Kristin Creative

The Birthday Weekend is OVER. Now the work begins!

2012-02-28T10:26:00.000-06:00

Handy likes to say I have a "birthday month," but I definitely at least have a "birthday weekend." For the past three birthdays, Handy and I have gone to Canyon Lake for a 2.5 day weekend. The towns nearby are ADORABLE and have great little shops with antiques and chic little boutiques. I'm telling you, these shops make me want to redecorate, reorganize, and dress better. It's like the high after an author event... but geared toward the home. I sure hope this urge sticks around and doesn't get lost in my WIP revision nightmare (chapter one and I are taking a break from each other), because I have all SORTS of grand ideas.

On Saturday, we realized that Handy had NEVER seen the ALAMO. How could this be?! What Houstonian hasn't seen the Alamo?! So we drove the 30 minutes farther south (after a pit stop at the MASSIVE Bass Pro Outdoor World store where we left with a new fishing rod and reel as if it was HIS birthday weekend ;) and WHAMO! There we were in front of THIS:

I didn't have my good camera with me, but the point and shoot did pretty good with this one, methinks.

We didn't go in. Handy doesn't have the patience for museums so we just looked around the grounds and watched a little of the reenactment that was happening out front (complete with CANONS).

The point and shoot did not do as well with this one....

Then we hung out at the River Walk and even rode the little boat thing (which was surprisingly cheap and informative--I had no idea that most of it is a real river).

Or this one...

We also hit up the big outlet mall in San Marcos, as per Birthday Weekend tradition, where I snagged me a new pair of Converse! RED!!! And now it's back to work! Revisions, photography, revisions, back to the office, revisions, work from home, revisions, redecorate, revisions, decoupage!, revisions revisions revisions.

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

2012-02-27T19:52:00.000-06:00

After I devoured Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, I ran out to get book two, Rules of Attraction. And! It's also another for my Multi-Cultural Book Challenge hosted by Truly Bookish and One Page at a Time!

From Goodreads:

When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.

I'd heard that book two in this series was possibly even better than book one, and I've got to say, I was skeptical going into it. Alex was a bad boy that stole my heart, but Carlos... he's the real bad boy! His story is surprisingly fresh and different than that of his brother's, and I couldn't put it down.
Kiara's family is close (I was shocked at everything Kiara shared with her parents!) and they all eagerly take Carlos in as one of their own, no questions asked. Of course Carlos resists, but his walls slowly break down by the hand of this loving family and the journey is addictive. It's the characters, it's the writing, it's the will they or won't they already!
I can't wait for book three!

Twenty-nine years ago today...

2012-02-23T09:37:00.000-06:00

I was born! Today is the first day of the last year in my twenties. Crazy!!

I've had a good feeling about this year since the start of it, so aside from the fact that my next birthday will put me in my thirties, I'm optimistic this year is going to be memorable.

A year ago today I picked up Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins at my local Borders (*sniffles*) and read it in two days. This book sparked my love for contemporary YA, and ultimately urged me to write a contemporary myself (the one I just finished the first draft of!). Sort of puts high expectations on whatever book I start reading today, doesn't it? :)

Now that I'm in lurve with contemporaries, what are some of your favorite titles??

Some that I've enjoyed recently are:
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Past Perfect by Leila Sales
Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

And so it begins... the first revision.

2012-02-22T07:31:00.002-06:00

REVISIONS REVISIONS REVISIONS. How intimidating are you? You make me anxious. You make me sick to my stomach. You steal my brain from me when I'm supposed to be working (you know, the kind that actually pays me for my time). You make my leg bounce up and down any time I'm seated. You draw me to the computer only to sit and stare at the screen without accomplishing anything because you. scare. the. mess. out. of. me.

I will say that changing two characters names throughout the entire manuscript in three seconds by the click of a button was a REALLY cool feeling! Wish I'd thought of these names sooner though because I adore them. :)

I have a few things I want to clean up toward the end of the book before looking at the beginning and finding the real place it's supposed to start. So I've been trying to repair a scene that's been determined to be ridiculous, but then it made me think of a scene a few chapters later and I hopped to that one instead thinking it would be a quick fix... it's not. So now I have two scenes torn apart and bleeding. How do you keep yourself focused on one thing at a time? Are you systematic in your revisions, or do you hop around until it all gets done?

I think I need a game plan. I'm just not sure what it is yet. But there will be chocolate.

The first draft is FINISHED!

2012-02-20T07:01:00.001-06:00

My long-time followers may remember when I started my WIP back in April of last year. I was fresh off of a Teen Book Conference high having just met my hero, Stephanie Perkins, and I'd finally been struck with an idea for a story set here:

Taken from the Roman Forum

and here:

View of Manarola from the ferry - Cinque Terre, Italy

with a window view like this:

View from the apartment we stayed at in Riomaggiore - Cinque Terre, Italy

which I had been dying to do since my trip to Italy in 2009.

In June, I finally came up with the title If Only You Were Italian, and I'm happy to say that I still love it.

Then over the last couple months, you've all heard me whine about how close I've been to finishing the first draft, pushing my self-imposed deadline out again and again (because apparently I don't do self-imposed deadlines). Well, i'm proud to say, that Saturday morning at 2:30am on the dot, the last chapter was completed!! I tweeted my good news but all my cheerleaders had long been asleep for the night. I wasn't completely alone though--my Australian followers were very willing to throw streamers at me! *waves to Jade and the gang*

Now that the celebrating has happened and one of my critique partners has now read everything I've written on this story, the reality of the revisions before me has set in. So many things need to change. So many things I thought were smart when I wrote them are, in fact, LAME. Sigh. But that's the fun of it right? Transforming the bare bones (that may or may not be 15-20k words too long) into a story with good flow, pacing, and character development so that everyone in the world (that likes YA Contemporary) will want to read it!

*rolls up sleeves*

HERE GOES!

How's YOUR story coming?? Any revision tips or methods to share?

Friday Five - Downton, Author Signings and Love and First Sight

2012-02-17T10:07:00.000-06:00

1. So I'm STILL not done with my first draft. That is all I have to say about that.

2. I'm back on track working out, and I finally have a virtual buddy doing the same program with me so we're actually being held accountable. Definitely motivating!

3. I'm rather upset this Sunday is the last episode of Downton Abbey for a while. But I suppose I should be glad for one less television show to distract me. I'm not there yet. #teammatthew

4. I got The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith and I can't wait to read it!!!

5. I'm going to two ROCKING author events this next week!!! Tomorrow is the Winter Dark Days tour featuring Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton, and Courtney Allison Mouton. And Wednesday is the Breathless Reads tour with Beth Revis, Marie Lu, Jessica Spotswood and Andrea Cremer. PUMPED! I know I'll end up with more books than I can read any time soon, but I also know the writing high I'm going to have for weeks to come will be put to good use. :)

A Downton Abbey Valentine Greeting

2012-02-14T18:46:00.000-06:00

My mom sent these to me today. Fantastic for the Downton Abbey fan!

This artist is super talented, don't you think?

Check out the rest HERE.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

The ORIGINS Blogfest!

2012-02-13T07:00:00.001-06:00

This blogfest is hosted by DL from Cruising Altitude 2.0, Katie Mills from Creepy Query Girl, Alex J. Cavanaugh and Matthew MacNish from The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment.

ORIGINS: When my writing dreams began

I was homeschooled from grades 4-6, and one day a week (or two days a week... or maybe once a month, I don't remember) my "homeschool group" would get together for classes and special activities, organized crafts, competitions, you name it. It was super fun. One of these events, a woman involved in the publishing industry (I don't remember if she was an author, editor or what) came to help us with creative writing. Whatever story I came up with impressed her because after class, she pulled my mom and me aside and gave us some info, encouraging me to consider pursuing writing as a career one day. I thought that was pretty awesome, but I was like, nine or ten and my dad was still working on me to hold my pencil the right way (I still don't... sorry).

I had fun with assigned creative writing exercises all through school, but never thought much about writing on my own until a few weeks before college graduation in 2005 when this group of friends started pestering me... in my head. I didn't know who they were or what their names were, but they were trying to tell me their story, so I began to write it down. I got so obsessed with this story, I even brought a notebook with me to my graduation ceremony and kept on writing while they announced everyone's names. But over the next four years, I would work on it, forget about it, work on it, research the publishing industry, get scared and abandon it again, work on it. I finally finished it, got involved in my local Writers Guild and a critique group, started blogging in 2009 in effort to network and learn more about the industry, met some online buddies *waves*, realized my story was crap, shelved it, and began work on some of my other ideas.

My current WIP (which I just might finish within the next couple days! EEEEK!) is probably the project I've been the most excited about. I shared it with my mom and grandmother once I had the first two chapters written, and ever since then they've cheered me on and begged for more. Their encouragement (along with that of my critique girls and writing buddies) has really pushed me forward and helped me believe that anything is possible if I put in the work.

Walt Disney believed that the difference between winning and losing was not quitting. Sounds good to me :)

Friday Five - Book Hoarding and Swapping

2012-02-10T10:44:00.000-06:00

1. I had one more B&N gift card left from Christmas, so I ordered My Very UnFairy Tale Life by Anna Staniszewski, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, Legend by Marie Lu, and A Million Suns by Beth Revis. I can't wait to read ALL of them.

2. Those of you that get the Alice Marvels newsletters every weekday know the awesome giveaways she hosts. I've won two books from Alice so far, the latest one being The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten.

3. Recently I met up with a group of Houston blogging friends for lunch and field trips to two of our Houston Half Price Books. I picked up Wither by Lauren DeStefano, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, and Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer. Like I should be adding more books to my pile, but I can't resist a good deal on a book I know I'm going to read!

4. Tomorrow I'm going to another local bookstore after lunch with with my blogging friend from Cari's Book Blog! The same bookstore I recently picked up Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare.

5. My name is Kristin and I'm a book hoarder. Hi, Kristin!

Here's the current list of used books I have up for swap if anyone is interested!

YA:
-ARC of Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culberson
-Paperback of Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
-Hardback of Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn't have) by Sarah Mlynowski
-Paperback of Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
-Paperback of Red Riding Hood by Blakley-Cartwright/Johnson

Adult:
-Paperback of The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
-Paperback of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

How do you celebrate your first draft?

2012-02-09T09:22:00.000-06:00

I'm so close, y'all. SO. CLOSE. I finished another chapter yesterday and in my mind there are four or five left. I'd LOVE to be done by Monday when I go back to work three days a week in an office (got offered an old job I had as a geo-tech doing oil exploration), but I definitely hold myself back. For all that I'm excited about being done and diving into revisions (I really am excited about revisions, and I plan to implement the system Tera Lynn Childs uses with all the pretty highlighters and stickies. See her post HERE), I'm also very antsy and nervous that I won't be able to tie everything up as pretty as I see it in my head. It makes me hesitate when I sit down and write, which translates into the whole thing taking me WAY longer than it should (which is why I'm still working on this draft I started last APRIL).

But it's going to happen. It will be finished, and SOON. I need to grab onto something else to look forward to, a reward. When you finish a first draft, how do you celebrate? Do you treat yourself to something new? Go eat a fancy dinner? Buy a pretty new pack of highlighters for your revisions? ;)

Give me some ideas, because this labor of love will definitely be celebrated when it's finished!

Nurse Log Books - Gayle Forman Event

2012-02-06T10:21:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago, Gayle Forman (If I Stay and Where She Went) came into town for a book festival. Her presentation was a little unconventional. She discussed three entire books she's written that will never see the light of day. They're living in the cemetery of her hard drive. She calls these Nurse Log Books.

nurse log - a large decomposing tree trunk that has fallen, usually in a forest; the decaying wood provides moisture and nutrients for a variety of insects and plants

The books she's written between the ones that have actually gotten published may not ever be loose in the wild, but they aren't without purpose. They led her to the books that have gotten published. She says as a writer, you always have to be working on something, and sometimes you have to write the wrong book in order to write the right book.

Do you have any nurse log books? I'd say the first "complete" novel I wrote was definitely one. It's mostly junk, but it was like one giant exercise in writing. I stretched my writer legs on it. It was my 5k leading up to the marathon.

