Silver Lining

2012: Year of the Dragon

2012-01-22T18:58:00.024-05:00

I'm currently knee-deep in writing, but tomorrow is the first day of the Chinese New Year and I wanted to celebrate with a quick post!

2012 is the Year of the Dragon, and as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I'm working on a new story that features these beautiful, legendary creatures. Like PPP, it will be a fairy tale retelling, only much darker, much longer, and set in a high-fantasy world with Asian influences.

I'm very proud to have such a rich culture and heritage from which to draw inspiration. One of my favorite parts of writing a story is doing the research for it, and so far, I've pulled up some great information about Chinese dragons.

So if you're getting tired of reading epic fantasies about tall, golden-haired, violet-eyed heroes/heroines slashing at European dragons with swords (and while we're on this subject, why are fantasy heroes/heroines always tall? Do you have to be a certain height to wield a sword?), why not learn a little bit more (and maybe try writing!) about Asian dragons?

Image Source: Here

Unlike their European counterparts, Asian dragons symbolize wisdom and good luck. They are honored and worshipped, not feared and hated.

In fact, when I mentioned to my mom that I was thinking of writing about them, she told me that the dragon is the symbol of the emperor. "Only he gets to wear them on his clothes. Make sure you put that in your book," she advised.

Legend has it that the first emperors of China were dragons themselves.

Image Source: Here

Like European dragons, they can fly - but they don't need wings to do it.

Instead of breathing fire, they are guardians of air and water. They have the power to control the rain, rivers, lakes, and seas. When they get angry, they can cause severe droughts or torrential floods ... which is why it's generally a good idea to show them respect.

Image Source: Here

Dragons appear in almost every form of Chinese art. They're carved into instruments, molded into sculptures, drawn on thrones, and painted on scrolls.

The number nine is associated with Chinese dragons. Only the emperor and people of the highest rank were allowed to wear robes with nine dragons.

Image Source: Here

Check the chart below to see if you were born in the Year of the Dragon!

16 February 1904 – 3 February 1905: Wood Dragon
3 February 1916 – 22 January 1917: Fire Dragon
23 January 1928 – 9 February 1929: Earth Dragon
8 February 1940 – 26 January 1941: Metal Dragon
27 January 1952 – 13 February 1953: Water Dragon
13 February 1964 – 1 February 1965: Wood Dragon
31 January 1976 – 17 February 1977: Fire Dragon
17 February 1988 – 5 February 1989: Earth Dragon
5 February 2000 – 23 January 2001: Metal Dragon
23 January 2012 – 9 February 2013: Water Dragon
10 February 2024 – 28 January 2025: Wood Dragon

Some characteristics that dragon people are said to have include: self-confidence, courage, passion, innovation, and a quick temper.

If you're interested in reading more about these magnificent creatures, check out this site or this site (warning on the second one: great information, cheesy background music).

Happy Chinese New Year! Celebrate with a dumpling or two!

Giveaway Winners and Pretty Pictures

2012-01-15T13:06:00.029-05:00

Image source here

Congratulations to the four winners of my 400 Awesome People Giveaway! *throws confetti*

I'll be contacting all of you shortly via email so you can choose your prizes! As soon as that's taken care of, I'll mail your books and Harry Potter keychains to an address of your choice! (Trust me, you will love the souvenirs. I could spend a whole day at Filch's Emporium picking them out - so many good ones to choose from!)

Anyway, January has been a great month so far.

Writing-wise, I found a new name for my land in PPP. It was originally called the Seven Kingdoms. I always suspected that this would just be a temporary name, but I still got attached. It was sad when I found out it had been used before - by no less an author than Mr. George R. R. Martin! - but I'm liking the new name quite a lot.

So, without further ado... welcome to the land of Finale! Where it's all about happily ever after - no matter what it takes to get there.

My main character, Noelle, comes from a rural kingdom to the South. It's the breadbasket of Finale, with lots of rolling countryside, farmland, and green pastures.

Image source here

Near the beginning of the story, she gets to visit the capital kingdom, which is in the very center of Finale. It's as close to a metropolis as you can get - except there are carriages instead of taxis, cobblestone streets instead of concrete pavement, and a castle on the horizon instead of skyscrapers.

Image source here

Meanwhile, her best friend Geoff is off at knight school in a mountainous kingdom to the North. The peaks are treacherous, and they're filled with hidden goblin lairs and dragon's nests, but... where better to train?

Image source here

Then there's the prosperous sea kingdom to the West, where the richest folks in Finale - including Noelle's archenemy, who's a real estate heiress - spend their summers.

Image source here

And to the East, there's nothing but forest that goes on for days and days. It's easy to get lost in there if you don't have your bearings, and you really don't want to end up in some witch's bramble trap.

Image source here

Despite the often-challenging revision process, this story's been a real joy to imagine and write. I laughed a lot while working on it, especially whenever Noelle's ornery sidekicks - a sarcastic frog named Alfonso and a yogurt-addicted cat named Muffet - came onto the scene.

I hope that somewhere out there, someone will love it and laugh at it as much as I do! Only one way to find out, right? :)

What about you? Does your story take place in an imaginary world? Any photos that represent your vision of it? Feel free to share!

The Adventure Lives On

2012-01-06T15:33:00.023-05:00

Sign near the entrance to Islands of Adventure.
(*All photos in this post were taken by me/family.*)

Happy New Year, everyone!

Just got back from my vacation this morning! Is it possible to feel exhausted and refreshed at the same time? Because that's kind of what it feels like right now. I enjoy flying, but all the taxi-hailing, luggage-checking, boarding pass-printing, security-navigating, and connecting flight-catching can get pret-ty tiresome.

BUT, I think all of that is worth it because I had a fantastic time at Disney World and Orlando Studios with my family. We have a lot of milestones to celebrate this year - graduations, new jobs, and big birthdays - and so we welcomed 2012 in style in the happiest place on Earth.

I got to go on my favorite rides and see my favorite shows in the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. They never get old, no matter how many times I go.

I also spent a whole day at the Islands of Adventure, where I got to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter up close and personal.

View of Hogwarts Castle from Hogsmeade.

This place still gets extremely crowded, so just be prepared if you're planning a trip in the near future. Expect to wait in line for hours to get on one of the three rides, and expect to jostle and be jostled in order to see anything in the tiny, tiny shops.

My acceptance letter never came when I was 11. Oh well, might as well take a picture with the train.

I had fun, but frankly, I'm a bit disappointed by how Universal Studios built this place and I think there can be MANY improvements. Like, for instance, creating a walking tour of Hogwarts Castle that doesn't force people to stand in a three-hour line for a ride they may not even want to go on.

Zonko's Joke Shop. SUPER tiny.

Honeydukes Sweet Shop. My $10 chocolate frog does not move. I'm thinking of filing a complaint.

Also, I never thought I'd say this, but I froze my butt off in Florida. It was COLD. So cold that the shorts and flip-flops I packed never made it out of the suitcase (although the sunglasses and sunscreen did), and I had to wear six layers of clothing on the night that we stayed out late to see Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios. (By the way - best. Show. Ever. Please do not miss it if you plan on visiting Disney World.)

What with the freeze warnings and the windchill, it felt like being at home... except way more fun. I'll try my best to post more pictures on Facebook eventually!

Anyway, hope you're having a great start to 2012 so far. It's the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese calendar. Chinese dragons figure heavily in my new story because I think the lore behind these creatures is every bit as amazing and deserving of being in an epic fantasy novel as European dragons. I'll be sharing more about this soon!

P.S. Sunday, January 8 is the last day to enter for a chance to win books and Harry Potter World goodies in my 400 Followers Giveaway. Click HERE for details!

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-21T08:00:00.006-05:00

Our Christmas tree!

I'm off on a blogging break for the next two weeks!

Here are some of the things I'm planning to do:

Work on a new story!

Finish reading: Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran, The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman, and The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan.

Eat my weight in food.

Watch my two favorite versions of A Christmas Carol, here and here.

Drink copious amounts of butterbeer here.

Ride this, this, and this at Disney World. And go see this and this.

I'll leave you with two clips from the Nutcracker, which I've been writing to ever since I went to see it last week. I'm not too crazy about ballet, but I love this gorgeous music. Plus, it's a nice break from all the Christmas stuff that's been playing since Halloween!

I wish you all a bright, happy holiday season and I will see you back here in 2012. ♥

(Don't forget to sign up for my 400 Awesome People Giveaway if you haven't already!)

The 400 Awesome People Blog Giveaway

2011-12-19T08:00:00.016-05:00

When I first started Silver Lining three years ago, I did so for the following reasons:

Have a place to vent whenever I hit a writing snag.

Get feedback and figure out whether I have what it takes.

Make friends with other writers with similar goals.

Learn more about the publishing process.

Over the past three years, all of those things happened. And what's more, I found 400 Awesome People who came to visit my blog and (I hope!) want to stay. So thank you from the bottom of my heart, particularly those of you who come back again and again and leave encouraging comments.

In order to show my appreciation, I'm having a blog giveaway! The only requirements for eligibility are:

Be a follower. (Residents of U.S. and Canada only for shipping purposes, please!)

Comment on this post with your email address by Sunday, January 8, 2012.

Post about the giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog/website. Let me know in your comment and you'll be entered twice!

Here are the prizes:

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen (hardcover). Gossip Girl meets 19th-century Manhattan in this YA novel about intrigue and glamor in the Gilded Age. [Goodreads Link]

- ♥ -

Kindred by Octavia Butler (paperback). A modern black woman time travels back to the antebellum South, where she struggles to ensure her own future existence. [Goodreads Link]

- ♥ -

Peony in Love by Lisa See (paperback). In 17th-century China, pampered Peony falls for a man she can never have - except in death. [Goodreads Link]

- ♥ -

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (paperback). On vacation in Scotland, Claire inadvertently travels back 200 years, where she must choose between her husband and a hunky warrior. [Goodreads Link]

- ♥ -

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (paperback). A lonely millionaire with ulterior motives puts out an ad for a reliable wife ... only to discover that the woman who replies has plans of her own. [Goodreads Link]

- ♥ -

The Notebook and The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks (2 paperbacks, counts as 1 prize). Two stories about love that transcends social class and the fading years of marriage. [Goodreads Links HERE and HERE.]

Since, this is to celebrate my four hundred followers, there will be FOUR winners!

I'll assign a number to each person who comments and use random.org to help me pick the winning numbers. Lowest number chooses a prize first. Easy peasy, right?

Optional: Each winner will also receive a little goodie from Harry Potter World, but only if they want one. These will be surprises - because even I don't know what they'll be yet - but I promise they'll be fun!

Good luck!

Deja Vu Blogfest

2011-12-16T07:00:00.003-05:00

Today, I'm participating in the Deja Vu Blogfest (details here) and I've chosen to re-post an entry from December 2009. Thanks for reading, and please check out other participants' entries when you get a chance!

(Side Note: Just realized that I even used the words "deja vu" in my entry! How fortuitous!)

♥ ♥ ♥

Image Source: Here

I was seven years old when I received my first marriage proposal. We were living in upstate New York at the time, in a house on the corner of a quiet street surrounded by lilac bushes and Japanese maple trees. Our backyard stretched out to an oak grove in a tangle of wildflowers, sweeping up a slight hill on which our next-door neighbors lived. They were a young couple with a son my age named Kyle. He owned a shiny, battery-powered Kawasaki two-seater in cherry red and one day he sped down the hill into my backyard. I was sitting on the raised deck my dad had built to accommodate his giant barbecue grill, wearing a rhinestone tiara and my mom's silk scarf. When I looked down, there he was staring back up at me with a charming gap-toothed grin.

He gave me a friendly wave. "Want a ride?"

"Okay," I said, even though I didn't think we had anything in common. He was the kind of boy who dug up worms and climbed trees to see how far he could fall, and I was spoiled and prissy and liked to keep my dress clean.

I descended from my wooden, umbrella-tabled tower and climbed into my new prince's steed of choice.

"Hold on tight," he advised, and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. We must have been going about ten miles an hour - if that - but it seemed like the fastest, wildest ride of my life.

That summer we were inseparable, spending every minute of playtime our moms allowed us with each other. I came home with filthy hands, grass-stained skirts, and an acquired appreciation for bugs and dirt and other things I would have once called yucky. I like to think that he had an acquired appreciation for books after he met me ... or at least, he didn't hate them as intensely. We never kissed because kissing meant cooties, but sometimes he held my hand on the swingset.

Like most summer romances, ours came to an end.

On my birthday in September, my parents announced that we were moving. My dad's company was transferring him to a different branch and Kyle and I would be separated forever.

After school I ran over to tell him the sad news. We sat together on the swings, brown hair and black pigtails close together, thinking hard.

"We could run away," he suggested.

"What would we eat?" I asked doubtfully.

Kyle thought for a moment. "Dunkaroos. I know where my mom keeps them."

"We'd get sick of them really fast," I pointed out.

"Okay. How about you marry me?"

I made a face. "Gross, I can't marry you! You're my neighbor."

He didn't seem put off in the least. "What's wrong with that? My mom married my dad and they were neighbors." He picked up a blade of grass and chewed it like gum. "We could live in my treehouse."

I was sold. Kyle had the most amazing treehouse complete with windows and furniture. So I agreed to marry him and we made rings out of the dark green twisty ties from the supermarket. Unfortunately time ran out before we could hold an official ceremony. The moving van came and my family left our house and our neighbors behind for the chilly New England fall.

Flash forward seventeen years. I'm chatting on the phone with my friend Callie and somehow we get onto the topic of the first boyfriends we can remember. Kyle hadn't crossed my mind until this conversation. When I hung up, I decided to see if he was on Facebook out of curiosity. And there he was, a much taller, broad-shouldered version of the boy I remember, with the same charming smile sans missing teeth.

You know how sometimes you look at a person or a photograph of a person you knew when they were little, and you can still see them as a child? That same sense of deja vu hit me and I just had to laugh. He had changed, yet he was exactly the same - and I know he'd say the same thing about me.

I think writing is a lot like that. We change and we grow (and hopefully improve) but there's always a little something that reminds us of the way we once were. Can you see bits of your old self as a writer in your work? I definitely can. Sometimes all it takes is a sentence to trigger my memory, and I'll smile and feel nostalgic for rhinestone tiaras and the smell of freshly mown grass.

A Little Night Music #20: Pan's Labyrinth

2011-12-12T16:21:00.005-05:00

I fell in love with Guillermo del Toro's haunting dark fairy tale, "Pan's Labyrinth," the first time I saw it.

The score, written by Spanish composer Javier Navarrete, received a well-deserved Oscar nomination. I have a feeling I'll be listening to this soundtrack very often when I work on my next YA project, which will have a much darker feel than PPP.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Post-Turkey Update

2011-12-07T14:53:00.001-05:00

I'm back from Thanksgiving break, and I've got some great news: revisions on PPP are FINALLY done! It was a close call, though. I must have been half-asleep when I was packing to go home, because I lovingly placed my iMac and all of its assorted necessities into a box in the trunk of my car ... and like a total idiot, forgot the power cord!

Of course, I didn't realize this until I had arrived at my destination three hours later. Cue the frantic phone calls to Best Buy and Apple to see whether they sold the power cord alone and could expedite it to me (they do NOT, by the way) and the melodramatic rantings about how I had been so excited to work and now could not, since I'm spoiled and don't like writing on the PCs I had access to.

Long story short, I revised the old-school way: longhand, with a pen and paper. A week later, after driving back (and being reunited with my power cord), I spent the remaining two days madly typing up all of my revisions and... BAM! Done at last!

Next step: rest the WIP for a week or two, add a lil' polish, and send it off to my critique partners. Hear their thoughts; revise some more.

Next next step: Write a real, live query letter (eeeeeee!).

Next next next step: Open an account on Publishers Marketplace and start making an agents-to-query list (double eeeeeee!).

Starting on the 17th, I will have a three-week vacation before I start my new job, both of which I am very excited about. Plenty of time to get PPP squared away so I can finally start querying.

I'll also be traveling for five days, one of which will be devoted to Harry Potter World, and I am out-of-my-mind pumped for it. I'm planning on picking up souvenirs and doing a blog giveaway upon my return, so keep your eyes peeled!

Aside from all that, I'm just going to thoroughly enjoy the holiday season. It's my favorite time of year: wrapping presents, baking cookies, quoting lines from "Elf" until people's ears bleed, attending Christmas shindigs, and going to the ballet to see The Nutcracker. Yay!

I probably won't be blogging all that much (except for this Dec. 16 blogfest that I will participate in), but I should be around, catching up on other people's blogs. Hope you're all having a happy, productive December, too!

Dao Unplugged

2011-11-18T09:00:00.004-05:00

Nope, I'm not giving a concert. I'm just removing myself from the internet for a little while to wrap up revisions on PPP. That's right, wrap up.

Things just really clicked this week (love it when that happens!) and I'm so excited about the way the manuscript's turning out. I know where I have to go and I'll be working to get there over the long break.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'll see you back here in December.

Dao out!

Why WIPs Are Like Marriages

2011-11-16T08:48:00.012-05:00

Revisions are currently kicking my butt. I'm a perfectionist, so I both love and loathe editing - love, because my work gets better with every round, and loathe, because it takes me so many rounds before I'm happy with a change.

It occurred to me that the honeymoon phase is over for me and my WIP. We are now thoroughly married. Here's a few reasons why.

The romance is gone. I don't open the document with stars in my eyes anymore. I still have strong feelings for it, but my dreamy "oh-my-god-I'm-obsessed-with-you-you-are-amazing" phase has turned into the "are-you-going-to-work-with-me-today-or-am-I-going-to-have-to-apply-force?" phase.

The smooth sailing ends. My WIP doesn't tell me I'm pretty anymore. It just sits there, watching football and drinking beer. After the rough draft is written, the relationship isn't easy any longer. You have to smooth ragged edges and connect loose dots.

You feel like you're doing all the work. Remember when your characters unfolded and your plot flowed without you seemingly having to lift a finger? Suddenly, that changes. You need to make major alterations for consistency. You might have to (gasp) get rid of secondary/tertiary characters or even whole chapters. And the whole time, your WIP's just sitting there, not helping. Would it kill it to take the trash out once in a while!?

You forgot your anniversary!

But sometimes, when things click, there's a glimmer of what used to be there. The excitement, the thrill of novelty. And that's when you realize that the rollercoaster has become unadulterated, resigned, inexplicable, uncompromising love.

What about you? How's your "marriage" going? (And are you trying to keep your eyes from straying to new story ideas like mine are?)

P.S. I will be participating in this blogfest on December 16th! The theme is to recycle an old blog post of yours that you love or that didn't get as many reads as you'd like. Check out DL Hammons's blog for more details and the sign-up sheet.

Now I just have to decide what to re-post!

Go Ninja Go Ninja Go!

2011-11-14T12:23:00.037-05:00

One of my friends celebrated her birthday this weekend at a pub that's known for its 90s dance parties. I'm convinced that that is the secret to the ideal after-work Friday: good friends, good food, cheap beer, and Britney circa 1998. Our group was the biggest on the dance floor and everyone, guys and girls alike, had a great time. No one judges you for dancing like an idiot to Vanilla Ice when everyone else is doing the same thing.

I bring this up not just to brag that I performed the puppet dance from NSync's "Bye, Bye, Bye" video on the dance floor (it was epic, by the way), but to talk about nostalgia and how we get attached to familiar things - places, movies, songs - from our childhood.

Most 90s pop might not be groundbreaking, nor does it have very well thought out lyrics, but my friends and I grew up with this stuff and watched all the videos on TRL after school.

Nostalgia also applies to books. I see so many great middle-grade recommendations on the blogosphere, but mostly they just make me want to revisit the stories I read as a kid: The Phantom Tollbooth, anything by Roald Dahl, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, A Wrinkle in Time, Julie of the Wolves, Charlotte's Web, Bridge to Terabithia, the original Nancy Drew hardcovers.

So it's really a treat to see some of these classics come back to life. Here's one that I was obsessed with: The Adventures of Tin-Tin and Snowy, by Belgian artist Hergé. I used to watch it religiously when it was a show on Nickelodeon.

Apparently it's coming to the big screen this December, courtesy of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson:

What books are you nostalgic for? If you've re-read them recently, what do you think of them now?

