Edited to Within an Inch of my Life

Wanted Posters Contest: Because Wouldn't That Make Querying Easier?!

2012-02-01T11:47:00.004-05:00

So, I've been thinking. (**A dangerous pastime. I know.)

I've been thinking about a couple of systems which are inherently flawed.

They are the querying and submission processes--the systems which stand between us and publication. (unless, of course, we take a different route altogether--which is a whole 'nother blog post!)

The idea of cold-querying a million agents, one by one, without knowing what kind of project they really want to work on, is, in a word, crazy.

I mean, sure they say on their website that they like YA fantasy. But would they like a contemporary YA fairy tale where the main character's friends turn into talking inanimate objects? (I don't know how to make that last sentence not be an oxymoron. LOL) Maybe, maybe not.

We do a ton of work in order to query agents who probably aren't a good fit. We have no way of knowing, at any point, if our novel (or PB) is going to match up perfectly with what an agent is looking to represent, right then.

And, then, agents do this whole process again, submitting to publishers. Hopefully, agents have an idea of what a particular publishing house is looking for at any given point in time, but really, it seems like a shot in the dark. :)

I know, agents and publishers probably don't know exactly what they are looking for until they see it.

But, wouldn't it be great if they did?

WANTED:

A magical novel for the age gap between PB and MG, featuring talking stuffed animals. Must make children belly-laugh, and must have tons of heart.

(Seriously, have you guys read TOYS GO OUT and TOYS COME HOME? So awesomely sweet!)

WANTED:

A fantastical adventure featuring a no-nonsense twelve-year-old girl, whose job is to keep the peace when quarrels and fights erupt in magical lands. Must include cantankerous unicorns and Prince Charming as a lamb.

WANTED:

A YA novel featuring a headstrong girl who wishes only to be surgically altered into being pretty on her sixteenth birthday. You know, like everyone else. Must make her choose between her deepest desire, and the survival of her friends.

Pretty cool, huh?

So, should we have some fun??!!

(What kind of question is that??)

Your challenge, should you chose to accept it, is to create your own wanted poster. With a Want Ad which reads vaguely like a query (see examples above).

You CAN use a book already published by another author (like I did above), but how awesome would it be to use a book which you are interested in querying, or a book of yours which is coming out soon? So awesome!

Here is the site I used to make my Wanted Posters: http://www.glassgiant.com/wanted/

LET THE CONTEST BEGIN!

Here's how you do it:

1. Create a Wanted Poster and Want Ad. Feel free to use the link above, or not. Creativity Matters.
2. Post your creation on your blog or website, with a link back to my blog. Feel free to include the Linky List on your blog post.
3. Enter your link in the linky list below.
4. Do this, before the contest ends Friday, February 17th at midnight EST.

That's really it. But there are some extras:

5. +1 Extra credit for following this blog, tweeting the contest, or figuring out what movie the **quote is from above (there is a clue within the blog post).
6. +10 Extra credit for GETTING AN AGENT OR PUBLISHER TO POST A WANT AD. (Because wouldn't that make querying easier?!)
7. Make sure to leave me a comment here stating your total points for extra credit.

WHAT YOU WIN:

The BEST Want Ad and Wanted Poster created by a writer, will earn them their choice of book from the three wanted posters above OR any other books featured in a WANT AD on this blog during the course of the challenge (if you want your published book featured as a prize, please email me).

The BEST Want Ad and Wanted Poster created by an agent or publisher will earn them queries which fit their deepest desire. :)

Sigh, I can't go a couple of months without creating a convoluted and crazy contest, now can I?

Follow the tweets: I'm using the hashtag #WantedPosterContest to give love to all the entries!

The One, The Only...The MANY...oh, and the boots that I will buy when I am published :)

2012-01-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

My most hated advice, which professional writers give not-yet-professional writers ALL THE TIME, is that it takes four or five (or more) written novels under your belt in order to write The One.

I hear this advice all the time. Write a novel. And then write another. And then another. And then, maybe, maybe, if you've grown enough as a writer, that fourth or fifth novel might be The One.

And, the kicker is--I AGREE with this horrible advice. I agree wholeheartedly. The only way to learn to write a kick-a$$ novel is to do it a few times.

The reason why I hate this advice? Because in order for you to grow as a writer (I feel, anyway), you need to write each novel AS IF IT IS THE ONE.

I mean, why else would you spend endless hours away from your family, your friends, your laundry? To slave over your practice novel? No, it has to be The One, in order for you to be All In.

And, if you're not All In, then I don't believe that you are going to learn what you need to in order to get to the next level.

Every novel that you work on needs to be The One.

And, then, when it isn't, you have to put it away, and become THAT ENGAGED in The Next One.

For the love of Pete.

What an incredibly painful process.

We talk about the rejection of submission all the time. Someone else rejecting our own precious works. But before we even get to that process, many times, we have already rejected our works.

I have secret hopes for my first three The Ones. Secret hopes that those novels will go off and become books. I love those books--and deep down, I believe that I can revise (or rewrite) those The Ones until they work.

But not until I finish with my current The One.

My fourth The One.

My first novel was a Middle Grade adventure. I still hold that one dear to my heart, even though it would take a complete rewrite to get that sucker up to par. I love the concept, I love that it was set in Spain, I love the twists and turns and energy. These were the boots which I promised myself I would buy when I published that The One:

Santiago Walking Boots from National Geographic dot com.

Still waiting to get those boots.

My second The One, was a wonderfully magical middle grade novel. It's very possible that with what I know now about my writing, I could go back and fix that one. It was The One for a few years.

This sweet, glittery, youthful high top would be perfect for my starry second novel. Unfortunately, Skechers only makes it for kids.

My third The One was an adventurous NaNo novel. I have yet to revise that one at all, so it hasn't really gotten the chance it deserves. I have high hopes for returning to that novel. It's fun, zany, and humorous.

These boots are perfect for interstellar, other worldly adventures, don't you think? From CosplayBoots dot com.

I am positive that my current work-in-progress is The One. I have to be--how else would I give it my all? It is a YA with cyberpunk elements.

Let's hope that you see me sporting these tough thigh high boots sometime soon! :)

Although, by the end of my book, one of my MC might wear these:

Love these Ameile boots!

Maybe I'll let you guys vote, when that book comes to publication, over which boots I should get. :)

What do you promise that you will do for yourself, when you complete the painstaking process of completing a novel and getting it published? How many The Ones have you set aside? Do you think you will go back to them? Do you send all your The Ones out into the world, or do you reject them before they get there? Do you think the ability to self-publish has changed this process? Has it changed the process for you?

Which boots are your favorite? Feel free to share a link to some boots (or shoes) which you have been drooling over. :)

On the Row80 front, I had a down week last week for keeping up with my goals. However, I did plot out the next 19 scenes that I am working on, so that is definitely awesome. I want to get back to logging in my two hours of writing a day, get back into hosting the Practice Room, and start writing down my progress again.

The great thing is that I continue to make progress on this The One. :)

What goals do you have for your writing week?

Don't Fix Me

2012-01-24T10:23:00.001-05:00

I had a friend who would always give me advice**.

When I'd say: Urgh, laundry is piling up at home. It's such a pain. I just can't keep up with it.

She'd tell me: What you need to do, is do a load every day. And put it away as soon as it's done. That's what I do.

Let's take a closer look.

What I really said: I have a tough time balancing what I want to do (write) with what I need to do (everything else). I wish there was a way to magically get all the work done so I can focus on my writing career. Unless I find a cleaning fairy, and trick her into being my personal servant, I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and do the house work. But only when I have to. :)

What she really said: I am better than you at life. I have my priorities straight, and get everything done. I won't let anyone see that sometimes I'm not in control of my life. I will reach down (from my pedestal) and try to lift you up to my standards.

Okay, now clearly, my friend probably didn't mean to say this. But by always telling me how I should do things, that was what she was communicating. That she was better at something than me. Not that I had my own way that should be respected. Not that I should be enjoyed in spite of (or because of--gasp--) all my laundry flaws. And, not that she was going to support me through my laundry crisis.

But that she was going to fix it.

Fix me.

This is not to say that I don't want expertise. I WANT expertise. If you know how to fix my computer, and can show me how, that's super awesome. In fact, if anyone out there knows how to fix a dryer which won't spin, PLEASE tell me!!

But don't fix me.

I have some wonderful crit partners. They are tough. Very tough on my WIPs. They tell me what works, what doesn't. They tell me which parts pulled them out from the book, made their thoughts wander. Sometimes they tell me I'm crazy.

But they don't try to fix the crazy.

They don't say: Your main character should do this... or, I would write it like this...

They do say: In chapter two, the goal of your main character isn't clear. That pulled me out of the scene.

It's a fine line, I know.

But the perspective of the first example is that they know what is best for my story, for ME, and they will pull me up and teach me what it is. Which is awfully presumptuous. And a little jerky.

The perspective of the second example is that they are there to support me to make my writing better. In fact, if you read between the lines, they are confident that I know the solution, and can make the scene better.

Which may be true, or might not be true. If it's not, then because of that awesome critique, I now know what the issue is. And if I have an issue in one work, it's probable that I have a similar issue in another work. And I need to figure out what the fix is, or if I need to do some craft related research, so I can learn how to fix it. But it's mine to fix.

Don't fix me.

Don't fix my writing.

I love this quote:

Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what's wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong. ~ Neil Gaiman

But, seriously, about the dryer--anyone?

How do you go about crits? How do you quiet your voice when it says to you, "if this was my work, I would write it this way..."?

What type of crit do you find most helpful? Have you had bad experiences with critiques? Good experiences? Do you let people know ahead of time what type of feedback works for you?

Update on ROW80--I lost sight of my goals for a few days. I could use the excuse of a laundry crisis, but I won't. I'm spending the day chatting with a crit partner, and getting back on track. How are you doing with your goals?

**I hope all of my friends aren't cringing over the time that they gave me laundry advice. I would love to hear how you get your laundry done. This particular friend just always told me how to be a better person, and is no longer my friend (not because of that trait alone, but I have to say that not being her friend makes my life much better). :) Also, if she were as cute as that kitten, I would have probably suffered through the advice!

Writing Outside Of The Comfort Zone

2012-01-16T11:23:00.001-05:00

Sometimes we all need to live outside of our comfort zone.

My favorite church service of the entire year isn't Christmas, or Easter, or any of the "big" Christian holidays.

It's the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day.

Yesterday.

For the past 13 years, my Congregational church has been coming together with our sister church, an African Methodist Episcopal church, in the hour which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dubbed 'the most segregated hour in America'. Sunday morning, the church hour.

Why is this outside of my comfort zone?

Well, because it is two races coming together, deliberately, because we are aware of segregation. Aware of the wage gaps. Aware of racism. We come together because of and in spite of these things. They are in the room with us.

In this room, I am very aware of my whiteness.

We have made an issue of our color, and have made an issue that it is still an issue.

We sing "We will overcome," while crossing our hands over our chests, and then clasped in the hands of the person next to us. Our passings of the Peace are hugs, not handshakes. We mingle together over sandwiches and prayers, balloons, and cake.

On the day before Martin Luther King day, we pledge to make that time the least segregated hour in America, by joining our two church communities. We form bonds and friendship which last all year long.

We continue to overcome.

And for one day, we create the world we wish that our world was.

As writers, we do this all day long. Create and recreate the world.

What responsibility do we have to use our words? What impact do we want to make on our world? What can we achieve, if we each write deliberately?

If we leave our comfort zone?

I remember reading Heinlein as a teenager, and loving that the women there were taken just as seriously as the men. These women were strong, intelligent, and treated as such. Reading those books changed something inside of me. I read a world in which I wanted to exist--a world which could exist.

It empowered me.

This responsibility is not just about race relations, but about empowering all individuals to see themselves reflected in our worlds.

Write outside of your comfort zone.

You'll never know how exhilarating it can be, until you try it. :)

Can I get an Amen?

What is your comfort zone? Do you stretch outside of it? Do you see yourself as having some responsibility to write deliberately?

On the goal front, I am loving ROW 80. I love the spirit, and I love that I am making my pledged 2 hours of progress every day. Well, except the weekends. I might have to amend my goal to not include weekends!

How is your progress? What inspires you? Music? Church? Writing outside of your comfort zone?

In The Batcave

2012-01-12T14:08:00.002-05:00

If you need me.

This week, I've been writing. All the time. I'm in the Batcave, churning out my revision and new words. I'm loving the novel and the time I'm spending on it, even though I know it will end shortly. I shouldn't and couldn't keep up this pace. But, in the meantime, I'm enjoying my hibernation.

I hope you have similar creative bursts in your writing life! Do you go through cycles of creativity? Do you ever just give in to those? Do you hole up in the cave when you feel inspiration striking? How often does your muse visit you? Are you keeping up with your ROW 80 goals?

Purple Nose Accountability

2012-01-09T09:15:00.000-05:00

Welcome to this week's Monday Meeting, and Sunday check-in. (I'm only late on one of those counts!!)

I drive around town with a purple nose on the front of my car:

A couple of years ago, my husband decorated my car as a bat for Halloween. Black wings flew from the top, and a the purple nose classed up the bumper. :)

Pretty soon I realized that I enjoyed the purple nose. I like being a bit different, I love the color purple, and most of all, I love that when I pull up in front of the school, my kids know that it is me. They never approach the wrong car.

But, driving around with a purple nose means that I have to be accountable for my driving. People know it's me. I can't drive aggressively, or cut people off. I drive respectively because I can't hide in anonymity.

I feel as though having these goals during the next 80 days, as a part of the ROW 80 community, has given me purple nose accountability. I have to own up to my progress.

So far, so good. I have been using my two hours a day to revise the first 2/3 of my manuscript, looking closely at each scene, with the aid of this Scene and Sequels technique. My friend Marisa gave me the link while in the Practice Room (we'd love to have you there to talk writing--it's great fun). In fact, I need to go and sign up to run a session over there to fulfill this week's goal!

So, I'm basically on track--I've been noting where all my writing and exercising time is going in a daily calendar.

It's really illuminating, and what I spend my time on is as clear as the purple nose on my face.

It's not all coming up lilacs--I couldn't keep up with my writing time over the weekend. Weekends are family time, and I'm going to try to carve out time to write, but if I can't, well, I'll just revise my goals.

How are you keeping yourself accountable? What are you working on this week? Do you have goals? Would you drive around with something weird on your car? Do you have purple nose accountability?

Honk if you see me cruising with my purple nose!

Avocado on My Slipper

2012-01-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, I go through life wondering things. Where's my coffee? (It was on the dryer.) Where's my cell phone? (On a shelf in my clothes closet.) How did I get avocado on my slipper?

Really.

How?

I mean, I can probably figure out the answer to these questions. But I can't remember exactly.
And then I think of the biggest question of all:

How did I get so out of touch with my manuscript?

And, I don't know how, exactly.

There are lots of excuses. I have three active kids. A husband. Commitments with schools and a church. Friends. Family. Holidays. Deaths and illnesses.

But, now that I am a few days into the New Year, a few days into ROW 80, now, I know exactly:

I'm not out of touch with my manuscript.

I have worked for a total of four hours on it, in the last two days. I know exactly what I did during those four hours, and I know exactly what I am going to do the next hours that I devote to writing. I know the time I spent blogging, and the time I spent exercising.

I am writing deliberately.

And because of that, if my MC were to get avocado on her slipper, I will remember exactly how that happened. :)

I am hitting all my writing and exercising goals. I'm excited about that. I'm excited just to know whether or not I am hitting my goals! I'm enjoying keeping track of the time I spend on things. On where my energy goes.

Maybe I'll get to that level of consciousness in my avocado filled life as well.

How are you doing? What crazy things have you done, and then later wonder how that happened? What goals are you working toward, writing or otherwise?

Monday Meeting Accountability

2012-01-02T10:17:00.001-05:00

Grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair. Let's weigh in on what goals we have this week for writing! It's the first Monday Meeting of the New Year! A new year, a new start, for me, an exciting (if not new) project.

This is not a Resolution 2012 post, although I have to say, I loved my Resolution 2011. Last year, I decided that every day that I didn't write, I would donate to the charity, Room to Read. I think I'm going to continue that this year--because even when life got too challenging to write, I knew that my charity benefitted. Last year, I gave over $100 to the charity. :)

Instead of looking at year long goals (although I just made one, didn't I?), right now I am looking at goals for the next 80 days. I am being held accountable to these goals by all the lovely people participating in ROW 80. I'm very excited.

Goals:

1. To track my writing progress. In order to fulfill this goal, I set up a OneNote calendar, where I write down what I do with my writing time. I also started a notebook for each project, so I could have my notes and ideas at my fingertips. I love handwritten calendars and notebooks, but I can never put my hands on them when I need them. So, this way, I keep myself accountable. For instance, right now, I'm logging this time in as blogging time. :)

2. To write each day, either 2 hours, or to a 1K wordcount. I am revising and drafting as I go, so it's not as speedy as fast drafting can be for me. I think this goal will be challenging, but doable. If I don't write each day, my charity will gain a dollar.

3. To host a Practice Room session once a week. I got out of the habit of doing my part in TPR last year, and I feel the loss. I love the Practice Room, and miss it when I write in the library, or places where I can't open the chat room. I invite you all to come and write there as well!

4. To be honest and realistic (with others) about how I want to spend my time. I am dedicating this next 80 days to try to complete my current WIP. I am not including this as a goal--to finish it--because my novels take as long as they take. However, I want my writing time to be used for that purpose. I always have a lot of projects in the wings, some involving other people. I want to make sure that I am dedicated to my focus.

5. To exercise five days a week. I write better when I get moving, and the winter is a time when I sometimes slack off. So, I am pledging not to slack off during this time!

6. To post at least one Friday Feature interview a month. If I had my druthers, I would set the goal to do one per week, but since this involves others, I never know what is going to happen.

Welcome, and let me know some of your goals--for the week, for the next 80 days, for the year. Do you have a fabulous way of keeping accountability? Are you super organized? What methods do you use to track your success? What writing project is keeping you up at nights? Will you meet me in the Practice Room to write?

To ROW or not to ROW (80)

2011-12-30T11:12:00.004-05:00

I'm trying something new this year.

I'm writing competitively in the company of supportive friends.

Hmmm.

"Um, Heather," you might say, "that doesn't sound different from your normal bag of tricks. It sounds like the Tour de Writing."

"Well, the Tour happens only in the summer. This competitive writing project happens all year long." I would reply.

"It also sounds a bit like NaNo." (that's you again. See how I nail your voice? :))

"Well, NaNo is only during November, and some people take issue with the extreme word count goals. During this challenge, you get to set your own goals!"

"So, you're writing with supportive people, like in The Practice Room?"

"Yes, with supportive people, writers who check in with you, and cheer you on. And it goes on all year like TPR. But not in a chat room. Through blog comments, and twitter. I even signed up to be a sponsor, so one of my jobs will be to cheer you on, if you decide to sign up. As always, though, TPR will be a great tool to help me reach my writing goals, and I hope other ROWers stop by to utilize the support there as well!"

Okay, this is starting to sound like a 6th grade skit for Social Studies class. :)

But, I am joining a new supportive writing group, called A Round Of Words in 80 Days. Or, ROW 80.

I popped over by mistake, the first time, thinking that the blog was about a writer who also rows. You know, oars, coxswain, the whole nine yards. It wasn't. :) What a happy accident!

