Wednesday, December 30, 2009
WiP Wednesday
Today I spent 5 hours today looking over my MS, mind you I was having an Alias marathon as well (Season 3 to be precise), and I got around 4 pages edited. I'm satisfied with those 4 pages though (for now), and I've edited the first 16 pages altogether. That's the first 4,209 words. I'm happy with that.
The other day when I was editing, I kept starting at the beginning an reading over everything I had already changed, just to find something else I wanted to fix. It's locked in now though so I won't be going over it another half a dozen times. Hopefully I'll pick up some speed though once I get the 1st chapter finished. If I can get the foundation laid then things will go easier, right? I sure hope so. Besides, the beginning has always been the roughest part anyway.
On a different note, though slightly related, I have a Shiny New Idea. Now technically this idea has been festering in the back of my mind for a solid three months now, but it's really starting to drive me bonkers. Yes, that's how anxious I'm getting. Bonkers. The problem is that I promised myself I wouldn't play with said SNI until I was finished with the book I'm working on. I might die if I take too much longer.
My goal was to have ROTP finished and query ready by graduation in May 2011, I think I'm going to have to bump that day up. If I have to go another year and a half without so much as writing an outline or a character bio, I might snap. It's going to be great though, I hope, when I start fiddling with it.
I'm just so excited, both for ROTP and Shiny New Idea. And I'm working in the library at school this next semester so hopefully I'll be writing during work. It's going to be fantastic. :)
How are your WIPs or MS? Anyone out there have an agent yet? Anyone querying?
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Finally Editing (Again)
I've been trying to do other things this break. I've been cleaning, and hanging out with all my old high school friends who went off to college in other states, heck I even busted out the horn and started working on my recital pieces! But I haven't gone near MSWord for fear of getting sucked in. And I get halfway into The Subtle Knife and suddenly I can't stay away!
I knew that I wanted to work on it over the break, but I wanted to get in some reading first! I'm so deprived of the books I want to read for me. *sigh* But I guess that's just how it works. For 3 months I managed to keep my MS on a leash and it obeyed, but now it's ready to play and I'm super excited to oblige it.
Hopefully you all had a lovely Christmas and stayed safe while driving/flying. And I hope if you're reading or writing that you're having as much fun as I am!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Happy Holidays!
Hope you're all having a wonderful time with family and friends. :)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
When I grow up...
I want to get experience. I want to learn. I want to know what it's like to be a literary agent or an editor or to work in a publishing house. All take any of those three careers. That's what I want. And aside from going to Grad School, I have no clue how to get there.
I've tried searching internships, but most of them seem to require you to be in New York for however long. Which would be absolutely fantastic if I could pull it off. *sigh* I don't know what to do, but I'm going to keep looking. Maybe I can get some networking in through blogs. How awesome would that be? :)
Have you ever known what you wanted, but had no clue how to get it? Is there anything you're doing right now that makes you feel completely lost or confused? Is life an exciting adventure? Or a scary dark cave?
Sunday, December 20, 2009
It's A New Post!
School is finally on break, and I'm so incredibly thankful. I managed to survive a 21 hour semester with 5 English classes, and I only got one B. So don't think I was just blowing you all off for a social life or anything, I was busting my butt writing papers and trying to keep up on the constant reading (none of which was for myself ( by the way). :(
But Christmas Break is here, and I finally get to sit down and read your beautiful blogs, and hopefully get some writing/editing done as well. Seeing as how this may take a while, I'd like to go ahead and ask if anyone has had anything happen to them in the last few months that I probably missed.
Has anyone landed an agent? Gotten a book deal? Or had any major life changes? I'm dying to know everyone, what's new with you??
Award!
During my seriously long time away from the blogosphere I was given the lovely Superior Scribbler Award, and I'm just now getting time to dedicate a post to it.
A HUGE thanks to Karilynnlove (Thoughtful Confessions) for the awesome award!! I appreciate it. No really, it made me happy. :D
Now to pass it on. The Rules:
- Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
- Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
- Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
- Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
- Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.
Jade (again) @ Jade hears voices (there's never a dull moment on her blog and she's pretty awesome)
Natalie @ Between Fact and Fiction (though I'm sure she's gotten one before because she's just that amazing)
Michelle @ Michelle McLean's Writer Ramblings (because she's always a good read and her Friday Funnies never fail to make my day)
Lady Glam @ The Innocent Flower (her posts are always interesting and helpful)
Icy Roses @ From Elysium (she's pretty cool and always writes about interesting things)
Thanks again! And I'm sorry it took so long for me to pass it on to all of you lovely people. :)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Happy Tuesday
Last week I had two midterms and a test. I barely studied for my Psych test so that I could really do well on my two midterms and it shows. Today I got back my grades for the English midterms and I 'bout did a happy dance in the middle of both classes. 100% A+ for World Lit and 93% A on the Graphic Novel test.
I finally feel like putting my book on hold was a good decision and that it's making difference. Also, I feel like a badass, but that's just because I like As. :)
Have you ever given something up and wondered if you made the right choice? Is there something in particular that makes your hard work worthwhile?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
C'est la vie.