Bullet Points of Interest from Gayle Forman's presentation:

-If I Stay was actually her third published book, but it's the first one anyone paid attention to.
-Never intended on a sequel for If I Stay, but the characters would wake her up at 3am saying, "What have you done with us?"
-If I Stay was inspired by a family of four that she knew that all died in a car crash. The 8 year old lived longer and was life-flighted. She was struck by that, wondering if he knew his family was gone and chose to go with them.
-She never thought If I Stay would have done so well. She's still shocked that this thing she wrote in the corner of her family room is read by people all over the world, and she gets emails from readers in places like Indonesia.
-If she had actually set out to write a book with a message to teens about how fleeting life is, it would have failed.
-As a writer/author, the only thing you can control is what you're writing now. You can't control who reads it, how it does, what happens with the movie, etc.

Friday Five

2012-02-03T14:16:00.000-06:00

1. I just dropped off my Tahoe to get looked at/worked on. She's been running funny for a while and the brakes are squeaky. I probably won't get her back until MONDAY which means I'll be wheel dependent all weekend. Odd feeling.

2. YA author Joy Preble interviewed me for her blog (along with some other fab Texas bloggers), so if you haven't seen it, check it out HERE!

3. My WIP is finally approaching the end of that tunnel... you know, where the light is coming from? I hit 72,000 words yesterday (EEEEK!!!) with at least five known chapters left to go, so it's safe to say I'm going to be quite scissor happy during revisions. Easier to cut than to add though!

4. I was hoping for a winter this year, but it's been warm the past month and I'm sneezing like it's allergy season. The wildflowers are already popping up all over town too. It's FEBRUARY, WHAT THE WHAT?

5. I have The Hunger Games fever. The new trailer has reminded me I want to read the first book again before the movie comes out NEXT MONTH!! It's getting closer! Who's ready?! The first trailer had a ROCKING song which you can listen to HERE. It only took me forever to track it down. haha. Too bad those people aren't doing the music for the movie. I lurve it.

Fabulous in February

2012-02-02T07:30:00.005-06:00

Hard to believe we've finished an entire month in 2012 already. It flew by quicker than expected for me, as evidenced by my still incomplete first draft of my WIP. BUT, it's getting super close!! It's safe to say it will definitely be done by the end of February. It's the research that's bogging me down the most.

I've read some great books the past month.

Finally dove into The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and finished the first book, City of Bones. It took me a little while to get into it, but once the action really got going, I couldn't put it down. I look forward to the next one, and her other series, The Infernal Devices.
I've already gushed about Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. Can't wait to start book two!
Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper was fantastic! If you're even remotely interested in mermaids, READ IT! You won't be disappointed.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson was quite different from anything else I've read. I can't even explain it to you. Just read it. It's remarkable.

Lined up for February:

I'm currently reading Unearthly by Cynthia Hand and I'm completely sucked in. I'm skeptical where angel books are concerned, but I'm trying to treat it like any other paranormal story I'd read, and it's quite good.
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney for book club. I won this book over a year ago in a blog contest and have yet to read it! Looking forward to discussing it at the end of the month with the girls.
Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles. Hola Fuentes número dos! This counts toward my Multi-Cultural book challenge too!
I also plan to start Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner. It sounds great!

Besides reading fabulous books this February, I've decided to look more fabulous too. Most days, I dress like a slob in my yoga pants and sweatshirt, hair in a big knotted mess piled on top of my head. I want to make a better effort to look presentable, fix my hair more. Accessorize! My birthday is this month, so it's a reminder that I'm not getting any younger. The time to feel good about myself is NOW.

How was your January? Read anything fab you'd like to gush about? Anything exciting planned for February?

***Be sure to stop by YA author Joy Preble's blog. I'm being interviewed!***

Meeting John Green

2012-01-30T08:53:00.000-06:00

John Green and his brother Hank have turned themselves into rockstars. I'm sure most of that has to do with their vlogs (if you haven't heard of the vlogbrothers, check out their videos. They're insane, yet hilarious), but then there's John's actual books. I've only read Looking for Alaska, and while it's not necessarily a style I read often (or really want to write necessarily), the dude's so smart. His smartness just oozes off the pages of his books. It's really quite frustrating. It makes you want to quit writing. It makes you want to read everything he's written. It makes you want to get out your dictionary and write a list of all the awesome new words he's introducing you to so you can incorporate them in your own writing and appear, with intense effort, half as intelligent as he is without trying.

His book tour is just that: A TOUR. It has a program and everything. It's a SHOW. His brother Hank starts off with a sock puppet routine, informing us of the death of his sock brother by dog and then he marvels at how the audience could possibly think such a tragedy is humorous.

Then the sock introduces John, NYT #1 best-selling author, of course, and he reads the second chapter from his new book, The Fault in Our Stars. (I notice how many authors do readings from the second chapter of their stories.... interesting)

We laughed, we were touched, we were forced to contemplate LIFE. All in one chapter. The dude's that good. Then Hank came back out with his guitar and sang a few songs, one of which details his desire for JK Rowling to write an 8th Harry Potter book. In his chorus: "I wan't JK Rowling to say that the epilogue was crap, cause we all know it was crap." Now... personally I needed that epilogue. I wanted to know what happened 19 years later. You can't keep dragging out a perfect series just because you like it, because then it really will turn into crap. SUCK IT UP, HANK! ;)

They ended the show with a Q&A, and when the timer runs out, whichever of the brothers is caught talking gets SHOCKED as punishment. Yep, SHOCKED. John was the unlucky one this time, and he was angry about it. I managed to snap a picture just as he was in full pain, and when it was my turn to meet him, I told him about it. What else did I have to say? I was determined not to be a gushy fan girl and blabber on, and I also didn't want to just stand there and say nothing. So I said, "I caught a picture of your face just as you were shocked." John: "That sounds horrifying." Me: "Oh... it is." John: "I must see this. Send it to me."

So I tweeted it to him the next day, and he RETWEETED it. Now, for those of you on Twitter, you understand that this tweet of mine just went out to over a million followers, including Maureen Johnson, who also retweeted it and tweeted to me: "NEW SCREENSAVER!" My Saturday was full of retweets and funny responses and a handful of new followers. My 15 minutes of fame. *dies*

Did you make it out to see John and Hank Green on their tour? Do you read his books?

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

2012-01-28T11:36:00.000-06:00

I'm only doing one reading challenge this year, hosted by Truly Bookish and One Page at a Time.

My first book for this challenge is Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles.

I'd heard chatter about this series for a while now, but hadn't picked it up... until now.

Here's the blurb from Goodreads:

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more. In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.

Holy schnikies this book was fantastic. I had no idea what I was missing. Why on EARTH did I wait so long to read it? The fast-paced writing had me flipping page after page. I liked how both Brittany and Alex were pretending to be someone they weren't, and managed to reveal this secret only to each other. I loved how Brittany was with her sister, and how Brittany felt such intense pressure from her mother. How Alex struggled with his place in the gang (yes an actual gang) and his devotion to his family. These characters all felt so real. I loved them and rooted for them the whole way. And the romance... hot. Sure, there's some cheesy dialogue, but it's worth it.

I snatched book two the other day and I can't wait to see what the next Fuentes brother is up to!

Heightened Reality Trickery

2012-01-26T13:36:00.000-06:00

HRT:
A curious type of deception that presents symptoms when exposed to larger than life scenarios such as written works of fiction, television shows (see also Hallmark, Lifetime, ABC Family, Korean Dramas, Scripted Reality, et al.), movies and stage productions. Symptoms include: brighter colors, selective hearing, rapid pulse. Prolonged exposure may be hazardous.

In books, we're perfectly okay with the flowery things the hot guy says because, well, he's hot and the whole story has set us up to root for him to say these flowery things so when he finally does we CHEER! We swoon! We melt! But if someone said similar things to us in person, we'd probably roll our eyes and walk swiftly the other direction, mumbling something that sounds like What a pansy.

Then there's TV. Take this season of The Bachelor, for example. Bachelor Ben, very normal looking to the eye, the California-wine-maker-next-door type. He's gone YEARS being a regular guy, grocery shopping and pumping gas in his car just like the rest of us. Suddenly he's on television and thousands of women who now think he's the most beautiful thing that ever walked the planet claw over each other just to get to him. Did that happen to him every time he went to the grocery store before he was on TV? No. The reality has been heightened and the minds of the people have been TRICKED. (I'm not speaking out against him as a person, just demonstrating what HRT does)

These things are all constructed to bring out our emotions, to get us addicted, to make us feel like it's love. The build up of tension and tingly words in the stories we read. The driving music during that scene where the forbidden lovers are shouting at each other in the pouring rain. The guy you wouldn't look at twice out in public that's now on stage with his guitar and suddenly your legs are jelly.

Handy often (lovingly and jokingly) says, "You live your life in the movies, don't you?" or "You live inside your books." *snicker*giggle*snicker* I like to escape to my gushy heightened reality as much as the next person (okay, maybe more). It's not that I'm running from anything, but it's like having the best of a million worlds. In my heightened reality I've survived The Hunger Games! I've gone to school at Hogwarts! I've been a freaking PRINCESS! In my actual reality... I'm the wife to the sweetest guy in the world, I'm a daughter, a dog mom, daughter- and sister-in-law, aunt, friend, a writer who writes her own heightened realities, photographer, crafter, and pizza eater. Who says I can't have it all?

How about you? Do you let yourself get swept away?

I Have Confidence (not)

2012-01-24T15:23:00.000-06:00

This has come up several times over the past week and I'm a bit surprised. I struggle with confidence. That's not the surprise. The surprise is that some people I know were surprised to learn that about me. Apparently I hide it well (I can only hope it doesn't come across as arrogance or something unsightly like that).

The truth is, I don't know if I've ever felt fully confident about anything. Even things I enjoy, or things I might do relatively well, I'm so hard on myself, I see the flaws and tear it to shreds (sometimes literally). With any job I've ever had, I get so nervous that they'll find out I actually don't know what I'm doing, that they'll give me duties that don't click in my brain. I'm not the only one that does this right?

I met with an old boss yesterday, and he asked me to come back. He kept talking me up, about how no one who came after me could compare, blah blah blah. I finally said, "You're making me nervous, because I feel like you got the wrong impression of the quality of my work..." Like I fooled him somehow. He laughed but I was serious.

Lately on my blog here, I've tried to have a positive outlook for this new year, and that's hidden my fear that I will fail, that I'm not good enough. It takes great effort to be positive, but I want to encourage all of you, and in the process, I need to keep talking myself into being more confident. Because I want to believe that I can do things I set my mind to. I want us all to believe it.

Anyone else struggle with confidence? What do you do to overcome doubts in your abilities?

Friday Five

2012-01-20T08:32:00.000-06:00

1. I'M MEETING JOHN GREEN TONIGHT!!! YES! THAT John Green! I've only read one of his books, but it was brilly and I'm anxious to hear what he has to say in person. Apparently his brother will be there too, and they're hilarious together as those of you that watch their vlogs know. Anyone else in Houston that's NOT going to ALA in Dallas going tonight??

2. I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning reading Simone Elkeles' Perfect Chemistry. So what if some of it was total cheese, I was ADDICTED. SO GOOD!!

3. Tomorrow is the Montgomery County Teen Book Festival, which is pretty smallish, but it's maybe 5 minutes from my house at the local high school, so that's exciting! Gayle Forman will be there and the keynote speaker is Kristin Cast.

4. I was taking January off of photography, but I got sucked into a 1-year cake smash session this morning. I'm actually nervous about it. Total jitters. o_O

5. I'm getting SO close to finishing my first draft of my WIP it's making me even MORE nervous than photography. I'm so worried about tying up all the loose ends that I keep putting off writing. AHHHHH!!! It will get done by January 31, I'm just making myself sick over it even though I KNOW HOW GOOD IT WILL FEEL to be done!!

Happy Weekend!! Anything fun planned?

Stranger Things Have Happened

2012-01-18T09:47:00.000-06:00

I feel like I'm nervous all of the time now that I'm mere chapters away from finishing my first draft (and by first draft I mean first draft of the first book that I actually plan to do something with). I have trouble falling asleep because my brain won't shut up. I'm busy stitching together all the loose ends in my mind, making sure it's all going to actually WORK. And since I just registered for a conference this summer, complete with an agent meeting, I can't stop thinking about THAT.

