Archive for » June, 2009 «
I’ve seen this on quite a few writing blogs over the last couple of weeks but I took this one from Isaac Espriu’s Place.
1. Where do you write?
In my bedroom, on my bed.
2. When do you write?
Usually at night, after 8 PM. Sometimes I’ll do it during the day but that’s kind of rare.
3. Planner or Pantser?
Pantser. I don’t plan stuff out until after I’ve written a first draft. Then I actually have to in order to line things up.
4. Coffee or tea?
Used to write? Neither. I like iced tea in the summer but I don’t drink it warm and I don’t drink coffee. I generally stay away from caffeine.
5. Pen and paper or computer?
Pen and paper. There’s isn’t much I can do directly on the screen without printing the work out. My brain doesn’t function that way.
6. What gets you in the writing mood?
Nothing in particular and everything that I see. I set specific time aside to write so I write whether I’m in the mood or not. Outside of that, the mood just strikes.
7. What pulls you out of the writing mood?
Being tired. It’s harder to write when I’m tired. Or if my brain is somewhere else and it’s distracting me and urging me to do something else. I have a tendency of bouncing back and forth between things when I write.
8. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever read/heard/received?
Aim low. When you write, don’t aim to write like Stephen King or whomever. That’s like aiming to win the lottery the first time you ever buy a ticket. It’s a goal you probably won’t live up to so instead of aiming to write just like an author you idolize, aim to not write like an author you think is crap. Read something you don’t think is so great, say, “I can do that” and then do it. It’s much easier to get to the top of the stairs without falling down if you go one step at a time than four.
9. Got muse?
My ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. I’ve never had an instance of my muse not wanting to work or falling behind in her job. She’s always there when I need her, right at the opportune moments. She oftentimes leaves me to do the dirty work myself but the initial idea comes from her in all shapes and forms.
10. Who is the biggest supporter of your writing?
My friends and family, especially my parents. They haven’t read much of it but they know how hard I’m working to get it done and get it published so they’re there to cheer me on while I toil.
11. Sound or silence?
Silence. I’m too easily distracted by the TV or radio if I’m writing and I have a hard time splitting my brain between the two so it has to be one or the other. Or ear plugs.
It’s kind of pissing me off how much coverage Michael Jackson’s death is getting. While dropping dead seemingly out of nowhere is a pretty horrible thing, so is slowly dying of cancer over the past two and a half years. Hours after her death, Farrah Fawcett is delegated to a half inch by half inch picture on any given screen (at most) that’s been otherwise forfeited to the “King of Pop”’s untimely demise.
It’s amazing how high we hold people after they’re gone despite what they’ve done, or have been accused of doing, in their lives. Sure, Jackson had some great accomplishments but over the last, well, decade really, all he’s been known for is monstrous plastic surgery and pedophilia claims. A mighty king, isn’t he? And let’s not forget his shiesty swindle of The Beatles catalogue right out from under Paul McCartney’s nose back in the 80s. “It’s just business,” Jackson told McCartney, thoroughly screwing over his supposed friend.
So is all forgiven in death? Is he now all of a sudden worthy of seizing all manner of news, from all Clear Channel radio station doing tributes to him, to MSNBC’s headlines to all of the TV specials, despite all those child molestation accusations and constant mocking all those years? He’s all of a sudden some kind of music god? It seems like people are trying to make up for the mocking they did of the mockery Jackson became. Give me a break.
You know my first thought when I heard he’d died? “Way to steal the spotlight from Farrah, asshole.” Insensitive, I’m sure but where are all the tributes to Farrah? Where are her specials and her movie and TV movie marathons? Where are her public Charlie’s Angels spectacles? Maybe she should have touched a few little boys and mangled her face into putty in order to be so worthy in death.
Is Farrah not such an icon? Did not millions of boys have that famous red bathing suit poster hanging in their rooms back in the 70s? Is she not equally as iconic as Marilyn Monroe? So what the hell? Why does the accused pedophile that likes to sleep with little boys get a bigger farewell because he cranked out a few bestselling albums and Farrah all but disappears?
Come on, guys. Let’s remember every facet of Jackson’s life instead of blissfully forgetting all of the bad stuff and wailing about how amazing he was and what a shame he’s dead. Because you know 90% of those same people called him some form of pedophile back during those trials and mocked the shit out of the disgrace he’d become. And now they’re acting like a family member died.
How about we give Farrah her fair share of the spotlight too, huh? She’s not less deserving of it than Jackson. In fact, I think she’s more deserving. At least she was never accused of child molestation. But this gives hope to those future would-be baby touchers (well, alleged anyway), doesn’t it? All they have to do is crank out some good-selling albums and in their death, all, apparently, will be forgiven.