Aaand, just for fun, here's a sample of the music I heard on 90s night for those of you who remember it as fondly as I do. Enjoy!

Jessica Bell Debuts Novel "String Bridge"

2011-11-11T08:00:00.007-05:00

Happy 11/11/11!

Today, my friend Jessica Bell - who blogs at Alliterative Allomorph - is celebrating the debut of her book String Bridge, about an Australian musician facing obstacles in her path back to the limelight. Check out the announcement below for more information!

♥ ♥ ♥

Today is THE day to help Jessica Bell's debut, STRING BRIDGE, hit the bestseller list on Amazon, and receive the all-original soundtrack, Melody Hill: On the Other Side, written and performed by the author herself, for free!

All you have to do is purchase the book today (paperback, or eBook), November 11th, and then email the receipt to:

jessica.carmen.bell(at)gmail(dot)com

She will then email you a link to download the album at no extra cost!

To purchase the paperback:

Amazon USA

To purchase the eBook:

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

To listen to samples of the soundtrack, visit iTunes.

Connect with Jessica:
String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell
Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/
Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell
Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com

ZOMBIES!!!

2011-11-09T09:30:00.001-05:00

Photo Source: Here

Something felt very wrong about the woods we had just entered. Broad daylight, and not a single bird or squirrel - in fact, no sign of life at all.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" someone quavered.

"This is where the map told us to go," another person said.

I looked around at the group, a cluster of two dozen tired souls in sneakers and running shorts, all of us splattered with mud. We looked pathetic. I'm not saying that you have to face a zombie apocalypse in blown-out hair and full makeup in order to be prepared, but man.

"We have to go through that cabin." A man next to me wiped his dirty hands on his t-shirt, which spelled out EAT JIM, NOT ME above an arrow pointing to the left. "There's barbed wire on both sides. We can't go around it."

His friend - Jim, presumably - looked both ways, as though we were doing nothing more than crossing a busy intersection. "It's too quiet here, guys. Stick together."

"Stop trying to be the leader," a big blond woman told him, sauntering forward with bravado. "You know they always lose their brains first."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than a low growl emerged from the twisting trees to our right. A pack of five zombies, drenched in blood, lurched toward us. Their eyes rolled, their mouths gaped, and from their pockets flapped a handful of scarlet tags, indicating that we were not their first victims.

"Run! Run, you idiots!" screamed the man with the EAT JIM t-shirt.

I scrambled ahead with the rest of the pack, all too conscious of my own tags fluttering around my running shorts. I was too vulnerable - we all were. All a zombie had to do was grab one, and...

A scuffle to my right. One of the zombies, a young guy with a mohawk and an array of facial piercings, grabbed at the person next to me and missed. He turned his attention to me. Determination born of hunger flared in his eyes as he snatched at my tags.

I hauled back, preparing to aim a right hook alongside his jaw.

"No!" the zombie said, flinching. "You can't touch me, you'll get disqualified from the race!"

Crap.

* * *

I'm thinking about doing something crazy next year, and that is participating in this race: Run For Your Lives 5K.

It's a race-slash-obstacle-course where the object is to get to the finish line with all of your red health tags still attached to your body. The catch? People will be dressed up as zombies and they will chase you and try to steal your tags while you're running through.

Why do I say that this is crazy?

I haven't run a 5K since high school. True, that's only about 3 miles, which I walk on a daily basis now that I live in the city, but I haven't gone that distance competitively since I was like, 15.

I'm a big scaredy-cat. Yeah, I know that the zombies aren't real, but STILL...

I fight when frightened. If you try to sneak up on me, I'll probably end up punching you. Fair warning. This might not be so convenient during the race, since we and the zombies aren't supposed to touch each other. I'll have to try not to get thrown out for kicking one in the face...

No one will do this with me. I've gotten only about 3 friends to agree to run this with me and let's face it, I need like, 15. Everyone else has been throwing down excuses like "I have bad knees" and "I might be on vacation then" and "Sorry, I don't run." See, the strategy here is to have a big group of people. While the zombies are distracted and try to eat your friends, you can easily run around them.

BUT, that being said, I think it might be pretty fun.

It might even inspire me to write a zombie story (and I would definitely do a blog novelization of everything that happened for your reading pleasure). After all, zombies are the new vampires. This might be my chance to create a swoonworthy undead hero to rival Edward Cullen.

What do you think? Should I do the race?

Me Me Me

2011-11-07T13:17:00.010-05:00

I can't remember who tagged me for this meme (I'm sorry!), but I think these are a fun, quick way to take a break from writing/revising/procrastinating from writing and revising.

However, before I answer the questions, I have a PPP update!

This weekend, in spite of gallivanting off to eat dim sum, attend two birthday parties, ~~drool over the hotness of~~ appreciate the acting talents of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50, bake brownies for my co-workers, and give my car a much-needed fall cleaning, I managed to write 6,000 new words!

I'm really excited about the progress I've made, slow as it has been, and I hope to make much more by year's end.

And now, on to the questions!

If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?
Summer '05, when my family went to Europe. It was our last trip all together as a family. If I had known that at the time, I would have appreciated every moment more!

If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?
I would have had waaay more fun in college. All I did was study and be boring, and I never got to enjoy it the way other people do!

What movie/TV character do you most resemble in personality?
Probably Peggy Olson from Mad Men. She might seem meek at first, but underneath, she's got drive, spunk, and ambition that comes out when the time's right!

If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would it be?
I would never push anyone off a cliff! Off a pool diving board when they weren't looking, maybe.

Name one habit you want to change in yourself.
I'm too demanding of myself and of others. Learning to be more laidback would be a plus!

Describe yourself in one word.
Optimistic.

Describe the person who named you in this meme in one word.
How about "mysterious," since I can't even remember who I got it from...

Why do you blog? Answer in one sentence.
I want to share my passion with the world!

If you're reading this post, you're tagged, so feel free to take a break and answer these questions on your own blog!

Happy Monday!

Revisions? Rewriting? BRING. IT. ON.

2011-11-02T14:58:00.017-04:00

I cycle through these periods where one month, I'm writing maniacally, churning out 10,000 words every week, and then the next month, I can barely even stand the sight of my WIP. The same goes for revisions. When I'm up, I'm up and I might edit 10 chapters in one sitting, but when I'm going through one of my bad spells, I can't even force myself to get through a few pages.

Sadly enough, the most recent bad spell has been dragging on for two months. I am completely ashamed of myself for slogging through at such a slow pace. Instead of focusing on PPP, I've been lazy, lethargic. I've been wasting time on unproductive things and on people who, it turns out, couldn't even care less about me.

I've been so inspired by all of you doing NaNoWriMo that I am officially getting back on track this weekend. I'm going to sit down with my WIP and re-read the entire thing, marking it up as I go. I've already highlighted several passages/story arcs that need to be completely rewritten, but my zeal is back and I'm not fazed by how much work it might turn out to be.

2011 is drawing to a close and I need to get this done now, while my motivation has made a comeback. I'll report back on my progress!

Coldplay is dominating my writing/revising playlist of late. I love this new song and the video is chock-full of awesome. Check it out and good luck with your projects! Onward!

Listen on Youtube

50,000 Words? PFFFFT!!!

2011-10-29T09:00:00.004-04:00

Photo from Jupiter Stock Images

I used to be able to call myself a long-distance runner. I sucked more than anyone else on the cross-country team, but in gym class, I was a god, a seven-minute-mile wonder woman. For the first time in my athletically challenged life, I could do something physically strenuous for hours without getting tired.

And then there came college, and with it the infamous Freshman 15. I was never quite the same after that, especially since I lived above a dining hall my sophomore year. All I had to do was put on slippers and pajama pants, and burgers and macaroni-and-cheese and cannoli were just a flight of stairs away.

Four years after graduation, I'm still working on getting back into shape. I recently signed up for an expensive gym to help motivate myself, and so far, it's been working. Every week, I run a little faster. I run a little longer. If I'm on the elliptical, I crank up the resistance level a little more.

I'm not going to lie - exercising is damn hard. Most days, my attitude is: "Why am I sweating and smelling bad when I could be on the couch, eating candy and watching Vampire Diaries?"

But then there are the good days, the days when I'm feeling great and the right song comes up on my iPod and I'm pumped to be running four, five, six miles.

Let me tell you something - running and writing are the exact same thing.

You might ask an athlete: "Why are you running a marathon?"

And then they might turn around and ask you: "Why are you doing NaNoWriMo?"

And that's when you say: "Because I'm a bad ass. That's why."

And it would totally be true, because you know what? Not everyone can write 50,000 words in one month. FIFTY THOUSAND WORDS. That's crazy, y'all. And that's on top of real life.

When it boils down to it, I think participating in NaNoWriMo is just as insane as running 26 miles in one go. Which is why, if you're taking part this November, you need to stand up right now and pat yourself on the back. You are a truly awesome individual.

I wish I were doing it again this year, but I'm currently stuck on the Cliffs of Insanity, revising PPP.

Good luck on Tuesday... I'll be rooting you guys on from the sidelines! If revisions go well, I might join you for the second half of November and see if I can't write my children's book then.

So, how have you prepared for this year's writing marathon?

A Little Night Music #19: Edward Scissorhands

2011-10-27T13:05:00.011-04:00

I just realized that I haven't posted any new writing music for a couple of months now!

The soundtrack to Edward Scissorhands recently came up on my iTunes shuffle, which I think is totally appropriate for Halloween. I love this movie and I think Danny Elfman's score is perfect for it - just the right blend of haunting, lovely, and mysterious. A lot of the tracks are set in 3/4 time, making for some eerie waltzes that feature music box-like sounds. Creepy and beautiful at the same time!

Enjoy and happy writing!

Listen on Youtube

Listen on Youtube

Halloweentime is Here

2011-10-19T10:48:00.044-04:00

Photo Source: Here

It's that time of year again! There's a chill in the air, the leaves start changing colors, people discuss costumes and apple-picking, and scaredy-cats like me do stupid things like read horror novels at bedtime to get into the spirit of the season. Just for fun, I asked some of my coworkers what they thought was the scariest book they had ever read, and the answer was unanimous: anything by Stephen King.

After all, this guy has written about killer clowns, murderous corn-worshippers, freaky little kids, and possessed vehicles. He also lives on 13th Street in Bangor, Maine, in a creepy Victorian mansion surrounded by a cast-iron gate with gargoyles, spiderwebs, and who knows what other evil doodads on it.

I've never read anything by him or seen any of the movies based on his books, but I'm going to give this one a try: Needful Things. Have any of you read it? I'll let you know what I think, but I'm already prepared to sleep with the lights on for a few weeks!

Nevertheless, I'm very excited that it's fall. I think it's ingrained in us as children that fall, not spring, is when things begin. That's when the school year always starts and everyone returns with fresh sneakers, new notebooks, and sharp pencils. It's a great time to curl up with a mug of hot apple cider and get writing, and that's what I hope to do most weekends from here on out!

I recently revisited my iTunes genie for some insight on life. I learned that I lack motivation for revising PPP because it's a Mad World, that I am very popular (thanks OneRepublic, I knew there was a good reason why you are my favorite band), and that I should stop worrying about other people and just dance to Party Rock Anthem instead. I have to hand it to my genie - he's snarky, but he has good advice. However, he kept shuffling up old-school Britney and I'm not sure what to make of that. Will I soon shave my head and go around beating people with umbrellas, only to experience a glorious comeback shortly thereafter? Only time will tell.

Anyway, if you have a spare moment, go on over and see what's happening at DL Hammons's blog. I'm not allowed to say why... but you should just do it.

Have a safe and happy Halloween! What are you dressing up as, if at all? Does anyone have a literary costume? (I'm going as a flapper, so I guess Daisy Buchanan is the closest I'll be coming to literature!)

Hit the Reply Button

2011-10-02T16:31:00.023-04:00

Photo Source: Here

Back in high school, before Waldenbooks stores had ceased to exist and were bought out by Borders, I had a sizable gift card that I needed to use. I walked into the one at our local mall and perused the bestseller table, but nothing really caught my eye. I don't usually have trouble finding an interesting book, so I never ask for help, but that day I went up to the sleepy-eyed, sloppily-dressed college student behind the counter and asked him for a recommendation.

"What's a really good book that has come out lately? I'm going on vacation next week and I need something to read on the cruise ship," I explained.

He regarded me for a second, as though trying to judge the kind of book I would enjoy based on my appearance. "Do you read crime fiction? Thriller? Sci-fi?"

"Like Michael Crichton, James Patterson stuff? Not really," I said honestly, thinking of the eclectic pile of British literature, battered Nancy Drews, and middle-grade fiction that I had just exhausted.

"Would you be willing to give it a try?" He slouched out from behind the counter, pulling up the waistband of soda-stained jeans. At the bestseller table, he picked up a copy of that book up there - The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - and handed it over. "This is one of my favorites of theirs. Read the summary and let me know what you think." He went off to help someone else, and I was left with the paperback in my hands.

The first two things I notice and judge a book by are its title and its cover. Both were great in this case, and the description on the back completely hooked me.

"I'm going to give this a shot," I told the kid.

"Good choice," he said approvingly. "Just don't read it late at night, because you'll be up until 4 AM trying to finish it. You've been warned."

It didn't even take me that long. When I got home, I decided to read the first few chapters to see what it was like, and ended up finishing the whole thing by dinnertime.

I went back to Waldenbooks and bought every paperback I could find by Preston and Child. The cashier - who became my good friend Josh - had turned me into a rabid fan of these guys' science-based, gunshot-paced novels, so much so that I headed online to learn more about them.

There was a section on their website where readers could send them an email, and I went ahead and told them about how I had gotten hooked on their books, never expecting a reply.

Then, one day, this message appeared in my inbox from none other than Lincoln Child himself.

Dear Julie,

Thanks for your email. Douglas and I appreciate you taking the time to send us a message about how much you enjoyed our books.

We need to thank that guy from Waldenbooks for recruiting another reader!

Glad you enjoyed the character of Pendergast. We're planning on keeping him in many more books to come.

Happy reading,
Lincoln

I thought it was so cool of him to respond, being one-half of a super busy, power-writing, NYT bestselling team, although a few party poopers have suggested to me that Preston and Child hire people to answer their emails for them. (I really do think it was him, though.)

Regardless, authors who make sure their readers get responses are pretty darn awesome. When your feedback is acknowledged, it makes you feel more invested in whatever you gave feedback for. This is definitely a great lesson for anyone who blogs and/or wants to get published, and it's also why I always try to reply to every comment or Tweet I receive.

What about you? Do you reply to all of your comments? Have you ever heard back from an author?

What I'm Currently Writing and Reading

2011-09-23T16:41:00.012-04:00

Photo Source: Here

It's been a while since my last writing update, so here's a quick look at what I'm currently working on! I'm anticipating having a lot more writing time during the cooler months, when I'm safe from the allure of sunshine. Here are the projects I'm involved with:

Pumpkin Patch Princess. I'm about halfway through the novel in terms of rewriting and revising, and it's going pretty well! The good thing about rereading your work is that you find parts that aren't as bad as you originally thought, just as often as you find parts that aren't as good. I think I'm getting a little better at characterization. It's so much fun to write about someone as spunky as Noelle.

Untitled Snow White project. I originally came up with this idea for a dark, high-fantasy version of Snow White when I was 13. It's been interesting, revisiting this premise with fresh eyes and writing it as an adult. I've been toying with the idea of incorporating Tarot cards or just regular playing cards into the story. There's so much I want to include that it might just become a trilogy!

Children's book. One of my goals for 2011 is to try writing a picture book. This one's going to be about a cricket named Ant who lives in the basement bathroom of a university music building and dreams of becoming a great composer.

I'm also trying to make time to read every night. I take public transportation for hours every day, but I can't use the time to read because I often get headaches/feel unwell when I try :(

I'm currently about a third of the way through Elizabeth Kostova's "The Swan Thieves." I adore this woman's writing. Literary fiction can sometimes get a little too over-the-top with poetic descriptions, but her work is masterful and beautiful without seeming to try too hard. I'm a big art fan, too (although I don't know much about it), and the story revolves around a painting of the Leda and the swan myth. It makes me wish I could take a week off and go museum-hopping!

How have you guys been doing? What's new on your reading lists?

Of Hacking Scares and Really Good Birthday Food

2011-09-20T14:59:00.045-04:00

Earlier this month, I wrote a nice long post about my birthday celebrations and scheduled it to appear on Wednesday the 7th. Then, of course, life got busy and I forgot that I even had a blog - until last week. I thought it was a little strange that I hadn't received one comment for that post, so I went online to see what was up.

When I tried to open my blog, I saw no familiar gray and white layout or soothing Georgia font. Instead, I was greeted with this message:

WARNING: This site may harm your computer!

Hmm... weird. I patiently went back into my Bookmarks folder and clicked the link to Silver Lining again. Same message. Now that was odd. How did I accidentally bookmark a porn site and save it under the name of my blog and manage to stick that little Blogspot icon next to it? But no, the address looked right.

I tried manually typing in the URL. Same message.

I Googled my own name and tried to access the blog that way. Same message.

I clicked on the link in my Twitter account. Same message.

Slowly, it began to sink in. I had been blacklisted by Google. Silver Lining was no more. I had failed as a blogger. Somewhere, I must have written a post so obscene and offensive that the internet-powers-that-be had deemed my entire website unfit for the eyes of innocent readers.

And THEN, another revelation hit me. I had been hacked. But why? Who would want to attack my blog? Who could be that mean?

Fortunately, it turned out that neither of those scenarios was true. I spent two days freaking out and trying to decipher Google's de-hacking instructions, and finally discovered that someone on my blogroll had been the hacking victim and that I had only been indirectly affected. Both of our sites are now okay!

Still, lesson learnt - try to back up as much of your blog as you can, and make sure to get it verified by Google so that if something were to happen - like someone injecting malware into your site - you'll be able to find out exactly what needs to be removed. That was key to getting Silver Lining back up and running. Also, change all of your passwords regularly... just in case.

ANYWAY. I had a great birthday! Thanks to all of you who left me Facebook messages :) They were very much appreciated! I was a lucky girl this year and celebrated not once, not twice, but five times. I ate a lot. Here's some photographic evidence:

All I can say is, it's a good thing the elliptical machine and I are tight, because I'm going to have to spend every day for the rest of the year at the gym to make up for this.

This December will be Silver Lining's official three-year blogoversary (holy crap, time flies), but I think at least one of the many cannolis I ate this month can be in early honor of that milestone. Hopefully the blog will chronicle many more years full of good news, good food.... and no more hacking scares. Thanks for sticking with me!

Book Snobs vs. Book Lovers

2011-09-03T09:59:00.007-04:00

Photo Source: Here

If you're reading this post, you are most likely a writer, and if you're a writer, you most likely enjoy books. But are you the type of person who supports all books, or are you selectively passionate about a particular kind and refuse to acknowledge any others?

If you fall into the latter category, that's fine. But think about it - isn't it somewhat limiting and counterproductive to restrict yourself from reading a particular book or series, simply because it doesn't fit into your usual preferences? Isn't being a writer and reader all about being open-minded and appreciating the written word, no matter what form it comes in, be it obscure Russian literature or romance novel or latest overhyped New York Times bestseller?

Simply put - I don't care if something is not going to become a sustainable, inked-in-the-annals-of-history classic if it gets people to shut down the computer, turn off the TV, and get excited about reading.

A little while back, I got really annoyed by a Facebook acquaintance who had posted a status that I personally found extremely insulting.

I'm not going to quote it verbatim (and I wouldn't be able to, anyway, since it was eventually and rightfully removed), but basically it was a mini-rant about how people who enjoy popular fiction - a.k.a. the Harry Potter books - have apparently made this individual lose faith in humanity. They wrote that they would see others reading huge purple-and-green tomes on the train, gaze at the cover in hopes of seeing some famous literary genius's name, and then "die inside" when they saw a name like J.K. Rowling.

Oh, please.

Let's remove me from this equation. Let's remove the fact that Harry Potter was involved and let's replace it and J.K. Rowling with the name of any other series or author in the world. No matter what variables you insert into the equation, it still sounds incredibly pretentious.

I got pretty mad, especially since the ensuing comments seemed to make insinuations about the intelligence of these readers. I just don't see how some people - particularly writers - can sit and point deprecating fingers at books, any books, that have helped children read. Books that have encouraged non-readers to sit down and enjoy the story for what it is.

