You Think YOU'VE Got Problems?

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Have you ever had one of those days? The alarm didn't go off and you wake up five minutes before you have to leave the house so you jump in the shower, brush your teeth and head out the door only to discover you forgot your breakfast but no worries because there is a coffee cart in the lobby that sells coffee AND pastries. You arrive at work late anyways thanks to horrendous traffic and discover the coffee cart guy is home sick. No coffee, no breakfast. You sit at your desk obsessing over lunch but then you remember you have a meeting that is going to run right through it - so no lunch yet. You try to ignore your rumbling stomach during the meeting, watching the clock and counting down the minutes until it is over and you can dash to the cafe next door for a takeout sandwich. Not having the energy to take the stairs, you opt for the elevator. The doors close, the elevator starts down and...STOPS. You're stuck. And there is no phone. You push the ringer for an hour before someone realizes what that annoying noise is. When you get to the cafe, you discover they've gone out of business after 15 years...

"A protagonist should not gain anything easily." - Les Edgerton, "Hooked"

Your protagonist should have days like this. Weeks even. As a writer, I have so much fun getting in my main character's way. Just when she thinks she is home free, I throw up a road block. I take the wind out of her sails, then make it clear skies with no wind in sight for weeks. She's forced to paddle, which works until she can see the shore, then I break that oar. You might think she could just jump out and swim, but she never had lessons. Or maybe she had lessons, but when she jumps in, the current takes her far down stream from where she needs to be. You get the idea. For me, the best part of writing is giving my protagonist "Oh, I don't believe THIS is happening" moments. I enjoy doing the same for my antagonist! Throw her a rope to help her climb out of that hole, then have it rub against the sharp rocks until it breaks, plunging her farther down.

If you haven't read "Hooked," I highly recommend it. Les Edgerton covers everything you need to know to write a beginning that will hook your readers (and agents and editors!). I just finished it and will be employing what I read in my next round of rewrites. I'm very excited about it! And anything that can get us excited about our rewrites has to be a good thing, right?

How do you get in your main character's way?

Magyk in Your House

"Down the stairs two at a time, down to the kitchen to terrorize the stove, which heard her coming and was desperately trying to light itself before she came through the door." - Septimus Heap: Magyk by Annie Sage

I read this last night in bed and thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if the kitchen heard ME coming in the morning? The coffee in the regular coffee maker already appears thanks to technology, but if I want to leave the house with a vanilla latte in hand, that requires ME doing the work. So what if the kitchen heard me get up? My husband says everyone and everything is terrified of me so I would think every appliance in that room would be as well. The oven turns on and makes my pumpkin muffins so they are fresh out of the oven while the espresso maker begins my vanilla latte - how wonderful that would be! Unfortunately, it doesn't happen that way so I pack my muffins the night before and make the extra time in the morning for that nonfat vanilla latte that gets me animated enough to capture the kid's attention (and keep it!) while I teach them about City Wildlife, Dog Bite Prevention and Responsible Pet Ownership.

If I could truly have one magical item in the house, I think it would be the vacuum cleaner! I could come home to clean floors EVERY DAY! Without having to plug it in and push it around myself. Rather than dusting, the vacuum cleaner would turn itself on and use one of the attachements to go over the furniture (coffee table, end tables, entertainment center, couch, chairs, etc.). Just having that one magical item in the house would save me so much time!

What would your magical appliance or item be?

FUN Friday

HaPpY FrIdAy!

What is more FUN than a talking cat?

WARNING: The kitty does swear twice (once under his breath). The owner also swears once.


C'mon & meet the new puppy!!!

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My FUNtastic Weekend List includes:

1) SHOPPING!

2) Brunch with Mom (Belated Happy Birthday to her)

3) Mani/pedi

4) Mockingjay!

With lots of coffee thrown in for good measure and a visit with this cute little guy!









What's on your FUN agenda for the weekend?

Ten Things I Don't Care About Thursday

Jennifer Hillier had a funny post this week listing ten things she didn't care about so I got the idea from her. (If you haven't checked out her blog, you are missing out! Her debut novel, CREEP, comes out July 2011. You can read about it here.) She AND her site (AND her book) are all kinds of awesome!



Ten Things I Don't Care About (as opposed to the lollipop in that picture, which I obviously cared very much about):

1) Jennifer Aniston (who she's dating this week, who she's getting over this week, who she's getting under this week, none of it).

2) Police Pursuits. I live in Los Angeles so every channel will cover the same chase. EVERY channel. Even ones you didn't know had news. Just shoot the guy already and get me back to my regularly scheduled program.

3) Sarah Palin.

4) Whether or not Barack Obama is Muslim.

5) Reality TV. If you don't care that you look like a tool in front of millions of people, why should I?

6) True Blood. Just kidding. I care way more than I want to admit.

7) Your honors student.

8) Farmville. Please stop asking me to be your neighbor.

9) Rules. Made to be broken. Or bent. (Please note that I said rules and not LAWS).

10) Which celebrity is headed to rehab for what addiction this week.


What are some of the things you could care less about?