Pacing is a big thing in YA. The deal is, you have to hit the ground running, to be horribly cliche. You don’t have the luxury of exposition for the first hundred pages like you do in mainstream reading. Teens don’t want that. They don’t have the patience. But at the same time shit blowing up in the first sentence of the first chapter is a little disorienting. At least I think it is. So you have to strike the right balance of brief build-up and bang-go!
One of my betas, who gave me some wonderful advise and thank god because I’m seeing that crap all over my work. Let me just say my pages are very colorful right now and I’d highly recommend buying stock in glitter pens. But she also said, at page 16, that nothing was happening and I needed to advance the plot sooner otherwise I wouldn’t make it through a partial. Of that I’m afraid.
For those of you that have read my book, you have a better idea of what I’m talking about. The catalyst that causes the fairy shit to hit the fan happens in the first chapter and my MC comes face to face with it in the second. The build-up to cross worlds is a little gradual but once they’re there, it doesn’t stop. The book (at last count, anyway) is only around 55,000 words and it gets from point A to point B completely. I’m actually afraid of moving the plot any faster than what it already is.
And, of course, I look at other books and I notice their plot. I’m reading Lament by Maggie Stiefvater and I remember when I got to the halfway point thinking that not too much has happened yet. It did but it’s subtle stuff. A lot of alluding to things. I’m 30 pages from the end and the antagonist has yet to make an appearance except for an off-handed remark. I look that this book that’s filled with subtleties and a plot that’s more emotional than physical and I look at mine and I can’t help but go, “I have to move my plot faster?”
I see the voice issues (and there were voice issues, albeit minor ones). I kept poking through Michael’s voice so I’ve done a lot of rewording, expanding on a few things, I need to make Michael a little more unique. Mainly I want to make his room more than a bed and walls. I see the errors. I see everything that everyone’s pointed out to me. Except the pacing. I just can’t justify it to myself to push it any faster than what it’s already moving. I can’t justify it to my story. I just can’t.
It’s rare when a beta makes a very valid point that I don’t agree with it when it comes to my writing. Let me re-word that. It’s rare for me not to see the critique from a beta’s eyes when they comment on something like this. I usually can. I’m proud to say I’m very good at seeing my own flaws. It’s one of the most beneficial things for me as a writer. But I just can’t see this. Especially compared to other YAs that I’ve been reading. The puzzle pieces aren’t matching up.
I know it’s my own work and I take whatever criticism I feel is rendered for my work but I almost feel guilty. I don’t know why. The thing is, my book is like a roller coaster. To give you another horrible cliche. It’s a slow, gradual climb to the top but once you crest that hill, your cheeks will be flapping in the breeze until you come to the end. My beginnings have always been a little on the slow side. Always. It must be my style.
I found this on one of my fellow book bloggers’ site.
A – Age: 26 but I look about 18
B – Bed size: full, I’ll graduate to a queen when I move
C – Chore you hate: Dusting, and it shows
D – Dogs’ names: A MinPin named Malfoy, my mom’s dog is named Lynzee and she’s a Chinese Crested
E – Essential start to your day: Waking up usually does it
F – Favorite color: Vibrant green
G – Gold or Silver: Silver
H – Height: Just under 5′4″, I haven’t grown since I was 12
I – Instruments you play: I don’t, used to play clarinet in elementary school though
J – Job title: Assistant Underwriter (property and casualty wholesale insurance, don’t get too excited)
K – Kid(s): Make my uterus die . . . was that not the right answer?
L – Living arrangements: At home with my mom, but I’ll soon be in the market for a vacation home
N – Nicknames: Duck, Bugs, D, Don, Donaduche (pronounced like Bonaduche, don’t ask)
O – Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Not that I can remember
P – Pet Peeve: Stupidity and then said person blaming you for their idiocy, it makes my head hurt
Q – Quote from a movie: “It’s just the ocean air . . . “ Lucy, The Lost Boys
R – Right or left handed: Right handed but left-sided
S – Siblings: Nope, only child
T – Time you wake up: During the week, just before 6, on the weekend, around 8:30
U – Underwear: Don’t leave home without it
V – Vegetable you dislike: Brussel Sprouts, those things are just little balls of evil
W – Ways you run late: Hitting the snooze too many times, but I’m usually never late
X – X-rays: I’m surprised I’m not glowing with how many I’ve had
Y – Yummy food you make: Kick ass Sloppy Joe, macaroni and cheese (the real stuff)
Z – Zoo animals: Tigers although I’m morally opposed to zoos
By a landslide. I still have my homemade theme and the rustic one with the photos. I think I might rotate out every once in a while just for some variety (and I like the rustic one too much to just let it sit there) but for right now, this’ll be the main blog theme. I need to dress up the widgets a bit, update those. I’ll do that next weekend. But here it is!