There are lots of books I don't like. In fact, I may even hate some of them. But at least I give them a try first, and even then, I don't insult them to others. We all have preferences when it comes to reading materials; it's only natural. But at least read something before formulating an opinion on it, and if your opinion is going to be vitriolic, think about this. Whenever writers belittle a book, a series, an author, we are putting ourselves down. We are demeaning the value of the time that the other person spent on their work, and we are insulting those who do enjoy these books. We're missing the whole point of why we read and write at all.

Most of us here are aspiring authors. What do you guys think about this?

I Wrote a Novel!

2011-08-20T09:59:00.010-04:00

This post is way, way, WAY overdue and I'm so sorry for having been MIA practically all summer. How have you guys been? Have you been enjoying the weather and doing fun things? My summer's been pretty good, too. Let's see... I've been working. I've seen a few free outdoor movies and baseball games here and there. Tried at least a dozen new restaurants all over town. Oh yeah, and I finished my novel. That's it. Nothing new here, move along, move along...

YES. It's true! Pumpkin Patch Princess is done, done, done! Well... not done done (when is a novel ever really done?) but I have the first draft, and I'm not gonna lie - it felt like giving birth to an actual child to get all of those final chapters written. But it's complete at last, after a year and a half of toiling, second-guessing myself, and maybe a little bit of crying. (Okay, maybe a lot of crying.)

I'm not showing anyone the manuscript yet, not even my critique partners. I already know there's a ton of rewriting and revising to do, but I'm truly excited to get down to it after a short break. I think I may actually be able to whip this thing into shape and even think about querying this fall. Please cross your fingers for me!

Aside from scrambling to get PPP written, I've been reading a lot! (Friend me on Goodreads if you haven't already.) And how have I been comforting myself now that the Potter books/movies are done for good, you ask?

New obsession = Suzanne Collins's bestselling trilogy. I'm still on Book 2, though, so don't ruin anything for me! I am waiting for Amazon to deliver Mockingjay to my doorstep because Borders COMPLETELY sold out of all of their copies during the going-out-of-business sale. Tina Lynn totally called me out the other day on how late I am to the game, but I am officially on the Hunger Games bandwagon and once you go Katniss, you never go back.

Speaking of Borders, I think I completely cleaned out their sale by myself. My arms hurt like crazy after lugging home my truckload of books, but it was so, so worth it. I know I'm going to regret owning so many when it comes time to move again (it took FIVE boxes to contain my entire library last time), but I absolutely refuse to get an e-reader. There's nothing in the world like the feeling or the smell of a brand new paperback.

So how have you guys been, really? I've missed you all and it feels like ages since I've spoken to some of you. I'm going to do my best to catch up with your blogs this week. Hope you're all well and writing/reading away!

Home Stretch

2011-07-18T09:00:00.002-04:00

Photo Source: Here

I promised to come back from vacation with a full report, so here it is: Pumpkin Patch Princess is *THIS* close to being finished. I need to power through, muster what energy and motivation I have left, and just complete the draft.

I foresee a lot of revision in my future, but for now, I'm going to take a leaf out of my NaNoWriMo book and just write blindly on. My next chapter is going to be a fun one, though. Noelle gets to go to the third night of the king's ball, but what she doesn't know is that there will be two Cinderellas and one of them definitely won't be staying until midnight.

I'm so excited to share more about the story once the first draft is done! I have two lovely critique partners, but will definitely be in the market for some opinions from YA writers. If you write YA and are interested in swapping drafts, drop me a note.

I'm signing off for the rest of the month to get this done, so I'll see you in August!

Pottermania

2011-07-17T15:22:00.014-04:00

Photo Source: Here

Last night, I finally got to see the new Harry Potter movie after reading all of the great reviews (it got a NINETY-SEVEN percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and hearing my lucky friends who had gone to earlier screenings rave about it.

We saw it in 3D IMAX in a completely packed theater. No one in the audience dressed up (except for one person who had creatively repurposed their black graduation gown as a Hogwarts robe) but everyone was there to see some HARRY. The movie was mind-blowingly awesome, of course, and my 3D glasses kept getting blurry from all of the crying I was doing. None of that was surprising, but what floored me was how much excitement and love and enthusiasm everyone had for the movie.

I'm willing to bet that pretty much everyone in the audience had read the books or at least knew how the story turned out, and yet they gasped and cheered and screamed for Harry like they were seeing everything for the first time. That much was enough to make me teary, but then you add in the scene where Harry appears in the portrait hole and Dumbledore's Army starts faithfully applauding him, or the part where Snape is weeping and holding Lily in his arms, or the scene where the Weasleys are grieving over Fred, or the moment when Harry is about to enter the Forest and the ghosts of his parents and Sirius stand beside him... total waterworks.

The audience broke into cheers and applause six times, two of which were for Mrs. Weasley during her showdown with Bellatrix.

It's truly magical, the way this story has touched so many people. I think the only other time I've ever been part of such an engrossed audience was during the Return of the King. During the scenes where the director stripped out the score, eliminated every other sound but Harry's breathing, the theater was DEAD SILENT. Hundreds of people and yet, no whispers, no coughs, no crackling popcorn or slurping soda. Not a sound.

I'm just so thankful to have grown up with this series. It's truly the end of childhood, the end of an era.

A Little Night Music #18: Mish-Mash

2011-06-28T09:00:00.007-04:00

Contrary to popular belief, I do listen to music with lyrics when I'm writing! It's just trickier to find stuff that doesn't distract me. Here are a few of the people on my iTunes:

Coldplay - I have loved this band and their mellow tunes for years and years. Other songs I enjoy: Viva La Vida, Clocks, Yellow.

Priscilla Ahn - Her voice is awesome, and her music is too. Check out "Dream" and "Willow Weeping" in my blue iPod on the sidebar.

We Are Scientists - Love this song. It's so energetic and helps me power through when I'm on a writing sprint.

Michael Buble - I never thought I was a big band/swing/Sinatra type of girl, but I like how Buble mixes that with pop. Check out Home, Hollywood, and Crazy Love.

One Republic - Hands down my favorite band. The most played tracks on my iTunes from them are All This Time, Stop and Stare, and Won't Stop.

Hayley Westenra - This song came up on my Pandora and I think it's just so hauntingly beautiful. Wouldn't it be so perfect for a paranormal YA?

♥ ♥ ♥

Hope you guys have a great week. I'll be back with a full report on my PPP progress when I return from vacation!

Swinging in the Hammock

2011-06-25T09:00:00.059-04:00

Photo Source: Here

It sounds weird, but I miss school sometimes. I definitely don't miss the exams to cram for, lab reports to write, mandatory study sessions to attend, underclassmen to tutor, or the future plans to figure out.

No, what I miss most is all the free time we had. When you're working 50 hours a week, that month off at Christmas, those spring breaks, and the summer vacations start to look pretty attractive. The problem is that I can't remember how I spent all of that glorious time. I know I worked a bit. I hung out with my friends. I went on family trips. I read piles of books as per usual. But these activities couldn't possibly have taken up all of that time, could they? Why wasn't I using it to write?

I do like working, but it would be nice to have more than just a few stolen weekend hours to spend with the WIP. Sometimes I fantasize about being one of those kids with obscenely wealthy parents they can just live off of, because if my family owned a top-floor pied-à-terre in Manhattan or a house on the Cape, my manuscript and I would so totally be there.

But then again, I don't think I'd be very happy sponging off of someone else. I'm grateful that I have the chance to make it on my own steam. Wherever I end up in the world, it's me getting myself there, and I will be proud if I can support myself and find time to write all at once. I tell myself that if I really want this, I'll make time for it. The novel's coming along much more slowly than I would like, but the important thing is that I'm working on it steadily.

What I'm REALLY excited about is my upcoming five-day weekend for the Fourth. Obviously I'll be barbecuing, picnicking, attending a baby shower, shopping, and sleeping (YES!), but the most important thing is that I will be WRITING. Each of those days, I will lock myself away with my computer for a few hours and furiously fatten up PPP until the first draft is done. That's my goal!

Aside from a music post that I will schedule for Monday or Tuesday, this is the last you'll hear from me in about a week or so. I promise to return with a full report.

Until then, Happy Fourth of July - I wish you as much corn-on-the-cob, apple pie, beer, and time to write as I am hoping to eat/drink/have!

The Night the Rain Stopped, the Night Spring Came

2011-06-20T09:00:00.009-04:00

One of my favorite things to do when I need to relax and burn off stress is go for a long walk. If I'm alone, I get to gather my thoughts, and if I'm with someone, we can have a great conversation. If it's sunny, I pull out my ratty baseball cap and favorite sunglasses; if it's rainy, I put on boots and revel in the shelter of my umbrella. It's a win-win all around! I've come up with a lot of story ideas this way, especially if I'm walking somewhere that inspires me.

On a little day trip last weekend, I wandered into a gorgeous historic cemetery that was just that: inspiring. I walked about six or seven miles that day and took over a hundred pictures, some of which I wanted to share with you guys. Here they are - hope you enjoy them and find inspiration for your own work!

(Click for full-size images. I've figured out how to make links open in a new tab - yay! All quotes are by Frances Hodgson Burnett.)

" 'Is the spring coming?' he said. 'What is it like?'

'It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...' "

"One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever."

"One knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear."

" 'I shall come back this afternoon,' she said, looking all round at her new kingdom, and speaking to the trees and rosebushes as if they heard her."

"I am writing in the garden. To write as one should of a garden, one must not write outside it or merely somewhere near it, but in the garden."

"If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloths of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it."

"It was the sweetest, most mysterious-looking place anyone could imagine. The high walls which shut it in were covered with the leafless stems of climbing roses that were so thick they were matted together."

"But she was inside the wonderful garden and she could come through the door under the ivy anytime and she felt as if she had found a world all her own."

"Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow."

"And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles."

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden."

What about you guys? If you like to walk, where do you usually go for inspiration? Have you ever tried writing there?

Mommy, What's Wrong With That Spider?

2011-06-17T09:00:00.028-04:00

Photo Source: Here

In the fifth grade, I had my first foray into the glamorous world of musical theater. When Miss Benoit announced that our class would be putting on a production of Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach," almost everyone was jumping up and down for the chance to say a few lines onstage.

Me? I was shy and awkward and had enough problems getting up in front of my classmates. But since our teacher had promised that every kid would somehow be involved in the project, I was hoping I would get asked to help write the script or make up lyrics or something.

Instead, I was given a role. A BIG role. A speaking role. A singing role.

I came home the night of the announcement carrying a script with all of Miss Spider's lines highlighted in yellow.

"Look, Mom, I got a part in the school play," I said. "Can you make me a costume?"

"A spider, huh?" Mom glanced at her sewing machine. "What am I going to make eight legs out of?"

"I dunno. Maybe tape some toilet paper rolls together and sew black cloth over them?"

"I'm afraid they might be floppy," she said. "And where are we going to attach them?"

I rolled my eyes. "To the butt, Mom. You have to make me a big butt and then the legs come out of it. I think."

To tell the truth, I was deathly afraid of spiders and had never allowed myself to get close enough to one in order to see exactly where the legs came out. I usually just screamed for my dad whenever I saw something scuttling across the floor.

Mom was still skeptical. "And what about your arms and legs? If we stick eight more on you, it'll look like you're a twelve-legged spider."

That was a good point.

Thankfully, I had a friend named Jill who was experienced in these matters.

Jill lived in the same neighborhood and we trick-or-treated at all the same houses, and last Halloween she had gone as a spider. She and her mom had somehow crafted four thick legs out of black felt that stood straight out and were attached to the body by some kind of ingenious yarn-and-Velcro contraption.

They helped me put the legs on, which tied right around my middle and looked amazing.

"Just wear a long-sleeved black shirt and black pants, and you'll be set," Jill advised.

It was smooth sailing from there. I was so excited about my costume, I practically forgot to be nervous about having to recite lines and sing onstage in front of dozens of strangers.

Our class would be putting on two shows: one at night for the parents, and one during the day for the "little kids," meaning the third- and fourth-graders who went to the same school.

The one for the parents went well. Everyone clapped really hard, laughed at all the right places, and had a great time. I had a ball onstage with my friends and my four extra legs.

And then came the day show. The "little kids" filed into the cafeteria, which had been cleared of all the folding tables and chairs, and sat cross-legged on the floor. They looked expectantly at the stage and everyone in the show felt very grown-up and important. We would have to perform well and show the "kids" what it was like to be older and in the fifth grade.

Like the night before, everything was perfect - except there was something wrong with my legs. Not my actual legs, my spider legs. The mess of Velcro and yarn wouldn't attach properly at the back, and my teacher was too busy rushing around helping the other kids or I would have asked her to lace me up.

Instead, my friends tried their best.

"Are they going to fall off?" I asked worriedly, wiggling around in the contraption, which felt reeeeeally loose today.

"Nah, I tied it real good," my friend Katie assured me.

But apparently she didn't, because when we got onstage and started dancing, I felt the legs slowly slipping from my waist. I grappled with the yarn frantically, hoping against hope that the whole thing wouldn't fly off. How embarrassing would it be for Miss Spider to lose her abdomen and half her legs before she could hitch her spiderwebs to the flock of seagulls? I mean, we needed those seagulls to pull the giant peach to safety.

My solution? Hold the flailing four legs up with my arms. I went through the entire play like that, hugging my black felt limbs under each armpit.

It was a stressful experience. I was freaking out the whole time, but somehow I hoped no one would notice. I hoped the "little kids" would just see a cool spider. Thankfully, the rest of the play went on uneventfully and we got a lot of applause, just like the night before.

The following week, Miss Benoit was greeted with a huge stack of papers from the third-grade class down the hall. All of the kids had drawn us pictures as a way to say thank you for putting on the show.

My friends who had played as bugs with me looked great in all their crayon renderings, but I looked... well, something like this:

The third-graders had drawn me like that in every single picture. EVERY single one. According to them, I resembled a confused black snowman with two hairs sticking out of each armpit. At least they knew I was supposed to be a spider, thanks to the half-hearted label above my bulbous unsmiling head.

And that's the story of how I abandoned the stage and decided to stick to writing.

TAG! You're It!

2011-06-15T09:00:00.015-04:00

Last week, I was tagged by the lovely Laura Marcella at Wavy Lines to answer some questions about myself. So here goes!

Do you think you're hot?
Nope.

Upload a picture or wallpaper you are using at the moment.
I alternate frequently, but this is a recent one that has helped inspire me when I'm working on PPP. It's an image of Satzvey Castle in Germany. Wish I could go there and do some "research" for my story!

Photo Source: Here

When was the last time you ate chicken meat?
Last week, I had chicken fingers! Fried chicken and barbecue sauce is the perfect combination.

List the songs you listened to recently.
My friend Jeff introduced me to Grooveshark, which I love! According to my user history, the last five songs I listened to were:

Children Found by Andrea Guerra, from the Hotel Rwanda soundtrack
I'm a DJ by Ben Benassi (mash-up of the David Bowie song)
Tu Virginum Corona by Mozart
I'm Yours/Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Straight No Chaser
Price Tag by Jessie J and B.o.B.

What were you thinking as you were doing this?
I am SO buying tickets to go see NKOTBSB!

Do you have nicknames? What are they?
Jules, Julesy, Julie Bear.

Tag eight Blogger friends.

1) Bluestocking at the Bluestocking Blog
2) Deniz Bevan at the Girdle of Melian
3) Margo Berendsen at Writing at High Altitude
4) B.E. Sanderson at The Writing Spectacle
5) Sophia Richardson at My Fleet-Footed Self
6) Mary Campbell at Writer's Butt Does Not Apply To Me
7) Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
8) Alex at Alex J. Cavanaugh

Who's listed at number 1?
Bluestocking. I love her alias because I am totally a bluestocking, too!

Say something about number 5.
Sophia is knowledgeable and super organized. I love that characters are her forte!

How did you get to know number 3?
Through blogging, of course! Margo is so sweet and encouraging, and I always look forward to her comments.

How about number 4?
Also through blogging. B.E. is seriously a wonder woman for juggling writing with all of her real life responsibilities! Props!

Leave a message for number 6.
Mary, your sense of humor and go-getter attitude will definitely help your dream come true!

Leave a lovey-dovey message for number 2.
Oh Deniz, your writing makes me swoon. You are the cat's pajamas.

Do number 7 and number 8 have any similarities?
Definitely! Both Alex and Shannon are very well-liked bloggers because they're so talented and supportive of others.

Check out the blogs I tagged if you haven't already! And if I tagged you, feel free to answer these questions or not.

Hope everyone's having a great week so far!

I'm Baaaaack!

2011-06-12T13:01:00.008-04:00

Photo Source: Here

So, I fell off the face of the Earth for over a month, but have now returned from my perilous journey through blistering cold and scorching desert á la Prince Charming. Luckily for me, the highest room in the tallest tower is my own and there are no cross-dressing wolves present!

How have you all been?! I've been doing well. Lots of stuff to take care of as usual, but I've squeezed in plenty of quality time with friends and family who have been taking turns visiting over the past month.

Yesterday, I finally got a chance to sit down with PPP and just spent the morning rereading and reacquainting myself with it. I dreaded doing that because I was afraid I'd get stuck in an endless cycle of revision, but the story is doing a lot better than I thought. I'm very happy with the 50,000 words I have so far and managed to add another significant chunk to that. This first draft needs to be FINISHED. Just over 20K left to go.

So that's what I'm working on today! I'm also responding to comments and trying to return the favor to all of you who left me messages.

Last week, I was tagged in a post by my friend Laura, so I'll have that scheduled for Wednesday. There's also some new music coming, the story of my star-studded days (yeah, right) performing as Miss Spider in our middle-school production of James and the Giant Peach, and lots of badly taken photographs by yours truly of some inspiring places I've visited lately, such as the cavernous city public library and a beautiful historic cemetery nearby.

Stick around! I'll be posting so much, you'll wish I had fallen off the face of the Earth again!

The Right One

2011-05-17T18:46:00.027-04:00

Photo Source: Here

When do you start growing up?

This is a question I keep asking myself.

At what point in time can you say, "Yep. I'm officially an adult"? When you (finally) stop getting carded for R-rated movies? When the dentist stops offering you stickers with a smiling tooth on them? When you exchange lip gloss for lipstick, trade a piggy bank for a bank account, and clean your room because it's driving you crazy?

This weekend, I watched one of my best friends marry the love of her life, the first in our close-knit circle to tie the knot.

We had once been mere girls together. She dreamed of having her own psychology practice and I dreamed of finding the courage to follow my heart. We made our way through rough times, fractured families, loss, hopelessness, and uncertainty, but we were never too busy to forget to call each other, to laugh together, to plan weekends for going out dancing, talking all night long, or drinking too much wine, whatever the occasion called for. I thought I knew everything about her.

But the moment I stepped into her apartment on Saturday morning - everyone already in a flutter of excitement, taffeta everywhere, cell phones ringing, haphazard bouquets, misplaced earrings, an upturned apple-red stiletto - I could sense that something was different.

She was neither shaking with nerves nor bawling her eyes out, two things that they say brides-to-be are often wont to do. She was calm, collected, and glowing with beauty, her hair elaborately twisted under a perfectly perched tiara. Even as the photographers swarmed around her, and I and the other four bridesmaids struggled with the intricate lacing on her gown, she just beamed at her own reflection in the mirror and thanked us girls for being a part of her day.

Later, when we boarded the ship, she looked out at the overcast sky and the rippling water and declared it a beautiful day, despite the fact that the rest of us were lamenting how the gray mist might ruin our makeup and frizz our hair.

We lined up on the top deck, where the photographers had placed us out of sight, and prepared to descend.

I was the first bridesmaid to emerge on deck, dressed in deep truffle satin with a yellow gerbera daisy clutched in my hands. It suddenly occurred to me - as all of the guests looked on and the groom, who is also one of my closest friends, gave a grin of encouragement - that I was... kind of grown up. After all, I was only about 8 the last time I was in someone's wedding party. This time, I was walking down the aisle in red lipstick, high heels that fit, and precious pearls from my mother that I was terrified would somehow dislodge themselves from my neck and fly overboard.