I don't know how to take this. No matter what I do or who I spend time with, people continuously have mean things to say about me, things that aren't true, things that are meant to hurt me. And I don't know why. I try to be a good person and be nice to people. I don't spread rumors or get into other people's business. So why do these things keep happening to me? Because that's just the way life is?
First I was having an affair with a married man. Then I was stealing the same guy away from his new girlfriend. I'm telling lies, acting strange, looking for power and getting into Fraternity business that doesn't concern me, AND I am now a closet lesbian because I cut my hair. And the worst part about this is that according to the person who was confronted about all of this, it is my roommate who happens to be one of my closest friends who is saying all of these things.
I've tried to be kind to people. I've tried staying out of their business. I've tried being myself. Nothing I do seems to be good enough for anyone and frankly I'm tired of it. Is this the way life's supposed to be? Yes, I know that no matter where you go there's drama and BS, but really?
It's mid semester and I'm ready to be away from all of these people. Switching schools has never looked better but I don't know if it's the right thing to do. Maybe it's just these people at this school, but seriously, was I the only one who missed the memo that said college was about being the biggest ass imaginable to those around you? Or is that just a life in general rule?
What's the deal? I was told life would get better after high school, which by the way was not the best time of my life at all, but instead things just keep getting worse.
I know this has nothing to do with anything, though I suppose it could make one heck of a novel someday, but I needed to let it out and see what the rest of the world has to say about life and drama.
Do you have any drama? Is life the way you thought it would be?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Sunday Apology
Right now I'm taking time out from working on a review for a midterm I have on Tuesday for my Graphic Novel class. Wednesday I have a test for Psychology that I desperately need to cram for. And Thursday is my World Lit Midterm.
Tomorrow I've got to find a way to go to all of my classes, go home for the memorial of a friend's dad who died the other day, and get back to school in time to still have a cello lesson AND get to my night class. That doesn't even include the three papers I have due next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
I think I might update with my paper on Alan Moore's Watchmen when I get it back, let you see what I'm writing instead of my novel. :( But hopefully in another two weeks I'll be able to get back to some form of regularly scheduled posts and to reading all of your posts as well. I miss reading all of your blogs and I know they'd help get me through all of the school drama I have if I could only find time to squeeze you all in.
Until then, I'm going to focus on my classes and keeping my GPA up so I have a chance of doing well after graduation... TTFN my friends. I hope it won't be too long before my next post!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sunday Funny
So for your viewing pleasure: Charlie bit my finger. Enjoy. :)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
WiP Wednesday and Life
On a brighter note, I've started draft #2! :D Super happy about that, sad that I haven't had the time to touch it in days though. I'm handwriting this one because I usually hand write the first draft but for some reason switched to the computer early in. Anyway, I feel the need to get more personal with this draft so it's coming out in pen this time and will move back to the computer either as I see fit or when draft 2 is complete.
Just to show you guys how I distinguish the days, I only that today was Wednesday because Glee came on. I knew it was either Monday or Wednesday because of my classes, but Glee was the main indicator. Which, by the way, if you aren't watching that show, you should. It's pretty awesome.
School is going fairly well. Balancing everything out is more than a little difficult but I'm having fun and enjoying the things I'm doing, and that's the important thing, right? Haha. The Canterbury Tales, Cyrano de Bergerac, and World Mythology are calling my name, so rather than getting any writing/editing done I'm going to be a good student and try to do homework instead.
Are you behind on anything this week? Have you been meeting your writing goals?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
WiP Wednesday late Thursday night.
I got 1000 words down yesterday which was fantastic but I didn't find time to blog so yea. Anyway I realized that the two final chapters I had planned were really just one chapter so I sat down and finished the sucker today and finally got to type THE END. Such a great feeling. *happy dance!!!*
Rise of the Phoenix is 55,450 words and 225 pages for the draft number 1. There is so much more I need to add than I need to cut and I'm super freaking psyched. Draft 2 here I come!!
In other news, Glee and Supernatural rocked my socks off. Can't wait for next week!
Do you have any TV shows you watch to relax?
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
WiP Wednesday
Last week I got 600 words. It was amazing! And then I realized I needed to outline the ending because part of the reason I hadn't been making any progress was that I didn't know for sure what I wanted to happen. But now I do. And it makes me happy. :D
Life has been seriously hectic lately and I'm STILL trying to sort out my time. It's actually kind of ridiculous but eventually I'll get everything worked out, right? Right? I hope so.
I'm still trying to read all of your wonderful blogs but commenting has been cut back recently. In fact, I think the only person who's received a comment lately was Natalie Whipple, who is absolutely amazing and now signed with the awesome Nathan Bransford. So CONGRATULATIONS!! to her again.
So don't feel bad if I haven't commented, I'm trying to juggle a gazillion things and commenting and even reading blogs just isn't a priority right now. And speaking of priorities, I've got to go do a ton of reading for school and then sacrifice a workout to the Writing Gods so that I might make some progress on my WiP this week.
Goal for next WiP Wednesday: have at least 1 new chapter written.
Dream for next WiP Wednesday: have the 1st draft complete.
What are your (writing) goals for this week?
Thursday, August 27, 2009
WiP update
I GOT 600 WORDS YESTERDAY!!!!