Before I really started researching how to get published, I had NO idea how much went into it. How much love, stress, rejection. I didn't think about the YEARS that author spent on their baby getting it out to the world. The number of drafts, the querying, the sleepless nights waiting to hear back about submissions, this round of edits, that round of edits, etc. etc. ETC. For the consumer, it just shows up on the shelf at the store (or these days, online) and they either read it or don't, love it or meh.

What really got me thinking about this was going through the blog archives of Stephanie Perkins, way back to the beginning when she was painting her writing desk and working on the first draft of Anna and the French Kiss. Her posts were about normal things, things you and I blog about. Then as the years go by her posts get sprinkled with good news about this and that. DREAM AGENT LANDED, BOOK SOLD, BOOK RELEASE DATE, SEQUEL RELEASE DATE, etc, etc. She's friends with ladies like Laini Taylor, Kiersten White, Maureen Johnson and Beth Revis. She's got John Green vlogging about Anna and the French Kiss and telling everyone to buy it!

Go back to your favorite author's blog archives and speed through in minutes what they went through in years. It's extremely motivating to see proof that they were normal, unpublished writers once upon a time. We can do this. Stranger things have happened.

Calling anyone who's been to a writing conference!

2012-01-16T13:17:00.000-06:00

I'm taking the plunge in 2012. I'm going to my first writing conference. Just the thought of meeting with an agent face to face while they listen to me blab on about my story makes me want to curl up in a ball.

The thing is, when I go on job interviews, I get so nervous I lose control of everything that comes out of my mouth. I'm not the best at thinking on my feet when they spring random questions on me. I panic. I don't exactly lie... but I do pretty much feel like I'm making things up just so I'm saying something instead of sitting there going UUUHHHHH..........

Meeting with an agent sounds like a job interview times a gazillion. I won't even be ready for one until this summer, but I'm already nervous about it (though I hope a lot of that is because I haven't even written my query yet, thus, I have NO CLUE what my pitch will be).

Have you been to a writing conference? Did you meet with an agent? Did they put you at ease right away or did you blabber on without much control?

Friday Five (TV Show Edition)

2012-01-13T11:24:00.000-06:00

1. I'm a newer fan of The Big Bang Theory. So far I've watched the first few seasons very slowly through Netflix (it hasn't been available instantly), and I've been keeping up with the new season. I haven't yet seen how Amy Farrah Fowler became part of the group but WOW is she funny. Last night's episode when Sheldon gave her the tiara... please someone else tell me they laughed as hard as I did.

2. Arrested Development, where have you been all my life?! I'm well into season two on Netflix instant and it's so golden. Tons of big name guest stars, lots of quirky humor, and Jason Bateman. That is all.

3. What was THAT on The Vampire Diaries last night??? Are they trying to pair Klaus and Caroline now?!?!?! I'm still loving this show. I never know where they're going with anything.

4. BONES came back on last night! I still have to look away when they show the dead bodies (MAN they look GROSS) but I love every single one of the characters on this show. I meant to record the spin off show, The Finder, but I forgot! I guess I'll have to catch up online before next week!

5. Downton Abbey is FINALLY back for a second season (you lucky UK residents have already seen it!!) and it's fabulous! Funny how they start you off disliking Mary and now we're rooting for her and Matthew (at least I am! ;). And Anna and Mr. Bates... sigh. This better work out for them or I'll be SUPER SAD!

Bonus - I'm still completely sucked into Revenge. What a wild ride this show is! Some of Emily's actions seem a little sloppy sometimes, but just when I'm sure she's going to get caught, she doesn't. And having "Amanda" around makes me nervous! I don't like Jack with her!! *bites nails*

Double bonus - Alcatraz starts on Monday!!!

How our Playlists are Built. Or What I'm Listening To and Why

2012-01-12T07:30:00.000-06:00

Music is EVERYWHERE! Inside our cars, in stores, when we're on hold, in movies, on television... it's coming out of my computer right now! The other day, I was remembering how I came across my all-time favorite band, Switchfoot.

It's the most random of stories, but I'm thankful for it, as it's literally changed my life... and my shoes.

I was still in high school, watching a cheesy Disney movie called Model Behavior about a girl who ran into someone that looked just like her and they switched places. It had Justin Timberlake in it, so of course I watched it. Being the music nut that I am, this song came on in the movie and I fell for it. Forget Justin, forget everything but this song. I hopped online and researched the soundtrack (this was before iTunes) and found out the band's name was Switchfoot, the song: Let That Be Enough. Then I stumbled across their CD in a bookstore and I remembered that was the same band. I bought it and quickly became OBSESSED. I shared it with my parents, and they became equally obsessed. Together we've watched this band put out five MORE albums (seven altogether.. I think), loving each one even more. Their concerts are family bonding time, I tell you.

So, that's my big story about how I became an accidental Switchfoot fan. Here are some flash stories about why I'm listening to some other great artists you may love too!

Mindy Gledhill - Anchor

The song Anchor was on an episode of Bones and I fell in love with it. After previewing the album snippets on iTunes I knew I had to have the whole thing. It's such a great addition to my playlist!

Stacy Clark - Connect the Dots

I SHAZAM'd her song Touch & Go in a store at the outlet mall. The whole album is golden. Thank God for phone apps! :)

Erin McCarley - Love, Save the Empty

iTunes suggested this because I bought Stacy Clark's Connect the Dots. They were so right! I LOVE it!

The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow

I don't make a habit out of watching the country music video channel, but out at the lake, it's pretty much the only channel that works. When I was there almost a year ago, this amazing song called Barton Hollow came up, and I googled the band on my phone. Turns out, this duo is one half Joy Williams, and I was a fan of hers from WAY back. I'm an even bigger fan now. These two are amazing. Check out their Christmas songs too. WOW.

Jem - Finally Woken

When I worked in a cubicle a couple years ago, I often traded iPods with the guy that faced me (we used our OWN earbuds, don't worry!), and this album was on his. I still love it... even though it makes me picture sitting in a cubicle sometimes. hahaha.

SINGLES:

Riverside by Agnes Obel

This song was on an episode of Revenge. It's gorgeous.

Trouble is a Friend by Lenka

From the movie Easy A. Such a fun song.

Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Glee

Did anyone else fall in love with Finn's rendition of this song? It's the way Greg Laswell sings it, as heard in the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic. I don't know what it is... but I LOVE this version.

Last but not least, the song getting the most love on my playlist right now is:

Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars

It's such a sweet song, and it makes me think of the relationship between Katniss and Prim.

So that's it for this edition. I hope I've introduced you to some new music!

Have you randomly run across your favorite songs too? How? And what are they?

Turning Envy into Support (When Blogging Friends Become Authors)

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well, now that we all know how we really feel about those ahead of us in the publishing game (see other post), it's time to do more. SUPPORT. I'm making it one of my goals this year to lend better support to our blogging author friends. They made it! Now let's help spread the word for them. After all, isn't that what social networking is all about??

Books I've read:

The Role of a Lifetime by Jennifer Shirk

Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper

Books I've bought:

Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif

The Next Door Boys by Jolene B. Perry

Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner

Untraceable by S.R. Johannes

Books I plan to buy soon:

The Circle of Friends by L. Diane Wolfe

Eternal Starling by Angela Corbett

My Very UnFairy Tale Life by Anna Staniszewski

This in no way exhausts the list of amazing blogger-turned-authors, but they're the ones that have been on my mind lately. Who else can we add to the list?!

Friday Five

2012-01-06T11:38:00.000-06:00

1. Now that I don't go into an office three days a week, life has been going a little slower, and I like it. I'm getting things done that I want/need to get done. Feels good. Looking back, I see how stressed out that little part time job made me, and it wasn't worth it. Blessing in disguise!

2. I'm just over 63,000 words on my WIP. For a contemporary YA it may be a bit high for a first draft, especially considering I'm not done yet, but the plan is to just write and write, get it ALL out, then revise revise revise. I'm sure some big chunks will end up going bye-bye *bites nails* but I'd rather whittle down than try to find more things to add later.

3. Handy got me a hammock for Christmas! We hung it up a couple days ago (but it might rain later today, so we'll have to take it down) and I've been loving it! The weather has been great (though the mosquitos came back out to play yesterday) so I've been able to read and write out there! Love being outside!

4. I got a 13" MacBook Pro!!! It's the cutest little thing, and it's FAST!! Since I named my iMac HoneyCrisp after my favorite apple (at the time), I've named the MacBook after my newer favorite apple that debuted down here in Texas for the first time this year: SweeTango! Sweetie or Tango for short, depending on my mood!

5. I'm sad the holiday season is over. I don't want to take my lights down.

Maybe I won't.... :)

It's not easy being green (with envy)

2012-01-03T07:31:00.001-06:00

The publishing world is jam-packed with things to be jealous about.

Oh, they got an agent! How great!
Translation: omg why don't i have an agent? oh yeah, i'm still on my first draft. i suck.

Oh, they sold their book to a publisher! I can't wait to read their book!
Translation: omg i'm so far from that. what am i doing? i suck!

Oh, that's such a pretty cover! It will look fab on my bookshelf!
Translation: omg they lucked out on that. there's no way my cover will end up that cool. i suck!

Oh, they're having a launch party! I can't wait to meet them!
Translation: omg am i ever going to have a launch party? i suck!!!

Oh, they got a movie deal! Can't wait for that to come out!
Translation: omg i suck so bad.

Seriously, it's exhausting being excited for everyone ahead of you, isn't it? It really is exciting to hear people are making their dream come true, but when you have the same dream, that little envy worm curls itself up inside your ear and tells you lies. It tells you that you can't make your dreams come true. That you'll never get an agent, you'll never sell your book, and even if you do you'll get a crap cover and no one will want it!

This new year presents a clean slate, envy free and full of possibilities! It's up to us to put in the work to make our dreams come true. Let's not waste our energy being jealous of everyone else. Let's channel that into making it happen for ourselves.

What are you going to make happen in 2012??

The Resolution Paradox

2011-12-31T10:43:00.000-06:00

Do you make resolutions? I feel like I go through this every year. I probably change my mind about how I feel about them every year too. Yes, I make resolutions! No, no way. Resolutions never pan out, why make them? Maybe.... I could try to make a few....

I never stick to resolutions. There, I said it. I just don't. RESOLUTION sounds so... definite. Which I guess is the point, but to avoid setting myself up for disappointment, I think I'll just make note of a few writerly things that would be pretty cool if they happened in 2012.

Finish a first draft of my current WIP - I'm coming up on 60k words TODAY (1,645 words to go), so that next 10k or so to wrap everything up should be a January BREEZE. But you know, I thought I'd have the whole thing done last July, so, I'm hoping this is more than wishful thinking.
Revise revise revise and query said WIP - *bites nails prematurely*
Get an agent - I got a B&N gift card for Christmas (Several) and one of the things I bought with them is the 2012 Guide to Literary Agents. I've thumbed through it and it seems useful. But first my plan is to research the agents of authors that I've heard of and love, because, well, obviously their agent gets it. LOL.
Finish a first draft of the WIP I started in, what, 2010?? The one who's characters keep nudging at me saying, please tell our story. It's good. We promise. I'm actually really itching to get back to that one. But my Italy story is rolling right along right now, so I'm not stopping until it's done and in my Beta's hands.

Then of course, more personally, there's the old standby to lose weight. But, as DL points out in this fantastic BLOG POST, we're insane if we keep making the same resolutions without changing up our method. We set ourselves up to fail them every year because doing the same thing over and over and expecting different outcomes is INSANE. I took the bull by the horns BEFORE the New Year, and started my workout reboot a month ago. No resolution there. Just a lifestyle change. Now to just stick with it....

Any writerly aspirations for 2012? I'm still just SO pumped about what this year has in store, I can't explain why. Does it feel like you're just standing on the edge of something really exciting??

However you ring in the New Year, please be safe out on the roads especially! Not everyone is as smart as you are. ;)

2012 New Year Giveaway Hop!

2011-12-30T00:01:00.002-06:00

I am number 171 on this gigantic giveaway hop! Special thanks to I am a Reader, Not a Writer and Babs Book Bistro for hosting!