It's a blog about writers setting goals, and trying to hit those goals in 80 days, four separate times a year. Writers check in a couple of times each week, and form a community around reaching their goals. It's a superb idea, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

All you do is check out the sign up post, and sign up on the link list, and go from there.

This next round starts on Monday, January 2nd. Perfect if you are resolutioning, perfect if you aren't.

I love supportive writing, don't you??

Come join me, and let me know that you are, in my comments, so I know who's up for the challenge. I'll be following #ROW80 in the twitter feeds as well.

I hope your holidays are going well. Did you get any good gifts? Are you raving the New Year in? Will you join me in a round of ROW 80??

If I can hit my goal while writing like this:

Then you can too!!

Eating My Words

2011-12-22T08:52:00.000-05:00

I love the sparkles of the holiday season--lights are all aglow at our house. Cowgirl, my daughter, especially threw a lot of gusto into decking the halls. Or at least into decking the Christmas tree.

Which was why she found it so disturbing that tree ornaments started appearing randomly around the house.

Pip and Jelly, our hooligan kittens, were treating the tree as their very own toy hanger.

I reassured my daughter. I said, "It's okay. If we move the ornaments up high, the kittens won't be able to reach them, and everything will be safe."

Per usual, I had to eat my words.

Doesn't she look smug?

I'm hoping to eat other, more yummy things as well this holiday season. I'm especially thinking about cheesecake. Although if eating words would make me more productive with writing, I'd be up for that as well.

Thanks to all who made last week's Friday Feature fun. Happy holidays to all, I hope you like my gift to you, images of a cat in a tree. :)

Not inspired yet? Okay. Just for you, I'll throw in an extra cat, and a falling star:

Menaces, my kittens.

I wish you peace during this holiday season!

Friday Feature: Journeys Toward Publication and Beyond: Daniel McInerny's Kingdom of Patria

2011-12-16T09:14:00.006-05:00

Welcome to today's Friday Feature interview. Today I am pleased to introduce Daniel McInerny. Daniel not only self-published his book, but he also launched a kingdom!

The Kingdom of Patria went live on November first, and Daniel is here today to tell us about all the ins and outs of launching an amazing website and book.

Go ahead, and click over to Patria, we'll wait!

Now, sit back, enjoy the interview, and make sure to pose a question in the comment section--Daniel will be by later to answer any commoner's questions about his kingdom!

Welcome, Daniel. I first saw your enticing website when I clicked over from a tweet. And I have to say, I think it is excellent. Definitely draws in readers of all ages.

The keystone of your kingdom is the first book of the “Patria” series of humorous middle grade adventures, Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits. Tell us about it.

My pleasure!

When Oliver Stoop, age 11, moves with his family to a remote piece of land in northern Indiana, he soon discovers that someone is already living there—an entire kingdom of someones, in fact. These are the good citizens of Patria, a secret land founded by refugees from the Trojan War who sailed across the Atlantic in a reconfigured Trojan Horse—3,000 years ago!

For Oliver, Patria is a land of wonders—and for the first time in his life, friendship. There's young Prince Farnsworth Vesuvius, inventor of the Magna-Pneumatic Whizzing Biscuit Blaster, and his formidable sister, Princess Rose, whose inedible, stone-hard biscuits provide the blaster's ammunition. But there's also the rest of the eccentric and lovable Patrian Royal Family, the boy warriors in the Potawatomi Indian Camp, not to mention the Viking kids from the Geat Village, newcomers to the area who only arrived 1,000 years ago.

Yet when the noble Knights of the Blue Sock threaten to drive off the Stoops by force of arms, Oliver has to decide where his loyalties lie, and whether he has the courage to undertake the quest that is both Patria's, and his family's, last, best hope of peace.

I am loving all of the fantastic middle grade elements there! Very funny! Tell us about the journey of writing this book series. What inspired you to write this story?

Some years ago, when my two daughters (now teenagers) were small, I was reading Humphrey Carpenter’s biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, where Tolkien is quoted as saying something to the effect that, in imagining a new world, it was important for him (the professional linguist) to start with a name.

So, for example, he began with the strange name “hobbit,” and extrapolated an entire mythological universe from there. That very night, in telling a bedtime story to my girls, I copied Tolkien, inventing the name “Twillies” for a microscopic guild of fairies who minister to their princess in various ways, by helping disentangle her hair, keeping soap bubbles out of her eyes, etc. In continuing to tell “Twillies” stories I elaborated upon the world that eventually became the Kingdom of Patria.

At that beginning, in these family bedtime stories, Patria was a magical world, deeply indebted (I believe the more usual word is “stolen”) from the imaginations of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. But as I began to think about how to approach a written version of my Patria stories, I found myself increasingly disinterested in writing about a magical world.

I suppose I was afraid of writing clichés. But I also became very much attracted to the idea of a fantastic world that, given a rather wacky take on history, is very much part of our world. That idea is at the very heart of what Patria is today. Nonetheless, it took me a long time to bring this new world of Patria into focus. Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits was begun in earnest about 2 and ½ years ago, and completed in the summer of 2011.

Twillies, by the way, being magical creatures, were left on the cutting room floor (as it were) in the re-imagining of Patria. But my daughters still miss them intensely. Perhaps there will be an occasion to work them into the series later on, to introduce the magical element. But at present I’m very happy exploring Patria as a tiny kingdom hidden in the midst of contemporary northern Indiana.

I find it immensely interesting that the very inspiration to the whole idea was cut in the final rendering. That speaks to me about getting to the crux of what works within our fiction. I love that you were able to do so! By the way, why northern Indiana?

I’m a native of South Bend.

Any other inspirations for the series besides Tolkien and Lewis?

I am a great fan of the comic stories of P.G. Wodehouse. In praising Wodehouse’s tales of feckless bachelors and wise butlers, Evelyn Waugh spoke of Wodehouse as creating a “fairy tale” world. It occurred to me that it would be fun to turn Waugh’s comment on its head and set out to create a fairy tale world that aspired to be as comical as the books of Wodehouse.

My Patria stories are first and foremost meant to be laugh-out-load funny. Their plots revolve around adventure and mystery, but the tone is always light and fluffy. Their humor owes a lot to Wodehouse, but also to that of Roald Dahl as well as J.K. Rowling in the more whimsical portions of the Harry Potter books. One of my reviewers on Amazon compared Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits to the film version of Ian Fleming’s children’s novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I like that comparison. Rob Reiner’s film, The Princess Bride, from a script by William Goldman, also masterfully hits the tone I am striving for.

Daniel, why did you choose to write a middle grade series?

I love writing middle grade fiction because it’s addressed to kids ready for a more nuanced narrative and emotional palette, but who haven’t yet been inveigled out of their natural sense of innocent enchantment about the world. That sense of enchantment includes a robust spirit of adventure and mystery, as well as a love of comedy. All of those ingredients make middle grade the perfect mix for me.

Great, Daniel. Let's get into the publishing side of things. How did you come to the decision to self-publish these books?

Like many self-pubbers, I had been knocking on the literary doors of New York for years and had grown tired with the effort. I don’t deny that my work was not always up to the mark. But now I believe I have come to a point where I have material of substantial entertainment value to offer an audience, and that I don’t need anyone else’s permission to issue the invitation.

I am not against traditional publishing per se. But it’s a lottery with very long odds, one that tended to make me, at any rate, very passive in regard to my work. I have found the self-publishing route—the pro-activity it demands, the audience it makes immediately possible, even the financial possibilities—to be exhilarating.

The new modes of distribution provided by Amazon and others, of course, have made self-publishing a very attractive option for writers. It’s an exciting new world in the publishing business and I’m excited to be a part of it.

I find it thrilling that writers have so many options today! Your company is called “Trojan Tub” Entertainment. Where does the name come from?

As I said, present-day Patrians are descended from Trojans who escaped from the burning city of Troy in a reconfigured Trojan Horse. With the legs cut off and sliced down the middle, the Horse made for a fantastic hull. This is the Trojan Tub, and a replica of it in the library of Patria Castle plays an important part in the climactic action of Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits.

This is me, by the way, having a little fun with the Roman poet, Virgil. Just as in his Aeneid Virgil depicts Rome being founded by refugees from Troy, so too with the Kingdom of Patria. My Patrian Trojan ancestors were hoping to follow Aeneas, but they got a little off course and soon found themselves in the middle of the Atlantic on their way to the New World. Good thing they packed extra sandwiches!

How much prep did you give the book before putting it out there? Do you have a team of critters? Editors? How much did you do on your own?

I spent eighteen years in academia before starting Trojan Tub (I hold a PhD in philosophy). In those years I published a good deal of scholarly work and gained invaluable experience as an editor. So largely I edit my own work, though my wife is a tenacious and very helpful copyeditor, and more importantly, as I call her, my “Concept Girl.”

When it came to the final edits of Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits, the best thing I did was to record it as an unabridged audiobook (available at worldwideaudiobooks.com for the absurdly low price of $4.99). Since high school my writing teachers had urged me to read my writing out loud. But did I ever listen?

Well, in recording the audiobook I was obviously forced to read the entire manuscript out loud, and it was a revelation. Not only in terms of small-change copyedits, but also in terms of the rhythm of the sentences and diction. I would even say my sense of my own characters was vastly improved when I had to assign them their own characteristic voices. So my advice to all those editing their own books: read them out loud.

How did you connect with your illustrator? I am particularly drawn to those illustrations, by the way. They really bring the Kingdom of Patria to life!

Ted Schluenderfritz is immensely talented, and I am very proud to have him as a colleague in this project. I first encountered his work through a brilliantly funny illustration he did of G.K. Chesterton dressed in the costume of Mr. Incredible from the Pixar film, The Incredibles. “This man is a genius,” I said to myself upon seeing this illustration, and a visit to his website confirmed the hunch.

Ted’s style is perfect for my Patria stories—it has just the right combination of whimsicality, broad comedy, and light satire. One of the joys of working on this project has been the back-and-forth with Ted on the details of illustrations.

And not only is his character illustration fantastic. But he really brought Patria to life, even for me, with the illustration that serves as the central image on the homepage of the Kingdom of Patria website, an illustration which can be viewed without obstruction in the “Explore Patria” section of the site. Ted also did a marvelous map of Patria that kids can download from the “Explore Patria” section as a .pdf.

Very cool! The website itself is very professional. Did you build it yourself, or outsource the web design?

From the beginning I knew I wanted a website associated with my books, and as I was forming Trojan Tub early in the summer I became aware of J.K. Rowling’s efforts with her (yet-to-be-released) Pottermore website. That kind of interactive website, where fans of Patria could come and immerse themselves in that world, was very attractive to me. So with the Kingdom of Patria I’m trying to provide a Pottermore-like experience, with free content (both text and audio), clubs to join, character blogs—just without the billion-dollar, pop-culture icon platform underneath me!

My web design company, Snap Design, located in Bellevile, Ontario, has played a huge role in making this happen. I encountered their work via a website they designed for another self-published author whose illustrator and I belong to the same LinkedIn group. In talking with my wife about how much I admired this author’s site, my wife urged me to contact the web designer, and by that afternoon I was enjoying a wonderful conversation with Dan Ireland, the major technical force behind the site.

The entire team at Snap has been very creative and fun to work with, and their marketing wisdom has also been invaluable. I would recommend them to any author looking to expand his or her marketing efforts.

I think we all would love to spearhead something in the vein of Pottermore! How exciting that these avenues are available to us. What type of marketing has yielded the best results for getting the word out about your kingdom?

For marketing I use the Kingdom of Patria website, of course, but also my Twitter account (@kingdomofpatria), my Facebook page, and my email account. I also have a blog, High Concepts, devoted to the arts, entertainment and culture, on which I sometimes talk about Trojan Tub. I’ve also just started using some print advertising.

But the point of all these instruments, as I learned from John Locke’s How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 3 Months, is not simply to fire at will with “Please Buy My Book!” missives (though I’m certainly not above them), but to form friendships with people who will have a natural connection to my writing.

That takes more time and effort, but the reward is greater. Not only does one make a new friend, but one finds really dedicated readers. Just yesterday on Facebook I received a message from someone who told me that he went out and bought an e-reader just so that he could read Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits. And he loved it, and can’t wait for the next book in the series. That’s a customer, to be sure. But it’s also a potential friend, and it’s important for me never to lose sight of that second fact.

I love that facebook story, Daniel! Do you have self-publishing mentors that have given you good advice about how to go about doing this? If so, who would you recommend to others going this route?

John Locke’s book, which I just mentioned, was pivotal for me this past summer when I was preparing to launch Trojan Tub. I would also single out David Gaughran’s blog, Let’s Get Digital, which is one of the best blogs out there on the self-publishing world and one I read regularly. Dave’s book, also called Let’s Get Digital, is extremely helpful for self-pubbers just getting started. The folks at Kindle Book Review have been especially generous in reviewing Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits (three reviewers so far have agreed to do so).

Overall, I am deeply impressed by the sense of community and collegiality in the self-publishing world. Heather, your blog is certainly a great example of this!

Thanks, Daniel! So, tell us, what does success look like to you? Do you have a target number of sales? Or is success the positive feedback from readers? Or are you focusing on getting the next books out there, and sharing the books with the widest audience? Or all of the above?

My goal with Trojan Tub and all my writing is clear: I aim to establish a full-time, family-sustaining career as a writer of fiction. It is deeply satisfying to have even one reader respond enthusiastically to my work. But my aim is to be a professional author, and for me that means generating sufficient sales so that I can support my family entirely by writing.

What a great goal. What has been your highest high, and lowest low, during your writing journey toward that goal?

In 2003 the very first screenplay I ever wrote, entitled I Am Not Prince Hamlet, was taken on by a reputable L.A. agency and shopped around to some very big production companies in Hollywood. I thought that was the beginning of my professional screenwriting career. Alas, although the script received some admiring comments, there were no buyers, and my follow-up script unfortunately didn’t excite the agent. All that amounted to a pretty low moment. But I continue to write screenplays.

One of the highest highs in my writing career occurred very recently, on November 1, 2011, when the Kingdom of Patria site launched and Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits went on sale. That was a very exciting day.

For sure! I love those early brushes with success--I think they keep us aiming high. So, what’s next for you?

Right now I’m finishing up work on the second book in the Patria series, Stoop of Mastodon Meadow, which picks up on Oliver’s adventures a couple of months after the events of Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits. It’s a school story (Mastodon Meadow is the boys’ school in Patria), complete with a mystery involving an underground student newspaper and a wily capybara.

As soon as that is done, I will be putting the finishing touches on a comic novel for grown-ups, which I have been calling Donnie Pilgrim: High Concept. It uses the time-honored plot device of a philosopher who stumbles into Hollywood and unwittingly becomes the hottest screenwriter in town. I hope to have that available at Amazon and other outlets in January or February, 2012.

Ooh, the capybara is my favorite rodent of unusual size! And, just because I’m curious, dogs, or cats?

Kids, actually. The house-training period is longer, but if you stick with them, they tend to make better conversationalists.

Awesome! Daniel, thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to talk with us! I really appreciate it. Everyone, please make sure to give Daniel some thoughtful questions in the comments! What would you like to know about the Kingdom of Patria, the books, and their creation? And, make sure to check out his website on your way out, if you haven't already!

The CLAW

2011-12-14T09:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Superman!

My middle son, code name Superman, is obsessed with the arcade game, 'the CLAW'. He talks about not being able to resist playing if there are coins jingling in his pocket, even though he says he knows, with his head, that it is a scam. He says he just can't stop his heart from wanting to play.

Today is his eighth birthday, so we got him a table top version of the CLAW, equipped with fake coins and all. I'm hoping that he'll get all the joy and none of the heartache from the home version. Not to say this version is easy. But it is doable. And free.

Writing is my claw game. I work so hard at it, and rarely come up with that gem. That phrase, or idea which I know is gold.

Or, in this case, the tootsie roll. :)

I have been mining my mind the last couple of days, and came up with some great gems which will enhance my current work in progress. I haven't been actually writing, since I've also been dealing with a migraine.

I was picking up Superman's cake, when I started to feel the brain confusion. Which meant that I had a very short amount of time to get home before I couldn't see enough to drive. Then things start going numb, and the headache and nausea set in.

Right now, I feel like my brain is missing some key elements. But I feel so much better, and I know this will pass. Of all the things that people suffer with, the things that people don't feel whole from within a few days, I feel lucky.

And, I'm surrounded my children who take care of me, a husband who comes home and takes care of our kids (and our kids' friends too) and me, and who cooks and cleans, and keeps things running when I can't.

Tomorrow I'll feel whole.

And, then, I'll start to work the CLAW again.

How about you? Do you have any weakness for a carnival game which you know stack the odds against you? Does your heart rule your head? How is your writing life going? Has your claw plucked out any gems recently? And--do you have any magic wands for migraines?

And please be sure to stop by on Friday, for a special holiday edition of my Friday Feature interviews, where we talk with the vibrant writer, Daniel McInerny, about his charming Middle Grade books about the Kingdom of Patria.

Monday Meeting, Forgotten Images

2011-12-05T10:27:00.001-05:00

I am gearing up to see some wonderful New England writers on Tuesday night. I am so lucky to live in an area where getting together with other writers is a possibility. I'm so bad at posting proof of these events.

Kris, Kip, Ansha, Me, Alicia, and Lynda

I know that sometimes people question the necessariness (totally NOT a word), of contact with other writers. I mean, writing is a solitary profession, between you and your keyboard, right?

Well, I for one, would not survive in a writing vacuum. I'm a social being. I live for the conferences, the in-person-meetings, and if I couldn't do those things, then I would live for The Practice Room, the gchats, and the google+ video rounds. There are so many ways to get the support and feedback online--I can't imagine how solitary this profession was when people were clicking away on typewriters.

I'm gearing up for tomorrow night's New England get together. If you are in New England, and are involved in the kidlit (or writing community) in some fashion (librarian, writer, illustrator, agent, editor, etc.) please come on over.

It's at Aprile's in North Chelmsford. Start time is 7pm, but come when you can! It's informal, and the set up is very fluid, as far as walking and talking. Some people come hungry for dinner, some come for dessert, everyone comes for the conversation.

Check out Kris' blog post about it, and I'll see you there.

As far as checking in about this week's writing, hmmm.

I'm in an organizing mood. Which probably means some more revision, with a bit of new words. I'm making progress, and still loving this novel, which is all good. :)

How are you doing this week? Are you able to get together with other writers?

How does your progress look?

Friday Feature: Journeys Toward Publication and Beyond: Anita Miller and Her 99 Cent E-books

2011-12-02T07:58:00.003-05:00

December brings with it so many things. An end to a month long marathon of writing for many, a festival of lights, and a jolly old man dressed in red delivering presents. A sense of wonder and magic. Snuggled securely between Thanksgiving and New Years, December is a celebration. A celebration of the people in our lives who are doing great things.

In this vein, I bring to you a Friday Feature with Anita. I feel honored to count Anita a friend. I have always found her blog posts succinct, thoughtful, and interesting. I love her point of view. So it was no surprise to me that I would love her books.

Anita Laydon Miller is the author of two $.99 ebooks for kids ages 8-12, EARTHLING HERO and A SCARY GOOD BOOK. Anita is also the book columnist for the COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE and is working on her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.

Anita, welcome back! Bring us up to speed on what has happened to you since we last checked in, in March, 2010. Has it really been that long?

Egads! What hasn’t happened?! I found an agent, started an MFA, dropped an agent, independently epublished two books, and survived dengue fever. It’s been awesome.

