Fiction

Hello all! I know I haven't been around much lately. I blame the weather. And perhaps the two small people who live with me.

I finished my revision/rewrite and I'm just kinda twiddling my thumbs until it goes back out into the world. So that's fun.

And I've been thinking about the next book idea so my head has been in the clouds. ------>
Except I usually prefer my clouds to be a bit less wire-y.


So... I have a question for y'all. (Mostly this applies to those of you who read books or write books)

How do you like your fiction?

Truthful or all-out made up?

You see I wrote this one scene about a place I've never been to before and I researched it a bit on the internet and I figured since it's a mall it would have a food court (most malls do) but this particular mall is kinda fancy-pants and doesn't have a food court which is kinda cool for those of us who don't like food court food but it really sucks for me who wrote a scene where there's a food court and come to find THERE'S NO FOOD COURT!
Sigh.
So. I can remove the food court or I can keep it there and tell everyone, "well, if you want to get all technical the characters don't exist either!"

Guess which one I'm going to do?

Yep. You guessed it.

So. Tell me your thoughts. When you are writing/reading is it important to keep the real places real? Or do you think, "it's fiction. Anything goes."

Patient As A Princess

Because I am the mother of a four-year-old girl I know a whole lot about princesses.
I know that they:
1. generally have long hair (unless it's tragically cut to save themselves from evil)
2. are always kind
3. always get the prince
4. are extremely patient

Now I ain't no princess. Seriously. I'm not. I have the long hair, occasionally I'm kind, and, well, my husband is a prince in my eyes. (HI JAY!)

But I'm not patient.
And in case you need a good example of this just the other day I was trying to get from point A to point B and my daughter said, "Be patient, Mama!"
So. There you go. If a four-year-old has to remind you to be patient consider yourself eliminated from the princess competition.

And why are we talking about patience, you ask?

Because I'm about to go back out on submission.

I just tackled a major rewrite of my first book and now I'm just pacing around the house while my readers and critique partners read through it, and then once it's perfect (in my eyes) I will send it to agent-man and he will (hopefully) love it and send it back out into the big, scary world of editors.
Normally I'm okay with this process. Other than a few bouts of insanity, I've fared quite well.
BUT! (There's always a but)
I've been working on this book for over four years now and I believe, I BELIEVE!!! that this time someone will see it the way I see it.
That's really all I ask. JUST GET ME!! PLEASE!!?

Okay. Enough said.

*deep breaths*

Damn you, Princesses.

Done DONE DoNe

Yep. I'm done.
Last night I finished my rewrite. I mean, I still have to tweak, and tweak some more and then I have to send it out to my extremely important readers and they have to get back to me and tell me all about the little things I forgot and the big things I screwed up.
But.

BUT!

I'm done. For now. And it feels pretty dang good. Like the kind of good that keeps you up when the rest of the world is sleeping and you're watching the newest version of Robin Hood, the one with Russell Crowe in it, and you're wondering, why am I watching this? cause it's nothing like it should be. And I love all things Robin Hood.
But I watched it anyway.
So, yeah. I'm done.
If you all could see me right now I'm the one smiling while typing. And breathing short breaths because I'm so excited my head just might explode.

Now. Let's see if it sells, shall we?

P.S. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bon Iver for helping me get through the last 50 pages of my rewrite. If it weren't for their song, Blindsided, I would still be floundering somewhere around page 277.

NEW TITLE!

Things are changing around here. And change is good, right?

So book two, which I still think of as DUST, has a new name.

Are you ready?

The new title is:

MYSTIQUE

Like it? Well, I do. I mean it's kinda weird to think of it as anything other than DUST. When I first started writing this book I called it that resurrection story but now. NOW! It has a new title. And I'm excited, my editor is excited and even my cat — who's meowing as I type — appears to be excited.
So go check it out on goodreads and hopefully I'll have a shiny new cover soon! Wouldn't that be exciting??!

So on to the bad news.

