It's The End Of The World

I've been reading a lot of Dystopian novels lately. I'm sensing a trend. It all started with The Hunger Games — a book I never thought I'd love — and just today I finished Wither by Lauren DeStefano.

I have to confess, I'm really not an end of the world kind of girl. Sometimes it's a bit much all this dying and being trapped in a society that tells you what to do all the time. And it's not that I need my books to be happy and filled with love and laughter. I like romance and mystery and adventure but I mostly like my books to feel real, to be filled with sincere and thought provoking characters that I can't relate to but wish I knew in real life.
I L-O-V-E-D The Hunger Games. You wanna know why? I loved the characters and the writing and the emotion behind the writing and I especially loved that it made me cry. If you can make me cry, or feel something for someone who doesn't even exist, then congrats. Well done! Cause I don't cry easily with books. Movies? Yes. Books? Not so much.
And I didn't cry when I read Wither. But I sure was angry. ANGRY ANGRY ANGRY!
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to deter you from reading this book. It was pretty amazing. This debut from Lauren DeStefano is seriously intense. And congrats to her. She really pulled it off. I totally bought into this world. The writing was beautiful and the characters so real I'm still thinking about them.
But mostly I'm still angry. I've realized a good Dystopian novel makes me angry. It makes me want to buy canned goods and bottled water and hide, because when the zombies take over and then the robot aliens kill them off the rest of us are going to crawl out of our purity chambers and I'm telling you now, the world is going to be seriously messed up. MESSED UP, I say!

So. Um. Anyway. Go check out Wither. It's as amazing as its cover. And that's pretty dang amazing!

Random Wednesday

It's finally starting to look like spring around these parts. That is, the sun is out today and water has stopped dripping from the sky.
And with spring comes... Easter!
Kid #1 has been asking me for weeks, "is it Easter yet? Is tomorrow Easter?"
You'd think it was Christmas.
But here in Shariland we have an egg hunt on Easter and that egg hunt leads to a special surprise.
So. There you have it.
Easter is like a tiny Christmas wrapped up in spring.

Sometimes my cats hang out together, which is rather unusual because the larger cat (Hobbs) doesn't really like the smaller cat (Finn) in fact he pretty much bats him on the head a couple times each day.
But sometimes I walk into a room and find them doing things that make me blush, so I usually just turn around and leave. They also appear embarrassed. They look up and then they look away, neither of us making eye contact. Sometimes, to spare us all, I just pretend I don't see them.
(And in case your mind is conjuring up all kinds of kitty-love basically what they do involves inappropriate licking. Or maybe it is appropriate. Who am I to judge.)

The other day kid #1 told her ballet teacher and her entire class that I punished her younger brother for dropping food on the floor.
You see, kid #2 has recently started throwing his yogurt to the ground instead of eating it.
Now kid #1 would never do this. She values yogurt far too much. But apparently her brother enjoys watching things go "splat."
And no punishment was involved, it was more like I left the yogurt on the floor so it could think about what it had done and kid #2 gazed down at it from his highchair, crooning to it sadly, "Oh no, yogurt! Oh no!"

I've decided it's very important that I get out of the house more often. Even if it means walking around in circles and then returning.

My sanity is far more important than checking my email every five seconds.

Shari Goes To The Movies

Last week I saw two movies. TWO!
I know. I can't believe it. I LOVE going to the movies. One of the things I inherited from my father. But I don't go very often anymore. Sigh. I know. But don't cry for me. I'll be okay.

So. You wanna know what I saw?


<---This

AND...


<---That


And let me tell you. I have a lot to say about these movies.

So. Let's begin.

I love Jane Eyre. And lately I seem to be obsessing over it. I read Jane by April Lindner over the holidays and I watched the BBC 2006 mini-series version of Jane Eyre, which I loved!! (My favorite BTW)





And then last Sunday I dragged my husband to see the newest movie version of Jane Eyre.
Now. This movie certainly took it's sweet time getting to a theater near me, but I'm not going to hold that against it. I loved it! LOVED LOVED LOVED
But I will say that I would have preferred a longer ending.
I know my husband will disagree. He was quite pleased when the credits began to roll, but I was not. I wanted to see the happy, you know, the kid, the love, the family Jane always wanted and finally has... We all know how dark Jane Eyre is. And the movie does a fabulous job of portraying that.

Conversation between me and my husband on the way to the theater:

Me: "So... do you know what the story is about?"
Husband: "Kind of. It's pretty much going to be a bunch of people in dark rooms talking to each other, right?"
Me: "Um. Yes. And some other stuff."

And he was right. This film is pretty much shot by candlelight (which makes it awesome! And creepy and romantic!)

Needless to say, I loved it. I thought everyone did a fabulous job. The acting was great. The scenery beautiful and dark, just as it should be. I was only disappointed at the end. And that's a good thing. Always leave them wanting more, I say.

Moving on...

So. A few days ago we went to see Hanna.
And in case you're wondering, I think you should all go and see this movie. It's so fun to watch. The story is kind of a side note in this film, it's more about the action and music. And that's okay. Sometimes you just need to sit back and let the visuals take over. Story lines are so overrated. Right?
And I absolutely love the director. He is responsible for my happy movie, you know the movie you go to when you're sick or sad or in serious need of some Mr. Darcy?
Yes. He directed Pride and Prejudice. Enough said.





So. Big thanks to Mr. Joe Wright for making these two lovely films that are very different and fun, in their own ways.
One is relaxing and LOVE.
The other is... um, very, very different.

Yay movies!

Bring On The Distractions

I've entered submission-land again.
You know, that one place where everyday you wake up to dark clouds and lightning until hopefully one day you get that phone call and then suddenly the sky clears and tiny bunnies prance about in your yard? Yeah. That place.

So to keep myself from dwelling on things I shouldn't be dwelling on I must fill my days with distractions.

For instance: Why do my shoes have a tiny, zipper pouch on the side? What am I supposed to keep in there?






And why do the trees in my neighborhood still believe it's winter?
Don't they know it's April?









So today I went out and bought the final season (season 5) of Friday Night Lights on DVD, because screw you NBC for taking so stinkin' long to air the episodes. I mean, seriously! By the time the season begins on April 15 I will have finished it! And I hate football, BTW. I really, really do. But I love this show. I even find myself enjoying the football scenes (which are few) and wishing there were more of them. I know. It takes some serious writing for me to get excited about football.
And while I was at the store I bought chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
I will be sitting on the couch eating chocolate while I watch FNL, doing my best to keep from thinking about the people who are reading my book or if they've stopped reading my book and why they stopped reading or what made them stop or worse yet, what I did, or didn't do, to make them stop reading. KEEP READING, I TELL YOU!!
I know. Writing makes you crazy. At least it makes me crazy. Although, I always suspected I was a little bit crazy before I started making up stories.

So when I'm not watching FNL or eating chocolate, I'm listening to music. Music helps with the crazy. Right now Frightened Rabbit, The National and Sufjan Stevens are on the playlist.

Oh. And I'm also brainstorming the next book.

Hmm. I'm beginning to sense a pattern.

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!