add a bunch of new crap to it, but I do have a guideline.

I thought I was a "pantser" (people who write without an outline, "by the seat of their pants") but I realize I need to at least have some idea of my beginning, middle, and end. I don't think I'll ever be the kind of person who will outline every chapter before I start my first draft, and I think that's ok. But I definitely think it's smart to have SOME idea of where I want my story to go. Maybe that's why I've never gotten that far in a ms before, because I've always just started writing with a vague idea or concept. I think the furthest I've gotten was around 11k before giving up. I am really hoping I can do it this time. I want to succeed, I want to have a passion, and I want to have something I can be proud of. And there's no time like the present to get started on it...

Going nowhere fast

2010-03-16T15:03:00.000-04:00

Today I got a nice reminder that I am still very, very far from the completion of my novel. This man I work with asked me if I was writing a novel and I said yes (although I don’t remember ever mentioning it to him, because there were only two people at my job that I shared personal things with – one quit and the other just got fired). He asked me how much I’d written so far and I told him 16,000 words. He told me to “dumb it down” for him and tell me how many pages I’d written, so I said 26. “Oh, so you’re still just starting!” he said. I nodded and smiled, but I felt like I’d just gotten slapped.

Some people take five years to write a novel so I suppose I shouldn’t pressure myself. But I do feel like I’m not writing fast enough, or more to the point I’m not spending enough time each day on my writing. I started my WIP in January (give or take, I can’t remember the exact date I began the story) and it’s now the middle of March. If I had pushed myself to write 1,000 words a day starting Jan 1st, I would have a 90k novel by March 31. Even if I’d only written 500 words a day, I’d be at 45k by then, which is a hell of a lot better than the 16k I’m at now.

I told myself I wanted to have a finished manuscript by my birthday. Not a complete ms, as in written, edited, re-read and double checked by someone else. Just a first draft, preferably one with “the end” on the last page. Well, my birthday is less than two months away (May 12) so the chances of that happening are pretty slim. I’ve been hoping to get laid off for months now so I can collect unemployment and finally get to spend my days doing something I enjoy doing, but considering I’m the only bookkeeper in my department it’s pretty unlikely. Which means I’m stuck spending 9-5, Mon – Fri at a job that drains the life out of me so by the time I get home I am too exhausted (mentally and physically) to get much (if any) writing done. I have the weekends free of course, but somehow something always gets in the way (cleaning, taking the dog out if it’s nice, etc etc).

What I need is something or someone to kick my ass into gear! I need motivation and energy, but both are very hard to find for me. I haven’t had many successes in my life and I think I have subconsciously gotten used to settling for being mediocre. I think maybe I’m subconsciously trying to fail because I don’t know what it’s like to succeed and I’m scared of change. I wonder if I have what it takes to become an author. Because I know now that it takes a whole lot more than just writing a story. Editing, querying, searching for agents, most likely doing more revisions after finding an agent. It sounds very overwhelming, and I get stressed easily. I want to do this, I want to make this happen. But how do I get past these worries and distractions, and concentrate on just getting the writing done?

Reality bites...

2010-03-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

In case you didn’t read my last blog (which you probably didn’t cuz I don’t think anyone reads my blog!!!!), I wrote about not being sure if I’d get to go on my vacation because of the blizzard that hit NY last Thursday night into Friday. It was nothing short of a miracle, but my boyfriend and I did manage to get out of NY thanks to jetblue. Every other carrier had cancelled all their flights except big blue. To make a long story short, we got bussed to another airport (which was only 20 min away), sat on the runway for 2 hours while they de-iced the plane and did whatever else they had to do, & we eventually took off at 9 am (the flight was supposed to leave at 6, but considering we left during a snow storm, a 3 hr wait wasn’t that bad). Once we got above the storm, the flight was smooth sailing, and my boyfriend and I had no problem making it to our cruise ship on time.

The boat (Carnival Imagination) was nice but I got serious motion sickness the first night. I was dizzy and nauseous, and even the pill they gave me didn’t help much. The rest of the trip was fine though. The weather in the Bahamas on Saturday was beautiful, it was definitely the best day of the trip. The cruise got back to FL on Monday and then we spent the night at the Clevelander in South Beach. (Has anyone stayed there since they remodeled last year? The bathroom “door” is actually two see-through, blue tinted sliding doors that meet in the middle. Very odd.) We headed home Tuesday evening and yesterday it was back to reality.

While I was gone, my crappy job fired a woman I was friendly with, I’ll call her R. She’d been with the company for a while, at least 3 years, maybe longer. She’s been sick lately, she had bronchitis and walking pneumonia so last week she took the whole week off (doctor’s orders). On top of that, her granddaughter (who is only SIX years old) was diagnosed with leukemia about a month ago so obviously R’s had a really hard time with that. Apparently R went into work this Monday, and the 2 fired her, saying that she couldn’t “keep up with the workload.” The worst part about it was that this had obviously been in the works for some time, because R’s replacement came in less than an hour after she got axed. They somehow managed to keep it so hidden that no one in my department had seen it coming... Job security? Not at my company!!!