2012! I don't know about y'all, but I'm pumped about this year. There's something about the even number that has such a nice ring to it! This is OUR YEAR, y'all.

Let's start the year off right, with a GIVEAWAY! I'm giving away my hardback copy of Julie Halpern's Don't Stop Now! I thoroughly enjoyed this fun story, and hope you will too!

From Goodreads:

On the first day of Lillian’s summer-before-college, she gets a message on her cell from her sort-of friend, Penny. Not only has Penny faked her own kidnapping, but Lil is the only one who figures it out. She knows that Penny’s home life has been rough, and that her boyfriend may be abusive. Soon, Penny’s family, the local police, and even the FBI are grilling Lil, and she decides to head out to Oregon, where Penny has mentioned an acquaintance. And who better to road-trip across the country with than Lil’s BFF, Josh. But here’s the thing: Lil loves Josh. And Josh doesn’t want to “ruin” their amazing friendship.Josh has a car and his dad’s credit card. Lil has her cellphone and a hunch about where Penny is hiding. There’s something else she needs to find: Are she and Josh meant to be together?

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89.

Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess (US/Can)

90.

Cuzinlogic (Int)

91.

Ashley @ Ashley Suzanne (US)

92.

My Devotional Thoughts (Int)

93.

I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read! (US)

94.

Author ML Hamilton (US)

95.

World of Samar (US)

96.

From Meredith Allard (US)

97.

The Traveling Reader (Int)

98.

BiblioJunkies (US)

99.

Book Geek Central (Int)

100.

Kid Lit Frenzy (Int)

101.

7 things I love (US)

102.

Makobi Scribe (Int)

103.

How Was Your Day? (US)

104.

Giveaway Madness (US)

105.

Jocelyn Adams (Int)

106.

Aimee Laine (Int)

107.

Krazy Book Lady (Int)

108.

J. A. Belfield (US)

109.

Cheri Schmidt, author of YA Paranormal Romance (US)

110.

Practical Frugality (US)

111.

Reviews by Karen (US)

112.

Charla @ Book Talk With Charla (US)

113.

All-Consuming Books (US)

114.

JeanBookNerd (Int)

115.

Grace@ LivreDeAmour-BooksofLoveBlog (US)

116.

Living, Loving, Laughing, Reading (US)

117.

Cedar Fort Publishing (US)

118.

icefairys Treasure Chest (US)

119.

Laurie Here Reading & Writing Reviews (US)

120.

Megan @ Reading Away The Days (Int)

121.

See Jane Publish (US)

122.

Bonnie Gets A Say (Int)

123.

Xandra James (Int)

124.

Livingston Hall Publishers (Int)

125.

What Makes You Stronger: Real Talk About Breast Cancer (Int)

126.

Annabells Book Nook (US)

127.

Bookish Sarah (US)

128.

Kobiso (Int)

129.

Beth Caudill Author Blog (US)

130.

ODell @ Book Twirps (US)

131.

BookHounds (Int)

132.

BookHounds YA (Int)

133.

Keri Lake (US)

134.

Reading A Little Bit Of Everything (US)

135.

Jenns RAQ (US)

136.

My keeper shelf (Int)

137.

Fantasy Book Chick (Int)

138.

Handmade By Deb (US)

139.

AwesomeSauce Book Club (Int)

140.

This is From my Heart (US)

141.

Orangeberry Book Tours (US)

142.

GraveTells Paranormal News & Reviews (US)

143.

Myne Whitman Writes (US)

144.

Bonnie @ A Backwards Story (US)

145.

MamaNYC (US/Can)

146.

Dantalion Of The Goetia (US)

147.

The Year of Writing Dangerously (US)

148.

Runaway Bridal Planner (US)

149.

Tru Stories (Int)

150.

My Sentiments Exactly! (US)

151.

Cookies Book Club (US)

152.

The Literary Imaginarium (Int)

153.

Culinary Cozies - Reviewing Cozy Mysteries (US)

154.

Cozy Mystery Book Review (Int)

155.

My journey as a mom iPhone developer (US)

156.

Beccas Backyard (US)

157.

Audreys Spot for Recipe Tips and Hints (US)

158.

YA Between the Lines (US)

159.

Passing The Pages (US)

160.

The Bookish Babes (US/Can)

161.

Rabid Reads (Int)

162.

A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust (US)

163.

Writers Block (US/Can)

164.

The Story of a Writer (US)

165.

Grace Elliot - gripping historical romance (US)

166.

Book Savvy Babe (US)

167.

My Reading Room (Int)

168.

Bookish (US)

169.

Jens Book Den (US)

170.

One Page At A Time YA Book Reviews (US)

171.

Kristin Creative (US)

172.

Fairdays Blog! (US)

173.

For What Its Worth (US)

174.

The Polliwog Blog (US)

175.

Words And Peace (US)

176.

The Cozy Reading Corner (Int)

177.

A Book-Lovers Review (US/Can)

178.

Bees Knees Reviews (US)

179.

Author ML Hamilton (US)

180.

WriterMom (US)

181.

So Im Fifty (US)

182.

Savings In Seconds (US)

183.

Breathing Books (Int)

184.

Goldilox and the Three Weres (US)

185.

Tiffany @ trh87books (Int)

186.

Simply Ali (US)

187.

Reading After Midnight (Int)

188.

Disgruntled Bear (US)

189.

Renee @ Doorkeeper (Int)

190.

The Book Bag (US)

191.

Believe! author Mimi Barbours blog (US)

192.

DazzlingReads (US)

193.

Blissfully Brenna (US)

194.

195.

196.

197.

198.

Clean Romance Reviews (Int)

199.

Mimi @ Mimi Reads (Int)

200.

Acting Balanced (Int)

201.

Jude @ In Between Writing and Reading (YA) (Int)

202.

The ParaNormal Romance Party (US)

203.

Indie Free Press (Int)

204.

Chick Lit Giveaway @ Kindle & Me (Int)

205.

The Romanceaholic (Int)

206.

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207.

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208.

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209.

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210.

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211.

LAURIE LC LEWIS: A VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HILL (US)

212.

Peace Love Books (Int)

213.

Cait @ Caitlyn Nicholas (US)

214.

Gypsy Mama Logs (US)

215.

P A R A F A N T A S Y (US)

Adapt

2011-12-27T12:03:00.000-06:00

Is change hard for anyone else? Especially change you didn't see coming?

I want to thank all of you for your kind words and encouragement after my news yesterday. I know this change was meant to happen, it just blindsided me and I was angry. I need time to adapt. Just like I had to adapt when I started back in July. What did I go and do? I got attached. Not just to the money (not that it was a ton, but it was something on top of photography), but to the girls I worked with. I will miss a couple of them in particular, and it will be an adjustment not to have them in my daily life anymore.

This little blip in employment now joins the list of jobs I had in my twenties that I'll look back on one day and say, OH YEAH! I forgot I did that!

I'm pouring my extra time into my workouts, house cleaning, meal preparing, and most importantly, my WIP!

Better things are around the corner, but it's up to me to make that turn.

2012 is my year. Is it yours too??

Best part of waking up... is getting fired

2011-12-26T09:29:00.000-06:00

My mom tells me my blog's getting boring, sorry! haha I know I've been absent, we're all busy this time of year. October through November were pretty busy for me with photography, throw in a part time job three days a week and I didn't have much extra time for writing, forget blogging!

I've actually been composing a difficult post for a couple weeks now, and it's still not ready to share. It's nothing personally serious, don't get nervous! Just something I discovered doing research on my WIP and wanted to share. I'll try to have it done later this week.

Last week was really hard for me. My good friend and manager at my part time job (the reason I worked there in the first place) was suddenly let go. This just a month after the other office girl was randomly let go. I started working there in July, and then BAM, last week I was the one with seniority in the front office. I was still learning! Still passing on phone calls to my manager, then suddenly I'm the one getting calls passed to me!

Well, Tuesday after they let her go, I got the big long speech from the practice manager how they were happy with my work and they didn't want me to worry. I had to work my REAR off last week being the one in the office that had any idea what I was doing, staying almost two hours late every day to finish up and try to do damage control. I was STRESSED.

I go in this morning, the day after Christmas (and Mom's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!), and they LET ME GO TOO! For, get this, NO REASON. Who does that? They're happy with my work, don't want me to worry, I have ZERO write ups, no warning, just BAM you're fired. My guess is they want my position to be full time (and to pay less than they payed me), and I wasn't able to do that since I run my photography biz too. Mom thinks something more sinister is going on, which sounds exciting, but if there was something I may have caught wind of, I'm too blonde to have noticed.

Now I can finally stop complaining and finish that symphony... err, WIP ;)

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T10:53:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!

2012 Multi-Cultural YA Book Challenge!!

2011-12-14T07:30:00.001-06:00

One Page at a Time and Truly Bookish have put together a ROCKIN book challenge for next year!

These awesome ladies are highlighting YA books written by multi-cultural/ethnic minorities OR featuring multi-cultural/ethnic minorities as main characters. The goal is to read 12 minority YA books for the year, newly published or not. And every month, they'll feature a book or author that meets the criteria and do a book giveaway for the challenge participants!

Seriously, this is a super awesome book challenge, and I encourage everyone to click the pretty button below to learn more about it and to sign up.

I had fun working on a shiny new button too! Isn't it cute?! Don't you want to put it on your blog?

WINK WINK

I already have some books in mind for this challenge:

Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Tiger's Quest and Tiger's Voyage by Colleen Houck

Perfect Chemistry, Rules of Attraction, and Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Sea by Heidi R. Kling

The Revenant by Sonia Gensler

Shifting by Bethany Wiggins

Look, that's nearly the challenge right there!

MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air

2011-12-10T18:19:00.000-06:00

I'm in the market for a laptop! This week I discovered something new about myself. I focus better on writing in public. I don't know what it is. You'd think I'd be MORE distracted, but when I try to write at home, I see too many other things being neglected and I run off to do those things instead. That's why it's December and my WIP is still in shambles.

So, that being said, I need a new laptop. The one I'm using weighs like 20 pounds, it's nearly 5 years old (which makes it a dinosaur in technology years), and I had to do surgery on it for an entire day just to get it to run. I pretty much stripped it of everything but MS Word. Did I mention the battery life is about 45 minutes TOPS? So if I don't get the seat close to the plug, my writing (typing) time is short. I'd also like to be able to listen to music while I write, and this computer is too much of a sissy to handle that anymore.

I'm a converted Mac user now (since getting my iMac last year that I'm STILL in LURVE with), so I was curious how many of you have MacBooks. My husband has the 13" MacBook Pro, so I pretty much know how adorable it is, but what's the deal with the MacBook Air? Anyone have one? It doesn't have a disc drive, does it? I think that could be a problem. What's the word?

Two Year Blogiversary!

2011-12-09T09:56:00.000-06:00

Can you believe it?!?! Tomorrow marks two years of blogging for me!!

*throws confetti on all your heads*

I've made so many friends, found a few indispensable critique partners, and I've learned so so so much. Thank you to all my lovely 373 followers, I appreciate each and every one of you!

So how should I celebrate this anniversary of blogging? What would you like to see from me? A giveaway? A contest? Giftcards? Specific books? Let me know what rocks your blogiversary world!

And since today is Friday, here are five random things on my mind today:

1. Food journaling is hard.

2. My lemon tree is inside most of this week, since it's been freezing at night. I think it likes the toasty temperature because a lot of the little flower buds have opened up and they smell HEAVENLY!

3. I keep forgetting Christmas is so close, and there are still a couple people I have NO CLUE what to gift them with.

4. Santa has elves, we have Target. So true. So. True.

5. Every year I let myself buy a new Christmas album, and this year I bought Michael Buble's newest called "Christmas," if you can believe it. Now I usually enjoy his songs on the radio. I love his throw-back voice and a little part of me tingles at the thought that he can sell out our largest stadium in town in the matter of an hour (isn't it awesome that the general population can still appreciate this style of music?! I love it.) This album is loaded with classics sung only the way he can sing them, and it's a welcome addition to my Christmas playlist.