The other girls joined me one by one, and finally, the bride herself came out to exchange vows with her husband. We stood by the railing, facing the groomsmen, and all watched as our two friends pledged their love to one another with words they had written themselves. The rain fell in a breath-light mist, the wind raised goosebumps on the shoulders of every girl in a strapless dress, and the waves splashed below, but not one of us took our eyes away from the bride and groom.

These were two people absolutely head over heels in love. It was clear in every syllable they uttered, every glance they shared, every movement they made. And I understood why my friend was so calm: she was making the biggest, most grown-up decision of her life, and it was the right one. She knew it with every fiber of her being. She knew it when she was floating back down the aisle on her new husband's arm, her wedding band firmly and lovingly secure on her left hand.

I followed them in my lipstick, my pearls, my high heels that fit, arm-in-arm with one of the groomsmen, who had probably tied his own tie, buttoned his own deep truffle vest, and put on his own polished shoes. He looked like he felt as much like a little boy as I felt like a little girl, and we smiled in silent camaraderie.

And I realized that I had found the answer to my question: growing up is a process. It's not any one moment in time. It's not like the cartoons when the light bulb suddenly goes on over your head. It's an unraveling understanding, it's a gradual awareness, it's your own heart unfolding itself to you.

And it begins when you make a choice that you know deep down is the right one.

I've talked many times on my blog about the decision I made in college, when I switched from a career that my dad wanted to one that I wanted. I thought about that when I took my place at the head table, between the maid of honor and another bridesmaid, and watched the bubbles fizz in my champagne. I remembered how that choice had made me feel, how it had been like throwing the windows open after an endless winter.

And I realized that the lipstick, the pearls, and the heels didn't make me grown up, nor did the wedding ring do the same for my friend. After all, people can have those things without being grown up. She and I were already there because of the choices we had made.

What a whirlwind, worthwhile, wonderful thing to raise your glass to.

A Little Night Music #17: Gandalf the Wizard

2011-05-04T23:13:00.007-04:00

I'm sure you all know by now what a huge Lord of the Rings geek I am. Just in case that wasn't clear, here's another LOTR-related piece of music that I absolutely adore.

Nope, it wasn't composed by Howard Shore (although I've mentioned before that his score for the trilogy is my #1 writing soundtrack of all time).

"Gandalf the Wizard" is the first movement of Dutch composer Johan de Meij's Symphony No. 1, which was inspired by Tolkien's work. It was composed long before Peter Jackson created his movies, but it fits beautifully with so many scenes (at the 2:30 mark, I always think of the scene where Gandalf charges up Minas Tirith to confront the Steward).

I think it suits the character perfectly! What do you think?

Listen here on Youtube

10 Things That Make Me Happy

2011-04-30T10:59:00.031-04:00

Hey all, just wanted to check in briefly and let you know that PPP is going great. Last weekend I wrote about four chapters - fueled by a disgusting amount of Cadbury mini-eggs and a Lindt Gold Bunny - and I'm hoping to do the same this weekend sans high-calorie snacks.

I'd like to thank NaNoWriMo 2009 for teaching me to fight the urge to revise. Man, it's tough sometimes, but aside from that, it's been smooth sailing.

In order to jazz up this pathetic excuse for a blog post (and make up for how much I've neglected blogging), I'm going to include 10 things that make me happy. I've been more stressed out than I have been happy lately, and I think it's time to change that.

All photos are from here unless otherwise noted.

#1. Spring

Finally, after that horrible winter, the season of blooming flowers,
sunshine, and twirly dresses has finally arrived!

#2. My best friends' wedding.
Nope, not the movie. My friends are marrying on that very lake,
and they've asked me to be a part of their day. So excited!

#3. Lobster macaroni and cheese.
Comfort food is comfortable. Fattening, but comfortable. And delicious.

#4. Harry Potter 7, Part 2.
I'm going to go see this in IMAX!

#5. Princess Kate's wedding dress. (Photo Source: Here)
What a born princess she is! It's like watching a fairy tale come to life.

#6. Running. (Photo Source: Here)
The weather's too nice to work out indoors! Can't wait to hit the trail by the river.

#7. My iPod Nano. (Photo Source: Here)
I don't know what I'd do without it. I'm always plugged in during the commute.

#8. Fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.
I'm pretty darn good at baking, if I do say so myself, but it's tough
to screw up on this classic. Add a tall glass of milk and OM NOM NOM.

#9. The Big Bang Theory. (Photo Source: Here)
I don't watch TV often, but when I do, it's gotta be this show. Love Raj and Sheldon!

#10. Bananagrams. (Photo Source: Here)
Such a fun game. And if you're a voracious reader/writer, you pretty
much can't lose. (Mua ha ha ha!!!)

Hope all is well with you guys. I'll be updating again soon :)

I'm Her Guest, I'm Her Guest!

2011-04-18T07:00:00.004-04:00

Photo Source: Here

Today, I am guest posting on the beautiful Sierra Godfrey's blog about how she and DL Hammons are the greatest critique partners a girl could have.

I'm sure you know them, and that you're asking yourself how I managed to land myself a group like that. Don't worry. I ask myself that all the time.

Stop on by and remember to congratulate Sierra on her new baby, who is expected sometime this month! *throws confetti*

A Word of Encouragement

2011-04-10T17:52:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I think that this whole "aspiring author" business is really just setting yourself up for heartbreak. It's a gamble. You risk so much for the small chance that you'll get something, even though there's a big chance you won't.

There are so many circumstances against us when we decide to take this road: not having enough time, juggling too many obligations, dealing with naysayers. But you know what? That's the easy stuff. Everything is easy compared to the biggest obstacle of all: yourself. Because when you're fighting yourself, who will be there to defend you?

I've been thinking a lot about the inner critic lately, especially after something that happened last week. I was saddened by it, because the writer involved is someone whose work and opinions I greatly admire, and whom I deeply respect because of their talent, work ethic, and drive.

It made me wonder how many words have been silenced, how many stories have simply faded away, how many dreams have died because the candle went out by itself.

And we've all been there. We've all wrestled with ourselves, thrown manuscripts at the wall, smothered bad reviews and rejections in a shoebox under the bed. There are things that leave permanent paper cuts on your heart, some of them so deep that you think you will never write another word again.

I'm not saying that giving up is the wrong decision. Everyone's situation is different. But I'm asking you - whoever you are who is reading this right now - to think twice before you throw in the towel. This is a choice that shouldn't be made lightly. Ask yourself whether you could live a life without writing. Imagine yourself without a dream to pursue. Would you still be the same person?

I promise you that if you've got it - the dream and the drive - you will know it, deep down. Yeah, you doubt yourself. You think you don't have what it takes to get your name on a bookshelf. Your inner critic tells you you're not worthy, not ready, not strong enough. Well, take a number and get in line, because there are millions of us out there who deal with the same thing.

If no one has told you this yet today, then I'll tell you: I believe in you. Do you really think you've spent all of those hours, days, weeks, months, and years writing stories for nothing? That takes some serious stamina, people! If your inner critic is running his mouth, tell him to stuff it. Talk back. Think of all the wonderful books you've read and how those authors battled their inner critics in order to bring those stories to life.

Like I said, if you want to be painfully realistic, then yeah, there's a chance your dream won't come true. But there is a chance that it will. Please, please don't wake up one day wondering whether that chance would have come to you, had you not given up.

I believe in you - you, reader and writer. You have talent, you have stories pouring out of your brain, and you can string together a sentence better than 90 percent of the population. I promise you this. I know people who consider writing to be their profession and can't even construct a coherent paragraph. You've got something they don't have: a gift, and you should think very, very carefully before you ever consider letting it go to waste.

Okay, sermon's over. (Phew.) I'm here for you. Talk to me. But above all, keep the candle burning.

A Little Night Music #16: The Village

2011-03-23T21:56:00.011-04:00

I have been horrible about blogging! I am planning to post a detailed update this weekend about how PPP is going, so keep your eyes peeled. I hope you're all doing well!

Just wanted to share some music that I've recently discovered, courtesy of Pandora. As many of you know, I am a huge chicken and I hate scary/gory/creepy movies. HOWEVER, some of these movies have brilliant, brilliant soundtracks, which is why I'm so thankful to Pandora for introducing me to scores that I would otherwise never experience.

Case in point: James Newton Howard's Oscar-nominated soundtrack to The Village, an M. Night Shyamalan movie about an 18th century village. In the middle of a forest. With creepy creatures lurking about. (Wow, it kind of sounds like this book I recently read and loved.)

Anyway, the composer recruited young virtuoso violinist Hilary Hahn for the soundtrack, and she's probably one of the coolest people out there. Her violin case even has its own Twitter account!

I love how this piece - "Those We Don't Speak Of" - starts off kind of tribal and Hans-Zimmer-Lion-Kingesque before bursting into dazzling arpeggios at 2:35.

Hope you enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to catching up with you guys this weekend!

Listen here on Youtube

Zip-Pah-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-Pah-Dee-Day

2011-02-19T09:47:00.028-05:00

In 2009, I celebrated my birthday in Orlando, Florida with TC, my best friend from third grade. She is exactly one day older than I am, and we decided that since we both loved Disney World and had known each other for some sixteen-odd years without ever going on a girls' only extended trip, we would go party it up with Mickey and Minnie.

TC found us a pretty sweet deal that covered admission to the parks and a nice place to stay at the Disney All-Star Music Resort (right up my alley!). We each got into one park free on our respective birthdays, and received a $75 gift card and a big pin that ensured that everyone in sight knew it was our day.

My friend picked Epcot for her day, and I picked - what else? - the Magic Kingdom for mine.

Cinderella's castle (Taken by me)

I've been to Disney World half a dozen times in my life, but never as a "grown-up." I have to say, it wasn't that difficult to revert back to being a kid again. I loved every minute of it. People always complain about the heat, and the long lines, and the crying children, but the truth is that if you're there to enjoy your experience, you will enjoy it.

Our unsuccessful quest for Mickey aside - this mouse is seriously elusive - we went on practically every single ride. Some of my favorites:

The Haunted Mansion. Best. Ride. Ever. We had just gotten off the ferry in Liberty Square, which gave us a lot of picture-taking opportunities but also exposed us to the cruel 95+-degree sunshine. (How can people live in Florida? I'm sorry. I would melt.) This place is super duper air-conditioned, which makes sense because a ghost house just isn't a ghost house if you're dripping with sweat. They do a great job with this place, from the funny epitaphs and cool costumes to holograms and decorations. Also, they added a new sequence that tells the story of a "black widow" who off-ed all of her husbands. Cute!

Pirates of the Caribbean. Second best. Ride. Ever. I had "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me" stuck in my head for hours afterward, but it was every bit as fantastic as I remembered. And highly air-conditioned. AND they added in some of the scenes from the movie! Plus, when we finished the ride and it dumped us into the gift shop - oh, Disney and the spirit of capitalism - we got to see a real-live Jack Sparrow who was the spitting image of Johnny Depp swagger around and poke people with a plastic sword. Awesome.

It's a Small World. This time, the song got stuck in TC's head for hours afterward, but it's still a lot of fun to go on this boat ride. Lots of pretty colors and culture-embracing goodness. Also, on the wall where they write "Welcome" in a zillion different languages, Vietnamese was included! How often does that happen? And did I mention this ride is super air-conditioned? (I'm sensing a theme here...)

Peter Pan. Flying around in a ship over the night-blanketed city of London, while the story plays out right beneath your eyes? So much fun.

Splash Mountain. Don't laugh at me, okay? This was my first time on Splash Mountain because I'm a fraidy-cat. My parents were fraidy-cats, too, so they never let me and my brothers go on "rollercoasters." But as a spry young 20-something, I decided to defy them and hop on. I loved it! The worst AND best part was pausing on the edge of the five-story plunge, with the beautiful view of Cinderella's Castle in the distance. And then hurtling downwards. I think the only time I've screamed so much was in my college physiology class, when I discovered that the lobster I was supposed to be dissecting was still ALIVE.

Mickey's Philharmagic. A 3D celebration of the music of Disney? In a gorgeous air-conditioned theater? You bet my name was written all over this thing. And I may have gotten teary during "Part of Your World" and "A Whole New World." I went three times, even though TC made me go by myself the last two times.

Winnie the Pooh. Mom and I were big Winnie the Pooh fans when I was growing up, so this was a lovely return to the Hundred Acre Wood for me.

Snow White's Adventures. This was my least favorite fairy tale as a child, but I thought the ride was pretty well done (although very short and not worth the 45-minute wait. Thank goodness we got the Fastpass). The wicked witch at the end still makes me nervous!

Anyway, we had a great time and also visited MGM (which is now called Disney Studios, I think, but I will always refer to it as MGM) and Animal Kingdom.

I love how the stories jump off the page at you at a theme park, and just for fun, I've been thinking about what a theme park based on MY story would look like. What kind of rides would it have? What would be the centerpiece (most likely a castle)? What characters would be walking around, signing autographs?

So, just because... What would a theme park for your novel look like? What one ride would you have to make the story jump out to your visitors?

Open Sesame

2011-02-06T10:09:00.022-05:00

Source here

When people find out that I write for fun, I always get the perfunctory: "That's great! What are you writing about?" And then when I tell them that I'm writing a young adult book that is based on a fairy tale, I'm met with a blank face and a polite "Oh. You wanna write for kids. That's... cool."

It's like the words "young" and "fairy tale" sort of file the story into a non-serious, semi-legitimate category not worthy of further notice.

But you know, I think it's sad that so many people are missing out on YA books because they think they are "just kid stuff." The most cherished, beloved books in my collection were written for young readers. I spent the entirety of my childhood reading stories like "The Secret Garden," "Little Women," "The Chronicles of Prydain," "The Arabian Nights," and "The Hobbit." I curled up with these books as a child under the purple canopy of my bed and dreamed dreams of people and places that could only exist within these pages. These were some the stories that made me want to become a writer myself.

And as for fairy tales, they will always, always have a special place in my heart, being the very first stories I grew up with. I have over a dozen different collector's volumes with beautiful gold-leaf pages and pen-and-ink drawings, in which Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White face challenges and overcome them and then face them all over again, their stories retold over and over but never losing their charm.

For example, there's the story of the Little Mermaid. In one version, she and her prince defeat the sea witch. In another, he falls in love with somebody else, and she sacrifices her own life so that he can be happy. It was this retelling of it - and actually, I believe it's the original ending of the Hans Christian Andersen tale - that always moved me the most.

What I like about reading and writing for young readers is the subtlety in the stories. There may be morals and lessons and what have you, but who focuses on that when there's a heroine wielding a sword, or a hero answering twisting riddles in a darkened cave, or a man who's crouching in the boughs of a tree, watching forty thieves emerge from a secret lair of treasures?

And the themes of courage and achieving the impossible - they're still irresistible to me. Even fairy tale princesses had their own brand of courage. Not all bravery is about jabbing swords and galloping on horseback and saving the day. Sometimes there's the quiet kind, like a girl who dares to dream about a better life for herself, despite the hopelessness of her situation. Or a woman who is strong enough to see past someone's ugliness and despair to find a heart of gold.

I'm proud to be a YA reader, and humbly hope to become a YA author someday. When people ask, I'm going to keep unashamedly telling them that I write for young readers and that I love fairy tales. And that will never, ever change, whether I'm 25 or 105.

Do you write and/or read YA? Why or why not? Do you find that the genre gets enough respect?

A Little Night Music #15: Departures

2011-01-30T18:32:00.008-05:00

I heard of this gem of a movie a few years back, when it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture. I know a film is really good when it makes me laugh, cry, and truly appreciate the message that it holds.

"Departures" is about a Japanese cellist who has to look for another job when he loses his position with the orchestra. He sees an ad about departures and thinks it's a travel agency, when it's actually an encoffiner who prepares the dead for their journey out of life. At first, he only takes the job because it pays well, but soon learns that it holds all the lessons he needs to appreciate the fleeting beauty of life and to come to terms with the father who abandoned him long ago.

It's probably one of the most beautiful stories I've ever heard, the main actor is ridiculously hot and I will someday marry him, and the music... let me tell you, this score put Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi in my top five list for life. (He also wrote the score for Howl's Moving Castle, which is in my blog playlist if you want to check it out.)

Please do yourself a favor and look up some more of Hisaishi's work on Youtube. It's serious ear candy and I write to it all the time!

Definitely a film and a soundtrack I would recommend if you're into foreign movies and heavenly music.

Listen here on Youtube

10 Things I Hate Writing Without

2011-01-23T10:54:00.002-05:00

I am putting my feet up to write today! I've been looking forward to it all week. Here's a quick list of the ten things I will have when I've got my storyteller hat on today:

Couch. I don't have a laptop, so I have to haul my 20-pound iMac over to the coffee table, but it's so much more comfortable to write while I'm sinking into my giant, squashy sofa.

Red Sox blanket. I got it from my brother for Christmas, and I love it. I think I have terrible circulation because my feet are always freezing.

Purple notebook. All of my writing notes, chapter plans, maps, and character outlines are in this book. I frequently refer to it and jot down more notes.

Moleskine. Since this little guy's always in my purse, he is filled with spur-of-the-moment, crack-of-lightning scribblings that occur in inconvenient places, like at work or on the train. Very handy, though, once I can figure out what I meant by "goblins caves!!!! chapter 8!!!!???"

A healthy snack. Something nutritious, like raisins or crackers, because I was just informed that I am to be a bridesmaid in T minus 5 months and I need to fit into my dress.

Hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows. Yes, I realize this negates #5. No, that doesn't stop me from drinking it.

iTunes. I need music!

A clock. I write most efficiently when I'm battling the minute hand. I set mini-goals like, "I'm going to finish this chapter by 1:30." And it happens! Unless I've gotten up too many times to get more of #5 or #6.

Chapstick. I don't know why, but my lips always get really chapped when I'm writing. I think I bite down when I'm working? Does this happen to anyone else?

Pajamas. The words flow better when I'm in PJs. I've tried writing in jeans before and it just doesn't work as well.

Are you putting your feet up to write today? Where do you work best and what are some of the things you like to have around you?

A Little Night Music #14: The Shawshank Redemption

2011-01-22T09:05:00.009-05:00

A few years ago, my boyfriend at the time made me watch a string of "man" movies as revenge for making him watch Pixar films and chick flicks. I hated most of his choices - the guns! the endless, mindless explosions! women, half-clothed women everywhere! - so when he brought "The Shawshank Redemption" home from Blockbuster, I complained.

"Trust me on this one. It's my favorite," he said.

Well, he was right. I was hooked from the very beginning and even shed not a few tears during the film (crying for a "man" movie! Who would've thought?).

It has since become one of my own favorite movies, and Thomas Newman's score gives me delicious goosebumps. I can't listen to the track below without picturing the scene at the end... but I won't ruin the story for you if you don't know it. Just do yourself a favor and rent this film!

Listen here on Youtube

Angel in My Inbox

2011-01-20T20:41:00.012-05:00

Photo Source: Here

Last week, I got a surprise e-mail from someone who had read an earlier novel of mine. Her message made me cry out of sheer, uncontrollable, overwhelming gratitude.

Let me share a little backstory first.

I'm not sure I ever intended to share this on my blog, but a few years ago, when I was getting back into creative writing after a dry spell of almost ten years, I joined a large writing website online. I was uncertain, timid, insecure, just growing accustomed to the idea that one day I might send my work out into the world to be picked over and criticized and - hoping against hope - eventually accepted for many other eyes to see.

Trying not to over-think the whole thing, I wrote a novel under a pseudonym and submitted it to this website, chapter by chapter, serial style, for other readers and writers to comment on. I slowly began to get reviews, mostly through reading and commenting on the work of others who wanted to return the favor.

Through some crazy combination of luck, fate, and the good-will of my readers, I began getting more and more reviews, most of them positive. There was constructive criticism in many of them, and - as there always will be - there were a few mean ones. But my amateur, poorly written, thrown-together little experiment of a novel, which was completed in nine months, somehow began to take flight.

It won awards on the site, prizes that came with neither riches nor glory, but they meant more to me than anything I could have imagined because they were given to me through my lovely readers' votes, out of hundreds of other stories they could have chosen.

By the end of the year, my silly little story had earned itself more than 1,000 reviews from people I didn't even know, telling me how much they enjoyed it and believed in it... and me. They had no idea who I was. I was just a name, and that name wasn't even mine, but somehow they found me to be a kindred spirit and vice versa.

