You Have Homework....

How do you unwind your writer’s mind? I listen to music and watch movies. Movies though, I must admit feel like homework for me. I’m always trying to find the inciting incident, looking to see if the hook grabbed me, watching the character arc…you get the picture.

I’m a little nuts.

But there's a lesson in this obsessive-compulsive practice of mine: it makes me a better writer. I can immediately spot the inciting incident in most books I read and in my own MS. Well, I’d better be able to do that with my own work. Right!

Do you know your inciting incident? Do you have a killer hook or opening chapter? Will it grab your reader and make them keep turning the page even though their eyes are on fire from sleep deprivation? Let’s hope so. Not the sleep deprivation but the continued page turning. What about your character arch? Does your character grow/change as the story progresses? They should.

So, the next time you watch a movie: Stop. Put your writerly cap on. Invite the muses. Pop some popcorn. You can even grab a voice recorder to make notes. Then plop down into a comfy chair and do your writing homework. Believe me, it’s worth it.

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!

Kids in movies

I write YA and MG stories. And I adore movies with kids. So, I thought I’d do a fun post on movies with kids doing bad stuff- or just plain stuff. Sometimes the kids are good but sometimes the kids are terrible - I love them all. Some of my favorite movies are those with kid leads. Here are a few of my favs, categorized:

The Little Kids

The Fire Starter: Drew Berry was setting everything on fire…including our hearts. She was adorable.

The Champ: Little Ricky Schroder has (in my opinion) made the saddest scene ever in movie history. Period.

Creepy Kids

The Little Girl who Lived Down the Lane – A young Jodie Foster was extremely creepy in the role of abandoned little girl. But don’t fret, she could definitely handle her own.

The Bad Seed – Rhoda wanted what she wanted. And if someone stopped her from getting what she wanted, she could deal with them. In her own special way.

Orphan - The creepiest of all little creepers. She had me fooled, you too I’m sure. The best part about it – after she’d done all her dirt – you cold beat her senseless and it not be child abuse.

Kids Kicking Butt

Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Percy, the son of Posideion, along with his satyr and protector, Grover, and the daughter of Athena, Annabeth go on an adventure to return Zeus’s stolen lightening rod. Oh, yeah they kick some butt on the way.

The Last Airbender – This kid is awesome. He literally bends air. There’s another kid that bends/manipulates water…this is one of the best kids-with-powers movies I’ve seen in a long time.

Holiday Movies

A Christmas Story – “You’ll shoot your eyes out” – one of the greatest kid-movie lines ever. My family and I have to watch this movie during the holidays or it just ain’t Christmas.

Home Alone - "KEVIN" - What's Christmas without big family vacations to Paris and leaving the youngest one at home to fend for himself. And boy does he have to fend.

Honorable Mentions:

The City of Ember: Dystopian society where the entire population on earth live underground. Of course, it took two kids to discover that it was okay to go top side. Great movie.

The Ring – the creepy kid killer is not on screen much but when she is she makes her presence known and leaves you unable to sleep with the TV on for months – yeah, I said months. Don’t judge me.

E.T. – Okay, I love this movie. My kids love this movie so it had to be on this list. It’s a great family movie about the ugliest cutest drinking alien ever to stow away in a little boys closet. 

The Hunger Games – Okay, I know the movie has not come out yet but I loved the books so much there’s no way they can mess this up. Right? Oh gosh. I hope not. Katniss Everdeen kicks major booty and Peeta Mellark is the smartest sweetest teen ever. Yeah, I’m Team Peeta.

Hope you've enjoyed my gallery of awesome kid movies. What's your favorite?

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.



And the Winners are....

 

And the winners are:

Alison - The Karma Club by Jessica Brody

Danah - The $10 Amazon Gift card

Congrats to the winners! Alison has already been notified. Danah, I tried to email you with the address you left in the comments, but it returned undeliverable. Please email me within three days or I will have to choose another winner.

This was my very first giveaway and it was a huge success. Thanks to everyone for participating.

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!!!

The winners were chosen using Random.org

Back to the Books Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Back to the Books Giveaway Hop!


This hop was organized by Kathy at I Am a Reader Not a Writer Blog and Heather at Buried in Books.

Over 300 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. The hop runs from Thursday, September 1st through, Wednesday, September 7th.

I have 2 great giveaways for you. There will be 2 winners.


My first giveaway is a $10 Amazon gift card.

 My second giveaway is a copy of two great YA reads:

If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

or

 The Karma Club by Jessica Brody

Giveaway Details:

To enter the giveaway: Please follow this blog. Leave a comment below with your email address, for contact if you should win. If you were to win the books, please specify which you would like. The last day to enter the giveaway is Sept. 7, 2011 at midnight. The winners will be announced on Sept. 8. The contest is open to US residents only, please.

Please click the next blog in the linky below. Happy Hopping and Good luck!!!

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!

What I like about you...

I'm a sucker for a good story. It's true! Give me a good book and you'll not hear a peep from me until it's finished. And I love reading young adult fiction the most. The characters are awesome and writers (in their infinite wisdom) keep coming up with new ways to say old things.