Nothing could possibly convey my excitement about actually getting something written better than CAPS right now. Except possibly this: --->
Oh yea, that was totally me after FINALLY ignoring my homework and putting in some MUCH needed writing time.
I've divided my schedule up and I'm not going to lie, I have homework time and practicing time and even workout time. All other free spots in my schedule will be split between my buddies (yes, I have IRL friends!) and writing. :D
I'm a happy panda right now. Seriously. Look at that picture again and tell me it doesn't make your day better.
Of course, I've also realized that I'm not entirely sure of my ending at this point for Rise of the Phoenix and that's more than likely why I only managed 600 words. This means I'm actually going to have to do some outlining *gasp* and figure out who dies or ya know whatever.... :)
I think I'll go do that now, instead of reading for class because frankly I'm tired of reading required material right now. Yay procrastinating for a good reason! :)
Have you been behind on your writing goals? Have you put your other responsibilities on hold to get some writing time in?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
WiP Wednesday, College, Life, Fraternity, and Supernatural
I mean it.
College is awesome. Really it is. I'm a nerd, I love school. My only problem with it is the other people. They tend to lose all of their manners and become rude little pricks who are so wrapped up in drama that sometimes I feel like I've been physically run over by the train of lies, accusations, and angst that trails behind them.
Yay college. :) On the other hand, my classes FREAKING ROCK. Except Psychology, he just preaches straight outta the book. It's dull. But everything else is amazing. :D
All of my free time lately has been going to homework, my friends and/or the fraternity to which I have pledge my soul (it's music, so it to a good cause). What's left of my time after all of that? Quality roommate bonding time over Supernatural on DVD. What better way to de-stress than by watching Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles battle supernatural forces?
Absolutely. Nothing. (Unless you throw in some Jiffy Pop and Dr. Pepper or sweet tea.)
So that's what I've been doing. Taking life one day at a time and trying to figure out when I'll have time to write. Speaking of which, I'm down to an hour and twelve minutes so I'm gonna gonna go now.
Hopefully the rest of you have had MUCH more success and progress this week than I have. I know life has been getting in all of your ways as well so here's to hoping she'll stop being so needy and clingly and let us get some work done.
QUESTION of the DAY: What do you do to de-stress after a long and tiring, or possibly just nerver-wracking, day?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Falling Behind
Dear College,
Stop interfering with my writing.
Yours truly,
Amanda
However, it looks like I'll have plenty of time to balance classes, lessons, homework, practicing, a social life, SAI meetings, AND writing so it's all good. I'll jump back on the writing later today and might catch up on the last two days' posts. Might.
On another note, I'm super excited about the Mythology class I'm taking. It reminded me how much I love school, and we haven't even started yet! Haha. Yay for nerdery. :D
Well, I'm off to try writing since I don't have my reading glasses and reading tiny text from a book is harder on my eyes than typing is. Here's to hoping the week off will let me fly through this!
Is your life getting in the way of your writing lately?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Life/Update
There was a funeral on Thursday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were let's see how much packing, hanging out with mom, and spending time with friends I can cram in to each day kind of days. And today is let's haul all of Amanda's crap up to Russellville, sign in, unpack, go eat, go shop, say goodbye, and organize the new room day.
Hopefully life will not continue to come between me and the WiP and I will be able to finish the first draft soon. Hopefully.
Has life gotten in the way of your writing this week?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
WiP Wednesday
On RotP I've written a whopping 5,366 new words since last Wed. but I'll admit I'm working on it now. So, as of this particular moment I have a total of 51,764 words. Sadly I'm not happy with this number, I thought I'd make more progress this week. :(
In other news, this week I:
- had a root canal (lots of fun there!)
- had one of my best friends lose his father to a heart attack
- ordered flowers for said friend's family
- picked figs
- took pictures of wedding decorations (for my brother's)
- took pictures of me in possible dresses for wedding (for his fiance's other bride's maids)
- started talking to an old friend/ex-boyfriend
- read Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Lose
- added even more books to my TBR list
- packed/organized stuff for moving back to the dorm
What have you done this week? Been super busy or totally bored?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Teaser Tuesday
The Yanti are a race of aliens remarkably similar to humans.
Shiani is the girl Tom is in love with/Connected to.
Tom is the MC and though he was raised on Earth, is not human.
“So you take the Yanti to Earth, then what?” This was it; this was what was bothering her. I was leaving, and she wasn’t coming with me.
“You’re staying here.” My voice was breathy, a whisper. She inclined her head slightly.
“I’m home. I’ve been running for years, Tom. Take a heart from a body and it can only survive for so long. Planets, well, we live quite a bit longer than people, and so do their hearts. I won’t leave again. Every moment away was agony, as if each breath sent ice into my lungs and every second that I moved further away felt like being torn apart limb by limb. I’m not going anywhere. This is my home, this is where I belong.”
I didn’t know what to say. No thoughts came to mind, no witty remarks. But my heart hurt, it physically hurt, because I didn’t know what came next. I didn’t know what would happen after I left to get the Yanti. I didn’t know if they would want to go to Earth or if humans would even have them. I wasn’t sure of anything. At least I hadn’t been before I met her.“I’ll be back. I promise, I’ll come back. You’re my home now; I never really had a choice.” I touched her cheek and pulled her closer. “I’ve been yours since day one.” I whispered against her lips; I knew it was cheesy, but it was the truth.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
TBR and a Link to a Kewl Contest
Unfortunately, My Soul to Take isn't among the prizes, :( which makes me sad because I really want to read that book and have no money to buy it. I'd check it out from the library, but they didn't have it when I looked; they never have any of the books I want to read. Yay Arkansas.