Wednesday Wishes

It's WEDNESDAY! I've rubbed the cat tree and our magical has appeared, ready to grant your three wishes! Use them wisely!

Here are my wishes for the week:

1) Balance - I have a big presentation for a troubled teen home that I am preparing for next week. Yes, in the middle of my rewrite goal, I booked a presentation with Lily. While the presentation already exists, I'm actually transferring it all to PowerPoint. With loads of pictures. Did I mention it has to be ready by next Wednesday night? Sigh. I did this to myself. I really could use the flip board and the teens are much more excited to spend time with Lily than to listen to me, but this is important to me because I will be able to use this new PowerPoint to educate adult groups and typical high school students as well. If only I wasn't such a perfectionist. Sometimes I think I create stress because I'm most comfortable when I'm crazy busy. Go figure. Oh, and I don't have the weekend because we'll be out of town. Good times!

2) Organized Office - I want to come home and have it completely organized. It's the one room in the house that has me completely flummoxed. Aside from the file cabinet that I have so anally organized so that I can reach any bill, medical form, etc. in a snap, the rest of the office feels like it is slowly starting to spill over into the rest of the space. I'm trying to find room for all my Paws and Learn stuff (student handouts, teacher handouts, props, ideas for future articles/blog posts, articles to include in future presentations), my scrapbooking (though I haven't done a thing in almost three years now) and my writing (four different journals, manuscripts, etc.). I'm not digging the system that I have at the moment. It's organized, but it isn't working the way I thought that it would. I'm running out of room for my writing as well. I want a Magic Office Genie to spin around my office, papers flying in her wake, then have everything magically where it would work best for me when she stops with a flourish of her arms.

3) Cooler weather! I'm such a baby when it comes to the heat. I much prefer the winter. I love overcast days where you can feel the chill through the windows. I love to snuggle up with Lily on the couch, rock my laptop and write while my Balsam Fir candle fills the room with the smell of the forest. I love hot chocolate and cold noses and rain drops and big sweaters and fires roaring in the fireplace. I love the sound of a good storm - thunder booming and shaking, rain tapping on the window panes. I'm over summer already and this is only the second warm day we've had in L.A.! While my husband longs for more of this weather (the man comes home and RUNS in 90+ degree weather!), I long for late October when the cool weather drifts back through SoCal. However, I will settle for 70 degree weather instead. Heck, I'll even be okay if it hits 80 degrees! Just not more than that, please.

What about you? What are your three wishes for Wednesday this week?

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo

When I was a little girl, I looked forward to trips to the library. I would spend hours at our small local one, wandering among the stacks of books. Sometimes mom would set a time limit and I would have to dash around, grabbing as many books as I could before we had to go. My brothers would have one book each while I would show up at the counter looking much like the little girl above. Oh, how I loved to read. I still do.

I have a stack of books next on my bedside table just waiting to be devoured. I have two on writing: On Writing by Stephen King and Hooked by Les Edgerton.

I am currently devouring The Necromancer by Michael Scott. Still on the pile waiting to be read:

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
Magyk by Angie Sage
The Sky Always Hears Me: And the Hills Don't Mind by Kristin Cronn-Mills

I can hear them whispering to me. Each one wants to be next! But...but...but...


I think this one jumps to the TOP of the pile!

I am loaded up with books and happy as that little ten year old was running through my small town library! I do have a writing goal for the week, though. I can't allow all this delicious reading to get in the way of that. What's a girl to do? I'm using reading as a REWARD! Get that rewriting done and you get to spend your time READING!

What is on your nightstand waiting to be read?

A Germaphobic Dream

My best friend Mel bought this for me. She's always bringing me anti-bacterial hand sanitizer. Kids are germy and I cringe as I'm teaching Dog Bite Prevention at the number of kids picking their nose that will soon be "petting" my dog puppet. I even had a girl vomit, wipe it off her chin and then pet the puppet as she passed me on the way out of the classroom. Lysol is also my friend. I carry a pocket Lysol that cleans the puppet after certain extensive nose picking and vomiting classes. I use my PocketBac as soon as I'm done at the grocery store (or any public place for that matter). Laugh if you must, but I haven't been sick in over a year. Granted, the last thing I had was H1N1, but that was only because some rude person who had it coughed on me throughout a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. If he had been seated elsewhere in the theater, I wouldn't have gotten it thanks to my trusty PocketBac. But I'm completely off topic here...The point of this blog was...

THE JOYS OF CLEAN!

Nothing thrills my little heart more than clean - clean house, clean car, clean hands and now, a clean manuscript! This week I am buckling down, pulling out the pen and using it like that Vampire Blood PocketBac. I'm going to get all those little germies out. I plan to chunk it and finish the cleansing of the first third by the end of the week. That gives me until next Sunday to sanitize the first 100 pages.

Anyone care to join me in setting a writing goal this week? You don't have to be cleaning like I am! You can be starting a shiny new idea!

If you're interested in the PocketBacs - Bath and Body Works has their Halloween line out, which is where Mel got this one.