I don't think I'm gonna make the goal...

2011-12-03T11:47:00.000-06:00

I was supposed to read 50 books this year for my Goodreads challenge. Apparently I've only read 38 as of right now, and I'm "8 books behind". I don't think I can read 8 books in less than a month. This was a goal I really thought I could hit. Once Autumn rolled in and photography picked up, everything else fell behind.

My WIP has been on the backburner too, which makes me sad. I was so sure I was going to finish it in June! Then July! Okay, maybe August... October? End of the year...? To my critique girls, I really do appreciate the pestering for more pages. Even though I'm slow getting them to you, knowing that you are that engaged in my story that you keep asking for more, inspires me to work even harder to finish this sucker for you! I'm taking at least January off of photography and I'm buckling down to get my story finished and edited.

How have your 2011 goals been for you this year? It's so funny how fired up we are every January, only to let ourselves down by June. By October we've probably completely forgotten everything we set out to do. Does that happen to you too, or is it just me? (Please say it's not just me! ;)

I'm not waiting until January 2012 to get my act back together. I'm taking control again right now! Or... maybe Monday.

KIDDING! RIGHT NOW!! I pledge to myself to at least write one chapter in my WIP by the time the weekend is up!! Wow that felt good.

LET'S DO THIS

Tangled Tides Launch Web Party!

2011-11-25T07:00:00.004-06:00

HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY TO TANGLED TIDES!

Today is the release day for Karen Amanda Hooper's debut YA novel, Tangled Tides! Karen's blog was one of the first I followed when I started blogging, so I'm BEYOND excited to have witnessed her journey and to celebrate her release day with her!! Congratulations!

Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.
When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.
Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.

I got my copy in the mail last week (pre-order, baby!) and I've already started reading it. I can tell I'm in for quite the ride! I can't wait to swim farther into this underwater world she's created! And speaking of...

WAR OF THE UNDERWATER WORLDS!

Karen's story contains battling merfolk, selkies, sirens and gorgons. She says she loves all of them, but she wants everyone else to choose a side, so...

I CHOOSE SIRENS! These creatures are singers AND they control the weather. You can't get much more awesome than that!

(Click image to visit the artist's blog)

Linkage:

Karen's Website - She's giving stuff away, so go check it out!! Also, be sure to follow her on Twitter!! Join in the celebration today! @Karen_Hooper
Amazon
Rhemalda Bookstore
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T17:35:00.000-06:00

I hope that everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! Safe travels, safe eating, safe outdoor sports (we'll probably play yard golf... no football for this family!), safe Black Friday shopping sprees!

I'm still editing my travel photos, but this one has lovely fall colors, so I had to share. If you ever go to Sonoma, I highly recommend the public tour at The Benziger Winery. They're biodynamic--super interesting to learn about!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM ME AND HANDY

Who's Ready for The Hunger Games Movies?

2011-11-15T21:26:00.000-06:00

Well, I've got to say I'm super impressed with the trailer to The Hunger Games. I'm a little surprised they've released such a large trailer already when we have SO LONG TO WAIT, but it's nice to get a taste.

Anyone else tear up just a TINY bit and shiver with goosebumps when Katniss yells, "I VOLUNTEER! I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"?

Holy Moses, my nerves are settled about many things now. I think they've worked very hard to do the books justice. Sure, there will be differences--there always are--but in my opinion, this looks fantastic.

And I may or may not have watched it a few extra times just to hear the music again. Already love it.

The Vacation is OVER

2011-11-14T07:36:00.000-06:00

Already? Really? My week in California didn't seem to fly by while I was experiencing it, but now that I'm back, sitting here in my scrubs, putting off going into work as long as possible, I can't believe the fun is over.

I'm seriously going to be late if I type much more, but I will share a couple photos before I jet. I took HUNDREDS and I haven't even looked at them all yet, so I'll be sure to share more later.

This is a panoramic of Fallen Leaf Lake in Tahoe. We hiked through SNOW to get to it!

ACTUAL SNOW!!!

How are YOU doing?! I've missed you, and have LOTS of blog catching up to do!! How's NaNo going??

Ringer, Revenge... and other new shows

2011-11-03T11:27:00.001-05:00

Ringer, Sarah Michelle Gellar's newest project, didn't do a whole lot for me at first. It was sort of interesting, but my DVR recorded three or four more episodes before I even watched the second one. I just wasn't excited about it. Then one lazy night, I watched ALL of them, chomping at the bit for more. It's REALLY good. If you need a reason to watch, how about this guy:

Remember him? Sweet, young Officer Lowe, so concerned about all the frozen dead bodies floating in the ocean after the Titanic sunk. I was totally Team Leo back when this movie came out (I was 14, please), but this guy stuck out to me, even then. Maybe it was the prominent nose, the accent, I don't know. But I liked him. And besides the twisted twisted twisted storyline of Ringer, he's a reason to keep watching.

And yes, that's Nestor Carbonell back there. The creepy, pretty guy from Lost that doesn't actually wear eyeliner even though it looks like it. You know who else has a recurring role on Ringer?? LOGAN ECHOLLS from Veronica Mars! Well, Jason Dohring, anyway.

If they don't go the teacher/student romantic relationship with his storyline, I'd be surprised, because they're certainly setting it up for that. Hopefully they'll surprise us and do something else. Either way, glad he found work!

Revenge!! By far my favorite new show this year. The first episode was good, a total surprise because I really didn't know what to expect. I was a big fan of Everwood, so when I saw Emily VanCamp had her own show, I knew I had to tune in. Best surprise on the show, KYLE VALENTI from Roswell! Nick Wechsler plays Jack, the OTHER love interest.

I'm Team Jack all the way. This is a TWISTY amazing show, and if you haven't seen it, try to catch up online if you can. It's WORTH IT.

Once Upon a Time started a little hokey for me. I was super disappointed with the first episode, mostly because it wasn't what I expected from the previews. I gave it another chance, and I'm telling you, episode two HOOKED me deep. As soon as Emma cut down that apple tree (which is NOT a Honeycrisp tree... HC apples aren't red like that, HELLO) with a chainsaw and told that evil witch, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF!" WOOOHOO! And! Sark will be on the next episode!! (Well, David Anders. He'll always be Sark from Alias to me)

Grimm was a surprise as well. Another twist with the fairy tale involvement, but it's, as Sophie Jordan tweeted to me, CREEPY GOOD. I'm interested to see where this show goes.

The Secret Circle had a strong enough start for me to keep watching, but there's still something missing. I'll keep watching, but I'm not entirely sure why.

Soon to go is Hart of Dixie... those accents are atrocious and I'm attached to zero of the characters. I guess I keep waiting for something to actually HAPPEN. If it doesn't soon, I'm deleting from the list.

I've also been watching Tim Allen's new show Last Man Standing. It's no Home Improvement, but I've always been a fan of his humor.

Person of Interest is a tricky fish. I love Jim Caviezel (especially after meeting him--STILL SQUEEING about that), but if they don't attach me to these characters soon, I'll lose interest.

New Girl is pretty funny, I must admit. But it's not for everyone.

Gave up on:
Up All Night after 3 episodes. Don't get me wrong, it's funny! But it's no Samantha Who (SHAME on ABC for canceling that!).
Charlie's Angels after 10 minutes of the first episode.
2 Broke Girls is funny, but I never got hooked enough to look forward to the next episode.
Nikita was great last season, but I couldn't get into it this year.
Terra Nova after the first episode. I actually really liked it (despite the digital effects), but it's one of those that I wasn't anxious to sit down and watch, and it started to clog up my DVR. I think it will be a Netflixer for me later.

Still watching:
The Vampire Diaries How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Whipped Damon. Ripper Stefan. Brainwashed Tyler. Cheater Jeremy. Human Matt. That's five ways right there. ;) Seriously though, I'm sucked into TVD like never before this season. I'm a little sad the whole ghost thing seems to be a done deal--they could have stretched that at least a couple more episodes--but what they did with it was super cool for me anyway. And I was totally Team Anna/Jeremy so getting a bit of that back was fabulous.
Community
Parks and Recreation
Modern Family
Glee, although there's something about it now. I'm not in LOVE like I used to be. And that makes me sad.
The Big Bang Theory
Bones
Castle

Missing:
Outsourced
Mr. Sunshine

Looking forward to:
Smash
Alcatraz

My GOSH there are a lot of shows. Thank God for DVR!!

What about you? Any new shows hook you this year? Any you gave up on?

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - Yep, Another Signing!

2011-10-25T07:01:00.001-05:00

I totally lucked out living in a city that gets SO MANY AMAZING AUTHOR EVENTS! I feel like I'm going to one every week!

This past Friday I got to meet the authors of the Castor Chronicles (Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness) for the release of the third, but not final, installment, Beautiful Chaos. As always, it's fascinating how different each author's publishing story is from the next, and these ladies... let's just say they don't call themselves accidental authors for nothing.

In bulleted note fashion, here's a very paraphrased version of how Beautiful Creatures came to be:

Kami Garcia was an English teacher, and she led a book club for her students (Margaret's daughter was one of them).
At one of their meetings (in 2007), the kids were griping about too many werewolves, vampires, wimpy and whiny female main characters, and generic story locations.
Kami and Margaret had lunch and discussed what the kids pointed out, and they started to dream up a world that broke the mold, and soon had a rough outline of BC on a napkin.
Their story idea was from a male POV with the female as the parnormal, with a setting in South Carolina.
Margaret went home and told her daughter that she was writing a book with Ms. Garcia, to which her daughter replied, "Yeah, right, Mom. And in three days you'll be onto something else."
Kami and Margaret took it as a challenge and wrote about 30 pages very quickly, then gave it to M's daughter who said, "It's okay... what happens next?"
Soon, all seven teens in the book club were chomping at the bit for more, desperate to know what happened next. The ladies kept writing, just for these kids, no expectations other than wanting them to enjoy it.
When they finished the story (Then called Sixteen Moons), they talked about creating a web page where they could post the story for all to read. When Kami told a friend--who was an author--about it, he said, "YOU ARE IDIOTS! DON'T DO THAT!"
Said friend sent their story to his agent without telling them, after which Margaret got a phone call from her gushing about how much she loved their story. M had no clue who she was exactly, why she had their story, or if they had an agent now... she never sent them anything to sign... they were afraid to come right out and ask--they knew NOTHING about the publishing industry. Bloggers know more than they did!
That agent got their story sold to a publishing house, and the book went to auction (which they thought was a bad thing, because the runt pigs no one wants are auctioned off).
The book went on to be on Amazon's list before it was even officially released, it was nominated for awards, it just went CRAZY with popularity, completely blowing the ladies away.
ON WRITING: Margaret writes a chapter, Kami takes it and deletes what she doesn't like (a lot of commas), and they pass it back and forth about ten times, changing words here and there until eventually every sentence is a mix of both of them. Then Kami writes a chapter and they do the whole thing over again.
Kami types with only THREE FINGERS on her right hand. Three hovering fingers.
MOVIE NEWS: The final script has been accepted by the studio (the people that made The Blind Side), so they're one step closer!

Pretty amazing story for two ladies writing a story written for seven teens. Have you read this series?

Melissa De La Cruz - Her Story

2011-10-17T07:00:00.001-05:00

Friday I drove into Houston for the Melissa De La Cruz signing event at Blue Willow. Before hearing her speak, I knew nothing about her except that she wrote the Blue Bloods series. What an interesting publishing story she has! Here's her journey, extremely paraphrased in bulleted points for easy follow-along-ing.

