The Winner is...!

Me!

And you, for supporting me. With your pageviews and comments, and allowing me to quack into the void that is the Internet.

As I do every year, I'm going to keep writing until this draft is DONE. DONE DONE DONE.

I feel a little bit like a failure because I only won by the skin on my teeth. My final word count was 50,005. I know that's still winning, but my greedy brain was used to almost having an entire full length novel finished by now. Such is life and the things that happen to your word count when you move and your new apartment floods and you have to cook Thanksgiving by yourself so you spend two whole days in the kitchen. 

In other news, my husband and I lost our minds temporarily and went shopping on Black Friday. Yeah, I know. I know. It was CRAZY. We did get some awesome deals and some Christmas shopping for the kiddo done, so it was not all in vain.  Amazon has a lot of books on sale and it's really tempting just to go in an click "BUY" on all the books. Because books. I'll restrain myself, but only just barely. 

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you venture forth on Black Friday or did you stay home like a sane person?

Award Goodness

So my friend Rena, aka the Liz with the Dragons, has nominated me for an award. Awards are fun, and I always enjoy talking about myself, so here we go!

The rules:

• paste the award badge to your blog, 
• give us 11 random facts about yourself, 
• answer the 11 questions, 
• and choose your nominees

 Since I am not sure I can think of random facts about myself everyone wants to know, we're skipping right to the questions, m'kay? M'kay.

a.        What naive misconception did you have about writing books when you started

That your "process" was a static thing. Once you found your magical process at the end of a rainbow, that was it. Just, lather rinse repeat for every single book, forever and ever.

This is so not the case. I always try new things, partially because I am always trying to find a better way to do something, and also because the same thing doesn't work for each book. Some ideas I spend a lot of time working on the character, while the next book I might not have to work hard at all. 

This isn't to say that I don't spend equal time working on character, plot, and setting, just that some things come easier than others, but what things are easy and what is hard changes with each book.  
 

b.      What is your favorite part of writing? 

That warm, bubbly feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're writing and the rest of the world disappears. Your fingertips are flying across the keyboard and the words come easy.

I also really love brainstorming new ideas.

 

c.       What is the one thing you would change about publishing and why?

Wow, what a can of worms! Most of the business practices of publishing are there because they need to be, I think (please lay down your pitchforks). But there's a lot of things that could be done far more efficiently, and I think the new computer tracking systems make it hard to build a career. 

 

d.      Do you have an inspiration list? Can you give us a sample? 

I use music and pictures to inspire me, especially during the brainstorming stage of a project.

Pinterest is excellent for the picture aspect. Here are my boards. All of them are for a book idea. Some of those ideas are really far developed (Deja Vu and Sanctuary for example), but other ideas have been really slippery, so I actually used Pinterest in attempts to brainstorm (What the Water Gave Me for example). 

As for the music aspect, that's why Job invented iTunes. I make playlists for each book idea, and I have a separate playlist called The Idea Mine that's nothing but songs I find inspiring. A few of those songs are:

"A Question of Heaven" by Iced Earth

"Snuff" by Slipknot

"What the Water Gave Me" by Florence and the Machine (if you couldn't already tell from Pinterest) ;)

"Talons" by Bloc Party

and "Daisy" by Brand New

Tangent: there is an excellent Whedonverse music video to Daisy...

 

e.       If you were a super villain, what would be your fatal flaw? 

Hubris, for that is everyone's fatal flaw.

Other than that, it would be over thinking everything. I would try to run a Xanatos Gambit, over think all the possibilities, and never get anything done. I would be the less effective supervillain ever.

f.       If you were a super hero, what would be your super power? 

I would be the superhero that pulls all the other superheros together. When the chips are down and all hope seems lost, I would be the plucky sidekick that gives a rousing speech about friendship or courage or nachos that kicks the Moody Superhero off his/her butt and saves the day.

If I was short inspiration that day, I would just crib Aragorn's speech. He wouldn't mind, I'm sure.

 

g.      If you could go on a trip to a tropical island but you didn’t get to pack anything before you left, would you go?

Yes.

If you asked the same question about the Arctic Tundra the answer would be no. I figure, a tropical island, I could just buy whatever I needed there. Arctic Tundra, not so much.