A whirlwind, for sure! Everything sounds awesome except for the bout with the fever. Although I'm sure that is fodder for some book down the road. Tell me about the epubbing. How’s that been?

I think what most people want to know is have I sold any books. Well, my CEO (Husband) and I have done a horrible job of keeping track of sales. We’ve got four mouths to feed and gardens to take care of, and hairs to shave, buuut, I will say I’ve sold at least several hundred books. I sell books every day…though in October there were some Saturdays in which I didn’t sell any. Weird.

The short answer is that epubbing has been a blast. I’m selling books to people I don’t know. And while I haven’t gotten a ton of reviews, the ones I have gotten are pretty darn good. And I don’t think I’ve had any relatives post reviews. I’m going old-school that way.

Also, my ebooks are for kids ages 8-12, middle grade. Everybody keeps saying that’s the toughest emarket right now. I hope to kick some serious butt this Christmas and prove “everybody” wrong.

Anita, I think it is so awesome that you are finding success selling ebooks to the Middle Grade crowd. What are your books about?

First, let me say the books are $.99 each. They’re worth more, but it’s not about the money for me. Frankly, I grew up without a lot of cash and was very happy. And my family’s comfortable now, so I’m even happier. I’m not trying to pay the mortgage with my ebooks. Of course, I’d love to sell millions…who wouldn’t?…so maybe I should get back to the question.

EARTHLING HERO is a sci fi. A boy, Mikey, wakes up in the middle of the night and a kid’s standing next to his bed. The kid looks exactly like Mikey. Turns out it’s his alien clone, and together (with the help of the clone’s sister), they’ve got to save the world. There’s a lot of adventure in the book…Mikey and his clone break into NORAD, fight Chinese assassins and search for an evil alien’s lair in the Garden of the Gods. Cool stuff.

A SCARY GOOD BOOK is a mystery. A girl, Hannah, finds secret messages in library books--words underlined by someone who needs her help. This is the kind of book I loved as a girl. It’s got mystery, creepiness, and a touch of romance. And lots of plot layers.

Anita--I know you always have something amazing in the works. What are you working on right now?

I just finished the first draft of a YA. It's difficult for me to to talk about, because a high school friend of mine just killed himself, and suicide is a big theme in the YA.

Last year, 867 people committed suicide in my home state of Colorado. I knew this was an issue and I wanted to write a powerful book about it...a powerful book that would not OVERpower.

So I have this teenage girl, Olivia, who moves to Colorado from Buffalo with her mom. They move into a home that belonged to Olivia's grandfather, who recently died. The home is on a large piece of land with a cliff at the back. People from all over the region have, over time, come to commit suicide at the cliff. Olivia's grandfather saved hundreds of people who came to the cliff to die. He leaves Olivia five stories about specific jumpers and asks her in a letter to take over his job of saving people.

The girl wakes up her first morning after reading the letter and sees a boy at the cliff. She thinks he's a jumper and she runs outside to try to stop him. Only he isn't jumping, he's just visiting the spot where his brother jumped the year before. Olivia and the boy, Noah, fall for each other.

So, the book is about all sorts of things...suicide, yes, but also love and forgiveness and hope. I balance the serious themes with what I'm hoping is genuine humor. I absolutely love this book. It means a lot to me.

That sounds equally intense and wonderful, Anita. I can’t wait to read it. Any last words?

Just that this is an awesome time to be a writer. There are so many options, so many opportunities. I say, let’s embrace them all, see what good words we can throw out to readers. Let’s do this, people!

Let’s do this is right! Thanks Anita, for the fab interview. And I’m sure that everyone has burning questions for Anita about her books and how she epubbed them. Feel free to give Anita support in the comment section, or ask her a questions. She’ll stop by and give us her insight.

Want to give Anita other kinds of love?
Here’s the link love:
Anita’s Blog
Her Middle Grade Blog
Anita’s Website
Buy Page for Anita’s 99 Cent Books

Oh, and after you ask Anita a question in the comments, and check out her books and blogs, make sure to stop by Lynn’s blog to help Anita come up with a new character name!

The Polarity of Writing, And A Clip From Psych

2011-11-23T09:34:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I felt compelled to write.

What a wonderful feeling. I must confess, it didn't start out that way. I always feel like my manuscript and I are magnets of the same polarity. Repelling one another. Which is why I need to set aside time in which I must write--while in the company of other writers.

Writing with others keeps me accountable to the goals I pledge to myself.

So, yesterday, I made myself go to the library, made myself open the computer, made myself look at my manuscript.

And when my writing time was up, I wanted to keep going, and going, and going.

It's been a very long time since I've had this happen. Too long.

Now, it might seem weird that my general feeling about writing is repulsion. Since I spend most of my time thinking about my novel, planning it, knowing it, wanting to write. But the actual act of sitting down and doing so repels me on some level. Even though I write every day (or nearly every day).

I don't know if it is about confidence, or fear of failure, or self-fulfilling prophecy, or the next big psych term.

And maybe that is why the show Psych works out so well--Shawn is a crazy character who could never push himself into the confines of being a traditional detective. Even though he feels compelled to solve crime. Instead, he pretends to be psychic. So he can be silly and witty and fun. (I'm breaking out into "I Feel Pretty" lyrics in my head.) He works with his compulsion, not against it. He works in a way which suits his personality. He solves crime, not in spite of himself. Because of himself.

Okay, my favorite nickname for Gus, Control-Alt-Delete, didn't make it into the clip. :)

We need to write because of who we are, not in spite of it.

Not to say I don't need to push myself. But I don't need to push myself to be something which I am not.

So, I find out what works for me--what makes me sit down and open up the document. Because once that document is open, it compels me to do something with it. Whether write or revise. Once I'm in, I'm in. Yesterday I was compelled to stay in. If I could have written all day, I would have. And it would have been good. Good writing. Stuff with pitch and power and pizzazz.

I don't think it makes me less of a writer that I am compelled and repelled by writing all at the same time. I think that is why writing is so difficult. And I imagine every form of art and expression brings with it some ambivalence. Some push and pull. And when we are strong enough to wade through the repulsion, we create something worthwhile.

Writing is risky.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Do you react similarly to writing? Or to creating? Do you struggle with the push and pull? What tricks do you use to help you write?

Maybe next time I open my manuscript, I'll pretend I'm psychic. That I know what my characters will do and go through. Oh, wait. That is something which I already pretend. :)

Monday Meeting: Super Powers

2011-11-21T09:31:00.000-05:00

So, I gave a birthday shout-out for my daughter, but didn't yet for my hubby. His birthday recently passed, and I have to mention it on this thanks-giving week.

One thing you must know about my husband--he's an amazing gift giver. He gave me a gift this fall to meet Erica Orloff, a writer whom I consider to be a mentor, at an amazing conference:

This picture is of me, Joe Williams, and the amazing Erica Orloff, at the James River Writers conference. It was one of the most valuable experiences in my writing career. Truly priceless.

He's that good.

You see, gift giving is his super power. My super power? This game. Yup. Totally useless super power.

I gave him what he asked for on his birthday. Because gift giving is not my super power.

This week, he gave me a dress from the show Project Runway. This dress. (It's the simply delicious cream dress, in case a different one pops up when you click over.) It wasn't my birthday (in fact, it was right after his), and there wasn't any rhyme or reason to give me a gift. Other than he had been waiting for the dress to be stocked so he could buy it for me. And that he loves giving people gifts. And that it's his super power.

What an awesome super power--to bring joy to people. He uses it quite well.

So, on this week of giving thanks, I will thank him for all the wonderful gifts he brings me--the experiences, the special things, his support for my writing, and the gift of him in my life.

Happy birthday, babe. And THANKS.

:)

Do you have a super power? Is it useful? Do you use your super power for good or evil? What are you thankful for?

My Version of Save The Cat, In Which I Actually Save A Cat

2011-11-16T07:33:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, I came home from my kids' swim team practice to the sound of a kitten crying. My kitten, OF COURSE. Somewhere in the neighborhood. It was dark. It was 10pm at night. The kitten's cries sounded scared and pitiful. I grabbed a flashlight, and hunted down my petrified kitty. She was two doors down, and two stories up. Crying in a tree.

I spent two hours--until midnight--trying to coax her down. Flashing my flashlight down the trunk of the tree, bringing out food, calling to her. She just couldn't figure it out. She cried to me, and walked down each branch, parallel to the ground. My heart sank. I waited for my neighbors to call the police on the hooligan waving the flashlight in the grove of trees behind their house. It became clear to me that short of climbing the tree, that kitten was not coming down. I reassured myself that cats are nocturnal creatures, and that she would be fine during the long night in the tree. Maybe she would come down to eat the food.

Her cries followed me home, and into bed. I couldn't sleep.

And, in the morning, she was still crying. Up in the tree. I won't lie. The term "dumb kitten" definitely escaped my lips. I was tired, and worried, and wondering. How long can a cat survive in a tree? I had never heard of one falling out out of a tree.

My neighbors were divided into the camps of call-the-fire-department, and she'll-come-down-on-her-own. I was of the idea that since I have small children, I might need the aid of the fire department in the future, and didn't relish pissing them off due to a dumb kitten. In fact, they had already come to my aid once. But that is another story, for another post. :)

And, anyway, I had a plan.

I attached a stick to a long rope, and asked my husband to throw it over the branch, much to the concern of the very nice Irish woman who came running out of her house to find out what we were doing to her trees. I was amazed that she hadn't seen me out there the night before, or so early that morning. Once she saw our beautiful, sad kitten, she became our biggest fan.

My husband successfully looped the rope over the branch, and I attached our cat carrier bag to the rope, with the top open. I threw some cat food in there for good measure. Hubby pulled the carrier up to the cat, and like magic, the cat stepped right in. We lowered it to the ground, and I grabbed the kitten out. Finally safe, back on the ground.

The writing lesson for this? Well, you might be stuck right now. Stuck on a scene, stuck in the middle, stuck because you've been writing fast and furious and climbing those branches through NaNo. Wondering whether to call the fire department, or just to wait it out. And my advice to you is that you already know the solution. Your subconscious is working it out. It might not be conventional. But go ahead and think about what tools you have at your disposal, and build that cat elevator for your novel. Save the dumb cat. :)

For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures: (keep in mind that I was emotionally involved with saving the kitten, and the pictures I snapped off are pretty awful. :))

See her eyes up there? They haunted me all night long.

Pitifully, trying to walk along the branches to safety.

Amazingly, she climbed right into her cat carrier.

Jelly's personal elevator. :)

Safe (relatively speaking), in Superman's arms.

So, how do you save the cat?

Monday Meeting: Getting Into the Groove

2011-11-14T09:12:00.000-05:00

After an action packed weekend, I am more than ready to get back into writing. I'm meeting with writers at our library each day for a few hours. We have a sunny room, and lots of outlets nearby for our laptops. I am way behind any NaNo goal, but right on target for where I want to be with my drafting/revisions. I'm turning my face towards the sun this morning for a quick run, and then I'll be writing.

How about you? Let me know what your goals are this week. Let's keep each other accountable!

Happy 6th, Cowgirl

2011-11-09T08:13:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that Cowgirl is six years old--and already giving out horseback riding lessons!

I hope all your midweek writing plans are going well. I'm getting into a good morning writing rhythm, and the fact that the internet access is unpredictable at the library is actually helping my wordcount.

Are you keeping to your goals? Would you like lessons from Cowgirl? And, yes. Cowgirl and her doll (which she named after herself) are dressed identically. :)

Monday Meeting: Thunder Snow and Other Lessons

2011-11-07T08:02:00.001-05:00

Last week, I learned that Thunder Snow is not something to be scoffed at. Or maybe my scoffing was the issue. It made Thunder Snow want to prove to me that it was a force to be reckoned with. Knocked out our power for two days and nights. Which probably wouldn't have been a big deal, if we hadn't had 20 degree nights. Oh, and if it hadn't been right before Halloween.

Life lesson: Never mock mother nature.

Zoom in on me making this costume by candlelight:

Which my son loved. And wore for the exact time it took to snap this picture. Then he stripped it off, and went trick or treating in street clothes. Sigh.

Life lesson: Never try to constrict a boy's nature in a box. Even if the boy insists.

Fast forward to my daughter walking, no, running, to school. Debris from thunder snow litters the sidewalk. Daughter trips, flies forward, and lands on her face. Does not use hands to break her fall. Loses (literally) her tooth. I spend the next 48 hours looking for tooth, and watching for concussion.

Life lesson: Magic makes everything better.

All this gave me perspective this week. When I try to control things is when I get into trouble, in my real life, and in my writing. When I leave myself open to what my subconscious has already worked out about a particular scene in a book, or when I leave myself open to the unexpected turns and twists of life, I am better equipped to handle where writing and life is going.

This week, I am hoping for a less action-packed week, and more action-packed writing.

How are you? Do you have writing goals? What are they? Do you have wordcount goals this week? Lay them on me!

Have You Met Kyla?

2011-11-04T12:44:00.003-04:00

In case you guys missed the launch of my new (whenever I feel like it) Friday blog feature, inspired by How I Met Your Mother, here's another one. The idea is that I introduce you to someone awesome, someone who just might be fun to get to know!

So, Haaave you met Kyla?

Okay, she is larger than this in real life. If I had my act together today, I would have actually asked for a picture instead of stealing one off her blog. :)

Kyla is a wonderfully warm, generous writer who pens funny vignettes of her life over at her Growing Muses blog. She also writes for the World Moms Blog.

She is jumping right into uncharted territories this November by doing Tara Lazar's fabulous PiBoIdMo, so if you do click over to say hi at Growing Muses, make sure to cheer her on! She has volumes of energy for writing and friends, and I am lucky enough to benefit from that energy both online and in real life.

She has been a major force of inspiration for me in the past few weeks, at her blog, over coffee, and over the lane lines at the pool. (A friend who encourages healthy writing, and healthy exercising? That is a truly valuable friend!)

I am so lucky to have her in my life, and I encourage you to bring her into your life as well, by creating that all-important blogging connection.

And, since we're doing introductions, why don't you tell us all what you are up to on your blog, and link to it in the comments. That way, I can make sure not to miss any awesome reads this Friday!

I Shake My Fists At The Tech Gods, Once Again

2011-11-02T17:17:00.003-04:00

So, when you try to comment on this post, you will discover the dreaded pop-up window.

Now, I have heard several bloggers discuss how this is not the best way to allow comments, simply because it takes more time for people to comment. I loved it when my comments were embedded below the post.

Okay, this is a much more fun type of pop-up. Although I can't hear this song without thinking, that's not really ironic. I still like it though. I wonder what that says about me. :)

And, I want to make it easy, peasey for y'all (okay, I am so NOT from the south, but that puts me in mind of a delicious southern drawl, which makes me feel warm and cozy and like I can pretend that I am not on the verge of another disastrously cold NE winter) to comment. Above all else.

The problem with the embedded comments? In the last month, I have heard from two VIP in my virtual life, who went to extraordinary measures to let me know that for some reason, they are no longer permitted to comment on my blog.

I checked my settings. Everyone is permitted to comment, even anonymous users. I don't even have comment verification on the site. There is no reason why people shouldn't be able to comment.

I SHAKE MY FISTS AT THE TECH GODS.

Although in this case, I think it might be the Google Gods giving me grief.

So, I hope you survive the pop-ups for a while. Let's see if everyone can comment.

I'm so bummed out that people couldn't join in the conversation here.

Has anyone else had this problem? How frustrating! For those of you who are more tech savvy than me (really not difficult) please enlighten me if I can fix this issue permanently, and revert back to my embedded comments. Pretty please! (I'm looking in your direction, Tom!)

Can't comment on this blog post? That's ironic. E-mail me at hegkelly at gmail dot com.

Forced Un-plug

2011-11-01T12:46:00.001-04:00

Just a quick note to say that I am very happy to have power back at our house. It was not (much) fun to have a forced unplug this weekend!

Now that I'm back, here are some truly fun items:

Today, you can find me in The Practice Room, where there is an open chat room with hosts from 9am-3pm est. No one needs write unassisted. :) Whether you are NaNo-ing or otherwise!

I will be unplugging over there to get some writing done today, I hope you will too!

Also, I must wish a Happy Book Birthday to Anna, and her MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE. See, here are pictures of me reading the ARC over the summer!

The first one (aka, the GINORMOUS picture) is in front of my town's library. The second one is in front of the Narragansett library.

If you want to win a copy of Anna's book, today you can play a twitter game-- what has been your most unfairy tale moment? Answer that, with hashtag #myveryunfairytalelife, and you might win!

I hope you all are warm, safe, and plugged in Tuesday!

Friday Feature Celebration: Sarah Dooley's BODY OF WATER is Released!

2011-10-26T07:10:00.000-04:00

I won't lie. I am a big fangirl of Sarah Dooley's. It tickles me pink that sometimes she chats in The Practice Room. She is funny, she writes rock solid books, and she works with autistic kids. However, she keeps rejecting my suggestions that she move up to the Boston area so we can hang out. :) If I had my druthers, I'd start a writing commune.

And, her new book, BODY OF WATER came out yesterday.

In the event that you want to love/investigate/check out/stalk Sarah, here are her clicks:

twitter: @swdooley
website: http://www.dooleynotedbooks.com/
blog: Dooley Noted
goodreads: BODY OF WATER
goodreads: LIVIE OWEN LIVED HERE (Sarah's last book)

My Friday Feature interview with Sarah.

And, if you are lucky enough to be in Huntington, WV tomorrow, you can even SEE Sarah. If you do, please give her a hug from me. :)

I'll leave you with the BODY OF WATER BLURB:

Twelve-year-old Ember’s trailer home has been burned in a fire set most likely by her best friend, a boy whose father believes Ember’s family are witches. Yes, Ember’s mom reads Tarot cards as a business. Ember’s friend set the fire to warn the family before his dad did something worse to them. The friend never intended to do so much damage.

Now the family is homeless, and living in a campground. They have no money. Ember’s beloved dog is missing. School is going to start, and Ember and her sister have no clean clothes, no notebooks. The only place Ember feels at peace is floating in the middle of the lake at the campground. She has to make a fresh start. Can she?

I can't wait to read it!

Who wants to live in a writer's commune with me? Would it sweeten the pot if I got Sarah on board? :)

Monday Meeting, Toying with the Big Bad Cat

2011-10-24T10:36:00.001-04:00

Hello all! I'm actually posting my Monday Meeting on Monday! Woo-hoo!

I am toying with the idea of NaNo--although I am halfway through a novel, so I would tailor it to my needs.

I was thinking, over the weekend, how trying to write a novel in a month (doing NaNo) can feel a lot like playing cat and mouse, or in this case, cat and chipmunk:

First off, it's always prudent to have a super hero on your side. (In case you can't see it, that little brown guy at the foot of the superhero, is the chipmunk. You in this scenario.)

It always helps to get cozy with NaNo--check out the site, make friends. Maybe even give it a kiss.

Play hard to get. Let NaNo know that 1,667 words a day is child's play.

Fake it 'till you make it. Arch your back. Pretend your word count is huge and strong. Make sure to show NaNo that even though you might be falling behind in wordcount, that your manuscript SEEMS bigger than it is. Be confident.

Scare it away. If this little chipmunk can scare away our big bad kitten, Jelly, then you can certainly best NaNo. Who's with me?

Let me know your goals for this week, whether related to NaNo, or not.

And if you are doing NaNo, make sure to leave your NaNo handle in the comment section so I can find you there! Having friends to chart progress against makes it much more fun!!