Also since I’ve been back, I managed to pull a muscle in my upper back (I have a lot of neck and back problems, but I felt absolutely fine while I was on vacation of course) and I’ve had two migraines in the last 18 hours or so. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!... Oh and on top of all that, my nemesis received four manuscript requests from the queries she’s been sending over the past month or so. Despite everything I’ve read about editors/agents taking forever to get back to queries, and that lots of writers get a zillion rejections before something good happens, she’s gotten 4 requests already. Way to make me feel even more behind the 8 ball… So on that happy note, I will put an end to this boring post. ‘Till next time!

~Meghan

When bad things happen to good people (or if I miss this cruise because of snow, my head will explode)

2010-02-23T14:39:00.000-05:00

I was contemplating writing a good blog today, maybe something about my nemesis getting three (positive) query replies already and how I want to strangle her for it. Or something about my own lack of motivation to just SIT AND WRITE. I wasted 20 minutes last night searching for a Windows equivalent of Freedom, which only works on Macs. (F*ck you, Apple. Yeah I said it. I don’t believe in monopolies, but I also don’t believe in programs made for one OS but not another.) Freedom is an awesome program that can block your internet usage for a certain amount of time. So say if I want to write from 7 to 8 pm every night without distractions, I could set it to not let me on the internet during that time. No distractions from twitter or facebook or any other site. Of course there IS no windows equivalent, which angered me. A lot.

But I can’t concentrate on any of those things right now because I am in fear that my vacation this weekend will be ruined by snow. My boyfriend and I are supposed to land in Ft. Lauderdale, FL around 12:50 pm on Friday, and leave on a cruise from the Port of Miami at 4:00 pm. They (moron weather-people) are talking about significant snow on Thursday, which means anything from it could rain on Thurs and snow on Fri, it could snow another 12-18 inches any time between tomorrow and Fri, or we could get nothing. With meteorologists, you never know.

What I do know is that if our flight is delayed more than an hour or two, chances are we will not make our cruise (yes I know we should’ve given ourselves more time in between, but neither of us have been on a cruise before and we didn’t take flight delays into account because… well I guess we just weren’t thinking!). I need a vacation so badly right now. I know everyone says that, but I really mean it. I am at my wits end with my job (hate it, especially my boss), with this sh*tty weather, and with feeling stressed all the time. If this vacation is ruined, it is possible my blood pressure will reach numbers never before seen.

The worst part about it is there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t control the weather, I can’t force the plane to take off on time, I can’t make the cruise ship wait for us if our flight is delayed. All I can do is HOPE (if I prayed I’d do that instead, but I don’t). I hate where there’s nothing I can do about a situation. Don’t you? I hate feeling helpless, I guess I am somewhat of a control freak. I don’t so much try to control people, but I need to feel in control of situations. Being not in control makes me mad.

OK I’ve babbled enough. Please cross your fingers, do a rain dance (rain is ok, snow is not), anything to send the good vibes my way. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to actually blog about writing!!!!

~Meghan

My nemesis is mailing out queries

2010-02-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

While facebook stalking my ex-friend earlier, I learned (from her latest status update of course) that she's begun mailing out query letters to agents. I, on the other hand, have barely 10k words of my first draft written. And no, it's not all about her. And yes, I know no good can come of comparing what she has done / can do to what I have done / can do. Her story might blow chunks and get rejected 200 times. Or it might get published in six months and land on the NY Times best seller list. Either way, it won't have any effect what happens with my story. It wont make the chances of me finishing and publishing my novel any better or worse. But still, it's a little depressing that she's so far ahead of me (and yes, I know it's not a race).

I was talking to a girl at my job today and telling her about how I've been writing lately. She asked me how much I'd done so far and I told her I'd written 10,000 words. Her response was "Only 10,000?" Seriously?!?!? I have a job, a boyfriend, a dog and occasionally even a life!!!!! I don't think she comprehends how hard 10,000 words is to write! Not to mention she's younger than me and she has a lot more energy! She can handle working all day & then taking night classes 5 days a week. I would not be able to do that. I would absolutely love to have more energy, because 99% of the time I am tired. Sometimes just a teeny bit tired, sometimes completely exhausted (even in the middle of the day). But I struggle with it 24/7/365 (and yes, I've had a lot of medical tests done and no, the doctors can't seem to figure out a reason for it) which makes it even harder for me to write as much as I'd like to.