I'm sure you know by now — since, if you're reading this, you are on the internet — Japan was hit by an earthquake and then later a tsunami.
I've never been to Japan, I've never even been to Hawaii, so when I watch the footage I have no connection to the places I see or the landscape. But the images and footage that keep popping up are so disturbing and traumatic, to see homes being washed away, cars moved around as if they were weightless, it's rather difficult to not feel something, sense the panic they must have felt as it was happening or the devastation the country is feeling now.

I was living in California when that big earthquake hit Mexico city. I remember how scary it was and how long it lasted. Growing up in SoCal we were constantly reminded that at any minute an earthquake could hit or a tsunami. I still remember the tidal wave nightmares and how after an earthquake we would sleep with all of our picture frames and bookcases off the walls for fear that an aftershock would send them tumbling down upon our sleeping heads.

And today's news is the ugly reminder that nightmares can sometimes be our reality.

So stay safe everyone. My thoughts are with you.

Walls and Plot Holes

So I've been writing again. I know. But I can't help it. This book isn't going to rewrite itself.
And a few weeks ago I hit this wall. It pretty much came out of nowhere and there I was sitting in my, um, writing clothes (pajamas) and my husband came in to check on me and I was just staring at my laptop and I swear he probably thought I was watching Veronica Mars or something which I totally was not! and then it hit me.

The wall.

Now I wouldn't call it writer's block beause I don't believe in writer's block.

Writer's block does not exist.

Writer's block.

But I do believe in walls. They come out of nowhere and they stick around for a few days and then they magically disappear. Luckily that's what happened to me this weekend.
And do you want to know my secret to bulldozing a wall?

Reading.

Yep. It works every time. I picked up a book, one I had never read before, and by the time I'd finished it I was ready to write again.

Yeah books!

Wanna know what I read? Well, I'll tell you.

Clarity by Kim Harrington


Such a fun read! Y'all should run out and pick it up. Especially if you've hit a wall.

Now there is this other thing that pops up periodically when I'm writing and it's called a plot hole. Cute, huh? Not so much.

So here's the deal. I don't outline. I tried that once and it worked. Once. And now I keep a list of ideas and sometimes that list is longer than the novel itself but it helps keep my thoughts straight. Especially when I'm in the thick of it and things are flying left and right and I'm dodging ideas that could get me in trouble like yesterday when I wrote myself into a corner and I was all, how the hell did I get here and where are the cookies? Sigh.
Does this happen to you? Or am I just crazy?
Anyway.
I don't outline. I make idea lists. And it works for me. I like the element of surprise. I know I'm supposed to have it all worked out since I'm the one in charge and all, but nothing ever works out the way I planned.

I've learned to get over it.

Tuesday Tunes!

I'm taking a break from revisionland to pop in and share some music.

Excited?

I know. Music is great.

So a week or so ago (not sure when exactly, all days bleed into one right now) Radiohead gifted us with more songs.

The new album is The King of Limbs. And it rocks. Well, not rocks exactly.
More like it soothes the soul. It has become my new writing music. I listen to it on repeat all weekend long. I love it. Yeah Radiohead!

And because there are two bands on my mind and playlist right now, one who everyone knows (Radiohead) and the other not too many people know. YET.



And that is:

Atherton

My husband turned me onto this band. And strangely enough they are from Utah.
Funny, huh. Not that Utah is funny. But I'm from Utah and my husband isn't. So...

Well, I didn't say it was funny haha. Just funny.
Anyway.
I LOVE THIS BAND! That is, I love their CD Skyline Motel. Go find it, buy it, check it out somewhere. I have two songs up on my music thingy. --->

And I don't like Country music. Sorry, kids. I really don't get into it. But this music I like.

One song in particular is perfect for the scene I'm writing right now. Needless to say my husband is sick of hearing it, even though he loves these guys. Sorry, Jay. It must be played over and over and over...

At least until the scene is perfect.


Hope you enjoy!