Mine: HeatherLane

*Is anyone else distracted by that tennis ball in the pictures? Who was playing with that ball? Did the cat have it in her mouth? What is going to happen to the ball in the next frame? Is it the smoking gun?

Have you met Misty?

2011-10-21T14:30:00.003-04:00

So, today I am leading off (mid-day I might add) with a new spontaneous blog series (aren't those the best anyway?), which combines my love for the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, actor Neil Patrick Harris, and connecting with fabulous writers in the blogosphere.

So, we had a stirring discussion yesterday, here, there and everywhere, about what path writers are considering in order to get published. Many weighed in.

At some point, I came across Misty Provencher, who decided to take her book out of the path to publication.

But she isn't shelving it, and she isn't self-publishing it. Click over and see exactly what she is doing with it.

Her story resonated with me--we all get emotionally drained from this process. Let's circle the wagons, and help support one of our own.

Go meet Misty. Read her chapters. Read her blog. Follow her on twitter. (@mistyprovencher)

And, let's do a meet 'n greet here in the comments. Say hi, leave a link to your blog, your twitter handle, and say something Neil Patrick Harris-ish. :)

Happy weekend, everyone! I promise I'll get more Friday interviews up shortly.

My Choice In Publishing

2011-10-19T10:06:00.002-04:00

Or, The Circus Comes To Town

I'm sure this isn't the first, or the last, blog post to equate the current climate in publishing to a three ring circus.

Into which ring will you throw your hat? Today seven bloggers discuss their decisions, on their blogs, and on twitter, #MyChoiceInPublishing. Follow along, or better yet, join in and discuss! (Links to other bloggers at end of post.)

Center ring? Traditional publishing. The big six, and their imprints.

When I first got involved with the on-line writing world, it was in order to research agents so that I could pursue publication with the big six.

Right now, I am not just researching agents, with hopes that an agent will procure a solid deal for me with a publishing house. I am researching publishers as well. Because some publishers have changed the language in their deals to reflect their concern with how easy it is for writers to e-publish. Language in contracts has become more controlling and restrictive.

See this blog post by Anne R. Allen and follow through the links if you want to read about one author's cautionary tale. If you aren't following Anne's blog, you should. It's incredibly interesting and informative! Remember, not all big publishers are giving out raw deals, but I believe that hiring a lawyer to protect ourselves from bad contracts IS A MUST in this climate.

Further evidence of this need is featured on Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog. Like this post about deal breakers. Or this post about surviving the transition. It's not light reading, but necessary food for thought.

Do I hope that I will have a kick butt agent, who will stand one handed on an elephant's back to get me a kick butt deal with a publisher? For sure. Am I hiring a kick butt lawyer to advise me on the finer print of the details of the balancing act in the center ring? Absolutely.

Now, tear your eyes away from the chaos in the center ring.

Side Ring Number One: Small Presses.

Small presses can be a great way to go. You may have an agent, but lots of small presses allow for unagented submissions. Small presses might be able to give your book more care and marketing.

However, I go forward in this ring with caution as well. Let's talk about the elephant in the room:

I have received emails from friends who have been published (or dropped right before their book was to be published) by small presses, and who had a very rough go of it. These writers could not go public with the issues they faced with small presses, because they didn't want to sabotage their career. Which is smart. This isn't limited to small presses--writers largely don't talk publicly about things that go wrong with interactions with big publishers either. Which again, is smart. But makes it tough for the rest of us to choose wisely.

I find that it is harder to find good information on small presses. Going to forums, and looking at threads where people post anonymously about their experiences is a good start.

I am researching small presses as best I can, and plan to have a lawyer (!!) go over any contracts.

Side Ring Number Two: Indie, or Self E-Pubbing.

To hear Joe Konrath talk about it, traditional publishing is in dire straits. Here's a link to a convincing conversation Joe has about e-pubbing. And, I think it is evident that the publishing world is in transition. Some small presses have gone under, and big publishers are changing how they do business. Do we really know where the balls are going to fall if the juggler stops frantically juggling? No.

I think it is a great idea to think of e-pubbing as a viable option. The author retains all control, and all profits. That being said, I think having a great team help with editing, cover art and marketing is always a plus. I would consider, quite strongly, having an agent assist me in e-pubbing. However, I don't think I would use an agent as an e-publisher.

I think we should also be thinking further than e-pubbing, however, and into the multimedia realm. E-books give us amazing versatility, especially since a lot of us are publishing for kids and young adults.

E-publishing is a fantastic avenue in and of itself, but it is also a great companion publishing technique. Agents at writeoncon.com talked about the benefit to publishing a companion e-book to a traditionally published book, both coming out at the same time.

So, the long and the short of it is that I am planning on trying to throw my hat into every ring. I don't want my career to suffer because I'm walking the tightrope without a net. My security will be in knowing that I have many avenues of revenue for my career. Like in this post.

Oh, and I'm hoping to have an agent as a ring master, and a lawyer lion tamer to help protect my interests.

Please check out the other bloggers sharing their point of view on their #MyChoiceInPublishing:

Lynn Kelley--LynNerd's Random Acts of Writing
Kristine Asselin - Writing. For Real.
Ansha Kotyk - A Writer's View of the World
Tina Laurel Lee - Watch Me Practice
Anita Laydon Miller's Blog
Tom M. Franklin - Franklin, Ink

So, what ring (s) are you choosing? Does this conversation stress you out? Are you actively thinking about more than one type of publishing?

The Circus

2011-10-12T06:30:00.000-04:00

So, I haven't been blogging for a long stretch. I don't really know what to say.

There has been amazing and terrible all in the last two weeks.

We had a death in the family, which, evidently, is still too raw to talk about.

And, I met the amazing Erica, and all her wonderful friends at a conference in Richmond. Which evidently, is too awesome to put into words.

I came home in time to take my kids to the circus. Which is just about right. :)

My life is a happy-sad, amazing, wonderfully chaotic circus.

And, you know, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I Raise My Fist at The Tech Gods

2011-09-28T09:33:00.002-04:00

Or:
My Adventures Into Disappearing Text, and Social Media Faux Pas

Cowgirl and I feel the same way when it comes to making social blunders.

Okay, I'm not tech savvy. Some of my ignorance is my own fault--I have the dreaded never-read-the-manual-itis. Yup, I'll buy a phone, or a laptop, turn it on, and just start using it. Same with the blog. And facebook and twitter and... you get the point.

We'll say that I'm a hands-on learner. :)

As you can imagine, sometimes mishaps happen. So, my friend Jon and I decided that we would dedicate some blog time toward figuring out the ins and outs of social media and the technology behind it.

We need to figure out what we need to know to make social media work for us. And how to prevent the crashes and blunders and whatnots from happening.

For instance:

A few days ago, I wanted to figure out the goodreads thing. Simply because I wanted to review a great book. A clear way to support a writer is by giving them an honest rating on sites like amazon, smashwords, and goodreads. I want to do more of this.

So. I signed up. In the process, goodreads asked me something. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I interpreted it (yup, red flag) as "do you want to see what you friends are reading and rating?". I clicked the 'sure thing' box. Unfortunately, my answer prompted goodreads to send an email to everybody in my address book asking if they wanted to be my "friend" on goodreads.

CTRL-Z, damn it. (Wouldn't that be great if it worked outside of the word document?)

I raise my fist at the tech gods.

Serious faux pas.

I don't know how you feel about those emails, but I was embarrassed, even more so since I hadn't intended to do it. By the way, it ranks number three on this list of the 'don'ts' in social networking etiquette.

Worse: the only way to fix it was to apologize, you know, by sending another email to everyone in my address book. Which felt like another invasion. So I just let it go. And hoped that people understood: I'm a tech moron, who can't follow simple directions. :)

What social media faux pas have you blundered through recently? What do you think about the "friend me" feature on these sites? What's your number one social networking etiquette rule? And--do you let a friend know when they are committing a faux pas?

Oh, and feel free to ask me out on goodreads. I'd love to be your friend. :)

Monday Meeting: Bury Me in Saturn

2011-09-26T09:21:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the best ideas are happy accidents.

Superman and Cowgirl waiting for their first day of school.

Superman, in all his thoughtfulness, interpreted the lyrics of one of the stanzas of this song, as "bury me in Saturn". When someone corrected him, he considered it a moment, and then replied that he still thought that the words were "bury me in Saturn." In his non-confrontational way, he asserted that his lyrics were better. And I agree.

And, I don't really want my kids understanding the words of that song. It's beautiful--I get why they want to sing it. But seriously.

Afterwards, I spent at least half an hour dreaming about what 'bury me in Saturn' could mean.

Those four words could spark a novel. :)

*****

I'm saddling up for another week devoted to writing, and trying to get as much writing as I can get done, between the hours of 9 and 2. My kids have a couple of days off at the end of the week, so I'm trying to focus now. Behind the scenes (of this blog), I have gotten a great deal of revision done on the first half of my WIP, and am interested in writing forward, while continuing to revise as I go. I don't have any word count goals, but I might just challenge some of you to a 1k1hr twitter word off this week. Anyone up for it?

I know a huge bunch of you are gearing up for NaNo. How is the prep going? I'm not sure I'm in the best place to participate, but can't wait for the surge of energy. Love it when everyone is writing fast and furiously!

And, I have been doing a lot of research about the volatile publishing environment right now, and considering all options for the future of my career. How about you? Are you thinking about agents and traditional publishing, or e-books and author control?

What are your goals this week? Are you prepping for NaNo?
And, what would it look like to be buried in Saturn?

Monday Meeting: Anna's Awesome Interview Answers and WINNER

2011-09-19T08:39:00.001-04:00

Thanks to everyone who played my crazy book giveaway!

I can't wait to give away (at the end of this post) a copy of Anna's book, MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE. In the meantime, here is Anna, with answers to my questions:

Q1: Before the book's cover art was completed, what did Anna think the girl was doing on it? Hint: The frog was not on top of the girl's head.

When I first saw the cover for My Very UnFairy Tale Life, I thought it was definitely on the right track, but I couldn't figure out what the girl was looking at. I knew she was supposed to be rolling her eyes, but the more I looked at it, the more confused I got. Was she having a seizure? Was she wondering how to pronounce my last name? After some brainstorming, I came up with the idea of putting a frog on her head, and I was thrilled when my publisher went with it. After all, a girl with a frog on her head is much more interesting than a girl without a frog on her head.

Q2: Anna has a room dedicated to a specific movie series in her house. What is it?

Okay fine, I'm a Star Wars geek. The sun room in our house has slowly become the Star Wars room.

It started with this Lego Star Destroyer. My husband and I gave that to each other as a wedding present, and it's been the crowning jewel of our house ever since. We also have a Star Wars pop-up book, a Polish movie poster for The Empire Strikes Back, and, of course, a Star Wars throw pillow. (To be fair, the last two were gifts. Once people know you like something, they help feed your obsession.)

I love that obsession!

Q3. Anna’s main character, Jenny, travels to a world where the inhabitants are missing one key feature. What do you think that key feature is?

I was just surprised as Jenny was when I realized the characters she was helping didn't have mouths. As I was writing the story, I wasn't thinking of it as a serious project that I wanted to have published one day. It was just the funny little story that I came back to when I needed a break from other things. I loved playing with the wacky ideas that came into my head, and one of those ideas, apparently, was mouthless creatures.

Q4. A conversation with Anna’s sister-in-law inspired a part of the book. It has to do with losing a part of the body and hot liquid. Guess what those elements are.

Before I even started writing the book, I had a conversation with my sister-in-law that I knew I had to use in a writing project one day. She and I were talking about my theory that tea is the cure for everything. Soon we were coming up with odd things that tea might not be able to fix. Finally she asked me; "What if my head fell off? Would you still tell me to drink tea?" To which I answered: "Yup. I'd just tell you to pour it down your neckhole."

Okay, that's pretty gruesome. :) In a funny kind of way!

Q5. In the style of Clue, fill in the blanks. Jenny fights ______ (who), in the ____(location), with a _____ (object).

Jenny fights a crazy clown sorcerer in the kingdom of Speak, with a pink mini-golf ball.

I love Anna's answers! I think they really highlight some of the creative elements in this adventurous book.

You know what I also loved? All of your answers. Some of them had me down right laughing.

If you want to hear more about Anna's journey with this book, please click over to this interview at Adventures in Children's Publishing.

And, check out this review by a middle grader book blogger, Rubix Boy.

For all of you who live in the North East, and want to come support Anna and her book, here are her in real life book tour dates:

November 6 – Book launch party at the Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Mass. 5pm

November 19 – Book signing/event at the Ames Free Library in Easton, Mass.

Let me know if you need a ride--we can carpool!

And, now, for the winner:

DRUMROLL PLEASE

The winner is.....

LYNN!!

Anna thought her use of onion rings was superbly funny!

Congrats all! We'll do another fun giveaway sometime soon!

Now tell me, how is your writing life on this fantastic Monday?

Special Edition Friday Feature: Win Anna Staniszewski's MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE

2011-09-15T07:16:00.003-04:00

This Friday Feature interview is so epic that it must span the entire weekend. Epic and yet, simple. Shall we play a game?

**Updated to add: I have decided to run this contest through the weekend, and will post Anna's spectacular answers and the winner on Monday. If you stopped by and want something new to check out, click over to Rubixboy's take on Anna's book!**

You see, Anna wrote an awesome book. Then her awesome agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, got it awesomely published. It's due to release 11/1/11.

I love the cover art!

Here's the blurb:

Is your magical kingdom falling apart? Twelve-year-old Jenny is on the case, whether she likes it or not. Saving the world might sound exciting, but for Jenny it’s starting to get old — even staying in the real world long enough to take a math test would be a dream come true! And when you throw in bloodthirsty unicorns, psychotic clowns, and the most useless gnome sidekick ever, Jenny decides that enough is enough. She’s leaving the adventuring business and not looking back. Or… is she?

Sounds delicious, doesn't it? And it is. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the ARC, and I twitched with delight as I followed Jenny's reluctant adventures with crazed unicorns, and bizarre (but thankful) creatures from other lands. The absurd situations and fun characters tickled me.

So, I gave it some thought, and I decided that I wanted to give away this book, so that one of you can experience Jenny's awesome adventures. But then I balked. I wanted to make sure that whoever won the book was deserving of the book. Creatively deserving.

So, now I'm going to make you work for it! In the spirit of the zany creativity on display in Anna's MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE, I want you to display your creativity by answering, in the blog comments, five questions. Points will not be given for correct answers, but for craziest, funniest, absurdly creative answers.

Are you up for the challenge?

Let's start the game!

Q1: Before the cover art for MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE was completed, what did Anna think that the girl pictured on it was doing? Hint: The frog was not yet on top of the girl's head.

Q2: Anna has a room dedicated to a specific movie series in her house. What is it? WHY?

Q3. Anna’s main character, Jenny, travels to a world where the inhabitants are missing one key feature. What do you think that key feature is?

Q4. A conversation with Anna’s sister-in-law inspired a part of the book. It has to do with losing a part of the body and hot liquid. Guess what those elements are. You can explain how your chosen elements fit together, if you like.

Q5. In the style of Clue, fill in the blanks. Jenny fights ______ (who), in the ____(location), with a _____ (object).

You have the weekend to come up with five answers. Now remember, zany off-the-wall-ness garners the most points! Answer those five questions in the comment section, then pop back over Monday to see Anna reveal the true answers, and crown someone the King or Queen Of The Absurd Answers. And that person will win her book!!

Good luck!

Need a stimulus to get those creative juices flowing?
Feast your eyes on the MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE book trailer:

Monday Meeting: The Flu Had Me

2011-09-12T09:21:00.002-04:00

Lots of things get in the way of getting writing done. Most of the time, it's me. Last week, it was the flu. And I really don't think it is accurate to say that I had the flu. The flu had me.

But, I have wrestled it to the ground, reclaimed some control (perhaps imaginary) over my life, and I'm back to plugging along on my WIP.

So, let's just do a straight up Monday Meeting today.

My goals: To read through to the end of what I have so far for my wip and put in the new plot points, and make necessary changes. To start writing forward, and really make headway.

I would also love to get out and visit some blogs this week.

So, tell me, what are your writing goals? And, what are you blogging about? Leave a link so we can all come see!

Is it possible that I got the flu from my cats? They sneezed on me quite a bit last week.

Also, I would love it if you would stop by on here on Friday and give Anna a big high five. We're talking about her debut book, MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE, which will be out in November. So soon! I'm so excited!

Tuesday Monday Meeting--Floating Ideas, or, How Do You Write?

2011-09-06T08:55:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to Lille, by Lisa Hannigan. Some inspiration for the beginning of the week. Click through--it's very cool.

I've always called myself a pantser. But I'm not really. I'm definitely not a plotter, although, for sure, I do a lot of plotting and planning. Let me tell you my process, and you can tell me what particular writing illness I'm inflicted with.

First I get an idea. A BIG idea. I write dystopian and contemporary fantasy, and I like my ideas BIG. I write it down. Then I let it stew for a year. I'm not kidding. I let that thing work its way down through my subconscious and back up again for, on the average, a year.

I create a soundtrack, based on the emotions behind my characters, and some specific events that I know happen in the novel, you know, because I've been thinking about it for a long time.

I jot down scenes about these characters. Or notes. Or whatever comes to mind.

Then I write hard and fast. I write to see if the idea will float. And I write for voice. I write until I know how my characters walk through their world.

I send it to crit partners. I want to nail the voice, the beginning, the idea, before I go on.

I revise. I get close to where I want the beginning to be. I find out that the idea will float.

Then I stop. I backtrack. I review all the notes I have, and start taking more notes about plot points, world building, back story. By this point, I already know the ending. I already know the beginning. I start to plot what happens in the middle. I might even draw little graphs, and time lines.

Then I write again, hard and fast.

Then I stop and review, and revise what came before.

I repeat the above until I reach 'The End'.

Then I write my first outline. And an editorial letter.

Then I begin revising.

At least, that is how I write today. :)

How do you write? Can you put yourself into a straight category? Are you a pantser, a plotter, some combination of both? Do you write differently with each novel?

And--my goals this week are to write as much as possible. I want to dig in, and make headway. Write a couple of hours each day. Of course, I have a child home sick today. So we'll see. What goals are you working toward this week?

The Honor System

2011-08-19T10:29:00.000-04:00

Or, the best things in life are free, but are only really worth it if you pay for them.

My husband and I were walking in Harvard Square last week, and we saw a table of books. The sign (above) (sorry the picture sucks!) explains that this "book store" has been around for 5 years. The prices are inside the books, and please deposit the right amount of money in the lock box. Such a cool indication of what this community is like.

Plus, free WiFi.

Okay, so the books above aren't free. You must use the honor system to own one. Some of the best communities work off this system. Take the kidlit blogging community. Everyone is welcome to join in the conversations, and there is so much information to take away. But you get the most out of the community if you are genuine, and take the risk to put yourself out there. The more you give back to the community, the richer your experience. You could take the information for 'free', but then you wouldn't get much else.

Same with crit partners--you must pay it back, or pay it forward to have supportive, lasting relationships.

The Tour de Writing was based on the honor system, and when I pressed most people about their totals, I found that they had short changed themselves, or were honest to a fault.

Speaking of the Tour, thanks so much for the awesome participation--and congrats to the winners! If you want to sign up for an email reminder for next year, please check out the Tour de Writing page above.