Now for the nominees:

Joe Selby
Liz Davis
Charity Bradford (who also has a book coming out soon, that you should read because it's AMAZING)

...and anyone else that wants to answer these questions. Let us know in the comments section if you're game, so we can visit and see!

Nominees, because Rena asks awesome questions, I am going to ask that you answer the same ones. :D

The Versatile Blogger Award

It seems I've won an award! Huzzah!

The gallant Nick over at Scattergun Scribblings has awarded me the Versatile Blogger award! Let's see how many exclaimation points I can use!!!
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Moving on...

Here are the rules:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award (or however many you choose).

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog. 

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

5. In the same post include this set of rules. 

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

So seven random things about me...I think I can do random no problem.

1. I have an obsession with Milky Way Midnights. I have a stash in my desk drawer and there's never less than two in there. 

2. I can't watch most horror movies. Not because I don't like them, but because when I do I have a hard time convincing myself afterwards that something isn't going to crawl out of my TV.
3. My twin brother and I had imaginary friends in the form of monsters that lived in the woods. It's okay, they were nice monsters.
4. I grew up on a ton of land in upstate New York. Some of the property was my aunt's dog breeding and boarding business. As such, I have witness many puppies being born. Somehow I suspect the birth of my son will be slightly different. For one, there's not going to be any ripped up newspaper... 

5. I had pica when I was little. My mom was on first name basis with Poison Control. Most memorable thing I ate? The earrings off my cousin's earring tree. All of them. Never had to get my stomach pumped though, unlike my little brother, who drank kerosine (he thought it was water because it was kept in a blue jug, like the water jugs we brought with us when we went camping).
6. I have long hair because I am lazy. Any time I get bangs I love them for about two days and then I get sick of having to style them.
7.  I love @emergencypuppy on Twitter. It's nothing but cute pictures of animals doing cute things. They don't spam your feed either.

This ice is otterly too cold.

Okay, so for the last part of this award, I shall return the love in no particular order:

Lena Hoppe

Elizabeth Davis

Charity Bradford

Joseph Selby

Rena Ford

Mia Hayson

Miranda Hardy 

Freya Morris

Sarah Allen

Have a great day everyone!

Lies, All Lies I Tell You!

Song Playing: Why by Collective Soul

Yesterday the lovely Mia gave me the Soulmate award! That means she thinks I get her, which is awesome, because I think she gets me too.

This award was made up by Christi, over at her awesome blog Torch in the Tempest (don’t you just love her blog artwork? I want to know who that character is!). One of the “rules” is to link back to her blog, so here it is: http://christigoddard.blogspot.com/

The next “rule” is to give it to five people who you think “get” you, and make up something about them. Hehe, this is going to be fun:

1. Lena Lothanas at: http://lenalothanas.blogspot.com/
Lena Lothanas is a pseudonym for Tamora Pierce, a bestselling author. Lena decided she wanted to give back to the writing community by creating an alter ego of an aspiring writer, and blogging about it, in order to offer writers advice and support. She is currently living the high life on a tropical island somewhere, and donates tons of money to charity.

2. Joseph Selby at: http://bccreations.livejournal.com/
a.k.a Joseph Reynolds. He is the secret last member of the crew of Serenity, a Firefly class spaceship. He is Malcolm Reynold’s, the ship’s captain, younger brother. While Malcolm is outwardly annoyed by his younger brother, Joseph has saved their bacon more times that Malcolm would like to admit with his quick thinking. Joseph’s stories also keep the crew members from killing each other when they are far out in deep space.
(Joseph: You’re not a Gary Stu if SOMEONE else inserts you into a beloved series ;) )
(If none of you have watched Firefly, go watch it on Hulu right now. Better yet, BUY the entire series. It’s short, because FOX network is a *insert profanity here* and canceled the show)

3. Michael Emeritz at: http://michaelemeritz.blogspot.com/
Michael Emeritz is a detective during the day, solving film noir-esque crime. He starting writing because his daily work situations seem like they would be better served in a detective novel between smuggling rings, mafia overlords, and getting Mrs. Gruder’s cat out of the tree for the umpteenth time. Normally the fire department handles that sort of thing, but they got sick of it, so Detective Emeritz gallantly stepped up. Detective Emeritz is really an elf from a land called Zinch, and struggles to keep this a secret from his loved ones.