Anyway, whether you enter the contest or not, you should check out her site. I know I can't wait to get my hands on her Shifters series either.
I don't get much time to read. I go to school in Russellville, AR and I try to stay away from the campus library, the people always bug me and the computers hate me, it's sad really. Of course, I don't get much reading time for me anyway, but still. So I've been trying to catch up this summer and boy am I feeling small.
So, I went to Hastings earlier today and was looking for Rachel Vincent's book (it wasn't at Target or Walmart) and found a handful of others I'd heard about and some that just sounded really interesting. I had my phone out taking a picture of My Soul to Take (how many times do you think I can cram that title into one post?) and decided to take pictures of all the other ones while I was at it, how else was I going to remember the titles later? :)
Needless to say I ended up with 21 new pictures on my phone (including the one for the contest). My TBR list is now about 70 books long, most of which are YA and fantasy, and I know that isn't all of them, but here's a sample (let me know if you've read any of them and what you thought!):
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Shifter*
Nekropolis
Evermore
Leviathan*
City of Ashes
Bones of Fearie
Skinned
Generation Dead
The Da Vinci Code
Hush, Hush*
Wings
Ink Exchange
Simple Wishes
*indicates books not yet released
So many books, so little time. *sigh*
How long is your TBR list/pile/stack? Do you have a particular genre you stick to? Is there a particular book you're waiting on to be released?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Broken Comments and the Lovely Tess
It turns out that sometime in the last month my comments decided to get stupid and stop working. I didn't know this until I got an email from the fantastic Tess Hilmo telling me she'd tried and tried but my blog just wouldn't let her comment.
I jumped on the interwebs and immediately started messing with settings and changing things, because what else are you gonna do at 1:10 in the morning when you can't sleep? So I checked my comments and everything said it was fine but it wouldn't actually let you post one, hmph.
I changed my template and reset my cookies (not the good kind) and caches and I even deleted the 'blogs I follow' widget to see if maybe that's what was causing it to be stupid; it wasn't. Everything was just the way it was supposed to be, I'd never changed any settings, but for some reason blogger still wasn't letting me comment. so I changed the format of the comment to not be at the bottom of my posts and for some reason that just cleared everything up.
Twenty minutes after I'd started, I wondered why I hadn't just tried that in the first place. *sigh*
Anyway, this post has absolutely nothing to do with writing and everything to do with saying a HUGE
Thank you!!
to you Tess! You're awesome and I appreciate you emailing me to let me know something was up.
Also, the picture has nothing to do with anything, or it could be a response to the tiny monkeys from Tess' post yesterday O.o, but either way they're lemurs and they're adorable so you should go here and check out the best site EVER for cute or here for the next best thing. :)
Enjoy!
to you Tess! You're awesome and I appreciate you emailing me to let me know something was up.
Also, the picture has nothing to do with anything, or it could be a response to the tiny monkeys from Tess' post yesterday O.o, but either way they're lemurs and they're adorable so you should go here and check out the best site EVER for cute or here for the next best thing. :)
Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
WiP Wednesday
My senior year in high school I started wearing reading glasses, I was 17 by the way. Anyway I've gone up in strength every year since and I
I'm only a few chapters away from being finished with the 1st draft and I'm getting giddy about writing a certain scene that is going to seriously challenge my MC. Oh I can't wait!
In other news, I've been reading The Bourne Identity, I've always enjoyed the movies, but the book is incredible! And so much different than the movies, it's great.
How are things going for you this week? Did you encounter any set backs or did you accomplish more than you'd hoped? Are you super excited about anything? Read any good books lately?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Teaser Tuesday
A little back story: Tom was living a normal life when he was abducted my aliens, only to find out that he wasn't exactly native to Earth himself. The race of people that abducted him, lytuha, are the last of their kind and one of only two groups of survivors from their home planet; the other group, the Jetan, is responsible for their world's destruction. This scene takes place after the war between the two peoples, in which the enemy race was annihilated and only a handful of lytuha remain.
My stomach growled. I didn’t bother putting on socks or shoes, heading for the kitchen barefoot. The halls were eerily quite; before the war with the Jetán they would have been relatively empty but there had still been a sense of life onboard. Now, people were dead or hurt; now people were heartbroken. The kitchen was packed, but no one spoke, no one touched there food.
I sat down at the bar and the cook walked over to me; she stared at me with hollow eyes.
“You alright?”
“Do I look alright to you, Fynx? Do any of us look alright?” I glanced around the room.
“No, you all look like shit. Ya look like you lost someone, probably more than one someone, and I imagine you all blame me for that. Right?” There were grunts and nods throughout the room. It figured; everything was always my fault. I’d left the only planet I’d ever known and traveled halfway across the galaxy and things were still my fault; I didn’t think I’d ever fit in.