I had a handful of readers that I became especially close to. We never shared our true names, but one of them - who called herself Meg - was my age, a great reader and a driving force behind the creation of this blog, though she will never know it.

On a whim, I recently decided to check the e-mail account that was associated with my pseudonym, and found this sweet message from her.

I just wanted you to know that I went back and re-read your story all over again, and it made me cry like no other!

It's so beautifully written and elegant, and absolutely captivating. I'm telling you that it deserved every single award it won that year, and more. Thank you, thank you for finding the inspiration to write this story and to share it with all of us. I can truly see why it has captured everyone's hearts from the very beginning to the end ... and that epilogue, heart-wrenching and gorgeous.

This might sound silly, but it made me rethink my life. It made me hope to strive to be a better person and to open my heart no matter the consequences. You are a writer of formidable strength and skill, and I wanted you to know that your words have touched my life. Please keep writing no matter what you do. I see brilliant things and a long career in your future.

Always your friend and devoted reader,
Meg

I have no shame. I'll admit to you that I positively BAWLED. Don't get me wrong, I cried over every review that I received for that story, but this e-mail made me cover my face and weep with shock and astonishment.

It's words like these that give a person enough heart and courage to decide to pursue publication.

I don't know if I'll ever claim that story as mine - with my name - officially. I told myself that using my real name for my blog would mean a fresh start, fresh stories, no prior attachments. And who knows if I'll ever tell Meg my real name, or learn hers.

All I know is I've continually had wind in my sails ever since I started pursuing this crazy dream (thanks to you Awesome People in the left hand corner up there) and that this last gust is enough to send me on for the forseeable future.

I guess the point of this tear-soaked soliloquy is that if you're a dreamer, you should never, ever, EVER give up. Put your whole heart into it, because somewhere out there, someone might be sitting up and taking notice. Your words - strings of letters that make an often torturous journey from your heart to your brain and out through your hands - are traveling to destinations unknown, but they may be hitting home for someone.

And now of course, I'm crying again. But these are grateful, overwhelmed, joyous, humble, undeserving tears.

The Happy Blogger Award and Some Updates

2011-01-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

I got an award from my lovely friend Tyrean at Tyrean's Writing Spot! Thanks for passing it on and always being so warm and encouraging!

It's really hard to list only 10 blogs that make me happy, since so many of them do, but here is my best shot.

Tina Lynn, Sweet Niblets. One of the sweetest people you will ever meet. Also talented and gorgeous. Follow her blog!

DL Hammons, Cruising Altitude. Don is one of my favorite blog peeps. He has a kind heart, a great sense of humor, and the best advice.

Sierra Godfrey. She and her posts are truly awesome. Her writing tips and Google Roundups always have the best information for writers.

Laura Marcella, Wavy Lines. Laura's an absolute doll, writes like a dream, and loves zebras. What better reasons do you need to follow her blog?

Suzy Hayze, Tales of Extraordinary Ordinariness. Suzy's writing is so exquisite. Just reading her heartfelt prose is so inspiring.

the wild magnolia. Her blog is beautiful and I always find the most amazing images and poetry in her posts.

Shannon O'Donnell, Book Dreaming. Every book recommendation that Shannon shares is one I desperately want to read! She's also an incredibly kind-hearted, encouraging friend.

Tricia J. O'Brien, Talespinning. Tricia's writing is truly magical. Her blog is a definitely a feast for the senses and one to be followed.

Alex J. Cavanaugh. He is a kick-ass science fiction writer whose book is out and at the top of my sci-fi to-read list. Check it and his blog out!

Shelley Moore Thomas, Storyqueen's Storycastle. Shelley is an awesome children's book author whose New Year's resolution is to laugh more. Go laugh with her!

So get this. I wrote 8,000 words this weekend. BOO-YAH!

However, word count and story progression never sync for me. I always shoot for an end goal of 50,000 words, but generally exceed that by another 20-30K in order to finish up the story.

So when I hit the halfway goal of 25,000 at the end of January, I won't actually be halfway through the plot ... more like a quarter, but there it is.

How are your projects coming along? Do you have a word count goal or do you write by the seat of your pants?

On a High Horse

2011-01-15T09:59:00.007-05:00

Image from Jupiter Stock Photos

Horses were a big part of my life when I was younger. Katie, one of my best friends when I was growing up, introduced me to riding and her horse-craziness rubbed off on me. For years, I spent every weekend at the local stable, taking lessons and making friends with the animals.

These giant creatures fascinated me, because for all their incredible strength and power, they were mild, gentle and affectionate.

I especially loved a beautiful Thoroughbred named Gretel, an almond-colored mare with a white star on her forehead. I learned how to groom her and tack her, and eventually, how to ride. We spent hours with Rosemary, my instructor, who taught me all the gaits - walk, trot, canter, and gallop - and both styles of riding, both classic English and Western.

We spent our Saturdays making perfect figure eights and serpentines in the ring, and even got to go for long trail rides. The stable was situated on what seemed like a thousand green acres, surrounded by crimson trees and dozens of brook-lined paths, and we explored every inch of it.

To this day, I still can't quite describe the feeling of galloping bareback in the fields. No saddle, no Rosemary to coach me the entire way. Just me and Gretel and the open sky, wind whipping through my ponytail and filling my lungs with exhilaration. I clung to my horse's mane and watched the soft-blade sea of grass sweep by on either side of us, the smell of endless summer lifting with every hoofbeat.

We even learned how to jump. My instructor set up poles for us to clear, and we made it as high as three feet, which may not seem like much but certainly felt like a lot. I thought I knew exactly how it felt to be on a flying horse, and transferred this experience to the winged unicorns that danced through every page of every story that I wrote during those years.

At one point in time, my parents considered buying Gretel for me, but I think they were secretly glad when my horse-craziness faded out.

However, horses still make it into almost every story I write, and I'm thankful for all of the experience I gained when I was younger. There's nothing quite like being able to write about something you know well, as opposed to something you only imagine!

What about you? Any hobbies or experiences that help enrich your writing?

Shuffle Me This

2011-01-06T07:00:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, I like to play a game with my iTunes library. I put it on Shuffle, pretend it's a fortune-teller, and ask it all sorts of questions. No cheating, no skipping ahead - what comes up is the answer.

I've noticed that I never play this game when I'm happy. I only call upon the iTunes seer when I'm upset, frustrated, or just generally feeling down. A few months ago, when I was sulking in the writing doldrums, I decided to give it a shot.

Here is what ensued.

Me: (depressed) Will I ever become a published author?
iTunes: You don't waste any time, do you?
Me: Just give it to me. (hits Shuffle)
iTunes: "All Fall Down " by OneRepublic
Me: I love this song. And it's sort of encouraging, right?
iTunes: (vaguely) Mmm-hmm.
Me: Okay. Here's my next question: Will people like Pumpkin Patch Princess?
iTunes: "I'm Not That Girl" by Idina Menzel, from the musical Wicked
Me: (angrily) What the hell is that supposed to mean?!
iTunes: Hey, you asked, I answered.
Me: (depressed again) Fine. I'll ask something that I can't get a bad answer to.
iTunes: Because that's not cheating.
Me: What am I gonna have for dinner tonight?
iTunes: "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones
Me: All riiight, sounds like someone's buyin' me dinner! Okay, back to the writing-related questions. Am I going to meet my word count goal for this weekend?
iTunes: "Alone" by Heart
Me: I'm gonna take that as a yes. It means I'll have peace and quiet to write, right?
iTunes: (bored) Whatever. When are you going to plug in your Nano and let me sleep again?
Me: Shush, a couple more questions.
iTunes: (muttering) Ever since she bought this stupid fancy iMac, she won't leave me alone...
Me: Will I ever figure out a compelling beginning to this story?
iTunes: "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles
Me: I don't know what that means, but I love this song! Man, I have good taste in music.
iTunes: (yawns)
Me: What song would my two main characters, Chris and Noelle, fall in love to while dancing at the royal ball? If the king hired a modern DJ?
iTunes: "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys
Me: That's kinda cool! The main kingdom in my story is a metropolis loosely based on New York City!
iTunes: Grasping at straws, are we?
Me: Next question. When I start querying in 2011, what kind of responses will I get?
iTunes: "Sway" by Michael Buble
Me: I... have no clue what that means. But he's cute, so that's a good sign, right?
iTunes: Indeed.
Me: Last question. Will I be a published author someday?
iTunes: You already asked that.
Me: You're a computer program, and I tell you what to do. Humor me.
iTunes: For now...
Me: (hits Shuffle)
iTunes: "Under the Umbrella" by Thomas Newman, from the Little Women soundtrack
Me: ... I don't know what that means either.
iTunes: Oh, I actually know the answer to that one. It means you have too much time on your hands.

Here's a fun exercise for you: ask your iTunes library a question or two, put it on Shuffle, and leave the answer(s) in a comment.

I'm sure there are good things in store for someone out there...

I "Could Of" Written This Sooner

2011-01-04T09:49:00.008-05:00

Grammar can be really tricky, because let's face it: the English language is tough. There are so many rules to remember that even people who write as frequently as we do struggle. I know I do. I can't remember half of the terms that I learned in school. Participles, conditionals, imperatives, indicatives all blend together for me, so I usually just go by what sounds right.

Here are a few grammatical errors that I see and hear everywhere.

Me vs. I

Incorrect: Caption on a Facebook photo reading "My boyfriend and I."
Better: "My boyfriend and me."

Incorrect: "If you have any questions, please see Chris or I."
Better: "Please see Chris or me."

I think there may be a stigma against the word "me." Maybe it sounds childish. Maybe it was drilled out of people when they were taught not to say, "Me want cookies."

The simplest way I learned of correcting this mistake is to take the other person out. People wouldn't caption a Facebook photo of just themselves, "I," would they? Likewise, they wouldn't say, "Please see I."

(This is my number one grammar pet peeve, especially when I'm reading photo captions.)

Lay vs. lie

Incorrect: "I'm going to go lay down."
Better: "I'm going to go lie down."

I went to a writers' group once where we all discussed this. None of us could provide a clear explanation for it, but we all had a good idea of when and when not to use these verbs.

Generally, I think that "lay" requires a subject other than yourself. So you would "lay" down a piece of paper or "lay" down the law. It just doesn't sound right when you're talking about napping on the couch.

Have vs. of

Incorrect: "I would of come sooner if he had called me."
Better: "I would have come sooner if he had called me."

This one's pretty self-explanatory, I think, since "would of" doesn't even make sense.

Could vs. couldn't

Incorrect: "She ignored me and I could care less."
Better: "She ignored me and I couldn't care less."

Also self-explanatory. I heard a woman on the subway ramble on and on about her ex's leggy new girlfriend, punctuating every comment with "I could care less."

I wanted to say, "Judging from the way you've harped on the subject for everyone to hear, yes, I think you could."

What are some common grammatical errors that you see or hear often? Which ones annoy you the most? Are you guilty of any of them?

Resolutions, Big and Small

2010-12-31T10:29:00.008-05:00

Photo from Jupiter Stock Images

Well, it's finally here: the last day of 2010. Or should I say, it's already here? Amazing how much faster time goes by when you're grown up, even if you consider yourself a pseudo-adult like me.

This has probably been one of the craziest, most eventful years for me so far. I took the plunge in so many aspects of life: uprooted myself, switched career paths, turned strangers into friends, laid bare my most secret aspiration on this blog for all the world to see, and examined my own existence under a high-powered microscope.

And it's so funny because I was the cautious kid growing up. That's what happens when you're taught to be responsible at a young age. My parents always stressed that I should have all the qualities that people who have my Chinese zodiac sign - the ox - are thought to have: a strong work ethic, stubbornness, reliability, and self-dependence. However, ox-people are not big fans of change or risk-taking.

So here I am, an ox-girl, still all of the above, but also beginning to see the incredible benefits that come with taking risks. Whoever said "How do you expect things to change when you don't?" knew what they were talking about.

For 2011, I have big resolutions and I have little resolutions. Let me share the little ones with you first.

Read books in every genre. I'm going to try out everything I don't usually read: sci-fi, horror, westerns, autobiographies. Recommendations are welcome!

Attend a writer's conference. I really, really want to go to one of these, especially one centered around YA or children's books. If anyone is planning on attending one, let me know - we'll meet up and grab coffee!

Travel to three places I have never been before. With the good graces of time and money, of course, but I believe my job is going to offer a few traveling opportunities. I definitely need a fun vacation, though!

Have more fun. Given the right people and a dance floor, this one should be easy to do!

And here are my resolutions related to writing:

Pumpkin Patch Princess. My self-imposed deadline for the first draft is April 1, 2011. Yes, I wrote that in red font, that makes it OFFICIAL. If I don't get this story written by then, you are all given license to bully me mercilessly.

Write a children's book, and then test it out on some willing kids. Anyone need a babysitter?

And here is my BIG New Year's resolution:

Fall in love with an agent.

No, not like Reese Witherspoon, but in the I-never-thought-I'd-meet-someone-who-likes-my-story-and-wants-to-see-it-in-print-as-much-as-I-do way.

Someone who gets me, gets my style, points out my weaknesses, praises my strengths, and wants to hold my hand when I cry over rejections and bad reviews. And then tells me to quit blubbering and get back out there again.

Enough chatter from me. It's time to put the dancing shoes on and celebrate! Thanks for sticking with me this year and I hope you all have a wonderful night.

Happy New Year! See you in 2011!

A Little Night Music #13: Kung Fu Panda

2010-12-29T06:00:00.001-05:00

Ever since the first Shrek movie, I've had a weakness for Dreamworks films and "Kung Fu Panda" is one of the best.

It's impossible to watch without cracking up, it's endlessly quotable, and the score - jointly composed by movie music superpowers Hans Zimmer and John Powell - is terrific.

Check it out!

Listen to it on Youtube here

Listen to it on Youtube here

Tales of a Country Mouse

2010-12-26T15:46:00.011-05:00

Photo Source: Here

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! I had a wonderful snowy week relaxing with my nearest and dearest. I ate too much chocolate, baked up a storm, experienced more than one food coma, caught up on some reading and writing, and cooked the best food in the world a.k.a. Vietnamese food. (Okay, okay, I watched my mom cook it, but still...)

Holiday movies have always been a big tradition in our household. I think we went through every cartoon that ABC Family had to offer: Rudolph, Frosty, Jack Frost, Winnie the Pooh, Charlie Brown, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, the Grinch, etc.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was on occasionally, so of course everyone dropped whatever they were doing and watched that. And son of a nutcracker, I think I must have seen Elf at least five times in the span of two days.

Love Actually, which is one of my favorites, was also a necessity. The storyline I like best is Jamie and Aurelia's. For those of you who haven't seen this movie, Jamie - played by Colin Firth - is a writer who discovers that his girlfriend is cheating on him with his brother. He packs up and rents a beautiful cottage in the French countryside to write and get away from it all, and ends up meeting the love of his life there.

Picture found here

I seriously fantasize about doing that. Not for the same reason as Colin, obviously, but wouldn't it be nice to throw clothes into a bag, kiss people goodbye, hop a plane, and live in a completely different country for just one month?

My number one choice would be Versailles, but I'm not picky, a cozy little house in the countryside would do just as well. No cell phone, no internet connection, no one around and no noise to distract me. Just a gray stone cottage covered with ivy, a comfortable chair and a table dappled with sunlight from lace-framed bay windows. Me, a laptop, my notebooks, and a steaming cup of jasmine tea. A quiet little nook of the world where no one can find me if I don't want to be found - that's my idea of heaven.

What about you? If you had a month to take a solitary writing holiday, would you do it? Where would you choose to go?

Kids Read the Darndest Things

2010-12-18T11:03:00.033-05:00

Photo Source: Here

Way back in the day, when I was still young and crazy, I chose to major in pre-med biology.

Never mind that I sucked at organic chemistry (looking up midterm scores posted on the professor's door was like what childbirth must feel like, but at least I didn't weep uncontrollably in front of the other kids, like some people I could mention...).

Never mind that I'm terrified of needles. I also hate the sight of blood, and I'm not a big fan of drool, poop, vomit... you get the picture.

However, I love children and they love me, so when it came time to start volunteering and "get experience" to beef up the ol' curriculum vitae, I decided to give the pediatrics ward a try. The university I attended was adjacent to a great hospital, where I signed up to offer my services.

I'm going to be honest, I learned pretty much nothing about what it's like to be a pediatrician. I tried to follow the doctors and nurses around, but instead of checking saline bags and watching bones get set, which is what I imagined I'd be doing, I was assigned to the playroom where the young inpatients' siblings needed supervision. (Basically, I babysat all summer without pay.)

The playroom had a big collection of donated books that attracted me much more than toys or video games when I had to come up with something to do with my newfound friends.

What I did learn was that kids like books. I don't believe for one second that there is a child out there who hates curling up to read or be read to, and get lost in a story. Of course, I did meet with occasional resistance when I suggested that we read instead of playing Mario or hide-and-seek, but the right book always changed their minds.

Here are a few things I noticed.

Stories that attract 3- to 7-year-olds have:

Visual stimulation. These kids like pictures - the more, the better. Colorful, bright images help them connect what they are hearing with what they see.

Auditory stimulation. I don't know about other people, but I always do characters' voices when I read out loud. Kids really seem to engage more with the story when they can giggle and say, "The three little pigs sound silly!" or even, indignantly, "That's not what Tigger sounds like! Tigger sounds like this..."

Lots of immediate action. The story must start right away, and the sooner conflict appears in the plot (if any), the better. This audience is not impressed by backstory or anything more than a pinch of description, and these are usually not necessary in books of this age level anyway.

One plot. Too many things going on and too many supporting characters might be confusing, which then makes the story thread - and consequently, the kid's interest - slip. Even in Winnie the Pooh, with a pretty sizable cast of characters, the storybook usually focuses only on one and his/her conflict.

Stories that attract 8- to 11-year-olds have:

Visual stimulation. Pictures still pull them in and help them stay connected to who and what is in the story.

Auditory stimulation. Many kids of this age like reading by themselves, but when they are read to, doing voices still helps. I read "James and the Giant Peach" to one sweet boy who was very impressed by my voice for the Grasshopper (which probably sounded constipated to anybody else).

Brief, colorful descriptions. These are good for this age group and work in tandem with pictures, if there are any. Kids want to know what the characters look like and be able to picture the scenes in their heads. Roald Dahl's "Matilda" and his genius descriptions were a big hit with a lot of the kids I read to.

Small pieces of backstory. I read Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" to one little girl because it had been one of my favorites growing up. She kept wondering this and that out loud - why Mary was so cold and stiff, why Lord Craven never wanted to see his son, why the garden had been locked up for ten years - and punctuated each small, chewable piece of backstory with a satisfied "Ohhhh... that's why!"

More sophisticated plots and emotions. Instead of a straight conflict-and-resolve recipe, plots may deal with aspects of human nature that kids of this age already know: jealousy, fear, loneliness, worry, sympathy.

Stories that attract 12- to 17-year-olds have:

Visual stimulation. A lot of books for this age group have amazing covers and small chapter images. (I'm thinking of Mary GrandPre's stunning drawings for the Potter series, which I love to look at myself.) Fantasy books tended to have beautiful illustrations of dragons and wizards and whatnot, while romances had photos of sexy models with too-perfect hair and fangs... lots of fangs.

A grand or universal theme. Forbidden love. Overcoming a curse. Trying to fit in. Embarking on a quest or adventure. Dealing with hardship, i.e. coping with death, eating disorder, relationships ending. Being destined for greatness, i.e. saving the world, defeating evil, fulfilling a prophecy.

Complex story elements. The books had multiple subplots, unreliable characters, villains as protagonists, sympathetic antagonists.

Realistic characters in unrealistic/gratifying situations. Take Bella from "Twilight," who's klutzy and awkward, yet arrives at her new school and BOOM, it's like Gisele Bundchen appeared in the midst of a pack of hormonal 15-year-old boys. She snags the hottest guy at school (who, of course, is a smoldering vampire). Or Grace from "Shiver," who is sort of quiet and isn't interested in dating, but finds her true love (who, of course, is a sensitive werewolf). Or Nora from "Hush, Hush" who is just an average everyday sort of girl who meets her true love (who, of course, is a sexed-up fallen angel). I could go on.