4. Livia Blackburn: http://blog.liviablackburne.com/
Livia is part of an elite team of scientists who were hand picked to work on Handel’s Project, so named after Handel’s Messiah. Handel’s Project aim is to properly sequence how memories are stored in the brain, so they can reproduce and store these memories elsewhere. This exciting new technology will allow people with cognitive diseases to remember who they are, create a living record of people who are deceased, and help people finally remember where the heck they put their keys.

5. Roxy: http://roxyhaynie.blogspot.com/
Roxy is really an elf, who married Legolas Greenleaf, famous member of the Fellowship of the Ring. They invite me over occasionally, where I try not to oogle her husband. BUT Legolas has a brother, so there’s hope for me yet. They decided to come to (or up, depending on how much of the Silmarillion you’ve read) Earth after that whole one ring thing happened, because the memories where too painful. Some evil overlords just spoil it for everyone.

Okay guys, there you have it. Remember, the truth will set you free.

An Award! For me!

We interrupt this blog series to bring you an exiting bulletin: I won an award! Yay!

Apparently Mia, over at My Literary Jam and Toast thinks my posts are interesting, so she has bestowed this illustrious award upon my shoulders.

I would like to thank Mia for giving me this award, and my parents for always being supportive of me, and my fiancée for giving me a swift kick in the rear when I need it, and—oh wait. I guess I should just tell you what ten things make me happy, right?

Right.

So, Ten Thing that Make Me Happy (in no particular order):

1. Books. This sorta goes without saying, but I felt the need to say it nonetheless (which, I have noticed, is a problem in my first draft). I really, really, really, really, really REALLY love to read. Books. All sorts. Poetry, commercial fiction, science fiction, fantasy, romance, cyberpunk…pretty much everything.

2. Music. I love music, and listen to it all of the time. Except when I am not. Again, a wide variety of music.

3. Chocolate. Dark chocolate with raspberry filling is my favorite, and I don’t like white chocolate. Yum!

4. Friends and family. Without them, you’re just a voice quacking in the void.

5. Nail Polish. I collect it like some women collect shoes. I have tons of nail polish, and my toe nails are always painted.

6. Cheesy horror movies. Nothing brightens up my day by watching an awful horror movie and laughing at it.

7. Lotion. Again, like some women collect shoes. I used to work at Bath and Body Works, so I have a ton. My favorite fragrances are Love Rocks (from Victoria Secret’s technically, but they are owned by the same company), Twilight Woods, Sensual Amber. For the summer, I switch to Coconut Lime Verbena and Mango Mandarin.

8. Receiving packages in the mail. I always feel so special when that happens, even if it’s something I ordered, and knew was coming.

9. Opening presents/packages in general. I love Christmas. I love giving presents and seeing how people liked what I bought them, and I love opening presents. It’s like a mystery waiting to be solved.

10. Candles. Okay, okay, I am very sensitive to scent. I will admit it. I love candles and have tons littered throughout the house.

I will post about setting tomorrow, so in the meantime, feel free to check out Mia’s blog.

The people I am going to give the award to are:

1. Lena: She is my rock, my savior, the light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know what I would do without her. She has helped me so much over the time that I have known her.
http://lenalothanas.blogspot.com/

2. Michael Emeritz: His insight posts cuts to the heat of what you’re really thinking, and his awesome metaphors keeps you coming back. Again, and again. If you haven’t read his blog yet, you should correct this post-haste.
http://michaelemeritz.blogspot.com/

(3) I would have given this award to Christi Goddard, but Mia beat me to it. So I shall have to pass the next award I receive onto her. But I thought I should at least mention her.

3. Merissa: Her blog is just getting started, but her posts are already well thought out and insightful. Plus, she makes lists for her lists, something I thought only I did.
http://seemerissawrite.blogspot.com/

4. Livia Blackburne: I love how she’s a scientist, and a creative writer, and somehow manages to connect the two in a seamless fashion. I just love it when the characters are intelligent.
http://blog.liviablackburne.com/

And I haven’t really followed anyone else’s blog super closely, editing is sucking all of my free time, so I reserve the right to give this award out to one more person when I find them.

Okay, that’s a wrap. Too much time on the Internets this morning not enough murdering of my manuscript!