“Of course you blame me. I was the one who destroyed your planet and killed the rest of your kind. And I was the one who kidnapped Shiáni. I’m the one responsible for killing even more of you. It’s all my fault.” They hung their heads as I talked and I felt bad for it, but I was tired of being hated for things I hadn’t done. “Only none of it’s my fault. I didn’t ask you to fight for Shiáni or her planet, you did that all on your own. You came to me, remember? I was living my own life, I had a home and a sister who was my best friend. I didn’t know about aliens or that I was one and I sure as hell didn’t ask to be a part of your war. I didn’t ask to have my life turned upside down or to Connect with a girl who isn’t just from another planet, but who is a planet. I never wanted any of this.
“I’m sorry you’ve lost people that you love and care about. I’m sorry there’s only a handful of you left in the universe. But thanks to you guys, I only know of one other person who’s like me. Just one. So believe me when I say I understand what you’re going through, but you’ve got to stop putting all the blame on me.” The room was awkward and silent; my stomach rumbled like thunder and a few of the lýtúha gave me hesitant smiles.
“What would you like?” The cook met my eyes and I could feel the apology she extended on the edge of my mind; I nodded, acknowledging it.
Alright, so blogger really doesn't like me copying and pasting stuff; it requires a bit of a fight and there are still some things that aren't showing up right (especially that last line of dialogue), but it's all good, the words are all there. Hopefully, I'll have everything worked out by next week so I won't have to fight just to post a snippet.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Being True to Yourself
I started playing the cello the summer before 6th grade and I picked up the horn in the 7th; I couldn't imagine my life without either of them. But I'd always had a love for English and writing and reading that I didn't think I'd ever out grow. I wanted to double major but I thought that would be too much as a freshman trying to get a hold on college life so I picked Music Ed. I was told by every music instructor that I had that I would be fantastic at it and I loved music and music theory, which is apparently odd but anyway. I never really thought that that was the thing for me but with so many people that I trusted telling me that it grows on you, I thought I'd try that.
I told my AP English teacher that I was going with Music Ed. and I swear it's like he knew what I would do before even I did. He made me promise to at least minor in English or Creative Writing because I was too good and talented not to. I assured him that I would.
Low and behold a year later I'd figured out that teaching music really wasn't for me, something I'd thought I could over come but I couldn't. I knew that I still wanted to play my instruments and I refused to go another year without my cello (my school doesn't have an Orchestra :() so I took up lessons and was happy again. I was a double major in music and English and I thought it was great.
The next semester my music teachers just kept getting under my skin and I found myself dreading going to every class. I hated the music we played in band, I despised sight-singing. Two days into classes and I realized I couldn't do it anymore. I loved my instruments more than anything, but I couldn't finish getting a degree in them, and we don't have a minor.
I filled out the paperwork and got the signatures and became an English major only. I called my mom up the moment I walked out of the building and it was quite possibly the happiest moment of my life. I was finally being true to myself and what I wanted to do and be. I was downright giddy. It took me a year and a half to listen to my heart and it was a time during which I was rarely happy. My friends were freaked out at how much different I was after turning in a piece of paper and declaring English as my only major. I am still excited about it.
Now, I'm doing everything I ever wanted to do. I'm playing both of my instruments, taking classes that get me excited just by thinking about them, I'm writing a book that has been in my head since the 8th grade, and most of all I'm being myself.
I know, I know, that's more than you ever wanted to know about me but I needed to share how I got here and why I'm doing what I do. I can't not play my horn and cello, or take English courses; I can't not write; and I will not go another day trying to be something and someone that isn't me.
How did you know you wanted to do whatever it is you do: write, teach, be a mom? Have you ever tried to be something you're not? How did it make you feel?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Work in Progress Wednesday
It's a week of firsts for me here on the blog. :) Yesterday was my first attempt at a decent summary for Teaser Tuesday and today, as you're all well aware, is WiP Wednesday.
This week, last night in particular was huge for me. My WiP, Rise of the Phoenix broke 40k! I started the summer with less than 20k and with less than a month to go before move-in day and the beginning of classes, I'm super excited at all the progress I've made.
Yesterday I wrote 2000 words, most after 9PM. I'm still trying not to do a happy dance. :P Especially considering the large amount of time and energy I put in to rearranging the living room. *sigh*
My goal is to get 50k or finish the 1st draft before Aug. 17th; I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Editing is fairly nonexistent right now, I'm focusing on getting the whole thing out before I rip it to shreds. So, naturally, I have a list of things that pop into my head that I need to fix or add or delete.
My friend Brooke is working on her own project and my super-excited Facebook status updates have been motivating her to write; she broke 11k last night! We keep cheering each other on, it's great to have writing friends!
What have you accomplished this week? Did you set any new goals this week?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Teaser Tuesday (?)
Also, this is my first attempt at a summary, so thoughts and opinions would be much appreciated. Even if you hate it. :)
Rise of the Phoenix - YA SciFi
Tom was on a family vacation when a bright flash of red light landed him on board a spaceship full of hideous creatures, lytuha, whose very presence causes him unbearable pain. In his attempt to escape, Tom wanders into a computer program of a marble city and meets Shiani, a beautiful humanoid with blue skin and golden brown eyes, whom Tom is immediately drawn to.