So instead of list all the reasons or things I love about YA fiction, I'm listing what I don't like. That's a much shorter list. Believe me you'd thank me if you'd seen the other list.

Things I hate to see in my YA fiction:

 

1. Perfect characters – nobody’s perfect, not even your hot guy lead who always knows what to say to make your MC drool all over herself. He’s not perfect and neither is she. Before you submit that story to an agent, you’d better find out more about your character. Make them believable because nobody’s perfect and everybody’ll be able to tell you didn’t flesh out your character(s) enough.
2. Unrealistic dialogue. Um, kids don’t always talk in complete sentences. Well, sometimes. But not always. You’ve got to mix it up. Give the reader a taste of intelligent characters, but unless there is a specific reason for them sounding like Harvard Professors (something like an experiment gone wrong- sci-fi story) then stop trying to woo us and let the kids be kids. Oh and keep the slang to a minimum. I have a sixth grader (all his friends are older) and a 10th grader with dozens of friends and nieces and nephews - they don't talk slang 24/7. So your MC shouldn't answer their parents with, "Yo, what up, yo." I'm not even sure I wrote that right. A little goes a long way, but too much just starts to show your age- not your MC's. Plus it's distracting. Maybe give one character the habit of talking slang a lot- not every single one.
3. An MC with no choice. Everyone has a choice, if they didn’t where would the tension be. If your MC learns of something he/she has to do don’t make it so that they must do it. Let them decide that they don’t want to do what everyone is expecting of them- it gives the reader something to look forward to - Are they going to change their mind? And of course, this adds tension. This is what the reader wants. It propels the story forward.

Now there are a few other things I don’t like to see in my YA. I have had my mind changed once or twice about what I like and don’t like. Are there any that I missed that you hate? I’m sure there are. Leave a few of your own YA pet peeves in the comments.

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.

Randomness...

I’m tired. I’m hungry. And I’ve been up all night. So today’s post are random tidbits about what’s been going on with me:

1.  The kids went back to school yesterday. I have three – a 10^th grader, sixth grader, and a third grader. The hubby’s conveniently gone away on business. Yeah, I was up all night signing papers. I can’t remember any more why I was excited about them going back.

2.  I’m adding extra villainous traits to my villain/antagonist in my current WIP at the suggestion of my CP. You can never have a villain that is evil enough. Right now, this pen and paper to my right with my children’s names on them are the most evil, loathsome, inhumane things I’ve seen in a while.

3.  I’m so ready to stop editing I want to smack someone. Of course, I’m practicing patience. But the hubby better watch out around the 18^th of every month. That’s all I’ve got to say about that…

4.  Pleasantly surprised about a new movie I’ve heard about, Magic Mike. Yeah, I know that title is something else, huh. It stares Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Joe Manganiello, and Matt Bomer. I could probably watch with the volume turned down. I’m wondering though, I usually see movies with the hubby, but I’m thinking he might not like this one too much.

5.  I’m thinking of writing a MG story. I haven’t decided yet, but I have a short story I never completed – I fell in love with the characters. A female protagonist who kicks some major butt and a nerd on a special mission- umm I’m thinking. Not sure right now all I can think about with any real clarity is snuggly up in my bed.

What are you up to? Let everyone know in the comments.

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.

Blog Award

I received this Appreciated Follower Award from Fi at Fi's Magical Writing Haven. Thank you so much Fi. It's nice to be recognized. I follow quite a bit of blogs and most days I simply don't have enough time to comment. But there are times when I just have to. Maybe it's something in the post that resonates with me on a personal level or I have a couple extra minutes (yeah, it does happen) or sometimes I can't explain it I just have to leave a comment.

This post is dedicated to the followers who comment on my blog the most. Those that grace the comment section with their wit, suggestions and sometimes rants. I appreciate you all, of course, but the rules were that I could only pick five followers.

Here are the rules handed down from Fi:

1. Reveal the top 5 followers
2. Copy and paste the award here
3. Cross fingers followers will spread the love to other deserving bloggers
4. Do what I do best....Have bloggity FUN!!!!!!

So my top 5 appreciated followers are:

1. Kelly Hashway
2. Catherine Stine
3. Brenda
4. Bella
5. Totsymae

I'd like to extend a hearty thank you to all my followers. Thank you for your comments, always.

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!!!

Part 2: Who's a good CP???

As promised, I’m continuing my discussion on critique partners. The focus of this post is showing proper etiquette. And no, it’s not just about saying thank you.

How can you have good CP etiquette?

·         Never show your CP’s work to someone else without their approval first

·         If your CP asks a specific question about their MS, please do answer. Even if the answer is, “I have no idea.”

·         Your comments can’t all be criticisms. Come on. I’m sure you can find something positive to say about the piece or you wouldn’t be working on it (see previous post here).

·         Don’t take a month to get back to your CP on ten pages of their MS. Unless you both decided to work at a snails pace.