On that note, I am off to drive my boyfriend to the bar. I could hang out there with him, but unfortunately I'm too tired and I'd rather go to bed early (it's 9:20 on a Friday night). Until next time...

~Meghan

Snowed in (or why I hate New York)

2010-02-10T13:34:00.000-05:00

Every winter I get depressed. I hate the cold, and I despise the snow. Today we are getting our first really bad storm. We got 4-5 inches a month or so ago (it was worse for the east end but luckily I'm on the west), but it melted pretty quickly and everything went back to normal. Right now, parts of Long Island already have anywhere from 2 to 8 inches of snow, and the worst of the storm is yet to come. There is a blizzard warning in effect until 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. Thankfully my office closed today, but I am already concerned about what the roads are going to be like tomorrow morning if the snow doesn't end 'till daybreak. *sigh*

I want out of New York, but unfortunately my boyfriend doesn't want to leave. We've been dating for a little over three years and we just finally moved in together two months ago. Not to mention my whole family is here, my friends and everything I know. I've lived in the same town for my entire life, I never even flew on a plane until two years ago when I finally went to Florida (which I loved). But I've had enough of this weather. I hate it. I want to sit outside and be warm, feel the sun shining on my face. I want to be able to walk my dog without having to wear a coat and gloves. I just can't stand the winters here anymore. Not to mention, where the f*ck is this global warming they've been bitching about for years? Cuz it sure as hell aint in New York. (I tend to use bad grammar when I'm angry.)

I hope this is the only big storm of the winter. They are projecting 8 - 14+ at the moment. I don't ever want to see that much snow, and if I have to see it today then once had better be enough. I am cold and sad and tired, and I'm sick of it.

Winter, you F*CKING SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stupid Jersey Shore!!!!

2010-02-07T19:26:00.001-05:00

I wish I knew why I get so addicted to these dumb "reality" t.v. shows. I resisted this show (and made fun of it) for SO long, until a few weeks ago. I was at a friend's house who also had never seen the show, so she decided to turn it on and see what it was all about. It was like a train wreck - it's so horrible that you don't want to watch, but you also can't seem to turn your eyes away. Then this morning I was flipping channels while lying on the couch w/ my boyfriend, and guess what's on! The Jersey Shore marathon! I told myself I'd only watch ONE episode, and then I'd shower, and begin my day of writing my @ss off. Well, I'm sure you can guess how that ended! MTV was on my television until the marathon ended at 6 pm. I did manage to do a little work on my writing during the commercial breaks which is good! But certainly not as much as I'd hoped to get done today!

It seems like I get so absorbed by what complete strangers on t.v. are doing that I just want to know what happens next. I guess that relates to why I enjoy reading; I start learning about and relating to certain characters and then I just can't put the book down. I've spent whole days doing nothing but reading a book because I have to know what happens before I can go out! How does it end? Does the couple stay together or break up? Do the friends stop their fighting, or become mortal enemies?

Right after the marathon ended, I websurfed for a while and saw a clip from the reunion show where Sammi & Ronnie end it. I, of course, don't believe it's really over! So I went searching for info on them (as a couple, not separately), but I didn't find much. Sammi has a twitter page, but it seems like Ronnie doesn't. Oh well.

Anyway, enough of this rambling. Technically I am writing right now, but I'm not working on my novel and that is what I need to go do! My boyfriend is at a superbowl party so I have the apartment to myself, there's no better time to get the writing done! So ta ta for now... oh and if anyone knows the Sammi/Ronnie scoop, leave me a comment, wouldya? ;-)

I will be writing my @ss off this weekend!

2010-02-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

One of the blogs I follow (and really enjoy) - editorial ass - is promoting "write your @ss off weekend", where you choose one day this weekend (Friday - Monday) to spend eight hrs on your writing. It's kinda like nanowrimo, except there's no crazy goal number that you have to reach, and you don't have to be anti-social for thirty days straight, just one! I have picked Sunday as my day, b/c my boyfriend will be going to his friend's superbowl party and I personally couldn't care less about either team that made it to the big game. My plan for Sunday is to follow my usual routine (sleep in, have my plain bagel w/ butter and my mocha frappucino, and go through the circulars and cut coupons) and then jump into writing, hopefully by noon(ish). Cross your fingers for me!

~Meghan

P.S. If you fiind my blog even a teeny bit interesing, please follow me! I'm totally new to the blogging world and could use all the help I can get! :)

Time for Plan B

2010-02-03T15:15:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my boyfriend earlier about something that happened at his job that bothered him. He said to me "I guess it's time for plan B" and I agreed. It made me realize that it's time for plan B for me as well. Or, more appropriately, time to make plan B my plan A. Because my current plan A - stay at this job that I dread going to every day with a boss I can't stand - is just not working out. For too long I've stayed at jobs I can barely tolerate because I haven't been able to figure out what else to do with myself. For a brief period I thought going back to school for psychology might be the "thing" I should do, but after ONE night in class I realized I'd been fooling myself. I've never enjoyed school that much, and I'd have to get a masters degree to get anywhere in the psych field, and I don't even have my bachelors degree (not even CLOSE).