The truth of who, and what, he really is is revealed and Tom finds it difficult to accept the fact that he is an immortal fynx, more commonly known as a phoenix, something he thought was just a myth. Knowing the truth of his origins paves the way to rediscovering his past, and all the pain that goes with it.
On board The Phoenix, the ship named after his kind, Tom learns that there is more to life in space than humans had ever dreamed. In a universe where planets have hearts and myths are real, anything is possible.
When Shiani is stolen away by a violent and destructive race called the Jetan, Tom must learn to use his newly discovered abilities to save her. Should he fail, the Jetan will use Shiani, the heart of her homeplanet, to take over her world and consume every resource until it is an uninhabitable, desolate land.
But Shiani's world is not the only planet whose future rests in Tom's hands, with his friends at his side, Tom must return to an Earth in turmoil. This time saving the world won't be nearly as easy as fighting a war, Tom must face his own sister, who has been possessed by the heart of Earth herself, and stop her from anihalating the only planet he's ever known.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Procrastination, Progress, and Goals
So then the internet is calling me and it's like,
"Hey, you know you wanna blog. Do it. DO. IT." And I cave. The next hour or more (usually more) is spent reading every new post of every blog I follow. I think there's like fifty of them. No lie. And then if it's a weekend and no one is updating, I twitter and I facebook. But there isn't ever much going on on either of those networks and I rarely myspace. *sigh* So I return to staring at my WiP.
I know where it is and what needs to happen next and where it needs to go but for some reason I just can't write it. I try. It's crap. I don't try. I feel bad because I know I should be writing, that's the only way I'm ever going to get done. Grr. GRR.
So I decided to take a little break from trying to write on the WiP and revisited the flash fiction I wrote that one night I couldn't sleep. It was a 650 word scene. Now it's 2350. I think I can get back to the WiP now that I've been productive at something else.
Do you ever feel like you need to work on something else in order to get back to making progress on your WiP? I mean, I know everyone takes breaks were they just don't work on it, But do you ever just say "screw it" for a day or two and write something else? Is that why some of you have more than one WiP? Does splitting your focus help you out?
Since the 6th I've added about 10k, and I haven't touched it at all in a few days. I do believe it's time to get back to writing. School starts in less than a month, what d'you thinks a good goal to set? 50k before Aug. 19? I think I'll try.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Writing, Rambling, and A Good Book.
I read Scott Westerfeld's Uglies recently and although I liked it, I'm not really compelled to go out and find the next book in the series. It makes me a little sad, actually. The book was good, predictable, but good. I just didn't connect enough to the main character, Tally, to wonder what happened to her. Actually, I could probably figure it out for my self, which is probably why I don't really care if I ever read the rest of it. Sad. :(
I did, however, absolutely LOVE Graceling. It was fantastic and I really hope to see more of Katsa, Po, and Bitterblue. Kristin Cashore wrote a fantastic debut. I want to track her down and hug her. Or maybe I'll just go to her blog and tell her how AMAZING I think it was. *sigh* Really though, if you haven't read it yet you should. Go. Read it now. Hehe.
As for my own writing, I haven't touched the WiP in a few days. In fact I haven't written anything except for the random flash fiction in the middle of the night. I need to get back on it but I've had books to read :), and reading everyone else's blogs, and now trying to get ready for a weekend trip to see my grandpa and go dig for diamonds. I know, they're just excuses. Even now I could be writing or editing but I'm here writing a blog. So now that I've pointed that out, I guess I'll go be productive and actually do some writing.
What excuses do you have for not writing?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Writing in the AM
P.S. - I usually only write fantasy/sci-fi so this was pretty new to me and caught me off gaurd so I dunno how well it turned out...
MISTAKES
She sat on the edge of her four poster bed staring at the blank screen on her cell phone. He hadn’t called in over a month; she’d asked him not to, so that was a good thing. Right? A sign that he respected her wishes. Respected her.
Damn him.
Damn him for not calling. Damn him for caring. And damn her for missing him.
She was married now. She had a life. She was happy. Wasn’t she? Her husband was a great man, kind and understanding. Her son was the most adorable child she’d ever seen, and smarter than she could’ve ever hoped.
So what was the problem?
Tears welled in her eyes and her cell phone went blurry. She sniffled, trying to hold them back. She’d asked him to stop calling, and he had. And she hated him for it. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and scrolled through the phonebook on her cell. She stopped at his name. Should she call him? What would she say?
Her finger slipped, pressing the call button; she panicked. She hit the end call button a dozen times, tears running freely down her face. She hated him for doing this to her. For making her feel this way.
He was the one who left. Him. Not her. He was the one who abandoned her. And she’d moved on his absence, but things were never quite the same. She hadn’t been the same. Her smiles never reached the corners of her eyes, her laughs were never totally genuine, and she’d never looked at anyone the way she’d looked at him. Even after she’d met her husband, after they’d gotten married. It was only after her son was born that she’d started getting back to the way she’d been before. But everyone knew why, even if her husband had been too naïve to see it. They knew.
She jumped up off the bed and threw the phone at the wall; it shattered into a handful of pieces and fell scattered on the floor. She collapsed to the floor in a fit of fresh tears. She lay crumpled on the floor, sobs wracking her body.