Knew she wanted to write from age 11
Took writing seriously in her early twenties, wrote a novel.
Had zero connections in the publishing industry. She bought a book outlining agents and what they're looking for, then queried.
Landed an agent, but was unable to sell that novel to a publishing house.
Wrote a novel every year, and every year got rejected by publishers.
Sold her first book at age 27. They gave her a year to work on it and the editor told her it had no plot.
They gave her six months to fix it, helping her outline and work on character development.
She studied plots and learned to take them very very seriously. Years later, someone said, "Oh you're Melissa De La Cruz! I hear you're awesome at plots!"
Her editor wanted her to write a young adult, dark fantasy, and the idea for Blue Bloods was born--at the time, no one was writing about vampires.
As soon as she submitted her manuscript for Blue Bloods, she saw Twilight was released already. At first she was nervous about it, but the Twilight mania helped her success with Blue Bloods.
At a TLA event, she sat on a panel with Stephenie Meyer and they exchanged books (she is giddy about having signed copies!), agreeing that they would read them when finished with their own vampire series. When the Twilight movie came out, Melissa went to see it and was relieved at how different her story was from Stephenie's. She then read the books, and joined Team Edward. ;)
Melissa outlined her latest book five years ago, and warns writers to write EVERYTHING down. If you're writing a series, keep notes even about the little things, because you never know what you're going to forget, such as the little things she hinted at in the first books that need to play out later. She doesn't retain information as well as she used to.
Television: For six months, she worked with producers at CW to develop Blue Bloods into a television show, and she had no reason to believe it wasn't going to happen. Everyone told her it was on. (Her husband later said she was unbearable during this time--really big head!)
A week after the big meeting/presentation with executives at CW, the network passed on Blue Bloods. Two weeks later, it was announced that the CW bought The Vampire Diaries. Melissa joked that show is "dead to her" and she still hasn't seen one episode.
Since then, she's had several movie offers and turned them all down.

Cover story: Melissa actually has cover approval. For Blue Bloods, they showed her a rough idea pieced together with stock photos. She liked the idea but thought it was cheesy and asked for a photo shoot. They said, "Oh sure sure!" then went around their offices saying, "Who has a pretty neck?!" The girl that landed on the cover is actually Melissa's editor who was a ballerina. Her mom still calls her and says, "Hey, I just saw your neck in Target!" Book two is also someone from the publishing office. After book three they started having real photo shoots.

Melissa was fun and entertaining, and it was great to meet her and get my copies signed. I look forward to starting this series when I get back in the vampire mood. :)

As usual, I'm inspired to write. If only I could find where I hid all my spare time....

Kickin' 2011 Debut Author Spotlight

2011-10-10T06:30:00.033-05:00

Big thanks to Christina Lee for organizing this 2011 Debut Author Spotlight! Visit her blog for links to everyone else participating!

I scored an ARC to the fantastic 2011 debut CLARITY earlier this year, by author Kim Harrington.

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth? This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats. Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift. And a curse. When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case - but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother - who has supernatural gifts of his own - becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

My thoughts: I'm a cover lover, and this one definitely caught my eye on the blogs as well as when I scrolled through the Goodreads giveaways. I added my name to the list of the 2000+ hopefuls for the ARC and Kim Harrington herself picked me!

Clare, her mother, and brother are pretty much the town freak show, but a useful freak show! Especially when there is a murder case to solve. The first chapter was a bit slow for me, mostly because I'm never sure what to expect with first chapters and it takes a while to learn the rules of a different paranormal world from the last book I read. I wasn't fully engaged until several chapters in, and things started really swinging.

Hot ex boyfriend with dramatic history? Check. Witchy girl that likes to ruin your life? Check. Hot and mysterious newcomer? Check. A murder case with tons of suspects and all of them plausible? Check. Like Clare, I had no idea who to focus on as a suspect, and her inner concerns about certain people in particular were realistic and heartbreaking. Go ahead and try to guess "who-done-it". You're probably going to be wrong. I sure was.

Harrington's writing is straightforward and enjoyable. The characters each stood out on their own, and they all served a purpose. I could picture them perfectly. I won't complain about how short it was (it was a little short!) because I enjoy these kinds of books that you get pulled into and you don't really need to put it down to go to sleep--you probably have time to finish!

Book two, Perception, comes out in March of 2012!

Kim Harrington:

Goodreads
Blog
Buy the Books

What other 2011 releases did I love, you ask??

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Liesl & Po and Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Solstice by P.J. Hoover
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
And let's not forget Lola and the Boy Next Door by the fabulous Stephanie Perkins! Favorite contemporary YA read of the year (after Anna and the French Kiss, of course). Obsessed much? Why yes, yes I am. ;)

Have YOU read Clarity yet? Planning on it?

Friday Five

2011-10-07T13:56:00.000-05:00

1. STRESS IS MY MIDDLE NAME

2. So, today while I was trying to decompress, enjoying an episode of Castle while eating lunch, my carbon monoxide detector goes off. I change the batteries. Same thing. Open the windows. Call the gas company. Wait for gas man for about 45 minutes outside. I thought it had "cooled off" outside. No, it has not. Gas man comes and waves this little thing around everywhere. Nope. No CO anywhere to be found. No leaks. All's well. Guess I need a new detector. And a nap I don't have time for. AFTER I get the new detector because I'm nervous like that.

3. Allergies have set in. Huzzah.

4. Do self-imposed deadlines actually work? I'm thinking no, because if they did, I would have finished my first draft in July. Then August. Nope, maybe by October 1st. No? October 15th then! Um... not gonna happen.

5. Vampire Diaries fans... isn't the whole fun of tension between characters that "unspoken" element? You just pick up on the subtleties, the looks, the longing. You DON'T talk about it. "Why don't you take a beat from Elena?" Excuse me? No. "You have feelings for Damon!" "OMG what if I do?" PAH-LEASE. Don't tell us there's an issue. SHOW US. That's writing 101, TVD.

Fitness Check-In (Week 8)

2011-10-06T09:48:00.000-05:00

I missed last week's check-in because I was out of town, but skipping a week makes for a more dramatic weigh-in the next! Still the slowest progress known to woman-kind, but I guess it counts as progress nonetheless.

So the first deadline I had for myself in all of this is October 22, my 10 year HS reunion. It's SOON, and I'm nowhere near the 10 pounds I wanted to lose, but I'm also not stressing about it as much. The reunion is turning into more of a super casual backyard BBQ with pretty much just the people I see considerably often anyway. Now, I'm not slowing down, I'm working at not getting upset with myself for the slow progress.

Total weight lost: 3.2lbs
Total inches lost: 4.75"

How are your goals coming?

I Love Author Events!

2011-10-03T07:15:00.067-05:00

I'm going to skip all the negative bits about the Austin Teen Book Festival because I'm moving past the disappointing moments of bummer and suck and you can't make me talk about it any more! ALL I'm going to say is don't follow the logic that saving the best for last is a good thing. It will bite you in your REAR. Eat your dessert first, my friends.

The theme was steampunk thanks to the keynote speaker's latest series. Quite a few people were decked out in the full garb, but I just constructed a few pieces of steampunk inspired jewelry: A ring that I kept getting caught on EVERYTHING and eventually took off, and a necklace.

Here's a fellow I never dreamed I'd meet, but I did! And I cut myself out of the picture because, well, with this face you wouldn't be looking at me anyway.

The Keynote Speaker, SCOTT WESTERFELD!

He totally made that face on purpose. Did you take a picture with him too? Let's compare.

Also met the hilarious Maureen Johnson.

Met some other authors too, but wasn't able to do pictures with them. I'll just say that Jackson Pearce is PRECIOUS! Mary E. Pearson is SUPER nice, and I also got my copy of Will Grayson, Will Grayson signed by David Levithan though I didn't actually get to meet him... but I'm not talking about that, remember?! STOP!

And let's not forget, my favorite author, STEPHANIE PERKINS!!

After I read Anna and the French Kiss earlier this year, I pretty much forced my mom (and all my friends) to read it, and she inhaled it. It was fun having another fangirl along with me this weekend!

And... Stephanie remembered me. So I don't have to tell you other fangirls how freaking cool that is. ;)

Had so much fun meeting bloggers I haven't met before, making new friends, and seeing old ones!

As always, the writing inspiration is in FULL SWING. I've kicked out around 3,500 words this weekend. Anyone else feeling it?!

Austin Teen Book Festival

2011-09-28T18:50:00.000-05:00

Am I going to see you in Austin this Saturday for the Austin Teen Book Festival??! Check out the load of authors that are going to be there!!

Scott Westerfeld!!! - Heather Brewer - Jenny Han - Coe Booth - David Levithan - Maureen Johnson - Jackson Pearce - Alyson Noel - Gabrielle Zevin - Margo Rabb - Mary Pearson - Jessica Brody - Cristina Garcia - Simone Elkeles - Stephanie Perkins !!! - Jennifer Ziegler - Christina Mandelski - Varian Johnson - John Corey Whaley - Melissa Walker - Geoff Herbach - Tera Lynn Childs!!! - Sophie Jordan!!! - Andrea Cremer!!! - Jonathan Maberry - Brian Yansky - Cynthia Leitich Smith – Rosemary Clement-Moore

Scott Westerfeld is the keynote speaker, and I'm so pumped to hear from such a successful author. And also very pumped to finally own a copy of Lola and the Boy Next Door, and to meet Stephanie again! She pretty much rocks my book world.

If I have cell service, I'll be reachable via Twitter @kristincreative. I'll be the one with the pile of books in my arms o_O

Friday Five

2011-09-23T13:15:00.000-05:00

1. There's a box of soup mix in my pantry with a serving size of TWO TABLESPOONS. Are they serious? Two tablespoons? FOR SOUP? That's not being eaten any time soon. I read my labels in the store now.

2. I actually got some writing done this week! Wednesday I managed to squeak out 1,500 words. Hopefully I'll get another nice chunk written this weekend!

3. Switchfoot's new album comes out Tuesday!! CAN. NOT. WAIT.

4. Lots of new shows are starting up. The Vampire Diaries is off to a strong start, and I'm enjoying The Secret Circle and Revenge so far. Parks and Rec is just as hilarious as always, as is The Big Bang Theory. Castle's premiere left me going, eh. Glee was another let down for some reason. I guess my expectations were too high for those two shows. Looking forward to checking out Hart of Dixie, Once Upon a Time, and Smash when they start. Maybe Grimm too. Can't decide about Tera Nova...

5. Tonight will be a blast from the past! I'm going with Heather to see HEART! Well, Def Leppard is the headliner but I only know the one song. Heart was MY BAND as a youngster, and was also my first concert. If I remember correctly (which I honestly might not, because I was around 7) the line-up was Blind Melon, The Black Crowes, and Heart. I've been a concert addict ever since.

Fitness Check-In (Week6)

2011-09-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

*Disclaimer: Please forgive the negative bits of this post. Everyone needs to vent sometimes, and this is my time. ;)

How's everyone doing? Any fantastic results to share? Please tell me, because I'm in that frustrated stage again where nothing is happening. Clothes still fit the same, weight hasn't changed, no inches lost, calorie intake all within daily goals. I know it takes a long time but dang, I can't wait to share some excitement already. I'm like a broken record and these weekly posts feel like downers that I force optimism into. I don't want to force my optimism, I want to RADIATE natural optimism.

I already had a dream/nightmare about my HS reunion. I'm pretty sure it took place in the Hogwarts' dining hall. Snape was there. So was Danny Elfman--I almost cried. Lots of teachers, former classmates from my class and younger... and everyone was skinny but me.

On a chiropractic note, I had my first cracking yesterday. Who knew it wasn't scary at all? All those jitters for nothing. Seeing the X-rays was pretty cool. I knew I was crooked but WOW. No wonder I'm hurting. Can't WAIT to feel better from this!

Thanks to KM for reminding me the benefits of intervals while doing cardio. Wore me out this week, but I like it! Thanks to Courtney (she's a new blogger, give her a follow!) for her personal training expertise and encouragement, to L. Diane Wolfe for sharing all that great information with me, and to Deana Barnhart for needing these posts just as much as I do. You all help me not to give up, and I hope I'm returning the favor to others.

Friday Five

2011-09-16T11:36:00.000-05:00

1. I went to the chiropractor today for the first time ever. Nothing crazy yet, since it was the initial visit, but apparently I'm pretty crooked. I look forward to getting cracked and feeling better!!

2. To the woman that drives the same route as I do to work in the morning, WAKE UP EARLIER! Seriously, five minutes or less is all it takes to put your makeup on at home in front of the bathroom mirror. It won't be my fault when you poke out your eye with your mascara wand when I honk at you to STAY IN YOUR OWN FREAKING LANE. When you're behind the wheel, driving is your JOB. Not putting on your makeup, not texting or checking your email or updating your Twitter status. That's great you care so little about your own life to drive like an idiot, but I CARE ABOUT MINE.