I also would love to continue doing my Friday Feature interviews, but lack the time to dedicate to the process. Since I want to focus more time writing, I created a page for people to sign up to be interviewed. There are no requirements--I would love to hear about your journey no matter where you are on your journey. Please feel free to fill out the form connected to the Friday Feature page above.

And, please feel free to pass the word on to others. It would help me immensely to not have to create lists and wonder if I already bugged a certain person about doing an interview for me. Here's a link to the interview page, or you can see it at the top of the blog. :) I apologize that I will do less reaching out to people, but I really need to write. And I really love the interviews.

Another Honor System project that was worth it's weight in gold? WriteOnCon. I hope everyone gave back in whatever way they could there, either by saying thanks to the gals that spent so much time and energy putting it on, or critting in the threads, or donating a little. I still can't believe the caliber of that "free" conference. I will be hanging out there soaking in all the things I missed over the next few weeks.

And, sometimes just joining in to the conversation is paying your dues. Check out Jon and Kris' thought provoking, "Where are The Gay Parents in Children's Literature?" blog series, continuing today.

What are your favorite ways to give back to this excellent on-line community? Do you think that most people honor the honor system?

Award Ceremony: Tour de Writing

2011-08-17T10:11:00.000-04:00

Welcome all, to the culmination of five weeks of writing! Let me start by saying that I count any and all writing done during the summer to be a huge achievement. I feel a little cheesy for congratulating people for showing up, but if I've learned anything about writing, it's that you have to show up. You have to put pen to paper, and keep continuity between yesterday's ideas and today's.

Thus, we play, the TOUR. :)

Thank you all for being such great sports, while I conducted this thing through two vacations, and many distractions. I hope that I can get things together so that next year will run more smoothly! Thank you all for being here, for writing, and for supporting each other through The Practice Room and Twitter. This community is amazing.

Drumroll please...

The GRAND WINNER of the entire race is... Robert--who revised his ENTIRE NOVEL--a whopping 47,000 words--during the Tour. Amazing progress! You get to wear that yellow jersey all year long, Robert! Woo-hoo! Everyone give Robert some love!

In the category of Drafting, Alicia wins with 36,231 points! Way to go, Alicia! Wear that Green sprinting Jersey with pride!

Other awesome drafters:

Kris, with 21,495 points.
Jon, with 20,290 points.
Kelly, with 3,655 points.
Fida I, with 3635 points.

In the category of Revising, Marisa wins with 27,729 points! Awesome job, Marisa. That's a ton of revising! Wear that Queen of the Mountain, Polka Dot Jersey well!

Tina also revised a ton, with 20,735 points.

In the category of Both, Revising and Drafting, Lynn scored the White Jersey, with an amazing 34,941 points. Way to take, and hold, the lead, Lynn!

Other great revising and drafting competitors:

Taffy, with 23,169 points.
Me, with 11,642 points.
Anita, with 10,250 points.

What a great race this year! Congratulations to everyone for getting words in this summer. If you won your category, make sure to email me your PRIZE preference!

Series: Where Are The Gay Parents In Children's Literature?

2011-08-15T10:01:00.002-04:00

Everyone who is waiting on pins and needles for the final results and award ceremony for the Tour de Writing, please check back tomorrow! Because today, I want to direct you all to a blog series by Jon and Kris!

I think this is a fabulous topic of conversation. I can't wait to pick up some of the titles that they are talking about, and I encourage you to pick one up too. That way we can all weigh in on this topic! But I also feel like this is not just a topic of conversation, but the very weighty idea that we are all responsible, as writers, to think about what types of people will populate our books.

I feel as though literature should be reflective of our society, but also reflect what society could, or should be. What does it say to my children when books don't reflect the families of their friends? Does it make those families seem less legitimate? Am I getting too political?

Please stop by Jon's blog for an overview of the series, and Kris' blog for a list of book titles. Had you noticed that the books you were reading lacked gay parent characters? What do you think about this? Can you recommend any books you have read which included gay parents? Does this sort of discussion make you feel any pressure as a writer to write what you maybe don't know? Really, what do you think?

TALLY HO

2011-08-12T08:17:00.001-04:00

It's finally here--the final day of the Tour de Writing!

Write hard today, and then stop by BEFORE MIDNIGHT and

click through HERE to the form and fill it out with your final Tour de Writing tally!!

I'll post the WINNERS on Monday. Don't forget about the PRIZES! Can you believe it's almost over? Will I see you at WriteOnCon next week? I hope so!

And, I would love to hear your thoughts about the Tour in the comments--what worked? What didn't? Was it helpful? Was it too confusing to understand? Too convoluted? What did you like about it?

***We are adding an Impromptu Practice Room session at noon (est). Come join us for the last TPR of the Tour!

Oh, More PRIZES

2011-08-10T09:42:00.001-04:00

Well, evidently, I don't think that you do a five week marathon of writing for a PRIZE. I must think that you participate in the Tour de Writing because you want the motivation, you want to use new community writing tools, and you really want to finish that darn novel.

Word count in and of itself is a prize.

Right. :)

Here we are, in the last few days of the Tour de Writing, and I haven't even unveiled all the prizes.

How lame!

But, hopefully, (finally) seeing these prizes all lined up will put your pen in gear and make you race to the finish line. Maybe it will give you that final energy boost to obtain a jersey and win some loot.

Remember, anyone wearing a jersey (you know, obtaining highest word count) on the finish line, wins a prize. There are four prizes, in the categories of Overall, Drafting, Revising, and Combination Drafting and Revising. Check your totals from yesterday. Calculate how many words you might need to win, and get writing.

Here are the awesome PRIZES:

MY VERY UNFAIRY TALE LIFE, Anna Staniszewski:

Is your magical kingdom falling apart? Twelve-year-old Jenny is on the case, whether she likes it or not. Saving the world might sound exciting, but for Jenny it’s starting to get old — even staying in the real world long enough to take a math test would be a dream come true! And when you throw in bloodthirsty unicorns, psychotic clowns, and the most useless gnome sidekick ever, Jenny decides that enough is enough. She’s leaving the adventuring business and not looking back. Or…is she?

POSSESSION, Elana Johnson:

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even thinkabout kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

BODY OF WATER, Sarah Dooley:

Twelve-year-old Ember’s trailer home has been burned in a fire set most likely by her best friend, a boy whose father believes Ember’s family are witches. Yes, Ember’s mom reads Tarot cards as a business. Ember’s friend set the fire to warn the family before his dad did something worse to them. The friend never intended to do so much damage.

Now the family is homeless, and living in a campground. They have no money. Ember’s beloved dog is missing. School is going to start, and Ember and her sister have no clean clothes, no notebooks. The only place Ember feels at peace is floating in the middle of the lake at the campground. She has to make a fresh start. Can she?

JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, Nathan Bransford:

Jacob Wonderbar is used to detentions, but when a spaceship crashes near his house, he finds himself in a whole new level of trouble. After swapping a corn dog for the ship, he and his two best friends, Sarah Daisy and Dexter, take off on a madcap adventure. They accidentally cause an epic explosion, get kidnapped by a space pirate, and are marooned on planets like Numonia and Paisley, where the air smells like burp breath and revenge-hungry substitute teachers rule. And that's only the beginning . . . It turns out that there's an entire colony of space humans, and Jacob's long-lost father just might be one of them.

Well, we had a blue theme going until we hit Jacob Wonderbar! Anyway, I hope you use these prizes as extra motivation to get all the word count in that you can this week! I will be hosting morning Practice Rooms, and I hope to see some #tourdewriting twitter challenges! Let's finish strong. Make sure to give me your final word counts before midnight on Friday!!

Are you Ready to RUMBLE--Final Week of the Tour de Writing

2011-08-09T11:39:00.001-04:00

It's that time in the Tour de Writing. The final week. Time to break free from the peloton. Time to sprint away from the group. Time to fix that yellow jersey in your mind's eye and go after it. Time to write. Just write.

It's been a close race thus far:

Yellow Jersey--Overall:

Marisa is in the lead with 27,729 revision points. She is proudly on the podium wearing the yellow jersey, for most points overall. Watch out, Marisa, you have a definite target on your back!

Green Jersey--Drafting:

Jon narrowly grabs the green sprinting jersey with 20,290 drafting points. Better write fast to keep that jersey, Jon!

  Alicia, a newcomer in the 2011 Tour, is breathing down Jon's neck with a crazy awesome 19,855 points. Less than 500 points separate first and second place in the drafting category. Write on!

Kris is holding strong with 11,858 drafting points. Nice job, Kris!

  Anita is making great strides with 8,000 drafting points!

  Kelly is making progress with 1,815 points! Way to go, Kelly!

  Fida had her strongest week last week, and is up to 1,791 points. Fab, Fida!

Polka dot jersey--Revising

Tina is holding tight to the red polka dot jersey with 19,235 points. Impressive, Tina!!

White Jersey--Drafting and Revising

Lynn holds strong to the white jersey with 17,160 points. Yay Lynn!

Taffy is coming up strong with a fantastic 9,412 points. Great job, Taffy!

I'm holding the back of the revising and drafting pack with 5,371 points. I'm going to have to have a stellar writing week to place!

Great job to all! Any progress during the summer months is a definite achievement! Now, set your sights on grabbing, or holding onto one of these jerseys. Anyone wearing a jersey at the finish line wins a fabulous prize (more on that tomorrow!). Make sure to stop by here on Friday and give me your final tallies BEFORE MIDNIGHT to be eligible for a prize!!

Onward and Upward!! (Feel free to trash talk as necessary in the comments!)

Also, I will be hosting early morning TPRs while Tina escapes to vacationland. Why don't you come join me--I might need some prodding to remember to get up each morning!! They will be held from 8 am est (when you officially unplug to write) until 9 est, when we join back to talk about our progress. Look for me in The Practice Room tomorrow and everafter!

Monday Meeting and Anita's Middle Grade Release, A SCARY GOOD BOOK

2011-08-08T10:05:00.000-04:00

Hello all! It's the very last week of the Tour de Writing. You have until midnight on Friday to write enough words to win a PRIZE!

And, to give you even more motivation, Anita's latest self-pubbed kids' ebook, A SCARY GOOD BOOK, is released. See what you can do with your wordcount?

Cool cover, huh?

Here's the blurb:

Twelve-year-old Hannah Stone tells everyone she’s “okay,” but that’s a total lie. Two years ago her dad was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The detective in charge of the case never found the driver, but he somehow managed to get Hannah’s mom to fall in love with him. The jerk. And speaking of love, Hannah’s developed a major crush on Ollie Ortega—he’s her best friend and the only one she can talk to—a crush on Ollie is so not a good idea.

Also not a good idea? Searching for a missing person with no help from the police. But that’s exactly what Hannah does when she finds messages in library books—underlined words that point her in the direction of someone who needs her.

And, suddenly, Hannah’s even further from okay. She breaks into a library, gets caught in a kidnapper’s web, and is stalked by her dad’s killer, all in an effort to save a life…but can she save herself, too?

Sounds thrilling! And priced smartly at 99 cents. I absolutely loved Anita's last ebook--EARTHLING HERO, and can't wait to download this book to my NOOK (although I read Earthling Hero on my computer--you don't need an e-reader to read an ebook).

Now that I know what my reading plans are this week, let me think about writing plans. Oh, yes. I plan to pull ahead enough in the ranks to snag a jersey by Friday. What's your plan?

I was hoping to put up standings this morning, for the Tour, but I am taking the kids to the National History Museum in Boston. So, stay tuned for standings tomorrow, the announcement of the last two prizes on Wednesday. Big stuff this week!

Tour de Writing Check in, Week 4

2011-08-05T10:07:00.003-04:00

Before I put out the call for wordcounts this week, for the big Tour challenge, I just want to take a moment out to spotlight a friend of mine, Tina Laurel Lee.

I talk about building community on-line, and then I tweet or throw up a blog post, or play a silly game. But Tina is out there, seriously doing it. She created The Practice Room, a blog open to all, designed for writers to pledge to unplug for an hour, and then come back in real time and chat. Actually talk with a group of writers about...writing.

Last Wednesday, Tina organized for the Practice Roomers to all get together and video chat, oh, and write. It was amazing--I got to meet people that I had been chatting with for months. Tina--thanks for the wonderful community that you are building! I encourage everyone to check out The Practice Room--there will be further google+ video get-togethers, and other crazy wonderful stuff happening soon. And, as always, everyone is invited--no--encouraged to come. And if you need some hand holding, just email me (hegkelly at gmail dot com). I'm always happy to help.

Thanks Tina, for creating places for us to hang out, learn about craft, and build our friendships. Your contribution to writerly community has been invaluable!!!

It's never to late to join in!

Now, on to the Tour de Writing. With only one more week to go, every word counts. So count carefully. In today's post, please tell me:

1. Your word count for the week.
2. How many TPRs you attended last week (including the epic video chat!)
3. How many twitter challenges you competed in, hashtag, #tourdewriting
4. Whether you are revising, drafting, or both.

Phew! One more week to go. I'm off to figure out my own tally. Where did those post-its get to?

Tour de Writing Standings, Week 3

2011-08-03T11:26:00.001-04:00

The Tour de Writing is going on strong, with ten impressive competitors this year! There is still time for newcomers to come play, before the August 12th finish line. It's all about wordcount, and community writing.

So, here is how everything is shaking out:

Overall:

Jonathon Arntson is ahead with a grand total of 15,840 points. How does it feel to wear yellow, this year, Jon? Can anyone unseat J?

Revising:

Tina Laurel Lee is blazing forward, and looking great in that polka-dotted jersey, with 12,535 points (and I am missing last week's count (week 3) from Tina, so she might even be further ahead.)

Marisa Hopkins is coming up fast behind Tina with 9,112 revising points. However, I am missing TWO weeks of word counts for Marisa, so who knows where she really is!!

Drafting:

Kristine Asselin sprinted into the lead with 8,660 drafting points. She looks awesome in her green jersey!

Anita is in second place in the category of drafting, with 1,400 points. (However, I'm missing both weeks 2 and 3 wordcounts for Anita. She might be breathing down Kris' neck!)

Kelly is coming up strong with 615 drafting points. (Kelly, I'm missing week's 3 wordcount for you, as well.)

Fida I is writing strong at 186 points. (Fida, I'm missing week's 2 and 3 wordcounts for you too.)

Revising and Drafting

We have a newcomer to the category of revising and drafting, and she is wearing white!

LynNerd! Lynn is out front with a crazy 10,557 points. Woo-hoo Lynn! You wear white well!

Taffy is writing strong at 5,574 points.

I'm pulling up the rear with 2,801 revising and drafting points. But, watch out, Taffy and Lynn--I've already done a #tourdewriting twitter challenge this week, and a Practice Room. I'm coming for that white jersey!

Nice job, everyone. If you have been remiss in sending me your 2nd or 3rd week's tallies, please email me at hegkelly at gmail dot com. (Also email me if your total is incorrect!)

You only have this week, and next week to unseat a front runner, so write hard, and get me those tallies each Friday. Remember, there are PRIZES to be had!!

In other Tour de Writing news, Tina is hosting a special google+ video chat at 2 today in lieu of a Practice Room chat. So exciting to embark on a new era of party writing! Email Tina (tina dot laurel at gmail dot com) if you want to come. It's open to all (as always)!

Congrats to all those jersey winners! Maybe one week, I'll finally nab one. :)

Derailed No Longer

2011-08-02T16:04:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to stick up a quick post, asking for updates. I am (finally) back from vacation, and ready to dig into the Tour de Writing standings. Hopefully I'll post them tomorrow. :) And, yes, I know I missed an entire week of standings. Sigh. I just couldn't manage it during vacation.

I've been writing today, and am happy to jump right back in--the vacation was great for brainstorming some of the plot issues I'd been struggling with. So YAY!

I even did a #tourdewriting challenge this am on twitter (thanks @KristineAsselin!). Hopefully tomorrow I will be in the Practice Room, and writing more. So, let me know this week's goals, and please post last week's word counts on last Friday's post.

Bear with me, as I slide back into the groove of things. Who is insane enough to organize a completely convoluted, confusing but UTTERLY FUN writing challenge while she is on vacation? OH, THAT WOULD BE ME. Anyway. The Tour de Writing continues until August 12th, so feel free to jump on board if you want to up your word count (or revision count) this summer.

What's your writing goal this week?

Do you have a Tour de Writing goal this week? Mine is to move forward, to continue to revise, and to get this thing rolling!

Just Because I'm Not On Track

2011-07-29T14:56:00.003-04:00

...doesn't mean you can't be! I'm still on vacation, and therefore, behind in getting last week's Tour de Writing standings posted.

But in the meantime, while I update this post to dress you all up in your proper jerseys, let me know how writing went for you last week.

Let me know:

1. How many words you wrote (or revised).
2. Number of times you wrote in the Practice Room
3. Number of times you were a part of a challenge on twitter.
4. Are you drafting new words or revising?

As I figure out LAST WEEK's standings (I know, I am SO far behind!), I will post them below!

Transparency

2011-07-27T06:00:00.001-04:00

I love traveling the blogosphere and connecting with other writers. I love coming to a new writer’s blog and finding out that they have written a book, a book which is published.

What I don’t like is then trying to figure out how that book was published.

I’m not wondering this in order to judge anyone. I legitimately want to know about their journey, how they got where they are, why they took a certain route, and how it’s going.

See ------------------------------------------------------------------>
I even have a blog series devoted to journeys.
(The arrow should be further down my blog, but you get the point)

And, I love to support fellow writers, and there are certain forms of publication which leave the writers largely to their own devices as far as selling and marketing the book.

Is it brazen that I want to know as soon as I arrive on someone’s blog if that someone self-pubbed, has an agent, e-pubbed, has a large publisher, has an indie publisher, or wrote the book on papyrus paper?

Is that rude?

I kinda think it is. So, I don’t generally ask, as a stranger, about that journey. But I really want to know.

And a part of it is that I don’t just do blogs anymore as social media--I twitter, and google+, and (very) occasionally facebook.

So, if I can see the salient info up front, I can take that into all the social realms that I use. And, it’s not that I don’t want to go the extra mile to form a writing friendship. Ask the people whom I knock into around here. I love the extra mile. I just want to know what that mile might be.

What about you? Do you have your stats on the “cover” of your blog? Do you put it all into the “about me” paragraph? How transparent are you? How much transparency do you expect?

Haven't seen me for a while on twitter? It's because I'm on the roller coasters with Super Grover here.

Clumsy Kitten, Monday Meeting

2011-07-25T06:00:00.009-04:00

Jelly looking healthy again.

In celebration of my sick kitty Jelly's return to health, I thought I might talk a little more about our other kitten, Pip (yes, another cat--I'm feeling that sufficient evidence of my cat-lady nature might be out of the bag...).

Pip is a cuddly kitten, always in my lap and by my side. However, she is also a freak of nature, in that she is a clumsy cat. Every time she walks on the side of our bed, she falls right off. Sometimes she gets stuck in between the bed and the bed frame, shoulders wedged tight, legs squirreling madly to gain some sort of hold in order to climb out.

She then sits at the top of the stairs, and meows, as if to say, "Please carry me, I can't handle the embarrassment today." I have seen her tumble down a couple of stairs after tripping over her paws.

Pip getting much love.

It makes me think about quirky characters. Is Pip more lovable because she is clumsy? You bet. It's endearing, if odd. She seems more real since she is supposed to be graceful, and is everything but.