The door closed downstairs, marking the return of her husband. She pulled herself into a standing position with the help of the bed and leaned against the post at the end near the window, her arm wrapped around it for support.
“Hello?” His voice rang through the house. She couldn’t bring herself to answer.
She stared out the thin curtain at the crisp, clean yards of her neighbors and she wished it hadn’t come to this. His footsteps made dull “thumps” as he climbed the carpeted stairs. The door creaked open and he stopped in the doorway, taking note of the scattered remains of her phone.
She felt his eyes on her back and she went stiff. She held her head up and her shoulders back to hide the tears flowing from the corners of her eyes. She let out a shaky breath.
“I see.” He said; his voice was hollow. “Is that it then? You’re just going to give up?”
What could she say? That she was sorry. That she should have never married him. That she was weak. No. She couldn’t, wouldn’t do that to him.
“You took a vow, Sara! And you’re just going to throw it away? That should mean something to you. Your family? What about Charlie? Huh? He’s my son too! Are you just going to throw away everything we had?” He was angry. He had every right to be, but he had a right to the truth. If she didn’t do it now, she’d never forgive herself.
“That’s just it, Paul, he’s not your son.” Sara croaked, fresh tears spilling down her splotchy cheeks. She turned around and locked her bloodshot eyes with his, “And I don’t think you ever had me.”
1 o'clock in the morning. Yay.
I got my laptop out and checked facebook and twitter before stopping on here to see if anyone had published a new post. They had. And I read them. And I was still wide awake. *sigh*
I'd been thinking earlier about taking a small break form the WiP to try writing a short story (something I've never really been good at), and a scene had popped into my head while I'd been trying to get to sleep ( don't you just LOVE it when that happens?). So, I opened a new Word document and tried to call it back.
It flowed out fairly quickly and with only a few pauses to stop and think over a detail. And half an hour later I'm updating my facebook status because I've just written a 600-word short story and am still wide awake.
May post the short story on here tomorrow, er- later today and see what you all think about it considering that it will more than likely get little to no editing and was written in the wee hours of the morning.
P.S. - I never say "wee" but it felt so right I couldn't resist. It always bring an image of a woman standing over a baby going "Aww! Look at its wee little toesies! Oh you're so cute! Yes, you are!" Yea... I don't need sleep at all. I think I might go give that another try here in a minute.
Goodnight All!
Monday, July 13, 2009
First 5 pages
So, today I finished re-writing my first chapter in 3rd person. It told me it wanted to be in 1st but I guess it lied because everything that was wrong seemed to start falling into place. Hmph. First chapter has grown about 6 pages - from 18 to having a line and a half (haha) on p.25 - and am now contemplating cutting in two because it's now the longest chapter at 6,300 words exactly. Should I? Or should I wait and see what happens? Yea, I should probably be wait. It's all going to have to be re-written in 3rd anyway....
Anyway, my point, or question rather, for today's post is on the first 5 pages of a MS. A lot of agents ask for the first 5 pages when querying and upon looking at mine I wondered if they really want the first 5 pages as is. My WiP is formatted with Chapter headings roughly a third of the way down the page and text starts another couple of lines down. So half of my first page is really blank.
My fifth page doesn't stop perfectly at the end of a paragraph, or even a sentence, so what do I do? Do I send the first five pages as-is? Do I send a rough 1500 words? Do they care if you really send 6 pages? Hmph.
Am I just over analyzing everything again? Right now, I've got a little less than 1500 words on 6 pages set aside - without skipping down a third of the page to put my chapter title - is that ok?
How are your projects coming along? Any questions driving you crazy today?
Friday, July 10, 2009
Word count.
Anyway, I'm sitting here working on my WiP, again, and I keep thinking about word count. Again. I keep reading that you should do the 25o words per page thing but that tells you that you've got more words than you really do, because you never fill every single line of every single page. So why do agents like to have the inflated word count? It's silly and I've read it a dozen times but for some reason it still just bugs me.
If I use the word count in Microsoft Word it gives me 31,350-ish but if I do the multiplying using the 250 words per page I get 34,250. That's a big difference. Do agents just not care? Are they really just wanting to know how many pages you've got?
Am I thinking about this way too much? Ok, ok, stop nodding your heads at me. I know, I know. Word count isn't a huge deal, it's the story that matters. I'm just curious about these things.
Do you have a gap between the word count in Word and the 250 rule?
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Books, blogs, and ...boxes? Oh my!
It's Wednesday, I bet you didn't know that! Just kidding... Anyways I found Lisa Dale's blog this morning and thought I'd share it with you all. She had a fun little French food idioms quiz I thought I'd pass on - take some time out and go check out her site. She seems pretty down to Earth and I can't wait to read her books, I really need to stop writing and read some more soon....
Speaking of reading, the last book I got read was Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox. It was fantastic, I loved it and I can't wait to get my hands on the second one, Dreamquake! :D So many books to read... *sigh* don't you just love being nerdy? Haha.
I've realized that I want to try and intern at a literary agency or something after I graduate, that way no matter what happens with my writing career, I'll still be around books. :)
So, I went to sleep last night having hit 121 pages on my manuscript, I'm up to 27,400 words. It makes me feel fantastic, even though some of my writing yesterday was complete poop. :( But hey, it happens, you just have to keep on writing and go back and fix the bad stuff later.