3. Wow that felt good to get off my chest.

4. Does anyone else counting calories feel hungry, like, all the time?

5. Netflix just added Felicity to their instant offerings, and while it's not Bones (WHERE ARE YOU SEASON SIX?), it still has some great moments. Best quote so far is from Ben: "There's like this wall, in my head. On one side there's the part of my brain that understands things and absorbs things. On the other side of the wall is poetry." Ben... I'm with you!

Fitness Check-In (Week 5)

2011-09-15T09:10:00.000-05:00

It's like I'm immune. No real measurable differences this week. I can't dip any lower than the two pounds I keep fluctuating with. And I'm not losing crazy amounts of inches either. This week, I lost .25" in ONE arm? What the double hockey sticks is that about? This slothly progress is making for one frustrated girl. But really... my body doesn't understand the concept of a week. That's a brain thing. That's a thing man created to mark the passing of time. I can't logically expect my body to do what I want each week if it doesn't work in those terms. I hope it catches on soon though, because my accountability friend is running out of ways to say, "You're getting SO close to that point where it gets easier." Oh yeah? Do you want a slap? ;)

And once again I will sing the praises of the smart phone app MyFitnessPal. It makes counting calories SO easy, I can't even tell you. Now I know beyond a doubt that I'm not overeating, which SHOULD make meeting my goals that much easier (this is purely theoretical... because, well, the goals are still very far from reach).

Here are a few changes I made this week: I'm drinking a LOT of water. Well, it feels like a lot, but it's eight cups a day, which is what we're supposed to be drinking. I haven't noticed it do anything for me yet except add several extra trips to the restroom throughout the day. I've also increased the weight in my strength training by 5-10 pounds on a couple machines because they were getting too easy.

A trick I learned this week: If you listen to music while trying to count strength training reps, and lose count easily (like I do) because you're singing along, just picture a clock. In your mind, move the clock hand to each number. I go to 13 so my hand goes all the way around the clock and stops again at the 1. Now I can mouth the words to my songs (because there really is no stopping me from doing that) and keep track of my reps!

How are your workouts coming? Any progress to share so I can slap you(r back)?

On another note, these are the books I have left for swapping if you're interested.

Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culberson (ARC)

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver (ARC)

~~Clarity by Kim Harrington (SIGNED ARC)~~

~~Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions (shorts stories by popular YA authors - ARC)~~

Red Riding Hood by Blakley-Cartwright/Johnson (Paperback, not the cover shown above)

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy #3 (Paperback)

One down... five left

2011-09-14T18:41:00.000-05:00

Enthralled seems to be quite popular! Therefore, it is gone. Here's what's left.

Wanna swap?! Whatcha got?

Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culberson (ARC)

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver (ARC)

Clarity by Kim Harrington (SIGNED ARC)

~~Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions (shorts stories by popular YA authors - ARC)~~

Red Riding Hood by Blakley-Cartwright/Johnson (Paperback, not the cover shown above)

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy #3 (Paperback)

Seriously? No one wants to?

2011-09-14T07:35:00.000-05:00

Wow. You know it's been a long time since you've visited your own blog when you can look at it and say, "OH YEAH! I MADE MY OWN BUTTON!!" I'm not sure if anyone would want my button on their blog, but just in case, I've got one now!

At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but now that I've forgotten about it for a week, I think I just might keep it around for a while. :) Seriously, I apologize for my blogging neglect (mostly for my lack of visiting YOUR blogs and commenting). We've been dealing with these blasted wildfires here north of H-town and it's had me a week bit stressed. No, I haven't been directly affected, but my parents have been packed up and ready to leave their home (the house I grew up in) at a moment's notice. They've had a couple close calls, even housed some evacuees this past weekend, but the fires are slowly getting under control and hopefully we'll get some rain early next week!

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Last week, I posted that I had some books up for swap. I'm not sure if it was just a bum day/time to post it, but I didn't really get any takers, and this surprised me... because some of these books are quite good and (I thought) sought after. So, giving it one more try. Here are the books I have available. Got anything you're willing to trade?

Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culberson (ARC)

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver (ARC)

Clarity by Kim Harrington (SIGNED ARC)

Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions (shorts stories by popular YA authors - ARC)

Red Riding Hood by Blakley-Cartwright/Johnson (Paperback, not the cover shown above)

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy #3 (Paperback)

Fitness Check-In (Week 4)

2011-09-08T09:25:00.000-05:00

How's it going everyone?! This last week has been insane. INSANE I tell you! Those of you who live in Texas know what I'm talking about. These fires are devastating. My parents live very close to one of the fires and have been close to evacuating twice since Monday, and some of our friends have had to evacuate. These firefighters are such brave people. Prayers with them and those affected.

So this week, I stayed away from the gym Thursday through Tuesday. My back has been bothering me some (I think it's a combo of sleeping wrong and sitting at a computer all day every day), so I let it rest for a good chunk of time. I'm making an appointment with the chiropractor soon (nervous!!).

The weight is still fluctuating like crazy (I'm convinced each of my newly sculpted calf muscles are several pounds each!), but measurement wise, I'm finally seeing results! And a GREAT way to track calories and exercise is with an App my friend showed me called myfitnesspal.

It's totally free and really easy to you. You can even scan the barcode if you're eating something with one, and it has all the info already--just select serving size. You can even have friends on there and comment on each other's statuses. (I'm a nerd, I know... but it helps to have buddies!)

How are your goals coming?!

When Blogging Friends Get Agents

2011-09-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

Happy dance! Blogging friend Amy Sonnichsen from The Green Bathtub landed herself an agent!! Head over to her blog and share in her excitement!!

When one of our own is offered representation and is one step closer to getting their work on a shelf, I'm so energized and inspired. It really really is possible. We just can't give up! Keep writing!

Congratulations, Amy!! And thanks for inspiring the rest of us to keep going!

Friday Five

2011-09-02T12:43:00.000-05:00

1. A friend of mine has one of those calorie burner monitors (must research those today) and she reports 800 calories burned in 2 hours of house cleaning. I cleaned the house pretty much all day yesterday, so... that's exciting caloric news.

2. The fall season of TV shows is coming up! The 7th season of Bones starts in November, and I hope to be ready by then. Just started season 4 and can I just say "NOOOOO, DR. ADDY ARE YOU STUPID?!!!!!" Sad face.

3. The Vampire Diaries starts in like, two weeks. CAN. NOT. WAIT. (Yes, that deserved it's own number)

4. Why are there so many book signings AND a teen book festival coming up? Don't they know I'm drowning in my TBR pile??

5. In case you missed it, I have more books up for swap, including these ARCs. Check them out here.

Fitness Check-In (Week 3)

2011-09-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

I recognized a few motivating factors this week for us gym-goers. Notice all the people already in shape? The girls with the toned arms who aren't even flexing, yet you can just tell they have great muscles. The ones wearing those adorable little workout outfits I'm 30 pounds from being able to fit into. The one on the machine RIGHT NEXT TO ME that's CRUISIN with no signs of slowing. I matched her pace and kept up with her for quite a while. If she can do it, so can I.

Then yesterday I hopped on the elliptical apparently right after someone got off, and saw that she burned over 650 calories. Um, yeah. I burned 671, well over 100 more than my normal daily goal.

It's also equally motivating to look around and realize I'm the smallest one in my line of sight. Yes, they may have farther to go than me on their fitness journey, but they're going to drop that weight quicker than I am. So I push to keep up with the quick losers, and push to get to the slim and trim level of those already there.

The quantitative progress still isn't there, and now that I've finished week three, I'm still super frustrated about it, but I get it. I do. My body doesn't know what to do about me. It's definitely changing, just not enough for me to notice yet. But one day, I will notice. And that will be a GREAT day.

A friend likened it to pushing a boulder up a hill. You push and push and push and it's hard and it hurts and it doesn't seem like you're getting anywhere, then suddenly, it rolls. The weight will fall off. The work will pay off. Getting up that hill seems to take forever, but if you don't keep going, you won't get there at all.

Calories burned on the elliptical this week (assuming the calibration is correct): 2,802

How are your fitness goals coming?

Six Books for Swap!

2011-08-31T17:48:00.000-05:00

I've got a few books available for swap if anyone is interested. The ones that don't get swapped will possibly be featured in a giveaway in the near future, so keep an eye out for that!

Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culberson (ARC)

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver (ARC)

Clarity by Kim Harrington (SIGNED ARC)

Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions (shorts stories by popular YA authors - ARC)

Red Riding Hood by Blakley-Cartwright/Johnson (Paperback, not the cover shown above)

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead - Vampire Academy #3 (Paperback)

Let me know if you're interested in any of these and what you've got to swap for it.

A few titles I'm interested in, either ARC or paperback format for fair swappage:

Populazzi by Elise Allen

Sea by Heidi Kling

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Momento Nora by Angie Smibert

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

And a million trillion others!

What's up with all the movie photos released?

2011-08-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

As much as I love seeing pictures from the upcoming Hunger Games movies, doesn't it feel like they're releasing quite a few of them? Especially seeing as they're still filming? And now there's a teaser trailer coming out this Sunday?? Despite my interest, I can't help feeling that it's a tiny bit premature.

We're seeing this a lot lately. The Twilight movies, The Hobbit, Snow White and the Huntsman. Is this a new trend in movie promotion/hype or has it been going on for a while and I'm just now noticing?

What do you think about this mini-spoilery? Does it seem like too much too soon, or does it help you get excited?

Fitness Check-In (That's me in the corner)

2011-08-25T09:35:00.000-05:00

That's me in the corner... losing my motivation. Well, not completely. But in my pattern of health kicks, this is the time (week two/three) that I start getting SUPER frustrated because the results are SO SLOW to show themselves. Nothing has changed from last week. Nothing quantitative, anyway. I'm falling asleep much faster at night, but I'm the exact same weight I was last Thursday. Two measly pounds less than the Thursday before when I started this madness. It just seems like I've done... more. Throw me a freaking bone, scale.

But this is not me giving up. No no no. I have a few things with me in my corner that keep me going.

1) My organization this time around. Physically writing things down on paper (my weight every morning, followed by the calories the elliptical machine tells me I've burned, followed by any thing else I worked out) has helped a lot. Not only because I can see what I've accomplished, but because it makes me not want to have any holes on the calendar, except for my rest day, which has been Sundays.

2) Bones. Not only the bones that create the frame for my overweight body (stay strong! I'm drinking skim milk FOR YOU!), but Bones the television series. My GOSH am I addicted. Every day I chomp at the bit to get on that elliptical so I can watch another episode on my iPhone. Yes, yes, I watch an episode or two at home once in a while, but the rule is that I can't do that until I watch while working out first. Works wonders. :)

Something I'm considering implementing today is the weekly measure. I'm hopefully gaining muscle through this experience (weighs more than fat, right??), so perhaps it would be better to measure various places of the body and keep track of those? Anyone tried this before?

How has this past week been for you? Got any progress to report? What keeps you motivated?

Anyone Been to San Francisco?

2011-08-22T07:01:00.001-05:00

This November, Handy and I will be celebrating our five year anniversary! We've only been in the same state (or country, in last year's case) as each other on our actual anniversary for year one. From what I can remember, we went to the Houston Zoo and a concert. This year, we're kicking it up a notch. We're considering San Francisco!

I've never even been to California, believe it or not. I'm looking forward to mild temperatures and lots of photo opportunities! We're not really wine drinkers, but I do want to drive north a bit and explore some vineyards. Maybe stay at a bed and breakfast for a night or two???

Any recommendations? Anything not worth checking out? Any AMAZING restaurants in San Fran? Any great hotels/B&Bs? To rent a car or rely on public transportation? These are my many questions.

I know I want to check out Alcatraz (apparently the last tour of the day is the best because it's dark and creepy and that's for me!), and I've heard something about a Fisherman's Wharf?

If you've got lots of recommends, feel free to email me (see CONTACT up on the navbar)! I'm in trip research mode right now, so any bit of info helps bunches! And if you've made any blog posts about your trip to San Fran with pictures, please direct me!