How do you make your characters three dimensional? Do you have any characters who are oxymorons? Clumsy cat? Gentle lion? Whatever the human equivalent of these might be? How do you keep your characters believable?

While you think about my clumsy kitten, tell us--how are you doing in your writing life--what are your goals for the week? If you are doing the Tour, what are your wordcount goals? Are you trying to steal the jersey off of anyone? Who do you most want to take down in a wordcount challenge?

I am just hoping to write something while on vacation. I'd be happy with 100 words. :)

For those who might be popping over for the first time, it’s never too late to join the Tour de Writing. We’ll be keeping track of wordcount until August 12th, right before WriteOnCon begins. Please feel free to say hello, get to know some of your competition (their blogs are listed in the left side blogroll) and introduce yourself in the comments.

Last week was a rip-roaring time! I can't wait to see what this week brings for the TdW. I'll get the standings up as soon as possible--I'm shooting for Wednesday or Friday. If you don't see me in the comments, it's because I'm hanging out with wild horses, here.

TdW Check-in and Standings

2011-07-22T09:09:00.004-04:00

I should have known she was sick when she was curled up at the foot of the baby doll's bed, instead of mine.

I am sitting on the floor, trying to get my sick kitty to eat a tuna popsicle. (Thanks, Nandini, for the recipe!)

Anyway, if you have noticed that I haven't been around this week, that is mostly why. I rushed her to the vet with a 105 degree temp, and she hasn't been bouncing back as quickly as I had hoped. So, I'm planning on packing up both kittens to come with us on vacation this weekend.

So, you are probably wondering--who is out in front of the Tour de Writing? What are the other two prizes? (I unveiled two already, and you'll have to wait for the other two. Yes, there are FOUR winners of the Tour every year!)

So, here are the standings:

OVERALL:

In first place, with a big lead out of the gate, the overall front runner is:

Marisa Hopkins with a whopping 9,112 revision points!! Congrats Marisa--you look awesome in yellow. Fight hard to keep that yellow jersey on your back this week!

REVISING:

King of the Mountain this week, sporting the polka-dotted red jersey in the REVISION category is:
Tina Laurel Lee with 6500 revision points. Congrats on being Queen of the Mountain this week! Watch out, Marisa, Tina is on your tail!
LynNerd is coming in fast behind Tina and Marisa, with 1080 revising points. Woo-hoo!

DRAFTING:

Jonathon Arntson with 6,100 points is wearing the green, sprint, drafting jersey.

Coming up quickly behind Jon are:

Kristine Asselin with 2639 drafting points
Anita with 1400 drafting* points

Fida I with 186 drafting points and
Kelly with 0 drafting* points

*Anita and Kelly, I wasn't sure which category your guys were in, so I threw you into drafting. Let me know if you are drafting, revising, or both, and I'll change the standings.

REVISING AND DRAFTING:

Wearing the white, revision and drafting jersey is:

Taffy with 1691 revising and drafting words

me with 0 revising and drafting words--better look out, Taffy, I have you in my sights!

CONGRATS EVERYONE!!

If I have made mistakes, please let me know. I had to adjust some scores, due to very strict Tour de Writing rules (LOL). For instance, as much as I love it when people tweet about the Tour, you only get points when you use twitter to organize a writing Party. Confusing, I know. Sigh. But you can compete as many times on twitter, and even if no one answers your call, if you wrote, you win the bonus points. :)

Things can change quickly in the Tour de Writing. And, even though I was delinquent in getting last week's standings posted, already, it is time to chime in with 2nd week standings. Gasp! Already!!

2nd Week Tally

Let me know your word count for the past week, in this fashion:

1. First week's points total (this is what your standing is up above, in this blog post, unless my math was bad.
2. This week's total word count.
3. Number of times in TPR
4. Number of times that you wrote, party style on twitter, inviting others to join you
5. Whether you are drafting, revising, or both

I know this is convoluted. :)

Mine looks like this:
1. 0
2. 1201
3. 3 x 500
4. 0
5. still both

If you are new to the Tour, it is not too late to join in! Email me at hegkelly at gmail dot com, if you are confused. A good week of writing could blast anyone to the front of the pack!

Party Time, and Check in: Tour de Writing

2011-07-19T09:49:00.000-04:00

I'm still putting together the standings for the Tour de Writing--so bear with me, and look for a post tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to give everyone a chance to post goals for the week.

But first, let's talk about Party Writing.

You know, hanging out, eating Crab Rangoons, and talking writing? Oh, wait, that's more of a writing meet and greet.

Party writing is actually when you get together in a virtual social venue, make a plan to go and write for a specified time, write for that specified time, and then come back, and check in. It is effective, because someone is holding you accountable for writing, and because you pledge to do it unplugged from the internet (except for necessary research--and no, twitter almost never qualifies as research).

Party writing is an excellent way to promote community, and get writing done. Do you exercise more when you do it with a friend? Well, I write more when I do it with a friend.

The two social venues which we are giving bonuses for party writing for the Tour de Writing are:

1. The Practice Room. Check out the times on posted on my left blogroll, check in at TPR by commenting on the blog post before the unplug, go write for an hour, and when the hour is up, sign in to the chat room to talk about the writing session. It's easy, welcoming, and a there is a writer-in-residence guaranteed to be there to talk with about writing frustrations. Or writing awesomeness.

2. Twitter. Okay, so I denounced twitter as a research tool, but it can be fun to challenge someone to a word-off on twitter. Here's an example:

"#TourdeWriting challenge on the :30. How many words can you write/revise in 30mins?"

"#1k1hr #TourdeWriting challenge at 12. Who's with me?"

I love the #1k1hr people on twitter. They are so much fun to write with! Can you write 1000 words in an hour?

If you have questions about either of these community writing forums, please email me (hegkelly at gmail dot com) or DM me on twitter. There are Tour de Writing bonus points for using these venues to write well with others. :)

So, this week, keep your eyes and ears open to do some party writing, or create an opportunity yourself. It's fun!

And, tell me in the comments what your goals are for the week, or your general goals for the Tour de Writing. And if you are joining us, welcome!

My goals--to make some serious headway this week. I'm going for 10,000 words. Think you can beat me?

Oh, and feel free to grab a Tour de Writing badge from my left blogroll! Thanks, J, for creating that!

Tour de Libraries, Tour de Writing

2011-07-15T12:12:00.001-04:00

I'm sitting in the beautiful Narragansett RI library, watching my kids play bingo. Thank goodness for libraries! We'll make this short and sweet today.

Let me know how you've done in your writing week.

If you are competing in the Tour de Writing, for awesome PRIZES, let me know (in the comments) the following:

1. Your wordcount for the week.

2. Number of times in The Practice Room.

3. Number of times you challenged people to write on twitter, hashtag #TourdeWriting

4. Your category--whether you are drafting new words, revising, or doing both.

So, MY totals look like this:

1. 0
2. 0 x 500
3. 0 x 250
4. Both

My total? A big zero. Don't judge me, I've been on vacation. :)

What are your totals? Clearly, it’s not too late to sign up, even if you have a big fat donut, like me. J

I’ll tally the totals, and put everyone in jerseys for Monday’s post.

And, even if you aren’t competing, feel free to check in and let me know how are doing!

Tour de Writing PRIZES

2011-07-13T13:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to ME!

What am I doing for my birthday? Giving PRIZES to you, Tour de Writers!

It is NEVER to late to join in.

So keep track of every single word you write, keep track of the word count in every section that you revise, and visit The Practice Room (for 500 extra points at a pop), or write with #TourdeWriting folks on twitter (for a bonus 250 points).

Read this post, and this post and then if you are still confused--I can just about guarantee it--well, DM me on twitter, or e-mail me at hegkelly at gmail dot com.

Tour de Writing Prizes:

You know you want to win-- and all you have to do is write or revise the most words by August 12th.

I will unveil the other two prizes next week. :)

Tanstaafl. I make you work for your prizes here.

Tell me in the comments, if you would like to sign up, so I can get your blog on my blogroll on the left hand side. Visit other Tour de Writers from said blogroll.

Make sure to stop by here on Friday to give me your word counts for this first week! We'll see who gets to wear a jersey come Monday!!

Second Annual Tour de Writing!!!

2011-07-11T09:25:00.003-04:00

It's always good to set goals. My goal this summer was to re-organize, re-vamp, and rejuvenate. To return in the fall well rested, and ready to write.

Well, smack me upside the head--I had forgotten about the TOUR de WRITING.

You might ask, how could you possibly forget the ultra fun and ultra convoluted competition that you, Heather, created last year in order to squeeze as much writing as possible out of the month of July?

Well, I just don't know. :)

But it's here, it's July, it's a month before WriteOnCon, time to launch the Tour de Writing.

Competitive writing's not just for NaNo anymore!!

Can I get a *Woo-Hoo* from everyone who knows what the heck I'm talking about?

For everyone else, here's the run-down:

1. I love the Tour de France. Could watch it all day long. Have, in fact. I also love motivated writing. Writing with others. Competitively. Last year, I merged the two, and voila, The Tour de Writing.

2. All you need to do is write. And keep track of your word count from this day forward. If you are drafting, then every word counts. If you are revising, then every word in that section counts. If you are confused, join the club. :)

3. ANYONE can join in, AT ANY TIME. All are welcome.

4. You get bonus points for writing well with others.

Utilize Tina's The Practice Room, and get 500 bonus points every single time.

Participate in (or organize) a hashtag #TourdeWriting challenge on Twitter, and earn another bonus 250 points. Every time. (For example, you might tweet "writing for an hour on the 30, who's with me? #TourdeWriting" and then write for an hour, then see who wrote the most...)

5. Sign in on Mondays, sign out on Fridays. Mondays you talk about your goals for the week, Fridays, you tell me how many words you've written or revised, and how many times you wrote using The Practice Room and Twitter. I spend the weekend tallying, and then hand out jerseys and updates on Monday. This goes on for five weeks.

6. Writers with the most points at the end win PRIZES. :)

If you are still confused (let's be honest--how could you not be?) take a look at last year's initial post.

The Jersey Breakdown:

In the Tour de France, riders earn jerseys, and wear them until another rider bests them.

I will give out these same jerseys each week, and we'll see who is still wearing them at the finish line on Friday, August 12th.

Green Jersey: Awarded to the writer with the most sprint points. These are drafters. Sprinters. Writers who are writing new words down the line.

Polka-dot Jersey: King of the Mountain! For revising, of course. If you are dedicating your time to revising, then you are definitely riding up that mountain. Count up each word in each section you revise, and that is your word count for the week.

White Jersey: Combination of drafting and revising. If you are one of those who draft a bit, and revise a bit as you go, or if you are drafting a project, and revising another project, then this is your jersey.

Yellow Jersey: The maillot jaune. The jersey of all jerseys. This is the BIG WINNER. The front writer. The writer with the most words, period end.

Let's take a look at the winners from last year. The reigning champions. The writers to beat:

The GRAND PRIZE 2010 WINNER of the YELLOW JERSEY was TOM with 61,844 points!

Krystey Belle won the GREEN JERSEY for most DRAFTED words, with a total of 57,053 points.

Patricia won the 2010 POLKA DOT Jersey, with a total of 56,353 points!

And the winner of the 2010 WHITE JERSEY, signifying highest points in revising and drafting was Taffy, with 46,606!!

Congrats to last years winners, and to all who competed. I know that I wrote more last July than I would have without this race to the finish.

Everyone who wants to enter, please tell me, in the comments of this post, whether you are drafting or revising, and what your goals are, for the week, or for the whole Tour de Writing. Also, please leave me your blog link, so I can add a blog roll dedicated to the Tour.

My goals:

I am going after the White Jersey. I am drafting and revising a YA dystopia. My goal is to get to... 50,000 points by the end of the Tour. Ouch. That seems like a ton. :) Especially since I will be on the road for two whole weeks of the Tour. Well, I'll just have to bring my laptop. :) No excuses.

Everybody ready?

On your mark...

Get set...

WRITE!!

Under Construction and The TOUR DE WRITING

2011-07-09T16:10:00.000-04:00

Please be patient as I re-format the blog and add some much needed organization here.

I am trying to find ways to continue to make connections between writers, and to organize those connections. I've lost track of a few blogs that I really wanted to follow, and don't want that to continue to happen.

So, I have two favors to ask:

1. If your blog falls into one of the new categories on the left blog roll, and you don't see it there, please let me know in the comments. I have so much in my brain right now, that I forget my own name (and blog name). I'm hoping that I can at least simplify my blogging life by putting you all in your proper places, and would love help with the endeavor. :)

2. Tell me--how do you organize your blogging life, and all the connections you've made? Do you use google reader to stay on track of blogs? Do you go through times when you can't keep up with it all? What methods do you use to simplify blogging?

On another note, once I finish organizing the blog this weekend,

the Second Annual TOUR DE WRITING starts Monday!!

Fans of last July's hit game, the TOUR DE WRITING, fasten your seat belts! And a hearty Edited to Within an Inch welcome to all the new fans! The second annual TdW starts here Monday!! Oh, yes, there will be PRIZES. Who's going to win the sprint jersey? The yellow jersey? Do we have any previous winners trying to defend their title? Competitive writing's not just for NANO anymore!! Curious? Show up and check it out!

Least Likely

2011-06-27T13:40:00.000-04:00

I read in all genres. Because I never know where I am going to find genius. And, as a writer, if I don't explore all options, then I'm limiting myself. Like Alyssa says, in Chasing Amy:

Alyssa: You know, I didn't just heed what I was taught, men and women should be together, it's the natural way, that kind of thing. I'm not with you because of what family, society, life tried to instill in me from day one. The way the world is, how seldom it is that you meet that one person who just *gets* you - it's so rare. My parents didn't really have it. There were no examples set for me in the world of male-female relationships. And to cut oneself off from finding that person, to immediately halve your options by eliminating the possibility of finding that one person within your own gender, that just seemed stupid to me. So I didn't. But then you came along. You, the one least likely. I mean, you were a guy.

Holden: Still am.

Alyssa: And while I was falling for you I put a ceiling on that, because you *were* a guy. Until I remembered why I opened the door to women in the first place: to not limit the likelihood of finding that one person who'd complement me so completely. So here we are. I was thorough when I looked for you. And I feel justified lying in your arms, 'cause I got here on my own terms, and I have no question there was some place I didn't look. And for me that makes all the difference.

I don't normally go in for realistic fiction. You know, coming of age stories, without all the flash of aliens or doors to other lands. However, some of my favorite books are in the realistic genre. And I know they are good, because I didn't seek them out. I didn't hunger after their plots or ideas. And yet, when I picked them up, they spoke to me. They were the least likely stories for me to fall for, and yet, I did.

Recently, I've been glued to The Bachelorette. A type of show I don't normally enjoy. Which is not a dig toward the people who are die-hard fans of the show. There are no judgments here. But, that show had never held any appeal to me at all, until this season.

This season, there are plot twists, naivete, subterfuge, backstabbing, and all kinds of train-wreck ingredients. I'm hooked. I want to find out if this girl is going to make it through relatively unscathed. I'm not wondering if she is going to find "the one". I am wondering if she will ever trust guys again.

Maybe she'll veer off her path, toward the least likely.

While watching the show, I think about the power a writer has of controlling what the characters know, and what the audience knows. And manipulating what we think (as the audience) the Bachelorette, the main character, knows. And how her character traits (trust, and insecurity) informs how she deals with the information, and makes her decisions.

Who could have guessed? Least likely, indeed.

What least likely place are you garnering writing knowledge from? (Yup, ending on a preposition. Don't judge me.)

Do you write or read outside of your preferred genre?

What's got you hooked?

How sweet is it when the balloon rings Owl's doorbell?

WINNERS and Summer Transition

2011-06-22T11:02:00.001-04:00

Thanks again to Lynn and all the wonderful people who stopped by to share the love with Lynn at her interview on Friday. It's never too late to find out about the writers behind the blogs, so please check out the list of past interviewees on my blog roll and take a look. Maybe you'll find a new blog to follow or a new crit partner. Seriously. :)

The comments were wonderful on Friday and throughout the weekend. Lynn chose Tina Laurel Lee to receive CURSE AT ZALA MANOR* and Rebecca Kiel to receive SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG* because of their rockin' comments and questions!

A big thanks to Lynn for the giveaway, and thanks to all of you who stopped by!

Didn't win, but want to buy a copy of Lynn's books? Click through here!

I have so much more to blog about--amazing book signings and kidlit get-togethers, but that will have to wait until I'm over the hump into summer. I hope everyone is having an awesome writing week!

*Blogger was in a mood today, and not letting me insert uploaded pictures. Imagine that the images are there!!

BOOK GIVEAWAY Friday Feature: Journeys Toward Publication and Beyond: Lynn Kelley

2011-06-17T08:46:00.004-04:00

Welcome, all! Today, we have an awesome opportunity to not only hear from an excellent author, Lynn Kelley, but also to party down with her as she and her co-writers celebrate the release of the second book of the Monster Moon series, SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG. So strap on a party hat, grab a noise maker, and yell.

Loudest two people at the party WIN a copy of CURSE OF ZALA MANOR or SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG. (You can be loudest by leaving the most rockin' comment or question for Lynn, of course.)

Lynn hasn't been blogging long, but she has already filled her blog with kindness, support, and knowledge. Make sure to check out her blog! She's just wonderful.

Without further ado, let's get this party started! *throwing confetti*

Here's a little about Lynn:

Lynn Kelley worked as a court reporter for 25 years while she and her husband, George, raised their four little monsters. She’s co-author of CURSE AT ZALA MANOR and SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG, the first two books in the Monster Moon mystery series. Her story, “The Jobo Tree” won her Highlights For Children’s Author of the Month award. She also authored a picture book, Merry as a Cricket (WhipperSnapper Books).

She tries to keep her overactive imagination in check and is a big scaredy cat who’s afraid to watch horror movies.

Woo-hoo, Lynn--Thanks for being here! And thanks for coming to hang out with us during your celebration for the release of SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG. Party hats and noisemakers for all. *passing out popcorn* Tell us a little about this book.

Thanks so much, Heather. This is a wonderful opportunity, and I’m thrilled you invited me to be your guest.

Bog is the second book in the Monster Moon Mystery series for kids ages 8 to 12, written by myself and two co-authors under the pseudonym BBH McChiller.

The main character, AJ Zantony, is a monster magnet. Emily Peralta, the brainiac new girl, returns in this book, and so does our readers’ favorite varmint, Vlad the snarky pirate rat. AJ’s best friend, Freddy ‘Hangman’ Gallows, made a cameo in Zala Manor, but in this book he plays a major role, smelly pranks and all.

The trouble starts in Old Chinatown when Vlad is attacked by a raven and flees to the salt water bog. AJ never dared to venture into the creepy marshlands, but he can’t let Vlad die. It’s pretty much nonstop action from that point on. The zombuddies are pitted against one nightmarish creature after another.

In CURSE AT ZALA MANOR, readers get acquainted with the characters. SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG reintroduces them, but it’s faster paced and has even more gross kid stuff. Both books are suitable for reluctant readers.

Sounds creepy, gross and mysterious. Awesome! I've been reading the book, and I'm already hooked and loving your quirky characters! Lynn, what kind of writing schedule do you keep? What does a balanced life look like for you?

I have no clue what a balanced life looks like. I gave up on “things getting back to normal” when the kids were younger. Plans seldom turn out the way I plan, and those dang monkeys are always tossing wrenches my way.