Now, since I put boxes in my title I guess I'll talk about something to with a box.... Oh! I need one, haha. I knitted a baby blanket and a bunny blanket/toy for my cousin who is expecting her second child, a baby girl named Lilly, soon. I also crocheted a giraffe for her son Jonah so he wouldn't feel left out. I'm quite proud of the blanket and the giraffe, but the bunny blanket didn't turn out the way it should have, oh well. Oh, and surprise! I knit and crochet, well attempt to crochet most of the time haha. I know, I know, you're thinking 'Man, that girl does everything!' but really, I don't. I just like to try new things sometimes, and knitting is very relaxing - until you screw up your project....
Alright, well now that you're done here, go check out Lisa Dale's blog or any of the ones I'm subscribed to, they're all pretty amazing and rather informative for newbie authors like me. :P Or you could always go read a book! I hear they're lots of fun.
Well, it's back to writing for me. Later 'gators.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Random?
My book is coming along a little slower than I'd like right now but a lot faster than I thought it would at the beginning of the summer. I came home from school with around 45 pages; I'm starting this morning with 111. Like I said, it's coming along. :) I'm hoping I can get a lot done over break since I'm thinking I won't have much time once the next semester starts- I'll be taking 21 hrs and hopefully be working a few at the library too.
My goal is to have this thing done and ready to start querying by graduation in 2011. My dream, however, is to be done and querying by senior year and going through the publishing process by graduation. In reality, who knows what will happen between now and May, 2011 haha.
Well, I'm going to go write so that I'll be one step closer to my goal and my dream.
TTFN- that's Ta Ta For Now for those of you not raised on Tigger and Winnie the Pooh- you poor souls....
Amanda
Monday, July 6, 2009
I need a break from writing
I've spent this wonderful afternoon reading some fantastic blogs on publishing and queries, listening to The Fellowship of the Ring playing in the background, and writing some on what will hopefully be a totally awesome breakout novel for me.
Unfortunately, my head is starting to hurt because I've been staring at a computer screen for about 5 hours now and I'm really just not used to that. =/ So, anyway, I've been working on this manuscript which this morning before I started was sitting on 22,600+ words on 100 pages and has since grown to 24,300+ ad 108 pages. Which brings me to wordcount/number of pages.
If you format your manuscript the way everyone says, then the 250 w/p doesn't really work because every time you start a new chapter, you're losing half a page to blank space. According to the 250 w/p rule, I should be sitting at 27K. That's a little over 2500 words that I don't have, 2500 words that I should have but don't. HMPH.
Why do I care that it's 2500 words off? Because when you query an agent you send in a lovely word count , and while it's just supposed to be a rough idea of how long your manuscript is, 2500 is a lot of words....
Honestly, I don't really know why I'm dedicating an entire blog post to this. I think my head's just a little too full right now to argue this out to a rational conclusion, that and I really needed something else to do and this was at the front of my mind. :)
Any thoughts on word count? Is your 250 words-per-page off a little?
And on an unrelated note, cats or dogs? Are you really a one animal only type of person? O.o
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
YA or adult?
So, I took a YA Lit. class last semester and one of the major points of discussion was that the author doesn't necessarily get to choose what their book is published as. There have been many books over the years that were written for adults but published as young adult and vice versa. There have been books written and published as adult but were extremely popular with kids and teenagers, so my question is: when you're submitting a query to an agent and your book could be YA or adult, what do you do?
The agent may take queries for YA but not for the genre if it could be an adult book, what happens if you think it's YA and the agent thinks it's adult SciFi? I'm sure somebody's had this problem, I mean, does the agent just send a rejection and get annoyed that you sent them something they aren't interested in when you thought it was something they'd like?
Hmph. Just wondering what everyone thinks, not that anyone's there yet....
Goodmorning Starshine, the Earth says hello!! or something like that.... =/
So, this is my first blog. I've never known what to do with one so I never bothered... wait, does Xanga count? I dunno, but I'm sure I didn't do that right either haha. Anyway, new blogger, that was the point....
I don't know what to with one of these but I'm sure I'll figure something out. What do you guys do with yours? Did you just create one to follow somebody else's? That's what I did and then I figured hey, if I've got one, I might as well make use of it!
Alright, it's the Fourth of July weekend! Woot! Everybody make sure to wear your sunblock, eat lots of food, and have a ton of fun!! After all, it's a celebration, is it not? I'll be in Jonesboro, AR visiting my brother who happens to be a tattoo artist. I know, it's pretty awesome. It actually makes me feel sorry for my mom, she spawned two creative children and raised them alone. My brother was determined and very artistic and now has a fiance, 3 dogs, and a career inking people - myself and my mom included lol.
Me on the other hand, I'm a student and a writer and a musician. Some days I think I'm screwed. I mean, I write fanfics most of the time, or at least I used to, now I'm trying to focus on my book. That's my dream, to be a published author and play my horn or cello - or both- in a soundtrack orchestra for some amazing movie. *Sigh* dreams.... Without them, what are we?
Well, I think that's enough for today. I should get back to my Facebook now haha. Have a great rest of the week and a fantastic holiday!! :D
Amanda
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