(Side note: I did not read aloud to any teens, as they tended to be shy and aloof and all "What. I don't need a babysitter." I just paid attention to the books they chose to read.)

Are you writing for children and/or young adults? What do you think about the elements I observed, and are any of them included in your work?

Inspiration at Every Corner

2010-12-12T13:46:00.006-05:00

Photo Source: Here

Sorry I've fallen off the face of the Earth these past few weeks! Holidays and work and eye issues have been keeping me busy, and I've been trying not to spend any more time in front of a glowing screen than I am required to every day. I've taken to working on Pumpkin Patch Princess with pen and paper, but it is SO. SLOW. I used to write all my stories by hand, but now I've been spoiled by the computer and my fingers cramp up after only half an hour of scribbling. BUT, progress is progress, and I've had plenty of inspiration to keep me going.

I think the holidays are a pretty inspiring time of year, don't you? Christmas is my favorite (if you couldn't already tell by the holiday playlist!). I don't care that it's outrageously commercialized or that by the time Christmas Eve actually comes, the "Little Drummer Boy" is so permanently etched into my brain it's like a migraine full of pa-rum-pum-pum-pummm.

I like baking cookies with fun shapes (and making my own frosting, which sounds more impressive than it is because it's just milk and confectioner's sugar mixed together). I like wrapping presents. I like watching all the cartoons on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas (Mickey's Christmas Carol is my all-time FAVORITE). I like writing and sending Christmas cards, and getting them too.

But most of all, I like shopping for gifts and listening to Christmas music. These two are constantly combined now that I've moved to the big city, and there's nothing I like better than a chilly afternoon spent meandering by shop windows.

One weekend, when I was ogling ridiculously expensive party dresses and fantasizing about getting one for a bash at work, I heard a voice that tore me away from the display (not an easy feat). It was crystal clear and rang through the air so distinctly that I didn't realize it had come from practically a hundred feet away. I saw a crowd gathered around two lampposts, between which was a little girl singing this absolutely angelic version of "O Holy Night."

I love this song more than any Christmas song in the world, but this version was just something else. To say that it gave me chills would be an understatement. I saw more than one person with tears in their eyes, and everyone was just frozen to the spot, listening to this little girl - who couldn't have been more than 9 or 10 at most - singing her heart out.

I couldn't tell you why, but it gave me more conviction than ever that I had made all the right choices this long life-changing year, the right choices for me. Moving to the city, following my dream, searching for a job that would enable me to do what I love, working on a novel that I want to see on a bookstore shelf ... these things were magnified for me with every glorious note from that child's lips. I'm not religious in the least, but I could have sworn that there was an angel in the square that day.

So here I am, transferring what I have written by hand to the computer, thinking about the myriad ways in which inspiration manifests itself if we only stay open to receiving it.

What has inspired you lately? If you like/celebrate Christmas, what's your favorite carol?

The Plot Thickens

2010-11-21T09:49:00.003-05:00

Pumpkin Patch Princess is fully under way (though I haven't updated my word count bar on the right hand side)! I've been writing continuously on the computer, but I've also been fleshing out future scenes in a notebook. I sort of miss writing by hand! I'll definitely be taking my notebook along to scribble in over Thanksgiving.

Here's a brief excerpt from the very rough pre-rough draft.

I know that most people write on the computer, but does anyone prefer a notebook? Do you think there's a difference in the way that you write if you use a keyboard, compared to pen and paper?

Wilson, I'm Sorry!

2010-11-13T09:47:00.006-05:00

Image found here

I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo this year, but I've definitely caught the NaNo bug. Reading about your daily word counts and progress has inspired me.

Today I'm starting over with a completely blank Word document and a new direction. It's been way too long since I took off from that deserted island.

Word count goal for today: 2,000.

Anyone want to join me?! :)

Always Stop For Directions

2010-11-09T19:16:00.006-05:00

So, I'm a Type A personality. I freely admit this. I'm the one who makes packing lists for overnight trips, and the one who wears the watch and holds the maps. I get asked, "What are we doing next?" and I usually have a few answers, since it's always good to have options ahead of time in case Plan #1 doesn't work out. (See how bad it is?)

You can imagine how I apply this to writing: by extensively and exhaustively planning out every inch of my stories. That picture is a map that I drew of the world inside my WIP, Pumpkin Patch Princess. I like to have the lay of the land drawn out on paper, and this story in particular benefits from detail because of all the kingdom-hopping that my characters do.

In one subplot, Noelle and her fairy godmother encounter a subterranean lake and castle. I couldn't very well have that be in the same location as the countryside or the bramble forest, and it wouldn't make sense to be on top of the mountains where the dragons are. (Do you like my poor representation of a dragon? It looks like a butterfly on steroids.)

Since writing 15,000 words of PPP's rough draft, I've made some huge changes to the plot that I think will help the novel work a lot better.

However, my Type A planning only goes so far. I do like to have the freedom to step off the tour bus and just meander, see what I see when I get to what I see. Some parts of the journey are just better left open-ended, and it can be fun to see something in your own story that you didn't know would happen.

So what do you think about mapping it all out? Does it give a story structure, or does it sap creativity? What do you do before writing a story?

A Little Night Music #12: The Mask of Zorro

2010-11-06T14:31:00.003-04:00

I can't believe the "Mask of Zorro" came out in 1998, which seems like ages ago, but it was a great movie. (Even though I was crushed that I would never look like Catherine Zeta Jones, who has never been more gorgeous than she was in this film.)

James Horner put the score together (which seems to have been influenced by Ernesto Lecuona's Andalusia Suite), and it's a really fun, lively soundtrack to listen to. I have a big action scene planned in my WIP that will be written to this.

(Caught up on all of your wonderful comments - thank you so much! I've been horrible about blog reading and I'm going to try to make it up to you guys this week. I'll also have an update on PPP - about time, right?!)

Listen here on Youtube

Don't Be a Cake Bandit

2010-10-26T19:03:00.011-04:00

Picture source here

At the place where I used to work, everyone on the floor shared a lunchroom and a refrigerator. Even though most people had enough self-control not to eat other people's food, there was definitely someone who believed themselves to be above that rule.

Pieces of pie were stolen. Whole frozen pizzas disappeared from the freezer. The gallon of milk and the Brita filter were emptied and not replaced/refilled.

Passive-aggressive notes from the disgruntled owners of the food popped up on the fridge now and then, but nothing ever happened. (My favorite note was the one written by the Brita filter owner. It was a page-long, handwritten tirade that ended with a petulant "How hard is it to refill the water after using it?" Underneath that, some smart-ass - and my hero - had scribbled in: "The spell is 'Aguamenti.' Easy.")

Anyway, I laughed along with everyone else whenever a theft happened. We joked about trapping the bandit with a hidden camera, or maybe filling the pizzas with a laxative and then waiting by the bathrooms. I thought surely the bandit wouldn't dare mess with me.

And then, one fateful afternoon, I went to a seminar after lunch. It was a boring talk about some in-depth research on some obscure molecular signaling pathway that no one cared about (except the speaker), but everyone had come for the cake.

And a glorious, glorious cake it was. A thick, velvety, multi-layered chocolate buttercream confection that melted on the tongue.

Unfortunately, I had just eaten lunch, so I took several bites and decided to save the rest for my late-afternoon energy plummet. I took a Sharpie and wrote my name on top of the paper plate. I placed the fork beside the piece of cake that had obviously been partly consumed by me, and then put it in the fridge, thinking it would be perfectly safe.

I come back a few hours later. I open the fridge. I reach for my cake.

I know what you're thinking, but no. It wasn't gone. Oh no.

There was ONE BITE left on the plate. Some jerk had eaten 99% of my cake (well ok, minus the percent that I had eaten earlier) and SAVED ME one bite. The fork was even licked clean for me, waiting patiently by the five freaking crumbs that were left.

If you're gonna take the trouble of stealing a piece of cake, why not consume the whole thing and call it a day? Why leave it there? Taunting you, taunting the original owner of the cake, and just creating bad juju all around?

Same goes for writing a novel. (You were wondering how I was going to bring this back to the main point of my blog. Now you know) If you're going to do something as crazy as sit down for hours at a time, straining your back and your eyes to pour out imaginary people and places onto a paper or computer screen, you might as well finish it, right? (And this is also true of eating a piece of possibly Ex-lax-filled cake that may have been strategically placed in the fridge.)

Recently I have become the writing equivalent of that cake bandit, and it's not a good feeling. I'm going to be pushing myself to eat those last few crumbs as the year winds down.

So what about you? Do you finish your cake?

Not Everyone Can Come and Go By Bubble!

2010-10-21T20:53:00.008-04:00

Meet the latest convert to the Wicked Witch of the West's fan club!

"Wicked" is my favorite Gregory Maguire book. For those of you who don't know, it's the life story of the Witch from The Wizard of Oz. The novel is an exploration of evil and what it means, how it comes about, who defines it - so the book is pretty deep stuff compared to the musical. Someone had already warned me that the stage adaptation was very Hollywood, but I came in expecting to be entertained and came out satisfied!

Here's the big number at the closing of Act One that gave me giant goosebumps. It's when the Witch chooses her life path.

Listen here on Youtube

In the Name of Personal Writing Style

2010-10-01T16:53:00.009-04:00

Picture found here.

It's no secret that J.K. Rowling is the author I most admire, as I've raved about her in the past. (I found and blogged about one of her interviews, if you want to check it out.) Her name has already been cemented in children's literature with the likes of C.S. Lewis and Roald Dahl, and each time I read the series, I am floored by her immense talent and craftsmanship. The books are so popular and so commercialized that it's easy to lose sight of the fact that she is one phenomenally gifted author.

But as she's a self-made billionaire whose name is known across the world and who doesn't need to be sanctioned by a nobody like myself, I won't go on and on about how she's my hero and how I'm reading all of the books over and how I've idiotically laughed and cried and gasped over them as though I were reading them for the first time.

What I want to talk about is personal writing style.

People who know me and who know that I write fiction have often heard me say, "Man, what I wouldn't give to be that woman." Or even, "I'd do anything to write just like her."

But the thing is, I've got my own style. And I like it. It works for me. Just because Ms. Rowling is my hero doesn't mean that I should emulate her particular way with words, because it just wouldn't ring true. It wouldn't be natural, they wouldn't feel like my words and definitely wouldn't read that way.

And the more I learn about the world of publishing - the more realistic this whole endeavor becomes as I take one step, and then another, and then another towards the ultimate goal - I don't think that my wish of being like her means that I want her fame or her success. I would definitely never presume to reach that high, because number one, it would be incredibly arrogant and stupid, and number two, I'd be setting myself up for a lifetime of disappointment.

I think I just admire her so deeply for being a storyteller with a wonderful tale to tell. She wrote it from her heart and shared it with the world, and I think that's why it touched people so much. It was natural, and it was her.

Many times, I think that we aspiring writers get lost in the what-could-be's and when-it-will's of the craft. I know I definitely do, no matter how often I pretend to be all lofty and noble and say that money doesn't matter and fame doesn't matter. They do matter, but they should be lower on the list of priorities. Right under appreciating and embracing my own style, and hoping that when I send it into the world, it will resonate with somebody out there.

But just for fun ... if you could "be" and write just like any author, who would it be? Whose writing style is yours closest to?

P.S. My goal is to finish the entire Potter series again before Movie 7.1 comes out. The trailer rocks my world so hard.

A Little Night Music #11: Ever After and The Little Ones

2010-09-23T18:38:00.006-04:00

As you all know, I love writing to music and I've been compiling a soundtrack for Pumpkin Patch Princess. Here are two of the songs I've been listening to (besides OneRepublic).

This is the score from the movie "Ever After," which is one of the best film adaptations of Cinderella, in my opinion. Love George Fenton's music for it - a perfect mix of fanfare and fairy tale romance.

Listen here on Youtube

And "Cha Cha Cha" by the Little Ones has exactly the upbeat, quirky vibe I want to inject in my story. (If it sounds familiar to you, you might have heard it in the movie "Penelope.")

Enjoy!

A Few Updates and Notices

2010-09-20T20:30:00.008-04:00

Photo Source: Here

"Pumpkin Patch Princess" is going slow, but at least it's still going! I'm re-reading Harry Potter #3, the one where Hermione has the Time-Turner, and I wish more than ever that I had one. I could totally dig going to work, then whipping out that little hourglass at 5 pm and making it be morning again. Then I could write, write, write! (Well, sleep in, too. I'd be lying if I didn't include that.)

But I have pages and pages of notes for my story, and a whole outline for chapters one through seven. I also have an official writing soundtrack that I'll share with you guys bit by bit over the next few weeks. It's a very fun soundtrack because the story is quirky and whimsical and light-hearted. I've tried doing dark and I'm tired of it. Plus Cinderella just doesn't seem right when it's dark (unless it's done very well), so my story is more like a Disney World ride.

Hello, new followers! You are all very welcome :) Thanks so much for joining me and I hope you enjoy your stay. Please leave a comment or e-mail me your blog URL so I can follow you back - some of you don't have it listed when I click your picture to return the favor.

Aha and speaking of e-mail... my contact e-mail is juleswrites85@hotmail.com. Please do not contact me asking for personal information such as where I work, etc. Obviously I am not going to share that with a complete stranger, so please don't do it anymore/don't think about doing it. All such queries will be promptly ignored. But I am open to friendly messages so please feel free to say hi. I love chatting with new people!

What else did I want to say? Oh yes! I know for a fact that NaNoWriMo ain't happening this year for me. There's simply not enough time in the day, but I intend to keep my Moleskine close by at all times so I can jot down ideas and such. Who's planning on doing it and what are you writing?! Friend me here. I'll still follow your progress and be your cheerleader even if I can't pound out the golden 50K.

To all of my buddies who are querying: GOOD LUCK. I hope to be in that boat soon...

Of Bookworms and Beauty

2010-09-19T12:08:00.013-04:00

Photo Source: Here

When my mom and two of her sisters were growing up, they were considered the most beautiful girls in the family. Although the eldest of the three was considered the prettiest according to the standards of their time and culture, the boys lined up outside the door for all of them.

But those years were far from idyllic. Life was difficult. And when war obliterated those hot summer days, youth and beauty were the furthest things from their minds. They were in their teens and twenties when they left their home - and childhood - behind forever.

In America, they could turn their attention back to themselves. They were safe, settled, content, and surrounded by friends, new and old.

My most beautiful aunt was more beautiful than ever (and, to tell the absolute truth, a bit vain). She married an excellent man and gave birth to a daughter who inherited her refined features. Everyone agreed (and still agrees) that my cousin - who had a kind heart in addition to her perfect face - was the loveliest girl in our entire family.

It nettled my mom when my aunt was smug about it (and it still nettles her, and my aunt is still smug, and now we know the meaning of the phrase "some things never change").

Mom was an attractive woman in her own right, but she never obsessed about appearances the way my aunt did. However, it was a relief when she got married herself and I was born, a perfectly healthy, happy, smiling baby girl.

And when I started growing up and it became evident that I had a good brain in my head, it didn't matter that much to Mom that my cousin was so pretty. Now, whenever my aunt said "Oh, my girl is lovely. Everyone says she's going to grow into a beauty," my mom could say, "My girl is smart and everyone says she's going to have a bright future."

I loved being the "smart" one growing up, the one who pulled straight A's and spelled difficult words and knew all about Greek mythology because she spent her time buried in books.

Of course it was a little bit hard at times, especially when we hit middle and high school and were supposed to start caring more about boys and makeup. It got irritating when we'd all get together - my mom, my aunts, and their daughters - and my cousins would be all dolled up and doing gymnastics or ballet, and I'd sit in a corner with yet another book. This was the height of my infamous decade-long awkward phase, and I still had my gigantic glasses and unbrushed hair, and my aunt would not leave me or my mom alone.

I was really sensitive, but my mom would get mad if I let it get to me. "Just ignore," she would advise. "Don't change."

So I didn't. I kept on burying myself in books. If I was going to be labeled the "bookish one," then damn it, I was going to be the most bookish one that I could possibly be. At some point, I stopped caring. I don't remember when it happened, but I suppose it helped that my cousin and I were on such good terms with one another.

I remember going to visit them with my mom a few years ago, and my aunt was still criticizing us. (My mom's chief problem is "old" skin and mine is that my chin sticks out too much.) But Mom and I just looked at each other and grinned. I pointedly picked up the biggest, fattest book I could find and started flipping through it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I found out nothing makes for truer writing than loving yourself, and I can't lie.

I love being the family bookworm, and that's never going to change.

What about you? Were you the "smart" one in your family?

Why Public Transportation Is Like Death

2010-09-17T19:56:00.006-04:00

Photo Source: Here

Death, it has been said, is the great equalizer. Everyone is at its mercy.

Having lived in a major city for a couple months now, I'm inclined to think the same of public transportation.

The subway and the bus are filled with all kinds of people from all walks of life. You'll see a well-dressed businessman with a briefcase sitting next to a girl in a wifebeater and a scrap of cloth that passes for shorts. Or maybe a perfectly groomed woman with designer shoes and a giant rock on her finger, clinging to the same handrail as a bald intoxicated man in a Flava Flav get-up, singing "Hey Ya" at the top of his lungs while everyone averts their eyes in the hopes that he doesn't urinate on them.

All of these people are equally dependent upon this system of getting around. They stand on the same platform, are subject to the same loud individuals, and have a fairly equal chance of getting a seat or swinging like Tarzan from the overhead bars when Mr. Leadfoot slams on the brake.

(And by the way, I really think the world would be a much better place if everyone would write out their feelings of anger and frustration, like most of us writers do. It's gotta do something to your self-esteem when you let it build up and then get into a shouting match with your handrail neighbor, with everyone on the bus staring, and the driver has to stop the vehicle and come separate you like a pair of unruly fourth-graders.)

Sometimes I am inclined to believe that getting published is also a great equalizer. Given that no one has super awesome connections (like, say, if their parents ran a publishing company or they were the goddaughter of a super-agent), it's a pretty even playing field.

For the most part, everyone has the same resources available, the same information, the same odds when they slog through the slush pile together.

What do you think? Given the material that's out there, do you believe that everyone has the same chance of getting a seat on that one elusive train?

Madison and the Albino Ghost

2010-09-15T07:00:00.002-04:00

When my friend Talia and I were in grade school, we had oodles of ambition and a fail-proof plan: she would become a famous artist and I would become a famous author, and we'd collaborate on a truly awesome book.

(In fact, she provided some illustrations for my magic TV story in fourth grade.)

One year, an English teacher taught our class the basic structure of a novel. This structure outlined elements that should be included in every story, and the order in which they should appear.

Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Denouement

We had to draw the plotline and then write and illustrate a story with all of the necessary elements. Talia and I came up with this massive spaghetti western/romance/horror/suspense melodrama, and just recently I found the plotline that we drew for it.

Ta-da!

All of the writing is mine, and most of the drawings are hers. (She was an incredibly talented artist even at 11 years old!)

I laughed so hard at this thing when I found it the other day.

The basic premise is a wagon train headed to the sinister town of Deerhead, Texas. The main character is named Madison (Talia used to be obsessed with this name and wanted to give it to her first daughter) and is in love with her cousin Bradley. (Weird...) Anyway, this villain named Joe crashes into Bradley's wagon and sends him plummeting down into Deerhead Canyon. So that was our exposition and rising action.

Then we threw in some foreshadowing (I don't know if you can see it, but I wrote: "Why does the dog really bark? Symbolism" near the orange part of the plotline - HAHA) and introduced an Albino Ghost that haunts the canyon. Apparently he runs around town drinking at saloons and having duels at high noon, protecting the virtuous like a tricked-out Clint Eastwood-esque Robin Hood.

THEN he turns out to be Mad's cousin who never died (although I'm not sure why he just didn't return to civilization) and gets on the bad side of Joe, who is now Mad's unwanted suitor. The story climax finds Bradley confronting Joe in an epic, tumbleweed-strewn battle. And then Joe dies, leaving the happy couple to reunite with their families during the denouement.

Oh, the good old days...

Did you ever have to learn the basic elements of a novel and write according to them? What do you think about this structure? Seems kind of rigid and confined to me now.