My writing schedule has been pathetic the past nine months, ever since I decided to catch up on technology. That includes:

· Designing a website, (www.lynnkelleyauthor.com) a major feat for a near computer illiterate soul. Can’t blame my age. I’m technologically challenged, even with the remote control.
· Switching to a Mac. Still learning it.

· Tackled making a book trailer, and by trial and error ended up with two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SK9xAro2d0

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-0IRNnd2gE&feature=related

· Started a blog.
· Still learning Twitter (@LynNerdKelley).

I seriously need to get back to revising the first draft of my edgy YA novel, THE PINK BUS, set in Huntington Beach, CA in the summer of 1971.
And I need to send out queries for my humorous chapter book, CURSE OF THE DOUBLE DIGITS, where the young MC turns ten and deals with one embarrassing mishap after another.

Wow! Lots of balls in the air--so awesome! Tell us, what has your writing journey been like so far? What made you start writing seriously? And, what kind of supports keep you going?

When my kids were young, I considered writing when they grew up, but then my daughter, Amy, needed help getting her reading points. She was in third grade. I started reading to her each night. In the middle of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, I was so impressed by his storytelling that it inspired me to become a children’s writer, so I signed up for Creative Writing classes at the community college.

My writing journey has been a wild, erratic ride and resulted in some of the highest and lowest points in my life.

Writer friends offer invaluable support and camaraderie. Other supports that keep me going are little things like seeing kids’ excited expressions during author visits, receiving fan letters, or hearing how one of my stories touched someone’s life. Throw me a bone and it keeps me going.

SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG, and the first book, CURSE AT ZALA MANOR are collaborative efforts. Tell us how the three of you write these books. Do you each write a chapter? Do you have some other method? What are the pitfalls of collaboration? What are the benefits? How did the collaboration come about?

I had just joined the critique group, Books Born Here (BBH), right around Halloween. The topic of childhood fears came up. Snakes, witches, spiders, clowns, monsters under the bed. Someone thought it would be fun to collaborate on a spooky mystery. In the end, it turned out that Kathy Sant, Maria Toth, and I followed through with it.

We usually meet at restaurants and coffee shops like Starbucks a couple times a week and plot out the entire storyline, then plot one chapter at a time.

We each write one or two assigned chapters with the guidelines to keep it around 5 pages and add a cliff hanger at the end. We’re free to embellish as we see fit, and it’s a hoot when we meet again and read them aloud because there are always cool surprises. Once the skeleton of the whole manuscript is done, together we comb through it line by line and weave it into one storytelling voice.

The pitfalls are that we don’t always agree on everything, so we take a vote. We decided at the beginning that the majority would rule and compromises would be made for the betterment of the books. Another pitfall for me is that I live in the High Desert and drive 40 miles one way through the Cajon Pass to meet with them.

The benefits are that we each have different strengths and learn from each other. We also share the work, and when one is in the middle of a crisis or tragedy, the others pick up the slack. For me, all the interesting topics we discuss and the laughing attacks are like a party.

I love it--that writing a novel becomes a party. I think that is one of my goals with some of my projects. Make it a party! Lynn--how did you get the series from drafts to published books?

We finished the first draft of CURSE AT ZALA MANOR in nine months. How appropriate since it was our baby, and Kathy is a retired obstetrician!

We locked ourselves in a suite at the historic Mission Inn in Riverside, CA and revised 12 hours a day the whole weekend, choosing better verbs, slashing entire chapters, and fixing plot holes. We were treated to a private late night tour of the catacombs beneath the inn. The spooky atmosphere helped us add sensory details and tweak the scenes that are set in underground tunnels.

We sent our baby off to agents and editors. Some of the comments we received were real gems, so we revised those scenes again, especially the first and last chapters.

We lost track of how many revisions we’d made when CURSE AT ZALA MANOR was acquired by Stargazer Publishing. It’s a small press in Corona, California that targets educational and library markets.

It's so great that you all had each other during the querying process--that can be such a difficult time. In general, Lynn, what has surprised you on your writing journey?

My whole attitude toward life changed. I found science and history more interesting and am willing to try new things. One year my nephew had a reptile birthday party. I wouldn’t touch a snake or lizard before that, but I wanted to see how they felt in case I had to describe it in a story.

I’m still surprised at how much there is to learn about the craft of writing. One lifetime isn’t enough.

Wow--that strikes a chord with me. That life changes fundamentally, and that one lifetime isn't enough. What has been your most important writing resource?

Reading how-to books and taking classes help. Joining a writers group led by author Marilyn Donahue got me on the right track when I was a newbie wandering aimlessly. The whole group offered the support and guidance I needed. I also joined SCBWI and attended conferences and workshops.

Years later, I joined the Books Born Here critique group, and that’s where Maria, Kathy, and I began working on the Monster Moon series.

When I first started writing 15 years ago, the internet wasn’t part of our lives. I wish it had been. Now that I’m blogging, I’m amazed at the wealth of info that’s out there.

How do you do social media? What has been your purpose, and how have you driven toward that purpose?

I’m on Facebook and started my blog in May. Just over a week ago I joined Twitter (@LynNerdKelley) and I’m still trying to work out the kinks.

One of my goals since I started writing has been to reach reluctant readers. That included some of my own kids. Reading well is a key to success. And with all the incredible, inspiring books out there, those kids are missing out big time.

Awesome goal. What kind of marketing do you and your co-writers do for the Monster Moon series? What do you think has worked best?

We've tried to think outside the bog for unique places to do signings. CURSE AT ZALA MANOR takes place around Halloween, so one of the big pumpkin patches let us sell books, and Ghost Walk in Riverside, which draws about 4,000 people each year, let us set up a booth. Maria and Kathy dressed as Batsy and Frizzelda, the quirky Literary Witches of Craggy Cove, and I dressed as Funny Bones, a silly skeleton with a Bag’O’Bones (jokes).

We also got to do two episodes of “Homework Hotline” on KLCS, PBS-Los Angeles. Kathy and Maria wore their witches’ getup and taught kids how to cook up suspense in their writing and how to brainstorm story ideas (in a graveyard with Brain, a pet brain on a leash).

Chicken that I am, I was happy as the cue card girl. Good thing I made cue cards because the teleprompter messed up!

A literacy event at the Feldheym Library in San Bernardino led to a television interview on the Inland Empire Alive show hosted by Dennis Baxter (KCSB – IMEG).

At a City of Readers community meeting, also in San Bernardino, the keynote speaker was an assistant to First Lady Michelle Obama. After his talk, we were surprised when he took a seat next to Maria. We signed a copy of CURSE AT ZALA MANOR for the Obama girls and asked him if he could give it to them. He couldn’t promise, but said he’d try. A few weeks later he sent an email that he personally delivered it to the First Lady!

Book signings are iffy as far as sales, but we’ve done well at some of the school visits and community events.

We’re just getting into social media, so I’m not sure how that will work out, but I’m enjoying the “social” part of it!

I love how varied your marketing methods are. And, it's thrilling to think of your book inside the White House! What advice do you have for other writers out there?

Joining a “good” critique group is one of the best things a writer can do. They can give you invaluable feedback and support you when rejections abound, plus you get to witness the progress they’re making in their writing journeys.

Be gentle on yourself during rough times, give yourself rewards for even small accomplishments, and don’t give up on your dreams.

Study the craft of writing – forever.

I love the idea of rewards for small accomplishments. Lynn, what are your biggest distractions?

I have a big family. That means constant drama and traumas.

My main distraction, like I said, is catching up on technology. I bumble my way through all of it. I don’t know how many meltdowns I had making those book trailers. Basically, hours of tears and prayers got me through it.

I have never had to make a book trailer. That might be something I would delegate! Just because I'm curious, do you prefer coffee or tea? Or something else…?

Coffee, please, with cream. No sugar. Occasionally, a shot of Bailey’s is yummy.

Coffee with Bailey's, coming right up! Thanks, Lynn, for the great interview. And thanks for your generosity of giving away TWO BOOKS at our party. Everyone who leaves a comment or question here in the comments (Lynn will be stopping by) will have a chance to win! In the meantime, check out Lynn's blog, friend her on Facebook, and follow her on twitter (@LynNerdKelley)!

Oh, and have some popcorn and cake. I have the best popcorn ever for our party today--cocoa popcorn, and bacon ranch popcorn. Enjoy! (But maybe don't mix the two.)

Writing is Like... A Cat Triggered Rube Goldberg Machine

2011-06-14T09:20:00.001-04:00

So, I have been tagged by the lovely Lynn Kelley, with the fill-in-the-blank-statement, 'writing is like...'

Writing is like a Rube Goldberg Machine. You know, where you draw out a rough draft, which ends up looking nothing like your final product. You painstakingly put together all the parts, only to find out that the thing doesn't work. 18 drafts, *cough*, tries later, tweaking all the while, the thing still doesn't work.

Maybe because you relied on a kitten to start the whole thing off, and she's pretty fickle. The only time that she actually started the chain effect was when the camera wasn't ready, and nobody was watching. And then there was the time that the other cat destroyed the whole thing, by sauntering through.

Finally, after getting so frustrated that it is only by sheer will that you are setting up those ridiculously sensitive dominoes the 52nd time, the whole thing works.

Like magic.

And then you start to think of the next machine.

Can you tell what I have been doing with all my time? End of year science projects rock. Sort of. I would have included the video if I knew how to upload that kind of thing to the web. Maybe someone will tell me how.

Anyway, please stop by Lynn's blog and check her out. She's new to blogging, and she's sweet and kind and welcoming.

And, instead of tagging someone, I thought I would ask you all, what is writing like for you? What have you been doing in your real life which reminds you of writing?

Friday Feature: Journeys Toward Publication and Beyond: Matthew MacNish

2011-06-10T07:19:00.001-04:00

Welcome to another round of Friday interviews! I've been off my game for a while--life got busy, and it was all I could manage to keep writing. But these interviews are my favorite type of blogging.

So, I'm back, and here with a fantastic writer. I can't remember when I first came across Matthew, but I do remember my first impression. I was encouraged by how honest he was, and how willing he was to share his past mistakes to help other writers. And I find that still to be the case.

He has an amazing community over at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment, and if you haven't been over yet, then GO. :) Join in. Follow. It's fun! Among other things, Matthew helps dissect query letters on his blog. For example--here's the post where he and Elana (queen of queries) focus on Elana's POSSESSION query.

Matthew--Thanks so much for being here today! I appreciate you kicking off another round of interviews. Why don't you start by telling us a little about yourself.

Thanks for having me, Heather. I'm the father of two beautiful young ladies, three lazy cats and one adorable German Shepard. Together we live in the mountains of north Georgia amidst my endless collection of vinyl records, Star Wars memorabilia, and special edition Lord of the Rings maps, DVDs, and books.

Cats and dogs. I hope they all get along. What has your writing journey been like? What made you start writing seriously? What kind of supports keep you going?

Well in many ways it has been hard. I used to write a lot when I was young, but I stopped for over a decade in my twenties when … life got in the way. Then I started up again a few years ago when I decided to write a novel. I had no idea what I was doing and didn’t know a single person in my life who was a writer. That’s what made it hard. I wrote a first draft that was about 4 times to long (word count) then barely revised it and started trying to query. I obviously had very little luck, though did get few words of encouragement, and eventually nearly gave up.

Then I discovered Nathan Bransford’s blog, and forums, saw the movie Julie and Julia, and decided to start a blog. The rest is history.

I love Nathan's community. And that you are willing to share your early mistakes with others. In your writing life, what has surprised you so far?

The biggest surprise for me has been how helpful other writers are. I am especially amazed by all the support I get from published authors. I can’t imagine how they find the time.

I agree--I have found the kidlit world to be amazing. Matthew--what has been your most important writing resource?

Well as I already mentioned, Nathan’s blog and the people I met in the forums were the catalyst, especially my mentor Bryan Russell, but I think the biggest thing that has made a difference in my own writing has been critiquing other people’s work. Mostly I do queries, but I have helped with some novels and short fiction too, and nothing improves your writing more than giving a critical eye to someone else’s.

Honestly, I feel the same way. I've learned the most from being a critter. So, how do you do social media? Blog? Twitter? Facebook? Tumblr? Something else? What has been your purpose, and how have you driven toward that purpose?

Well my blog is obviously the biggest outlet I have for connecting with people, especially writers. I do use Facebook a lot, Twitter somewhat less, and I don’t do Tumblr. I’m still figuring out how to rock Twitter, so I don’t have time for another time-suck yet.

What kind of writing schedule do you keep? What does a balanced life look like for you?

None. I know this is bad but I don’t have the time to write every single day. I usually manage to write every weekday, or at least revise/re-write, but I don’t often write on weekends unless the inspiration really strikes. I’m a dad of two daughters, and mom works nights and weekends, so my S days are often rather filled.

I hope writing every day is overrated. LOL. What advice do you have for other writers out there?

Just write, and read everything you can get your hands on.

Awesome. What are your biggest distractions?

Besides my family? And blogging? And reading? And my day job? After those I guess it would be video games and movies.

Do you prefer coffee or tea? Or something else…?

I only drink one cup of coffee a day, first thing when I get to work. I only drink tea if I’m sick, and then with lemon and locally produced honey. My preference for writing (when I do it at home) or just relaxing is a medium beer like Yuengling Lager, or Hot Sake.

Hot Sake, hmm. I'd like to see the writing that produces! Thank you so much, for the awesome interview.

Everyone, please leave a question or comment for Matthew, and he'll be by to answer.

And don't forget to head over to his blog, join in his community, and follow him on twitter (@MatthewMacNish).

What's In Your Book Stack?

2011-06-08T07:14:00.000-04:00

Today is the last day that I'm working at my son's middle school book fair. The book fair has been really wonderful--it's put on by our local indie bookstore, and supports the school's PTO. You know, two birds. Monday, I recommended a book on the blog. So, now I ask you--what should I buy? And why? (Don't be bound by the realm of reality. I'm looking for book recommendations here!) And, what's in your book stack? What are you looking forward to reading?

I'm getting to be known as book recommendation lady at the fair. What can I say? None of the other moms have read the books that are on the tables.

I'm launching another segment of my Friday Feature interviews this week, so make sure to stop by on Friday!!

Thanks for coming by and commenting--I know this time of year is exceedingly busy for most of us.

Pitch Perfect: THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE

2011-06-06T07:00:00.007-04:00

Once in a great while, I read a book which feels achingly, beautifully, pitch perfect.

And I know that book will live on for a long time within me. Forever. Or as long as my forever lasts.

When I was a child, many, many books lived inside me. Their characters became friends who lived past the covers of the book, and into adventures within me. But now, it takes a special book. Maybe I have finite space, or maybe I'm more discerning.

I just turned the last page of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE. I shed my tears, I smiled my laughs. And now the book lives within me.

That is, it lives within the reader side of me. It made the writer side of me give up writing. How could I possibly add my substandard words to the book world after reading a book in which no word was misused or extraneous? Pitch perfect I am not.

I gave up. For a moment. And then I came back around. And picked up the pen.

When I was a teen*, I made many messes with relationships and people. Life was messy, and because it was messy, it hurt. I felt like I wanted to escape, but that would mean escaping me.

I was the mess.

I couldn't move beyond my mistakes. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, reminded me, with startling clarity, that when you start living as yourself--when you start choosing for yourself--life gets messy. You make life messy. But there is hope for coming out the other side--into grace, and into YOU.

So, when I write a big old mess, there is hope that it will come out to the other side (of revision and hard work), and become something achingly beautiful. Jandy Nelson, you've raised the bar high. Thank you.

*Okay, to be perfectly honest, there are days when I still feel like a mess. There just aren't quite as many of them as there used to be. :)

Jackie Davies, LEMONADE WAR Author, Exudes Awesomeness

2011-06-01T09:25:00.002-04:00

Please visit Jackie's LEMONADE WAR website. And her author one.

I had the pleasure to see Jackie Davies at our indie book store a few weeks ago. And I have to say that she is a book reading pro. It's hard to captivate young wiggly readers. And yet she did.

Here are some pointers that I took away from her awesomeness:

1. Practice. It was clear to me that Jackie had done this more than a few times. She fielded kid's funny questions without missing a beat. She kept the momentum going. So, if you have to do a book reading, and you've never done one before, I would suggest that you borrow someone's antsy kids, and practice.

2. Show a movie. Kids love the visual. And if you can make books seem like TV, well...

Check out Jackie's book trailers, which I just love. Jackie showed both during her book reading. Fun!

3. Less is more. Instead of reading a chapter straight through, Jackie set the stage, and read passages throughout a few books. It kept the reading to a minimum, and kept the kids wanting more. I've seen kids eyes glaze over when trying to sit still and listen for too long. But not at Jackie's reading.

4. Backstory. Jackie explained why she wrote her books, and the situations that sparked her ideas. This made the kids emotionally involved with books that they hadn't even read yet.

5. Contest. Jackie asked the kids to come up with the name of her next book. This made the kids feel important, and gave them something fun to do.

6. Props. Jackie showed slides of fan mail (so cute!), presented her book trailers, and gave out pamphlets on how to have a lemonade stand, and how justice works. This gave kids something hands on to work with during the presentation.

7. Connect. Not only did Jackie have things of all medium types to interest the kids (who might be auditory, visual or tactile learners), but she stopped to connect by answering questions and fielding comments. Her presentation was short and sweet (15-20 minutes), and totally engaging.

What a pro! There is nothing that my kids like more than meeting an author, and feeling personally involved with the person behind the books. My kids become loyal to that author to the end!

Have you done any book readings? Would you add any tips to the ones I took away from Jackie's book reading and signing? How's everyone doing after this long weekend?

Tuesday Monday Meeting: Sick Daze

2011-05-24T08:22:00.000-04:00

I had a fabulous time at the NESCBWI conference, came home, and promptly got sick. For a week. Urgh. Sometimes when I'm sick, I can still write, still blog. But this illness made my head all funny. I said weird things, and made up words. Hmmm. Maybe I should have been writing something twitchy and MG. Oh well. Instead, I hid from the general public for a week.

I was like this old cat in the drawer, hiding out last week.

Pip is actually being very brazen since old cat just might lash out.

But I'm mostly better now, except for the pain in my ear which makes me wonder if I have an ear infection. TMI? For sure.

I'll post about NESCBWI soon, and try not to replicate all the great posts already written about the conference. The highlight of my weekend was FINALLY meeting Alicia, and hanging out with Laura, Kris, Martha, Anna, Natasha, and Jen. As well as making new friends. Oh, and giving an impromptu pitch to an awesome agent.

More on that later. On the writing front, I'm pleased with where I am in both the projects I'm working on. I can't wait to do some quality writing this week. I'm rewriting, revising and drafting all at one time, and I enjoy the diversity of it all. My writing goal is to make some serious headway this week, to catch up on blogging and commenting, and to continue having fun with TwitterGames.

Oh, and we're starting up WIBIJ again. Soon. So be on the lookout!

Let me know what you are working on this week. How are you doing in your writing life? Are you keeping up with your goals? Feeling inspired? Needing a push?

Escape Artist

2011-05-11T11:14:00.002-04:00

This cat may look completely angelic, but she's an escape artist. And she is supposed to be an indoor cat. Not because I'm mean, but because I've lost a furry friend to the outside before. Not fun. So the kitten lurks and lunges and leaps for the door whenever it opens. And I track her down whenever she escapes.