I had slight impulse control issues when I went to the mall yesterday to get my dad his Father’s Day gift. Not too bad but Bath and Body Works was having one of their semi-annual sales. Need I say more? Anyway, I ducked into an Aeropostale, which I haven’t done in years, because I remember my step-brother saying that’s where he got these shorts that I liked and they had them in girls sizes too. And they had them sitting right out front so I went in to check them out.
Now I know Aeropostale does not cater to someone my age, as if I’m somehow old. Their target audience are high schoolers. I think it’s pretty obvious the second you walk in there. The thing is, that’s my style. Not high school clothes in general but the leaning-towards-surfer style. Always has been since I was in high school. And you know what they say, as you get older, you tend to wear the clothes you wore when you were younger (both my parents still dress how they did when they were younger, just slightly modified for age, but pretty much the same, also kind of explains the Moms In Denial that don’t feel the need to dress more their age). It’s a casual, and pretty unchanging, style. It hasn’t morphed much over the years except now I won’t step foot in PacSun because it’s gone all WTF since I used to shop there.
So I still shop in the juniors sections mainly because of my size and just the style of clothes that I like. I can’t buy Roxy in women’s. And while the tops fit me without a problem (chagrin), apparently I’m all woman on bottom. Literally. Baby got back, as they say. And I’m not trying to be facetious here. If I didn’t have my hips and butt, I’d comfortably fit into a size 6/7 but because of that badonk, I have to upgrade to an 8/9 in order to get the damn bottoms over my hips without giving me muffin tops and cutting circulation to my ankles.
I’ve always been like this though. While the way I’ve held weight has changed, I’ve always had a butt and hips but I never had issues finding clothes that fit properly when I was 14. And considering I’m pretty much the same size now as I was then, technically speaking, I shouldn’t have an issue now either. Except the bottoms in those same stores now are made for chicks without hips, as if it’s somehow implying that all teenagers are shapeless.
Aside from the fact that plaid on these hips hurt the eyes like whoa no matter how hard I try, I tried on a 9/10 that would have squeeze me puffin’ had I actually buttoned them. The legs were actually a little big but the butt and hips? That wouldn’t work at all.
So what’s the deal? I’m not talking about fat here. I’m talking about shape. Not all teens are shapeless so why are clothing designers insisting on giving young girls more to worry about because they have an ass that won’t fit into a 6/7 because the things were made for the hipless? I can tell you right now I’m not in double digit sizes and those shorts made me cry on the inside because had I wanted them badly enough, I would have had to gone up to an 11/12 at the very least. That just sucks. I’m perfectly content at my 8/9. Wouldn’t mind getting back down to 6/7 but you can bite yourself if you think I’m going up to an 11/12 when I know I’m not that size.
Is it too much to ask for some hip accommodation on those bottoms? And how about not sending girls with a hint of a figure to the bathroom to purge because they have to buy sizes up in order to wear those clothes? Hmmm? Got forbid we encourage girls with shapes instead of angles and hard lines.
Oh god, isn’t it beautiful? I just want to snuggle with it. But I can’t help but wonder if Stephen a) got permission to do this and/or b) has SMeyer on his ass. Do you need to get permission to do a parody of another book? But this guy hit every nail on the head. Repeatedly. I love it already and I haven’t even bought it yet. Here, have an excerpt–
Stella and Edweird pause before setting off on their hike through the woods:
“But before we go,” Edweird continued, “let’s pause for a moment so you can admire my amazing physique. Take it away, Stella.”
I could barely concentrate on what Edweird had just said to me. I was completely distracted by his Adonis-like physique. His skin-tight shirt, buttoned nearly to the top, had perfectly framed and accentuated his muscular man-boobs. His cutoff jeans, circa 1970, did little to conceal his ripped hips, thighs and buttocks. The stubble from his freshly shaven chest danced like raindrops off his cool white skin. At this very moment, I wanted him more than I ever wanted any other man, and nearly every other woman.
“Um, are you finished gawking at me, Stella?” He asked with a sly smile.
“Uh, sure,” I replied. “At least for now.”
“Good. We better get an early start on our hike, so I don’t have to carry you on my friggin’ back before it gets pitch black.”
Isn’t it amazing? *wipes tear*