Writing has always had a place (far) in the back of my mind, and I think I finally realize why I've never really pursued it in the past. Because it takes WORK. Lots and lots of work. And, sad to say, I am not a highly motivated person. I see the quick and easy way working for other people and wonder why I can't be as lucky as them. Not just the making decent money part, but the finding some kind of enjoyment in their job part. I go into to work each morning and I only have one goal for the day: make it until 5:00 so I can get out of there and go home.

I don't want to live like this anymore. I don't want to feel stuck doing something I don't find the least bit interesting or important. I am not cut out to be an administrative assistant, and I can't stand being bossed around by holier-than-thou higher ups who can't be bothered making a photocopy for themselves. I've figured out that there is no "easy way" for me (unless I win the lotto, which would be pretty hard to do considering I don't even play). I have to be strong, buckle down and tackle my goal. I have to work for what I want in life. My ex-plan B, my new plan A: write that freaking novel already!

~Meghan

My First Blog

2010-02-01T20:13:00.004-05:00

So here I am, starting a blog. (Okay, this is technically my second attempt at blogging, my first failed miserably when I wrote one post (in April '09) on my blog and then never went back. I'm hoping this time will be different obviously!) I'm never quite sure how to "introduce myself" on these sort of things. It's sort of like filling out one of those eharmony or match.com profiles, which I always used to hate doing. But instead of giving you useless information like my favorite song or what I do for fun, I'll try to get right to the point.

At the age of thirty-one years and eight months (but who's counting?), I finally decided it was time to follow my dream of being a published author. I've always loved to read and write, and I've always been a very fast reader. Unfortunately, I'm not as fast at writing. I also haven't actually finished writing a story since I was in 6th or 7th grade. In high school I wrote mostly poetry (most of which was pretty bad to be honest) and then there was a good five to ten year span where I didn't write much of anything at all. I attempted nanowrimo a few times but never managed to get past 11k words before giving up.

This time I am not giving up. I'll admit that one of the reasons I decided that this time I will accomplish my goal actually has nothing to do with writing. It has to do with... hmmmm I can't think of the right word. It's not exactly jealousy, but it is close. Hatred and contempt sound too harsh. Resentment maybe? Whatever you want to call it, what it comes down to is that a few months ago I found out that my EX-friend just wrote a novel herself. When we were both in high school and even in college we both spent a lot of time talking about writing (and reading), but neither one of us actually did anything with it. But apparently she got laid off from her job last fall and somehow managed to bang out a manuscript in a month or so.

Now before anyone says "you have to want to do it for you" or some other self-helpish type crap, I already know that. And I do want to do it for me. But I don't think there's anything wrong with using the fact that she did something that I've always wanted to do before I did it to help motivate me along the way! I will admit that I facebook stalk her (the dumb bitch ignored my friend request last year, but she doesn't have her profile hidden) sometimes to see if she's posted any new info about her book (she's presently working on her query letter which she's having a tough time with). And actually, I could probably make a novel based on some crazy things that went on between us during our 10+ years of friendship. But instead I think I'll save those stories for the occasional blog entry on here (when I'm not blogging about writing of course).

Here's some other things you might wanna know about me and my writing:

I am currently working on a story about a girl who falls in love with an alien (it's actually a lot more complicated than that but I'll worry about it when it gets to be synopsis time). I have currently have 4,775 words, which means I have a LONG way to go
I am taking an online writing class by Holly Lisle (if you like to write and you've never heard of her, definitely check out her website, she's got a ton of info) called "How to Think Sideways". I'm only on week 3 of the 24 week class (& I haven't done my assignment yet for week 2 lol) so I can't really give an opinion on it just yet, but if anyone has questions about it, feel free to ask me
I work full-time so I don't get as much time to write as I'd like. When I'm not at work, I try to balance my time between writing, internet surfing (mostly checking out blogs and other websites about writing/publishing), hanging with my boyfriend, friends, family, and dog, watching a few t.v. shows I can't live without (House, Fringe, Lost & Grey's Anatomy to name a few), reading books about writing, and sleep (which I need way too much of unfortunately!).
I plan on blogging mostly about my writing, or about interesting things I've learned on other writing sites. But there'll most likely be random rants thrown in, and I'll probably share some stories about the bitch (since I don't want to use her real name, I'll just call her Bitch lol) and I when I feel like writing but can't think of anything else to write about

Well I think that about covers it for now. I promise I'll try to get more interesting as my posts go on. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know! Until next time...

~Meghan