Secrets and Birthday Wishes

2010-09-12T17:23:00.006-04:00

Photo Source: Here

Last Saturday, I made yet another wish over yet another birthday cake. (And then I did it again for a second cake on Sunday.)

Birthday wishes give me an overwhelming sense of deja vu.

Each time, I squeeze my eyes shut, and the room with its smiling faces and candles ablaze in the dark disappear. I close my hands into fists and press them against my dress, bracing myself for the silent words that blossom in my mind each year, without fail.

I won't tell you what I asked for, but I will tell you that I've asked for it almost every year since I was a little girl.

The trouble with birthdays is that as the years pass, wishes take on a sort of hazy quality. There is no black and white anymore. (If I am good, I will get it. If not, maybe next year.) It gets sort of frightening when you begin to realize that every wish is possible ... it just doesn't depend on someone else to make it come true anymore. Growing up means realizing that you have the power to decide your own fate.

I think this means I'm officially an adult now. There's no avoiding it. (Plus I got sort of a hint when people mentioned that they'd considered getting two number-shaped candles for me, instead of sticking the correct quantity into the buttercream frosting.)

Last year, during the exhilarating rollercoaster ride that was ABNA, NaNo, and an agent's e-mail, I made a rash promise to myself: that when I blow the candles out on my cake in 2011, I will be able to make a brand-new, different wish. The clock starts now...

Thank you for my birthday present of over 300 awesome people. I will have to find some creative way to celebrate with all of you - a blogfest or contest in the near future, maybe?

"Pumpkin Patch Princess" is moving right along. One song has been dominating the playlist for my intermittent episodes of furious writing and - surprise, surprise! - it's not instrumental for once. And it's actually very appropriate for writers :) Enjoy! I will continue catching up with you guys throughout the week, so keep an eye out!

Listen here on Youtube

A Day Job and a Dream

2010-08-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I'm away for just a couple of weeks and I come back to find people getting agents and requests?! CONGRATULATIONS! You guys rock and I cannot wait to see and BUY your books when they come out. (By the way, I expect signed copies from all of you. Just so you know...)

Things have been busy here, but the two weeks away were totally worth it. I did some sightseeing, ate a lot of great food (tried Ethiopian and Jewish cuisine for the first time! Loved both), made cool new friends, hung out with cool old friends, and generally enjoyed life.

I am officially all settled in (unpacked my FINAL box last week - I know, I know, it's been almost two months) and I'm getting used to the commute. I really enjoy my job.

So now it's time to get back into writing! It may have been my guilt nudging me, but everywhere I looked during my hiatus, I saw reminders of what I should have been doing. For example:

People writing on the train. I'm not sure whether it is comfortable pouring your heart into a journal while surrounded by rustling newspapers, ringing cell phones, the loud "DING" when the train doors open and close, the driver screaming "WATCH THE DOORS, PEOPLE," and complete strangers who can't keep their balance practically falling on you. But I saw many folks doing this on their commute, so I say: More power to them.

People writing on the bus. A sweet-looking elderly lady smiled and moved to the window seat so I could sit down. She resumed scribbling into a notebook and being my nosy self, I couldn't resist taking a peek at what she was working on. It may or may not have been an erotic romance. I may or may not have seen the words "heaving bosom." It may or may not have scarred me.

An entire table at Barnes and Noble dedicated to ASIAN AUTHORS. I don't think it is Asian American month, but I thought that was pretty darn cool. There are some truly kick-ass Asian writers out there. I looked at the beautiful covers and compelling stories - which ranged from middle grade to adult fiction - and realized the meaning of that old bromidic saying: "my heart swelled." The guy stacking books near me gave me a look of sympathy and understanding (or so I wanted to think. It could very well have been a look of confusion and wariness).

Papyrus. My friend wanted to go in and get an anniversary card for her parents. I had no idea what kind of store it was - being a small-town girl from an area deprived of cool shops - and my jaw dropped when I walked in. Paper, paper everywhere. Pretty paper. And pens! And calligraphy sets! And stuff. For WRITING. I started my Christmas list right then and there; never mind that it's August.

Witnessing an in-person critique group. I'm pretty sure that's what it was. There were five or six people sitting around with coffee mugs and stacks of paper and big red pens. I heard them bandying words like "characterization" and "denouement."

So I think these are some pretty clear signs that I need to sit my butt down and work on my story. What do you guys think? :)

I missed you all and I will be catching up with you and your blogs this week. So expect comments from me!

On Hiatus

2010-08-11T19:44:00.005-04:00

Photo Source: Here

I just wanted to let you guys know that I will be taking a break from blogging for a little while. I'm not sure how long it will be, but I haven't had much time lately. Whatever scraps of time I have for creative writing should be going to my story, which frankly isn't progressing.

I've been getting very complacent and big-headed about my writing in general, and I got slapped back to reality, which I completely deserve. I need some time to step back and reassess.

It may take one week or a few, but I promise to return and continue documenting the long road ahead. Just need to make a pit stop and remember what I'm bringing along here.

I hope you'll check back again. Good luck with your reading and writing and I hope you're all well!

My Summer Reading List

2010-07-29T19:34:00.007-04:00

Picture source here.

I'm a huge Jane Austen fan. I own all of her books, have read each of them a dozen times, and have seen a ton of movie adaptations. That's why I take offense to all of these fanfiction spin-off books that have been coming out. Sure, it's fun to imagine what happened to Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy after the wedding. Maybe it would be interesting to see whether Marianne ever thought of Willoughby, or whether Jane Fairfax was really happy with Frank.

But I have yet to read a version that is better than your average soap opera. If you're going to write an Austen spin-off, I want to see characters speaking in the dialogue of Regency England. I want historical accuracy. I want the spirit and zest of Austen, not some slow-paced soft porn wherein Mr. Darcy somehow mysteriously becomes a vampire. (Still don't get the whole paranormal romance hype, unfortunately... although I did enjoy City of Bones.)

So I was very excited to discover the great Georgette Heyer, who has been called the queen of Regency fiction. I saw a whole table devoted to her at the local library, grabbed a copy of "The Grand Sophy," and haven't been able to stop reading since.

Her writing (which is all original stories) is as close to Austen as it gets, and every detail is painstakingly researched. The characters are lively and well drawn, and her portrayal of social drama is totally tongue-in-cheek. I'm really enjoying it and hope that other Austen fans who haven't heard of her will give her books a try!

Other books currently on my nightstand:

"Relic" by Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child. This is literally my 200th re-reading of this book. Do NOT begin reading unless you have a lot of time. I stayed up til 4 AM to finish this the first time around.

"The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. I enjoyed his previous books a lot. Maybe his writing will do for symbology what Indiana Jones did for archaelogy.

"Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" by Gregory Maguire. "Wicked" was Maguire's magnum opus because a lot of people - myself included - liked that book and not much else. ("Mirror, Mirror" was painful to get through.) But I will give this one a try!

"Hush, Hush" by Becca Fitzpatrick. I saw this in the YA section and got curious, even though I hear it's a bit too close to Twilight for comfort.

The one thing I love about my long daily commute is getting to see what people are reading on the subway.

Almost every person I see has a copy of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Has anyone read that yet? What do you think of it?

Have you done a lot of summer reading? Any books that stand out for you?

Using Real People as Characters

2010-07-24T08:33:00.004-04:00

One of the most fun things about writing, for me, is putting real people into my stories and not having them know about it. It's a little bit like getting revenge.

An evil professor who never scaled exams and treated me like an idiot whenever I came to his office hours for help? Welcome to Villain-ville, complete with furry white feline and monocle.

My catty, two-faced roommate who pretended to be my friend but was secretly spreading lies about me? Hope you enjoy being the mean girl in my YA.

Pompous, sycophantic co-worker who enjoyed throwing everyone else under the bus? Hello, newest character, meet my protagonist!

(Now this might make me sound like a mean person, but I assure you that it's all in good fun and I don't intend to hurt anyone. It might be passive-aggressive to vent my feelings in novel form, but I don't think that's bad if it helps me cope and have a little fun at the same time.)

However, there is always the danger of your "inspiration" recognizing herself as Penny Prinkles in your latest murder mystery.

So what are some ways to help throw the cloak of originality on your character while maintaining their fundamental real-life qualities?

Change his name. This may seem obvious, but your character's name must be different from his real-life persona. I mean, you don't want to endure your sister teasing you about "Ted" the hot mechanic in your Harlequin romance after your embarrassing crush on her mechanic friend Ted. Even "Theodore" might be too close for comfort. How about ... "Ignacio" (first name that came to mind, don't know why).

Change his occupation. You can turn a mechanic into an astronaut, or a professor into an ice cream scooper. (Of course this may change his motivation... see #5)

Give her a makeover. If your boss is a larger woman with red hair and blue eyes, you could make the character short and brunette with green eyes. Or brown hair and dark eyes. Or Chinese.

Change facets of his personality. A soft-spoken person can still be used as inspiration if you make his character loud and boisterous. You can always pick and choose other qualities to keep.

Give her a different motivation. If in real life she is an ambitious woman who wants to climb the corporate ladder for materialistic reasons, you could make her character a threatened divorcee who is trying to get a promotion so she can make more money to give her scary ex-husband (or so she can be transferred and get away from said scary ex-husband).

Do you use real people as inspiration for your characters?

If so, to what extent do you change them?

(This might also be interesting to look at; it's a Wikipedia list of famous fictional characters based on real people.)

A Little Night Music #10: Danse Macabre

2010-07-15T06:00:00.001-04:00

Camille Saint-Saens's "Danse Macabre" might be better for October, but it came up in my Youtube playlist and I wanted to share it with you.

The story behind this piece is that Death comes out to party every Halloween on the stroke of midnight (which is why you hear twelve strokes at the beginning). He raises the dead to dance to his fiddle until sunrise, when they must go back to rest until next year.

Those of you who are musicians will appreciate what is known as a tritone (or the Devil's chord) near the beginning. Supposedly people have always associated that particular chord with evil because ... well, it sounds evil. This might be an interesting soundtrack for writing a villain.

Enjoy and remember to turn off the blog playlist first! (Or listen here.)

Do You Trust Me?

2010-07-13T19:38:00.003-04:00

Being an author is very much like being a tour guide. You have power. You are in charge. You get to tell people what happened, and when, and how, and why, and they will most likely trust you.

Now think about being a reader and watching the story unfold before your eyes. The thought of the author misleading you never comes to mind, does it?

So what happens when they are misleading you? What happens when the protagonist says things that aren't quite true, but are warped by his or her own viewpoint?

I was attracted to the eerie cover of "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson, and because I had previously read and enjoyed a book by this author, I plucked it off the library shelf.

The story is told from the first-person POV of Merricat Blackwood, youngest daughter of a wealthy family surrounded by scandal, tragedy, and the hatred of the villagers. Right away there was something unnerving about her narration. I got the feeling that all was not quite right with her, but as the reader I had no choice but to go along and see things from her viewpoint.

It's such a unique experience to read a protagonist that you can't quite trust. A protagonist, in fact, that scares you a little bit. I thought it was one of the weirdest books I have ever read, but really enjoyed it and liked the novel experience of not really relating to the main character (because I am not supposed to, after all).

Have you ever come across an unreliable narrator? Where? Did you enjoy it?

Have you ever written an unreliable narrator?

New Places, New Spaces

2010-07-10T16:20:00.006-04:00

I don't like moving and I'm not crazy about summer, but this week they joined forces to make my life truly miserable. Lugging boxes and dragging furniture around in 95-degree weather is not fun. Neither is yelling at rude incompetent people who can't do a basic cable/Internet transfer (okay I lied, maybe it is a little bit fun).

But we finally accomplished it all and then came the fun part: settling in. The apartment is huge and though it is garden level, it's bright and cheerful and airy. I've already designated writing and reading areas, and I can't wait to test them all out.

The first thing I did was to check out the local library. It's a beautiful brick building with a glass front, filled with comfy chairs where you can sip coffee and read or stare out at the tree-lined street. It's just a ten minute walk away, which is good because my shoulder can't take a tote bag bursting with books for much longer than that.

I already love my cozy reading corner. Ribbon-tied curtains, a soft butterfly chair, a pretty lamp, and plenty of shelf space for all my books and journals... what could be better?

And here is where I plan on doing most of my writing:

I haven't unpacked my office supply box yet, which is why the desk looks so neat, but I know it'll be covered with pens and notebooks and post-its in no time.

I'm hoping to get some more of "Pumpkin Patch Princess" written this weekend. I had a lunch date with my Moleskine a few weeks back and managed to add on two new subplots that I think will help round out the story. Unfortunately that means doing a little rewriting even as I'm writing, but it's definitely progress.

The agent to whom I submitted the first four chapters couldn't have been more right. The story started off too slow and there wasn't enough conflict to maintain reader interest. I know what I'm doing now and can't wait to fix it up and resubmit, as well as query an ever-growing list of other agents I've been researching.

So that is a brief update on where things stand, just to let you know I'm still alive and well! I really apologize for falling behind with blogging and reading blogs and commenting, but I hope to jump back on the bandwagon as soon as things calm down a bit more. I should have more music and at least another post for you this week.

Hope you're all well and beating the heat, if your summer is just as sticky and humid and stifling as mine has been!

What Is Julie Up To?

2010-06-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

Images in this post link to their sources. Let me know if you'd like yours removed.

After almost three weeks away from my WIP, I pulled up "Pumpkin Patch Princess" and started reading it last night. There is really something to be said for coming back with fresh eyes. I saw things that I wouldn't have seen without the short break, and I have a better idea of where I want it to go.

Before the break, I was having trouble with backstory. Most of you know that PPP is a retelling of Cinderella and because I love minor characters, the fairy godmother plays a central role. She is just as important as Cinderella in my story, so I've had to research fairy godmother lore and come up with a tangible background for her. It's fun but very difficult to restrain from backstory-dumping. I need to prune out anything that's not vital for the reader to know immediately. A little mystery never hurt, right?

I can't wait to get settled into my new apartment and get back into a regular writing routine! The adventure of moving to a new city is way better than the actual process. I would much rather be working on PPP than packing boxes, but such is life.

I might be jumping the gun a bit, but ... I already know what I'm writing for NaNoWriMo this year! Yes! It came to me when I was waiting for my car inspection. (Being surrounded by the sound of clanking wrenches and the smell of gasoline can be inspiring, apparently!) What is it about? Well, I don't want to jinx myself by revealing too much, but here are a few clues:

I think it will end up being YA fantasy, but will be much darker than the humorous, light-hearted PPP. I got so excited that I already started picking names for my heroine.

But one thing at a time. I'm going to concentrate on PPP and get it in shape for querying season in the fall. I had hoped that it would be finished by now, but never mind. I have a great feeling about this story and I hope I will find someone who loves it too.

Now, back to packing. (Sigh)

A Little Night Music #9: The Lord of the Rings

2010-06-25T00:00:00.008-04:00

The Lord of the Rings trilogy cemented my love for fantasy. In high school, my best friend and I were obsessed with the movies and went to see each one about five times. She got me a six-foot-tall cardboard Legolas for Christmas one year (which my brother thought would be fun to stick in the tub and then close the shower curtain so I'd have a heart attack, but that's a whole different story).

To this day, I still know almost all the lines (yes, even Samwise Gamgee's speech from the end of "The Two Towers"). This story is pure magic and the screenplay is nothing short of genius.

But the best part of all, for me personally, is Howard Shore's music. I am such a geek when it comes to movie scores, and the one he wrote for this trilogy is my Holy Grail. I cannot imagine my iTunes writing playlist without it. It has everything for an author in need of inspiration: adventure, foreboding, mystery, danger, love, friendship ... ok I feel like the grandfather from the Princess Bride, but I mean it.

I listen to this score with a box of tissues. I always cry during "The Breaking of the Fellowship." Here it is for your listening enjoyment!

Remember to turn off the blog playlist first, or you can also listen to it here.

Fun Awards!

2010-06-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

Last week I received three new awards that I wanted to share, so here they are!

The Fantasy Sci-Fi Blogger Award is from my kind friend Aubrie at Flutey Words. It recognizes blogs that promote fantasy and science fiction through interviews, reviews, writing, etc. Please take it for yourself if you are a fantasy or science fiction writer (or both!).

EDIT: Thanks to Theresa who reminded me! I forgot to list five fantasy books or series that inspire me, so here they are:

Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien). I love the books (although I admit that they were an acquired taste) and I LOVE the movies.
Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling). I worship Ms. Rowling and not-so-secretly wish I had some of her awesomeness.
The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley). Arthurian legend fascinates me and I love seeing it from the Avalon perspective.
Wise Child / Juniper (Monica Furlong). These two magical books cemented my love for writing fantasy back in the sixth grade.
The Chronicles of Prydain (Lloyd Alexander). I loved this series as a child and can't wait to re-read them again.

I received the Versatile Blogger Award from Bec at Gaining my writing wings. Thanks, Bec! To accept this award, I have to share 7 things about myself. Here goes:

I am a neat freak.
I am not a morning person.
I like red wine better than white.
I am the same height as Mozart.
I can run a mile in seven minutes.
I have only ever owned silver cars.
My last pet was a hamster named Mr. Tumnus.

I have to pass this on to 15 people (wowza!) but how about this: the first 15 people who comment on this post can take this award.

And last but not least, the lovely Myrna Foster at Night Writer gave me this Pertinent Posts Award! I have to state what I look for in a blog and then pass it on to 7 bloggers.

What I look for in a blog: a strong voice. I love that comfortable feeling of being in a good writer's hands and coming back to a blog with interesting stories and a personal flair.

The 7 people who will receive this award are:

Life has been crazy lately (but good). I won't be around as much because I'm gearing up to move and start a new job in a new city (!!!). I'm excited and nervous and scattered all at once, but will try to check in at least a couple times a week.

I'm hoping to get settled quickly, find a comfortable routine, and then make a little time for my novel once again.

I will be working on responding to all of your comments this week and apologize for the delay. I will also have some new writing music for you in a few days, so stay tuned!

Shhh... It's a Secret

2010-06-18T08:00:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking about keeping my writing a secret from now on.

Only you guys would know about it, and the people I've told in the past.

No discussing my blog, any writing contests I enter, any agents who are interested in me, or pending book deals (if I am ever so fortunate one day).

The thing about telling people is that:

Not everyone is happy for you. They might even be downright unhappy. If you are like me and are happy when things go well for others, this will offend you. A lot. But on the flip side, you'll find out who's really got your back.

Pressure can be annoying. If you are constantly asked "Are you done the book yet?", you will have to explain over and over that writing a novel isn't just writing. A big chunk of it is thinking and planning.

News may spread before you're ready. Well-meaning friends might raise expectations before the story is even finished. While the support might help you write, fear of failure might do the opposite.

People might get paranoid. Too bad it isn't a secret that most writers are inspired by real life! People may start watching what they do or say for fear of ending up as a character (but they probably will anyway).

Your story ideas might get stolen. "Hey, guess what?! My cousin's writing this novel about..." And then it's a race to get your idea written by you before someone else takes it and writes it.

But on the other hand, telling people has pluses too.

You get support. Friends and family cheering you on is a great motivator.

You might meet fellow writers. If you have a friend who secretly writes too, you could have a built-in critique partner.

You have an insta-audience. You have willing readers who will give you immediate feedback.

You might have connections. Who knows? Somebody may know somebody who knows somebody connected to an agent or publishing house.

You are building readership. If people know you write, they will keep an eye out for your book and buy it when it hits stores.

What about you? Do people know that you write?

How do you feel about the pluses and minuses of sharing your dream?

Forget Chivalry ... It's Grammar That's Dead

2010-06-16T08:00:00.004-04:00

Picture source here

I've been apartment hunting for the past two weeks, scouring the mines of craigslist for a not-too-expensive diamond in the rough.

Most ads, I read. Other ads, I dismiss right away.

It took me about seventy ads to realize why I was dismissing the ones I dismissed: horrible writing.

That's right. Atrocious spelling ("Hear is the apartment summery"), weird grammar (someone stuck an apostrophe into "were," as in: "The apartments we're furnished and these chairs we're part of a set"), and no-no's like lolspeak.

Yes, I realize that with the advent of Facebook and Twitter, writing on the Internet has become much more casual. Yes, I realize that mistakes happen even with proofreading.

But for Pete's sake, these people want to rent out apartments, don't they? Would it kill them to sound somewhat professional and do a couple extra rounds of editing?