Workout Inspiration - The K-Rae Method

2011-08-17T17:34:00.000-05:00

Those two words commented on my last blog post inspired me to write this post (Thanks Deana!). Yes, I've been working out super hard this past week. I try to get to the gym every day, and my goal on the elliptical machine is 500 calories burned minimum.

A pound apparently equals 3500 calories, so my logic says, burn 500 calories a day, lose a pound a week. Eat better every day, shaving those surplus calories, lose another pound a week. I've only been in this serious mode since last Thursday, and I'm already over 2 pounds lighter on the scale. (YIPPEE!)

To keep track, I printed a little calendar from MS Word

and EVERY morning I get on the scale and write my weight at the top of that day's square. I think it's good for me to see how much weight fluctuates every day. I don't panic as much this way, seeing it all written out. As long as the average is continuing to drop, we're all good.

After I go to the gym, I write the total calories the machine told me I've burned. I don't stop until I'm over 500. Netflix Instant for iPhone is a LIFESAVER. I warm up to music for a few minutes, then watch an episode of Bones, my current obsession, and when it's over, I'm done! Then I alternate days of arm machines and leg machines, so under my calories I write what else I worked on. So far, Sunday has been my rest day (after three days of pushing myself, my body was ready for a break).

As far as eating, I've been loading up on fruits, veggies, and fresh meats. I also make sure I have some carbs and protein in me before a workout (or I get shaky and wimpy).

So that's my current K-Rae method! I hope I can inspire more of you to work toward your goal (and keep it up myself!). All of my workout buddies are virtual (a friend makes me email them a picture of my calendar every day, and harasses me if I don't send it!), which I think is kind of funny, but it's better than having NO one to hold me accountable.

If anyone is interested, I was thinking about doing a weekly blog post/check-in where we can share our goal woes and triumphs. Encourage each other. Positive reinforcement! I know I need it... because I'm needy. haha.

On that note, off to the gym!!

Friday Five

2011-08-12T13:47:00.001-05:00

I keep forgetting about these Friday Five things. I love reading them on other blogs, so here's mine for this week!

1. I worked out so hard yesterday, I was in bed before 9pm. I wouldn't mind making this a habit.

2. My TBR pile is drowning me. I think I'm actually reading SLOWER now because there's so many piled up and it makes me nervous. hahaha.

3. So, my new part time job is at a dentist office. I see and hear quite a bit... but one thing that had me laughing this week, was a little girl that only brushed the front of her teeth. The hygienist was talking to the parent about brushing habits and the little girl said, "I didn't know I was supposed to brush the inside too!" That made for one embarrassed parent!

4. I bought a French phrase book. I'm not sure why. I'll blame Stephanie Perkins.

5. My ten year high school reunion is in October... I now have ten weeks to lose 30 pounds. Not possible?? Okay. I suppose I could settle for 10. Off to the gym! o_O

Happy Weekend!

Miscalculations and Word Counts

2011-08-10T18:11:00.000-05:00

Sometimes... a miscalculation can be a good thing.

I'll admit it, I'm a bit obsessed with word count on my current project. I just think it's fascinating how I started with 0, and every time I sit down to work, the number climbs, sometimes higher than expected! It's just a rewarding part of the experience for me... my efforts all tidied up into a compact yet telling number.

This past week, I've been doing lazy math with my WIP word count. I use Scrivener, so each of my chapters are separate. I see individual word count, but not whole manuscript word count (which would be inaccurate anyway because I write all sorts of notes in one "chapter" slot and also put everything I cut into another slot). I have to add everything up by hand for the grand total. Well, last night, I thought I was about 500 words from 40,000, but today I added everything up on a new sheet of paper with pretty pen colors, and then added it again... because my actual current word count is 41,151!!

It's such a spiffy feeling to know I've written more than I thought I did. Makes working toward the next goal of 45k that much more exciting (and closer!). Seriously, seeing these higher numbers, I'm making even MORE time to write. Staying up late... sitting at my computer when I really should be house cleaning. And the story itself is starting to really swing too, so that helps ;)

What about you? Ever write more than you thought you did and got excited about it? Do you even pay attention to word count until after your first draft is done? Or does word count motivate you, like it does me?

Night Owl

2011-08-08T07:34:00.000-05:00

Anyone consider themselves a night owl? I feel like one a lot, but not in the way you'd think. I don't stay out late... I stay UP late. The late hours of the night and wee hours of the morning seem to be when I get my best work done. But now that I have this job three days a week, I can't stay up as late as I'm tempted to.

Last night, for instance, I was just getting into a great writing grove, nearly at 3k words for the evening, but it got to be 11pm and I needed to TRY to get up at 6am. I'm one of those that pretty much need 8 hours of sleep (which those chances were already shot)... it betters my mood and functioning skills. It was such a struggle to make myself step away from the computer and go to bed, then a struggle to stop thinking about my story and fall asleep.

But when that alarm went off this morning, guess who was angry she didn't try to go to bed sooner?

What about you? Do you stay up too late to get things done? Or are you one of those... morning people? ;)

SIGNED Forever by Maggie Stievater Giveaway!!

2011-08-05T06:30:00.004-05:00

**** GIVEAWAY CLOSED ****

Kristi is hosting a giveaway! Here are all the details!!_____

Recently Kristi *waves hi* had a chance to attend a Forever signing in NCand snagged an autographed copy for one lucky winner(click here to read and see photos from the signing) Here's the prize:

Haven't heard of Forever (btw-where have you been???)

Here you go:

Goodreads Description:
The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater

In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

All you have to do to enter is fill out the form and follow ONE of these blogs:

Don't worry you over achievers out there!

There are ways to get extra entries!

If you're a huge Maggie fan like we are, you can follow, tweet, and post to your heart's content, just make sure to include the links on the form when you fill it out. One form per person, so try to fit it all in.

CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE FORM!

Lo Lo Lo Lo LOOOLA! (And the Boy Next Door, of course)

2011-08-03T19:36:00.000-05:00

GUESS WHAT I GOT TO READ!!!

That's right! My most anticipated release for 2011, LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR!!

The sweet and amazing Sarah from Sarah's Books & Life let me borrow the ARC that she won! (FOLLOW HER!!) So I flew through it, then I read it again... out loud! Yep! This past week, I've been reading Lola over the phone to my mom! Fun times!

Here's the summary from Goodreads:

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit -- more sparkly, more fun, more wild -- the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When Cricket -- a gifted inventor -- steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

My thoughts: Stephanie Perkins made me fall in love with YA Contemporary with her debut, Anna and the French Kiss. She has a way about her storytelling that SUCKS ME IN! I'm completely addicted to everything about this book. The characters and all their delicious quirks. Lola and her insane outfits! Cricket and his... Cricket-ness... sigh. Anna and St. Clair (YES, YOU READ ME!). The bits about figure skating (former figure skating coach here, so I'm very partial). The PIES (MUST bake a pie, like, now).

Stephanie is especially gifted at DRAWING OUT the SUSPENSE in the ROMANCE department! OMG it makes you want to yell JUST KISS ALREADY! But it had me turning those pages and falling in love right along with these characters. Characters that I know, personally. Because they're totally real. My new best friends. They can be yours too! You just have to wait until September 29th.

Looking forward to meeting Stephanie again in October at the Austin Teen Book Festival, where I will probably get another picture that looks like this one,

and which also has the POSSIBILITY of hosting the FIRST MEETING OF THE BOOKRUSHERS! I'm most definitely going, Kim Franklin is PROBABLY going, and Kristi Chestnutt is BEING HARASSED to make the trip to Texas so we can have a Kritique Group Weekend Getaway! I can't even tell you how excited I am about the possibility of meeting two of my best friends (sounds weird, I know, but you blogging peeps totally get me) for the first time ever!

Are you going?!

New TV Shows this Fall

2011-07-30T10:57:00.000-05:00

It's hard to give new TV shows chances these days. They hook us in just a couple episodes, then take them away from us (The Ex List, Eastwick). They hook us in a season or two, then take them away from us (October Road, Life on Mars, Joan of Arcadia, Outsourced). Going into this new season of television, I'm nervous about getting my heart broken yet again, but there are still several shows I've got my eye on...

On the CW:

Ringer - Welcome back to TV, Sarah!!

Hart of Dixie - I know, I know, another show about a doctor. But I think this show looks sweet, and I'm giving it a shot. Plus, it has lots of familiar faces!

The Secret Circle - Apparently this is from the creators of The Vampire Diaries (Which I think has been done very well so far), so it's worth a look.

On NBC

Grimm - looks a little creepy, but something about it intrigues me.

Smash - this is a mid-season addition, but Katherine McPhee can SING. And I'm a huge fan of Glee, so of course I'm going to watch this one.

On ABC

Once Upon a Time - I wondered what happened to the girl from House. Now I know! And I hope this show is done right, and that it has the strength to stick on ABC. They always try these types of shows but don't hang on to them. Stop messing with us, ABC!

Giveaway Winner!

2011-07-28T09:18:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway for an ARC of THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE!

The Winner is....

L. Diane Wolfe!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

:::throws confetti:::

Losing My MIND

2011-07-26T18:29:00.000-05:00

I gave full time photography a shot, but it didn't quite work out as I'd hoped. I'm still working at it and getting clients, but as of last week, I have a part time job M-T-W. I'm not happy about being back at a desk (that's not mine at home with my own computer) for 8 hour days, but it's a necessary evil right now. Maybe one day photography (or writing!) will be enough to pay the bills.

I forgot how exhausting and mentally taxing office work is (especially when you're in training!!). I come home and all I want to do is sleep. Or cry. grrr.

I hope my mental exhaustion doesn't cause me to lose momentum on my WIP. I've found it's been easier this week to revise what I've already written than come up with new material, so I guess I'll consider that progress. Fingers crossed I don't get overwhelmed feeling like there's too much on my plate (the cleanliness of my house is already suffering... sorry house) and stop working on it completely (Note to self: DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN).

Now, I'm off to a photo session (Another note to self: Don't schedule sessions after work again...). I hope you all are having a fabulous week and that you don't lose your mind too. :)

Giveaway Alert!

2011-07-21T07:27:00.000-05:00

Blogging superstar Carolina Valdez Miller is hosting a couple ARC giveaways! Definitely worth checking out!

Click here to visit her blog!

Borders: A Love Story

2011-07-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

So many of you have been sharing your pains of Borders shutting its doors, so I'm taking this chance to express my sadness as well. *Warning, this post will be a ramble, possibly without sense.

If it weren't for Borders, I'm not sure where I'd be in my writing/reading right now. It's played such a major role in my life over the past several years, I can't imagine what will take its place. And I know a lot of people are anti-big chain, but the closest indie is an hour away, Borders was five minutes away.

When I started getting serious about writing, I joined my local writers guild, and that's where we held the meetings. A small group of us broke off from the guild (which was way too large by that point), and we also met at Borders. The employees were always friendly and helpful, and loved having us there. I met so many people for the first time there. People who have played such a vital part in my growth as a writer.

I've taken many a long lunch there with friends, many instances of "oh I'll just see what's new" and I ended up with a handful of books, the list goes on and on. Just this past birthday I wandered in to kill some time and sat down to read a couple chapters of Anna and the French Kiss by the fantastic Stephanie Perkins. Guess what? It's like my favorite book of all time now.

It's sad to see physical bookstores disappear and suffer in this technological age. If I get the chance to be published, I'd love to have a printed copy I can hold in my hand and put on a bookshelf. Sigh.

We will miss you, Borders.

Crushing on Snape

2011-07-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

**If you haven't read the Potter books or have yet to see the newest movie and plan to, you might want to stop reading right here.**

I went to see the final Harry Potter film last Friday with one thing on my mind: Snape.

Okay, so I also had "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS THE LAST ONE" on my mind, but ever since I finished book 7 at 2:30 in the morning in July of 2007 with soaking tissues EVERYWHERE, Snape has burrowed in my heart.

Alan Rickman played Severus Snape brilliantly throughout the entire series, so I had no doubt his big scene in the finale would prove heartbreaking. It was. Even now, days later, I'm not really thinking about Harry finally sticking it to Voldie, I'm still thinking about Snape; the greatest closet romantic ever written.