·         Do respond to emails or phone calls from your CP in a reasonable amount of time. Even if you’re only responding to say, I’ll respond later. Don’t writers have to wait enough on others – don’t make your CP have to wait on you too.

·         Be humble. Do not assume that your suggestions are money in the bank. If they were you’d already have a book published. So what if your CP chooses to not take your advice/suggestion – get over yourself.

·         Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve. Remember your CP is trying to help you improve your piece. Don’t fight them. If you disagree on a particular suggestion and it means a lot to you, talk about it. If you can’t agree, agree to disagree. If it’s something you feel is a deal breaker – be honest. Being stuck with an unwanted CP is like being in a bad marriage (not that I’d know – I’m just saying).

·         If your CP reaches publication before you, you should be dancing with them – not frowned up in a corner with your thumb in your mouth. Their success is your success. After all, it was your excellent suggestions that helped to strengthen their MS.

I’m sure there are tons of other CP etiquette rules, but I’m tired and don’t feel like working the muscle in my head anymore. So, please, if you can think of others list them in the comments.

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!!!!

Who's a good CP???

I’ve been going through detailed edits with my CP for the last couple weeks. It’s been brutal. No, really…it has. Critiquing someone’s work can be tough, not everyone can do it. Well, not without some training. No, you don’t have to go to school or take a class. But there are some things that you can learn before you start the process to make the experience less painful for you and your CP.

What are those things?

• You need to know the characteristics of a good CP
• You need to have good CP etiquette
• You must be knowledgeable
• You must be thorough

Okay, if you looked at this list and said, “Where the !@&!!@ she get that?” you’re not alone. I just made it up. But wait, before you click unlike or the little “x” at the top of the page, hear me out. If you or your CP don’t have all/some part of the elements above then you’ll be in for a bumpy ride.

I’ll break down each of the elements that make a great CP. But not all today. In this post, I’ll discuss the characteristics of a good CP.

There are certain traits a CP must have that set that person apart from others – for you and your writing. What are they?

• Loyalty – a good CP will not toss your story to the side because someone else comes along and asks if they’ll look at their stuff. Not saying your CP couldn’t have another CP- they can. But they shouldn’t dump you in the middle of edits for weeks to work on someone else’s work. Unless, there’s extenuating circumstances and it’s agreed by the both of you.
• Likability – if you can’t stand your CP your not gonna do a good job at edits. It’s like having a job you hate. Somewhere down the line your gonna skip something, thinking – oh, well, they’ll figure it out later. It’s all a matter of time. So do you have to be in love with your CP? Of course not. But there should be some kind of camaraderie. Finally, they must like your story. If they hate every detail of your piece, why are they trying to improve it for you? It’s like burning a cake but going through and putting the frosting on it and decorating it all pretty. Why would anyone do that? So if your CP, for instance, hates science fiction, and you write science fiction, I don’t think you’ll mesh well. My advice, if you wouldn’t read it – why critique it.
• Thoughtfulness – a good CP points out the good in their CP’s piece and the bad. If you and your CP have been working together for some time and you feel you’ve grown – your CP’s work should reflect that too. What am I saying? Share. Play fare. Don’t hold onto new knowledge. Share that info with your CP to help better their work too. If you hear about a contest that your CP could enter, tell them. Let them enter and root for each other. If you found an article/blog post… that you absolutely love and has helped you tremendously, fork over the info.
• Commonality – you should have something in common with your CP. Okay, you say, why do I have to have something in common with that person? Good question. It has been my experience that people who have zero in common don’t work as well together. True Life Example: My last CP (note: she’s not my CP anymore), and I had zero in common. I thought, that’s fine. She wrote Christian fiction, I write YA. Her children were grown; my children are school age. I could go on but I think you get the picture. We worked on one project together, after that I never heard from her again. No, we didn’t have a fight. We never argued over edits, we got along…well, well. We exchanged our work at a nice pace and kept our edits and emails strictly to the point. I don’t know anything about her except she is a talented Christian author and when her book is published, I’ll definitely get a copy (I’ll have to go out and buy it myself, though). I harbor no ill will toward her but our time together was some of the most boring I’ve ever had. Once the last email was sent, I never heard from her again. I emailed later to ponder about her progress – she didn’t reply. That was okay, I’m a tough cookie. My current CP and are have tons in common. We are both super goofy moms who write YA and our emails sometimes have one line – usually something super silly. And when she’s published, I’ll probably cry. Tears of happiness, of course. I’m sure she’ll do the same for me.

There are more traits I could’ve listed but this get’s us going. You get it. Right? You don’t have to be in love with your CP but you must be able to work with them. And preferably not on one project. If you work together on multiple projects just think of how much more that person can add to your revisions. They’ll have an inside track already to how you work and write. It’s crazy to stop at one project. Of course, this is all my experience – thus, my opinion.

What do you think? Can you list other qualities/traits a CP must have? Do you not agree with a trait I listed?


Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!!!

Musical Inspiration

I'm busy with edits, school, kids, drafts, ....

So I thought I'd share some of my fav songs. I love John Mayer and both of these two are my fav by him. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Belief

Stop this Train

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.