A series of blurry photos depicting a weed-ridden garden at night, followed by the sentence "PLS CALL STU AND I B4 U COME SEE OK, HEAT N HOT-H20 INCLUDID" does not bring the words "Home sweet home" to mind.

What do you think? What frighteningly bad ads have you come across? Would you make up your mind on a house or apartment based on the written quality of the ad?

The Life is Good Award

2010-06-14T08:00:00.002-04:00

I got this cute badge from the lovely Melanie Golden! Thanks Melanie!

Here goes:

1. What's your favorite genre to read? Why?
Fantasy is my favorite to read and to write. I love escaping to new worlds. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and The Mists of Avalon are some of my favorites.

2. If you couldn't write in the genre you do, what genre would you write in?
Mystery. I like logic, red herrings, and surprise endings. I get very involved in my Agatha Christie books and wish I had the skill and patience to write in this genre!

3. Pepsi or Coke?
I like Pepsi better.

4. How do you spend your Sundays?
Sunday is the only day of the week I get to spend however I like! The perfect Sunday would be rainy and spent in a bookstore with a big mug of cocoa.

5. Penguin or giraffe?
Penguins. I like watching shows about them and think they are amazing animals.

6. What type of vehicle do you drive?
I have a silver Infiniti that I am in love with. Her name is Pearl.

7. Would you lick a battery if your life depended on it?
Death or a light shock? The light shock, for sure.

8. When do you like to write - in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening?
Evening is the only time I have to write, but it's a great way to unwind.

9. Which do you like more - Facebook or Twitter?
I prefer Facebook. I do like using Twitter to read news and see what other writers are up to, but Facebook is a better way to network and stay in touch.

10. If you get hurt (like a scrape on the knee or break your arm), do you ask for a band-aid?
I don't think a band-aid would do a broken bone any good, but... I'm a big girl now and get my own band-aids when I need them!

Those were some... interesting questions! Let's see how these guys will answer them:

A Wee Unplug

2010-06-07T08:00:00.003-04:00

Image Source: Here

Just letting you guys know I will be unplugging this week.

I've got a ton to catch up on: reading, responding to comments, my science blog, and the WIP (which is currently like walking through molasses - slow and very, very sticky).

I've been very busy and unmotivated, and I need to focus. Hopefully I'll be able to push through in a few days.

See you next Monday!

Writing Wallflowers

2010-06-03T08:00:00.002-04:00

Photo Source: Here

Being an unagented writer is a lot like being a wallflower at a dance.

If you went through a decade of awkwardness like I did, I'm sure you remember those dances. Streamers and confetti. Strobe lights. Chaperons. Nervous giggling. Speakers blasting Britney Spears. Bleacher bums in thick glasses and headgears, enviously watching couples dance. (It's not like I'm writing from experience or anything...)

So here I am. Back on the bleachers. Except this time, there are tons of people sitting with me. Cool people just biding their time until they can go out and do the Macarena.

We're all practicing our dance moves and erupting in cheers whenever one of our own is invited to the dance floor (a common occurrence lately!). Someday, we could be out there too.

I'll test my routine on my critique group and then watch them do theirs. Sometime this summer, I want to get up off these bleachers and see if anyone will dance with me.

Until then, I'm kind of enjoying my wallflower status. I love the company and besides, the view is great from up here.

Are you still on the bleachers too? What dance are you practicing? (I'm partial to the running man myself...)

Imitation ... Is It Flattering?

2010-05-31T00:00:00.002-04:00

Photo Image: Here

Everyone knows this quote: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

But is it really? Do people actually like it when others imitate them? Is it okay when others borrow their ideas, their style, and their words?

I've never been flattered by imitation. It does nothing but irritate me.

As the oldest of three, I was the trendsetter in my family. Whatever I wanted to do - have a sleepover, go sledding, color in my coloring books - my brothers wanted to do too. "They just look up to you," my parents would say.

In middle school, I let my creativity run rampant. I once wrote a poem about wind, curling the verses all over the paper like leaves in the breeze. The next thing I knew, the kids at my table were doing the same thing. No one believed that I had come up with the idea.

I once had a competitive "friend" (I guess the word nowadays is "frenemy") who just had to be better than me at everything. While taking notes in biology class, she craned her neck over my paper to see what I had written. She copied it all, word for word.

I've never understood people who have to take from others. Why not be original? Why take words they didn't think of? Do they not value themselves?

I've seen so many warnings to writers who blog: Be careful what you post. Even if it's just a little snippet of your novel ... once it's in cyberspace, it's fair game. Anyone could "borrow" the idea - even innocently, without realizing it - and then it's gone, it's a pale shadow of you lost out there somewhere.

If it's not officially copyright, it's not plagiarism.

Please protect your high concept ideas. As many of us have discussed before, no idea is truly original - but even your personal spin on something can be stolen. It's a wonderful community of friends here and I dearly love my blog peeps, but bottom line: you never know who could be reading your stuff.

What do you think about imitation? Is it ever okay to "borrow" someone else's words and ideas? Have you ever been on either side of imitation?

A Little Night Music #8: Amelie

2010-05-28T08:00:00.004-04:00

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amelie" is one of my favorite movies. It's a whimsical story about a waitress who, having been isolated all her life, decides to reach out to others and make their lives better.

With its bold colors, (sometimes risque) humor, and engaging story-telling, it's a sundae of a film and Yann Tiersen's score is the cherry on top. Every time I listen to this soundtrack, I feel like I'm in Paris, sipping coffee by the Seine.

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Listen on Youtube here

"A Rat's Tale" by Tor Seidler

2010-05-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

I've been on a Middle Grade kick lately, during which I re-discovered this gem of a book on my shelf.

I got "A Rat's Tale" by Tor Seidler from a school book fair ages ago and it's still one of my favorites. It's the story of Montague, a rat from the wrong side of the tracks, who aspires to greatness out of the shadow of his infamous uncle.

The storytelling is magical and I find myself - even now, as an older reader - effortlessly pulled in every time.

I found an interview with the author for HarperCollins, which I loved reading because he sounds so fun and young at heart.

Here are a couple of the questions he answered:

The anthropomorphic animals you choose to write about are not the typical dog or cat—where did you find the inspiration for your characters?
Central Park, in the case of A Rat's Tale. While jogging around the reservoir, I realized that the rustling in the fallen leaves wasn’t always caused by squirrels. Oh, and there were all these notices posted on trees warning dog owners of rat poison. The poor, persecuted rats, I thought. Do they hate us as much as we hate them?
Since I set that book in the city, I decided to set my next animal book, The Wainscott Weasel, in the country—the east end of Long Island. There are scads of rabbits out there, but bunnies seemed a bit sweet and cuddly, so I chose weasels, who share with rats a not-so-hot reputation. In Mean Margaret the chief protagonists are woodchucks, which aren’t quite so bad (unless you’re a gardener), but my favorite character in that book is the snake. I guess I like creatures with a bit of an edge.

Did you always want to be a writer? When did you decide that you wanted to write for children?
I have a pretty clear memory of the day I realized I wanted to be a writer. I came home from school—I think I was ten—and pulled a skinny book out of my parents’ bookshelves (The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder). It electrified me. It could fit in my pocket and yet it contained a whole world! As for writing for children, I honestly don’t give much thought to my audience. I write the stories I feel like writing. If they appeal to kids, wonderful.

Have you read any good MG or YA novels lately? Any lesser-known books that have stood out recently?

Time's Winged Chariot

2010-05-24T08:00:00.004-04:00

Image Source: Here

Do you think time can ever be wasted?

I used to think so.

I regretted all that time lost over the years that I didn't write. All those grains of sand sinking, measuring the ghosts of dead hours.

But then I realized my dilemma: I believe in that old cliche. "Everything happens for a reason." And if that's true, then I hadn't wasted those years after all.

I spent them learning. I learned how much I needed writing in my life. How could I have come back full-force if I had never left? How would I know that I was on the right road without first trying the other?

So you see, every grain of sand counts. One that is falling now may be clearing the way for another. You never know.

Take a look at your own hourglass. What do you think?

A Happy Award and Updates!

2010-05-21T08:00:00.006-04:00

I got this award from the beautiful Tina Lynn at Sweet Niblets. She is one of my very favorite blog buddies and always has the kindest things to say about everyone else. She is filled with awesome and I love her to pieces.

To accept this award, I must name 10 things that make me happy:

Sleeping in. (Yes, this is #1, and also my #1 plan for this weekend.)

The fact that it's still bright out at 7 PM and there's no snow on the ground. So I guess I should answer: SPRING!

Sappy Broadway musicals. The sappier, the better!

Twirly summer dresses.

A really good sneeze.

Making progress in the job search. (woowoo!)

Compliments. *preens*

Free food.

Traveling with a GPS.

Writing (Duh)

I shall pass this on to:

I have been lagging on "Pumpkin Patch Princess."

Last night, I figured out why: I haven't been making word count goals!

I'm too structured and plot-focused to write by the seat of my pants. I tell ya, if I don't have a set goal and a plan, nothing gets written. Nothing.

June 15th is my self-imposed deadline to get "PPP" done and ready for copy edits and rewriting. I want this story and its accompanying query out the door by late summer. I already have a few agents that I ~~stalk~~ plan on submitting to.

Maybe, just maybe I'll get some good news by my birthday in September. Even a half-hearted partial request will do. I'm crossing all of my limbs and appendages.

So tell me... Do you make pressing deadlines for yourself? Does it work?

Last Night Under Lights

2010-05-20T08:00:00.003-04:00

Image Source: Here

My last night under lights was Tuesday.

I sat squeezed between my music stand and the giant harps, clutching my well-worn, well-played violin. All around me, people warmed up. Brass instruments gleaming, fingers dancing across strings, bows piercing the air in a musical storm.

The lights flickered and the audience hurried into their seats, whispering and rifling through the program. An expectant silence descended upon the room, a sea of coughing shadowy faces watching the stage.

Heavy footsteps announced the arrival of the conductor, who made his appearance to thunderous applause. He bowed with sweeping coattails then stepped onto the podium, baton raised. Our instruments poised, we waited, ready for his command.

The baton came down. The music began.

-♥-

They introduced us to string instruments in the fourth grade.

I wanted to play the cello.

"Cello is not good for girls," Mom insisted. "Too big and heavy. And look at the way they sit, legs open."

So the violin it was.

A frail alien piece of wood in my hands. I drew the horsehair bow across the string, emitting squeaks. My parents winced. Their daughter was no musical prodigy, that was for sure, but the first clear note brought smiles all around. Hey... this was kind of fun.

In middle school, I sat at the back of the orchestra with all my friends. We scratched out "Tangerine Rag," "The Lion King," and the love theme to "Titanic." Mom and Dad sat in the audience with grins and a camera. All that mattered to them was that I was having a good time playing music.

In high school, the real test began.

We had to audition to get into the orchestra. I wanted to keep playing. Already I understood that college applications loomed at the end of the four-year tunnel, blank lines that I would have to fill. "See? I'm smart and I do extracurriculars. Please send your ridiculously high tuition bills to my parents."

And my competitive side had just begun to blossom. I practiced with determination, inflicting the music upon my parents until they erupted in compliments. (Compliments that, looking back, may have been veiled pleas for "Oh god make her stop.")

Against most odds, I got in. Encouraged, Dad found one of the best music teachers in the state to tutor me. On Saturdays I studied with her, a slender snow-haired woman who didn't mince words.

"You have no genius for music," she said bluntly, to which I shrugged. Her shrewd eyes examined me through wire-rimmed glasses. "But you have a good ear. We will make something of you."

And she did. I got better and better, and the better I got, the more I was expected to perform.

I moved up a section. Each semester I played a game of musical chairs, knocking people from their seats in my relentless climb to the top.

My senior year, I became principal of my section in the state youth orchestra. I got to sit at the edge of the stage, where I could see my family in the front row.

Being up there was a thrill, a rush. An audience waited for us, depended on us to make music and to make it well. Our fingertips pulsed with the notes of composers long dead, songs performed over and over again but never by us. Not yet.

Warmed by the lights, we brought the music to life.

-♥-

Aside from writing - the ultimate performance for us aspiring authors - how else have you performed in your lifetime?

Have you had a night under lights - on stage, cleared hurdles, or scored goals - before an audience? If so, do you think your experience as a performer connects with or translates to writing in any way?

Tag, You're It!

2010-05-13T08:00:00.004-04:00

Last week I got tagged by the lovely Laura Marcella at Wavy Lines! I have to respond to five questions with five answers, and I'm guessing that I need to tag five people when I'm done. So here goes!

Question 1: Where were you five years ago?

Sophomore year of college, slaving over a chemistry textbook.
Living in a suite with super fun people.
Working at the mall, where I met one of my best friends.
Planning a trip to Europe with my family.
Stressing out about looming MCATs.

Question 2: Where would you like to be five years from now?

Published!
Married and a mommy.
Living in my very own quiet house and sharing NO walls with neighbors.
Writing, writing, writing, awash with story ideas.
Holding a well-paid editorial day job at a magazine/newspaper.

Question 3: What is (was) on your to do list today?

Vacuum the apartment.
Pay bills.
Read an article for my poor neglected science blog.
Go for a long walk.
Write!

Question 4: What five snacks do you enjoy?

Chocolate-covered gummy bears.
Chocolate-covered strawberries.
Chips and salsa.
Sun-maid raisins.
Cheese and crackers.

Question 5: What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Give money to my loved ones and buy a big house for my mom.
Build myself a library like the one in Beauty and the Beast.
Buy houses anywhere I want to write (Tuscany, Japan, Paris...)
Donate to charities, especially literacy programs and animal shelters.
Devote all my time to family, writing, and traveling the globe.

That was a lot of fun. Thanks for the tag and for the Sugar Doll Award, Laura! I am going to tag the following people.

DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude
Alex at Alex J. Cavanaugh
Natalie Murphy at the Sound of Rain
Tina Lynn at Sweet Niblets
T.J. Carson at Writing Endeavor

Looking forward to learning more about you guys!

If My Book Were A Movie...

2010-05-11T08:00:00.027-04:00

I've wanted to do this for some time, so here are the actors and actresses I would want to represent the characters in my WIP, "Pumpkin Patch Princess"!

(All images link back to their source. Let me know if you want yours removed.)

Ellen Page (as Noelle): Loved her in "Juno." She would be great as my spunky, sarcastic main character who longs to glimpse the world beyond her kingdom.

Lucy Liu (as Maud): With short, spiky hair, she could totally be Noelle's quirky, over-achieving fairy godmother with a knack for witch-fighting.

Michael Angarano (as Geoffrey): He has the disarming smile and impish boy-next-door charm to be Noelle's best friend.

Brittany Snow (as Jessica): She would be perfect for Noelle's arch-nemesis, who has ringlets, attitude, and sinister connections.

Shia Labeouf (as Christopher): He'd be a great Prince Charming to Ellen Page's Noelle. This character is a mature, worldly foil to boy-next-door Geoffrey.

Who would you choose to represent your characters and why? (If you write/have written a post like this one, link to it in a comment!)

A Little Night Music #7: The Untouchables

2010-05-11T08:00:00.025-04:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this CD rocks my world. What do you get when you put two musical geniuses together? An incredible soundtrack to write to, that's what! I wrote the ending of "Rice Flower Memoirs" to this music.

I promise "The Death Theme" is not as gruesome as it sounds. It was composed by Ennio Morricone for the movie "The Untouchables" and it's elegant and elegiac and everything beautiful.

I couldn't find a video with just the Yo-Yo Ma version, but you can fast-forward to 2:48 on the video below to listen to it. (I'm not crazy about the sax version at the beginning, but the music is still pretty.)

Remember to turn off the blog playlist first! (Or listen on Youtube here.)

For My Mother

2010-05-09T08:00:00.013-04:00

Image Source: Here

I want to look into the mirror and see you.

I want to see your reflection gazing back at me, your smile sweeping sunlight into every corner of the morning.

Do you know how much I wanted to be like you when I was little? I put on your lipstick, wondering what it felt like to have your smile. I stuck my feet in your shoes, wondering what it felt like to take the steps you took. I dreamed of one day being beautiful like my beautiful mother.

It couldn't have been easy, but you made it look that way. You had never had enough, growing up on those crowded, sun-scorched streets of childhood, so you made sure that the three of us had everything. You sang lullabies, helped with homework, and bandaged scraped knees, all while cooking, cleaning, and working full-time.

Even in your free time, you worked for us. You crafted things of unimaginable beauty with your clever hands that sewed, knitted, crocheted, quilted, embroidered. You even taught yourself how to fix things around the house.

Most people think their mother can do anything, but I know you can. I've seen you do it all.

Only now that I've grown into a woman myself can I begin to appreciate all that you've been through. Only now do I understand how strong you really were.

Your heart walks the world outside your body and comes back bruised a hundred times, but you weather it all with grace and dignity.

Someday I want to be half the woman you are. The things I like best about myself - my love of laughter, my compassion, my wide-open heart - are the things that come from you. You've made me who I am. As surely as you held my hand when I was little and we needed to cross the street, you held my hand and led me here to this fork in the road of my life.

Once I was a child-daughter who craved the nurturing cocoon of your arms, where I could lay my aching head against your heart and confess. I have since learned that you too in all of your strength and certainty may sometimes need a cocoon of your own. Know that you now have a grown daughter who has learned to dry tears and soothe away troubles, and that she learned it all from you.

People say that I have your face, but I know I have much more than that.

I used to want to look into the mirror and see you.

And now I realize I already do.

More Blog Awards and Awardees!

2010-05-06T08:00:00.009-04:00

Last week I got the Awesomesauce Award from my awesomesauce friend Shelley Sly at Stories In the Ordinary. Her writing is anything but ordinary, so you should follow her if you aren't doing so already!

Some people I think are pretty awesome:

Hannah at Project Journal: Because her wonderful comments always brighten my day.
Wendy at Ladybugs Roar: Because I think she is secretly Wonder Woman.
Stephanie Thornton at Hatshepsut: Because I learn something interesting each time I visit.
Talli at Talli Roland: Because she's going to be published soon!
Hannah at Musings of a Palindrome: Because I always have fun when I visit her blog.
Catherine at WIP: Because she loves writing, music, and dogs are much as I do!
Livia at Brain Scientist's Take On Writing: Because she rocks at science writing.
Marisa at Elegant Bloggery: Because her blog is gorgeous and so are her prints.
Karen at Eternal Moonshine: Because I love reading her blog and her comments.

I got this pretty Blogger Buddy Award from T.J. Carson at Writing Endeavors! I just met T.J. who is a fellow YA writer and I am looking forward to reading more of her blog!

I will give it to these blogger buddies:

Tricia at Talespinning: Because her writing is everything lovely.
E. Elle at the Writer's Funhouse: Because she is as talented as she is supportive.
Samuel at Daily Pep For Writers: Because he's a cool guy and is always positive and upbeat.
Donna at Donna Hole: Because she has a kind heart and fantastic sense of humor.
Sandy at Sandy Shin: Because she's bright and witty and totally gets me.
The Alliterative Allomorph: Because she leaves such kind and friendly comments!
Georgiana at Georgiana Daniels: Because she's one of the sunniest bloggers I know.
Ellen at Pink Tea and Paper: Because she is a new blog friend of mine.
Theresa at Substitute Teacher's Saga: Because she is encouraging and supportive.

I got the Sweet Blog Award from DL at Cruising Altitude, yet another blogger you should follow. He's almost at 300 followers so go join the party!

And the award goes to these sweet bloggers:

Shannon (Book Dreaming)
The Wild Magnolia
Hannah (Musings of a Palindrome)
Tabitha (Through My Eyes)
Michelle (Southern City Mysteries)
Melissa (Root and Sprout)
Nicole (One Significant Moment At a Time)
Jayne (A Novice Novelist)
Portia (Portia Sisco)
Laura (Wavy Lines)
Crystal (Write Because You Must)
Myrna (Night Writer)

I've gotten some new Awesome People! Welcome and thanks for joining my blog! I try to follow everyone back, so if I am not following you, it's because your picture doesn't link to your site. Just leave me a comment and we can rectify that :)

Thanks to everyone who commented on my Publishers Weekly post and my Clock Struck Midnight post! You guys are the best. I will respond to all of your comments slowly but surely!