Superman, my middle child (in orange above), was the resident escape artist before the kitten. We were always on high alert. One Saturday I got a call from a neighbor at 6 am. She explained that Superman had walked (in pjs, no shoes) through the snow to her house. She was happy to let him hang out and watch TV for as long as I wished. I have the best neighbors.

And sometimes it is good to escape.

In case you want to escape your ms/chores/job, whatever real stuff you have on the burner, here are some excellent posts:

Erin Bow's Anti Advice at Shrinking Violet Promotions.

A book about INBOUND MARKETING, and thoughtful video.

First Page Shooter--an AWESOME blog series where two great agents dissect first pages.

I am heading to the NESCBWI conference this Friday. I had planned on just going up Saturday, but my fabulous husband took off Friday so I could go to the conference for TWO WHOLE DAYS. I'm thrilled. I've never been to two days of a conference before. I'm trying to decide whether to put myself out there Friday after the introductory stuff wraps up, you know, and be social.

Or whether I should escape to my hotel room, and write.

What do you guys think? Especially those who have gone up (and been social) on Friday. What happens Friday night?

What links and posts have you been escaping to recently? (Feel free to include your own!)

Twittergame today? #ItTakesSoLong

Because it does. :)

Play along!!

Monday Meeting: Swimming Lessons

2011-05-09T11:01:00.002-04:00

My oldest son loves to swim. It wasn't always that way. It took years of swim lessons to get him to just put his face in that water. But once he got the hang of it, he spent his summer days swimming with friends out in the middle of the lake. I'd call him in to apply more sunscreen, and then he'd high kick it back out into the water.

This past fall he joined the swim team. And I realized that, to no fault of his own, he hadn't mastered any of the technical aspects of any of the strokes. He hadn't been taught, even through years of swim lessons. I guess his teachers had been focused on just wanting him to float. On wanting him to be able to survive in the water.

This is where I think a lot of people come into writing. Loving it, knowing how to float, to move through the water, but not knowing enough to win a race.

My son struggled through swim team, and was one of a handful of kids who got an award for Most Improved. I was proud that he stuck it out.

We started swim lessons again, and he did well, but didn't want to ever do swim team again. Until he found that one coach. That coach who drilled him in the water like a sergeant, and didn't let him take an incorrect single stroke. Who watched over ever single scissor kick. That coach who demanded excellence. Who barked out her orders. My son stepped out of the water after one lesson with her, and proclaimed, "I'll do swim team again next fall."

I think we each have to be that swim coach for ourselves. We can rely on crit partners to a point, but we have to have the confidence in our ability to strive for technical prowess. And to seek knowledge until we get there. To always reach for the next perfect stroke of the pen.To yell at ourselves until our writing is streamlined and focused.

We're not just in this to play in the water, after all.

This week, I'm writing. How about you?

Today, @laurapauling started a great new TwitterGame, with the hastag #badquerytips. Come share your serious (and funny) tips. And, on Laura's blog, she gives us some twitter pitfalls to avoid!

Befores and Afters

2011-05-06T09:27:00.000-04:00

Before:

So cute, right? This is Cowgirl's toddler bed. I included both angles so you could enjoy Marisa's beautiful artwork at the head and foot of the bed.

During:

Since Cowgirl is five and a half, it was time to transition her to a big girl bed. But change is hard. Growth sometimes comes with growing pains. And even though she loves her new big girl beds, she still talks about loving her old bed, missing it.

After:

Similarly, we seek out growth for our novels. We ask the tough questions. Should I give up on a project or rewrite? Because the novel doesn't work the way it is. How much should I cut while I revise? Which segues into my next before and after...

Before:

During:

After:

Okay, that's not the same sheep. But isn't the little guy too cute? Hopefully my manuscript will look like that when I'm done revising--from a big woolly mess to an adorable baaing creature. Do you think he is sniffing his mommy's fur?

Sometimes we need visuals to remind us that the pain of making hard choices on a project brings us to a much cleaner, wonderful novel. What questions do you ask yourself when making tough choices on a draft or revision? What visuals do you carry for keeping you to the revision tasks of big decisions or sheering those words?

And, a visual for the romping #amwriting twittergame that Kris (@KristineAsselin) has started for us today:

What occupies your kids so you can write? hashtag #thingsIletmykidsdosoIcanwrite

Come answer on twitter, and follow the hashtag for some laughs!!

SHALL WE PLAY A TWITTERGAME?

2011-05-04T07:40:00.002-04:00

Because this is fun. (Did you notice PMM's tweet was the first one mentioned?).

Let's do it writerstyle. Here's the question:

What's the most bizarre thing you've done while deep in writing fog? You know, when the world around you dissolves, and you are in that writing zone.

The hashtag for today's Twittergame? #dontwakemeamwriting

I'll get started:

Drove off with coffee mug on roof of car #dontwakemeamwriting

Post your answers on twitter (not here), and let's have some fun!!

Do you tweet? Do you have questions about twitter? Do you like twittergames? If you do, you need to follow @TaherehMafi--she starts games all the time, and gives stuff away!! It took me a while to get into twitter, but I love it now. Anyone feeling confused? I am happy to talk you through it! Reluctant to tweet? What's your favorite way to connect on-line?

***look for more Twittergames in the future from Kris (@KristineAsselin), Laura (@laurapauling), Kelly (@kellypolark), Tina (@tinalaurellee), and Anita! Make sure to follow all these lovely ladies so you don't miss out on a single game!!

Monday Meeting with David A. Kelly

2011-05-02T07:15:00.000-04:00

I had an awesome whole day of writing (gasp!) last week, (thanks to my awesome hubby!) which vaulted me headfirst into this next Era of writing.

Yes, I'm proclaiming a completely new Era. (Who's with me?)

After reading through a couple of my projects, I realized that I now have the capability of working on more than one ms at a time. (Like chewing gum while walking, baby!) In addition to the MG ms I've described on this blog, I've also been working on a YA dystopia, which is dark and dirty and so much fun! Right now, I'm writing forward on that one, while rewriting big sections of the Middle Grade. I'm thrilled. I actually feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with this writing novels thing. :)

David A. Kelly with Cowgirl, Superman, and Euphonium Boy

Last week I took my kids to see David A. Kelly, author of The Ballpark Mysteries series. When I take my kids to a reading, I try to make it more about them and the author and less about me as a curious writer. :) David put on a wonderful show. He was gracious, kind, and funny, and answered Every. Single. One. of my kids' multitude of questions. What a ROCK STAR!

His books are tons of fun--and he's going on a 30 baseball park tour to research them. (How cool is that??) I'm hoping that soon he'll have some as books on tapes so we can replace some of our Magic Treehouse car CDs. (Not that I have something against Jack and Annie--we really enjoy them--but when I start saying their lines from memory, and gafawing whenever the author reads 'Jack asked', then I know it's time to move on.)

David also maintains a blog from the point of view of one of his main characters, Mike. Which I think is awesome. And follows in the vein that we've been talking about with younger kids being more plugged in with technology in relation to books. I love to see authors riding the crest of that particular wave.

Have you met any authors recently? What does your writing week look like? Had any breakthroughs recently? Do you have goals for the week? Fill me in!

Where's the Proof??

2011-04-27T10:15:00.000-04:00

I hauled my camera to the Westford Grill last night, but forgot to whip it out. You know, because the conversation was THAT good. (W is for Westford Grill, writers in person?)

Kip Wilson Rechea (@kiperoo) talked about how she writes every day so she maintains altitude. You know, those writing take-offs can be bumpy (and time consuming)!! How smart is that?

Melissa Stewart (@mstewartscience) spoke about speaking at schools. Check out her awesome stash of science books.

Deborah Kops (@Deborahkops) talked of our responsibility as writers to promote strong, confident girls as main characters in our books. Because girls today certainly could use good role models.

Kris Asselin (@KristineAsselin) wowed us with her logline. I know that good news will be on the horizon for Kris' excellent YA.

Jolanta Davis spoke with me at length about special needs advocacy. Thanks so much Jolanta! I'd love to see you publish around this issue. Clearly you have the expertise and the heart for it!

What did I contribute? I'm not entirely sure. I loved the conversation and the laughs, though!

Thanks again Kris, for making the meet up happen! I can't wait to see everyone again at #nescbwi!

What nuggets of wisdom have you gleaned from your writing friends recently? Will I see you at the NESCBWI?

'P' is for kaPUT

2011-04-19T11:48:00.001-04:00

In Hawaii, we visited some LOST beaches. Darned if I know which one this was.

So, I have struggled and failed with the whole publish-a-blog-post-a-day thing. I gave it the old college try, and I'm officially throwing in the towel. Phew. Peanuts for those prolifics who can post prose each day. I bow to you!!

I am not sure what the protocol is here--for me to graciously peter out--but I am going to leave my link to other A-to-Zers on my blogroll, since I'm still supporting those going strong.

And now for my Tuesday Monday Meeting:

I'm going fast and furious on my rewrite, and hoping to connect with a few crit partners this week. I love skype! I am fending off a Shiny New Idea (although it's dark and gruesome. Why is it that when I'm writing my MG fantasy, do I always get ideas for dark and dystopic YAs? Yin and yang, I suppose). I hope to let the S.N.I.simmer for a few months before getting sidetracked.

I am even thinking self-imposed deadline to hurry this rewrite along.

So, now it's your turn. What are you working on? Do you have goals for the week? Do you have children underfoot for their spring vacation?? Are you actually A-to-Zing? Which LOST beach do you think that is?

Friday Feature: Journeys Toward Publication and Beyond: Anita Miller Publishes EARTHLING HERO

2011-04-15T07:43:00.000-04:00

Everyone give a warm welcome to Anita Laydon Miller who recently parted ways with an A+ agency to e-publish her middle grade science fiction, EARTHLING HERO.

Here’s a blurb about the book: Imagine waking one summer night to see someone standing beside your bed. The “someone” is a complete stranger, but looks exactly like you. That’s what happens to eleven-year-old Mikey Murphy. The next few days are filled with adventures—breaking into a high-security military installation, engaging expert assassins in hand-to-hand combat, searching for an evil alien’s hideout in the middle of a national landmark—all with two new alien friends at his side. Can Mikey and his friends survive their adventures and save the world?

I love Anita's book. I've read it, and now I'm reading it to my kids. We are all enthralled. Anita did an excellent job--it's fantastic. The premise is funky and fun, and the characters live and breathe. The book is an awesome ride that I recommend everyone take!

So, Anita, welcome! Thanks for being here. Tell us. Why did you decide to e-publish this book on your own?

Thanks for having me Heather. In a sentence, I wanted more control over my work.

And are you happy with the experience so far?

Yeah, I am. Here’s the thing: the book is finally out there. Any 9-12-year-old kid looking for an inexpensive e-book that’s full of fun and adventure can turn to EARTHLING HERO.

Speaking of inexpensive, why did you price it at $.99?

I think I can explain that best with this twenty-second video. Brace yourself, I dance in it.

So my point is that it’s not about the money--I’m not expecting to be a Hocking or a Konrath. Sure, I’d love to sell three million EARTHLING HERO’s for $.99, but I don’t think that’ll happen. What I hope will happen is that a lot of parents will recognize this is a good book for their kids, and they’ll buy it. I want kids to read the book. I want to make the world dance with my words…lofty goal, I guess.

Love the dance. So happy that you felt comfortable enough on my blog to cut loose! About the book's format--what if someone wants to help you reach that lofty goal, but they don’t have an e-reader?

They can download the book from Smashwords to their PC or Mac in the following formats: .pdf, .Epub, and .mobi. Those formats can be read, respectively, using Adobe Acrobat Reader, the free Barnes & Noble Nook application and the free Amazon Kindle application. OR readers can download the book from Amazon to their PC or Mac and read it using the free Kindle application.

Anybody who’s reading this post, can read EARTHLING HERO. If they can’t figure out how, have them email me. I want them to have access to all e-books, not just my own, and it’s probably a simple explanation that will allow them that access.

I can attest--I downloaded the book very easily onto my PC.

Here's where you can buy EARTHLING HERO: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

And, please check out Anita's fantastic Middle Grade blog, author website, and blog.

But, before you go, give Anita some love in the comments--she'll be by to hang out and answer questions!

"K" is for...Silent K.

2011-04-13T16:40:00.001-04:00

Nope, not this guy:

Although he seems interesting. If a bit simplistic.

But I'm talking about words, you know, like knob, knack, kneel.

Once when a crit partner told me that the "K" in J.K. Rowling stood for nothing, I heard, "Knothing". Silent, (albeit made-up) K strikes again.

Which brings me to what was bothering me during my MG revision. What was wrong with the story? Why couldn't I move forward with it? Knothing. A big freakin' silent K. My very own silent Killer. It was that big quiet thing that made me know that my project wasn't ready. Might never be ready. I couldn't revise it away, couldn't move forward. I was a hostage to the silent K.

Once I found that silent K, I decided instead of digging it out, word for word, and instead of abandoning the project (still a possibility), that I was going to rewrite.

I'm enthused. And. I'm getting rid of my silent K. Curious about what my silent K was for this project? Well, I'm not going to say. Because I'm pretty sure that each writer, each project, each novel, *could have its own particular silent K. I've found this one, and I'm working forward. Have you found yours?

*not to say that each project does have a silent killer. but mine did. :)

J is for Jon

2011-04-12T08:01:00.001-04:00

Some things are best said in another language. El me cae bien. Which translates to: I fall in well with him. Which is just a very cool way to describe friendship, I think. And that is how I feel about my crit partner Jon.

I turn to Jon unabashedly when I'm stressed, or overwhelmed, and when I'm enthused. He is supportive of all my writing emotions. And let's face it, there are a ton. On a daily basis. :)

And, his creativity is contagious. He inspires some really cool stuff--things I might not have thought of otherwise. When I know that J will read my work/hear my idea/put his energy behind a project, I know I have to step it up, and take it to the next level.

I get to reach. And isn't that what it's all about?

J, thank you for your energy, your creativity, your constant support. I would be wallowing without you.

J, me caes bien.

"G" is for Grin

2011-04-08T21:49:00.000-04:00

Hermoine crits, Jon is happy, Elana hosts Anita's aliens, Shannon gives away Elana's ARC. Everyone counts down. Tina's son does the revision dance, Anna saves the cat/guesses my daughter's riddles. Margaret graciously gives her book away, Kris talks Query Tracker, Laura cracks google. The Practice Room oopses. Martha poem plays, Nandini retreats, twitter chirps, Carol pokes. Tom chases cats. Tracey retweets Donald Maass revision tips, Marisa turns fourteen again. Adventures in Children's Publishing sums up everything else. :)

And I'm watching Fringe.

I know everyone else is doing awesome stuff online (and in person) as well, feel free to link in the comments so we can all check it out!

"F" is for FREEBIE!

2011-04-07T13:49:00.001-04:00

So, remember how Margaret (M.A. Golla) offered a free copy of her book to the best commenter during her interview last Friday? Well, she loved you all.

She is giving EVERYONE a FREE E-COPY of TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME.

Just call me Oprah! YOU get a FREE BOOK! And YOU get a FREE BOOK! And...EVERYONE GETS A FREE BOOK!

Margaret is so excited about THE FAST AND THE FAERIEOUS--the second book in THE GOBLIN'S APPRENTICE series--coming out MAY 1st, that she wants you all to have a copy of TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME.

Here's what you do:
1. Go to TO GNOME ME IS TO LOVE ME's page at Smashwords, and buy the book. (You have to create an account and log in.)
2. At checkout, put in this code: MJ62G.
3. Now you have the book! Choose your format (I chose PDF and it worked fine on my PC)
4. Stop by Margaret's blog and say Thanks.
5. Mark May 1st on your calendar for the release of THE FAST AND THE FAERIEOUS.

Wow. Who new "F" day was going to be THIS MUCH FUN?

"E" is for Electronics, Survivor Style

2011-04-06T21:09:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note about how much fun I have following #JeffProbst during survivor. Live tweeting makes reality TV even more awesome. :) Happy Wednesday, everyone!

"D" is for Dunkin' Disaster.

2011-04-05T11:13:00.001-04:00

photo from livbit.com

I love my coffee. I have a Keurig one cup coffee maker, and every morning I throw in a little k-cup of Rain Forest Nut, or Hazelnut, or, if I'm really feeling frisky, Pumpkin Spice, and presto, I have my own perfect cup of coffee. Throw in a little stevia and a dash of milk, and I'm in coffee heaven.

Except, of course, on the days that someone forgets to leave me a swallow of milk for the coffee. Now, everyone knows the rule. Mom needs her coffee. Do not finish it. Ever. The Mommy Monster might just rear her ugly head.

So, today, when I searched the fridge for any type of milk-like substitute, I tried not to panic. In the past, I have used ice cream (any flavor--even strawberry), cool whip, soy milk, and almond milk. The first two work well, the last two, yuck. I mean, I'll put soy milk and almond milk on my cereal, but for some reason, they just make my coffee taste un-coffee-like. Coming up empty handed this morning, and running late to a swim lesson for my daughter, I decided I'd do the Dunkin'.

An hour later, feeling decidedly zombie-ish, I scoured the Dunkin' Donuts menu. I'd had bad luck in the past, and wanted to drink something yummy. I do like their coffee coolattas, but didn't feel like dessert so early in the morning. So I thought I would try the mocha swirl latte. Chocolate, foamed milk, and coffee? What could go wrong?

I took one sip and considered turning on my heals to exchange it. It tasted like it had been burned over a camp fire, while my son dumped in charred, chalky dirt. Had time permitted, I would have not suffered through the deluge of disgustingness. Luckily it was small and I finished it in a few sips.

Now I wait for the caffeine to kick in.

So, please tell me, what do you order when you order coffee at DD? What is good? What tastes the least like they swirled charcoal dust in? I'm horrible at ordering at Starbucks too--I freeze like a deer in headlights.

And, it made me think of how books are really personal preference, and that agent rejection shouldn't be taken personally. I'm sure that the girl in the pigtails and skimpy pleated shirt and platform boots behind me would have loved my coffee. One person's charcoal swirled burned disaster is another person's yum. :)

"C" is for Cheatin', and Monday Meeting

2011-04-04T11:03:00.001-04:00

His shirt says, "I DO ALL MY OWN STUNTS".

I didn't get my B post in, but if I had, it would have been, "B" is for Birthday Boy. Saturday we celebrated my 7-year-old's birthday by going to the movies and having a sleepover for a bunch of his friends. There really was no sleeping involved. I'm still recouping. :)

So, I feel like I've Cheated on the whole A-to-Z challenge, by missing the SECOND DAY (which was Saturday). But life is like that right now--I feel like I'm barely hanging on to all my responsibilities--a ton of stuff is happening in real life, and not enough in my writing/blog life.

So, the fact that I've Cheated on my friends by not making it to their blogs recently, or on my writing partners by not getting to skype with them recently, or on my coworkers by not checking-in via chat, weighs on me. I'm just feeling overwhelmed by life in general and need to take things one moment at a time. All I can say is that I'm missing all my connections in the blogging world, and that I value them all. You know who you are. I'll try to Cheat less. :)

And that brings me to the Monday Meeting:

I am being kind to myself this week, and just saying that my goals are to write and blog. And nothing much beyond that. I hope to revamp the blog a bit--simplify and re-do some things--and make it to some A-to-Z participants blogs, the Practice Room, and visit a few old blogging friends. And follow Anita on her blog tour.

What plans do you have this week? Have you been Cheatin' on one part of your life? What do you say to yourself when you struggle with getting "it all" done? How do you divide your time?