Of Sick Dogs and Rewrites

This is Lily on her bed. Lily has had a rough few days. Apparently, when I was out to dinner with a friend a few nights ago, she went a bit crazy with a toy. The Hubster was not keeping a close eye on her, as he so often neglects to (as you can tell, this is a very sore point with me). He did not notice any part of the toy missing when he cleaned up the stuffing, squeeky and fabric. Yesterday, fabric came out of her. Unfortunately, she has a sensitive system and this sort of thing can cause a set back for days. We are on day three of this.

Erik and I have not been, nor will we ever be, blessed with children. Until we are ready to adopt, our pets are our children. I worry over them like my brothers do over their human children. I had a wonderful day planned! The Hubster is on call and has been at the pharmacy most of the day. I have the music on, candle ready to burn and was going to do some rewriting this morning! I was excited about that plan. Not so excited about the cleaning of the house which was to follow, but that's okay. However, with Lily being sick and making frequent trips outside, I find that I can't focus. My worry for her has completely clouded my mind. Cleaning is getting done because I can do that and still obsess over my dog. Writing? Not so easy to dive into that forest and tighten things up when all you can think of is your sick pup. Perhaps when The Hubster gets home, I'll be content to let HIM worry over the dog he made sick and be able to go into the woods with my characters for a bit.

What about you - do you have things that distract you from your writing? What keeps you from diving into the pages of your story?

FUN Friday

Here is my cute nephew, Dillon, to help me announce the WINNER! Again, everyone is too talented! We had to put names in the button hat like last time and pull them out.

And the winner of our SuPeRsTiTiOuS FUN Friday is...Jen!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

He's so cute. He pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to me.

"Who is it?"

"Jen!"

"You did it! You won!"

That was one disappointed little boy when I had to explain that the candy wasn't ours and he couldn't have any...

So Jen, I just need your mailing address and I will get this off to you next week. It will go out Tuesday on my day off.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

I'll end FUN Friday with "Out of the Mouths of Babes." I teach Humane Education and I love it. Kids can hit you out of left field with funny things. They keep you on your toes.

In my Dog Bite Prevention class, Max was the cutest little kindergarten boy who was just so enthusiastic about the topic and loved his own dog so much that he had trouble listening without interrupting to add things he thought I should be mentioning. He had interrupted a handful of times and each time his teacher had given him a gentle warning. Then he came out with this gem:

Little Max: "And dogs need lots and lots of water or else they get dehyderated. Like one time my mom played soccer at the park on a Saturday and she forgot her water. She got really dehyderated too."

Teacher: "MAX!"

Little Max (to me): "I'm sorry! I'm just having a bad day!"

How can you be mad at that?

I also had this little gem in Pre-K after class:

"I have a puppy. Her name is Blackie because she's black."

"I have a cat. Her name is Snowball because she's white."

"I'm a very deep sleeper."

Someone just wanted to fit in and that was okay.

From our 2nd Kindness presentation:

Me: "Tell me something kind we can do for our rabbits."

Girl: "Not cut off their feet."

Me: "Yes, they really like to keep those."

Girl: "Because my grandma has TWO lucky rabbits feet."

Boy: "Lucky for HER. Not so lucky for that rabbit."

We hold up a bag of hay in this presentation and my partner had the following exchange - with a second grader.

Mere: "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

Kid: "Weed."

Mere: "No, it's not weeds."

Kid: "No. WEED. The kind you smoke." (then he puts his little fingers to his mouth like he is taking a hit off a joint)

And from our 5th grade Responsible Pet Owners presentation:

Me: "There is an operation our pets can have that keep them from doing something. If you can tell me what the operation is called or what it keeps them from doing, I'll give your team 10 extra points!"

Girl: "A hysterectomy."

I gave her the points anyway. She was on the right track.

Boy: "Is that that sprayed and neutered thing?" :-)

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!

Contests Thursday

There are some fabulous things happening around the Blog World. I don't want you missing out so I wanted to share!



Writing Contests:


Sara B. Larson is having a query contest. You can enter it here. The prize is a query critique! I highly recommend going all the way back to the beginning of her "My Path to Getting an Agent". There are six parts. It's a quick read and you will be inspired by her determination despite the things life threw at her. Ends August 20th so hurry!

Karen Gowen's having a Lettuce Write contest here. Submit your first three chapters by Saturday, August 21st. The best part? Brief review of your submission with suggestions for ways to improve whether you win or not. If you win? You get an opportunity to submit your full manuscript!

Other Contests:

My End of Summer Giveaway is here. Tote, books, candy and lip gloss! All you have to do to be entered is comment and include the first line of your WIP (or fave from a book). Tomorrow is the last day to get your entries in!

If you haven't yet checked out Lola's site, you have truly been missing out! She's entertaining, witty, funny and informative all rolled into one. We love her! Check out her Lola's EPIC Whatever Lola Wants Contest here. Ends on August 20th.

And don't forget Jen's Blogfest which starts TODAY! Click here for that fun.

Wednesday Wishes

It's WEDNESDAY! I've rubbed the cat tree and our magical has appeared, ready to grant your three wishes! Use them wisely!

My wishes this week:

1) A job at either Starbucks or Barnes & Noble. I'm serious. I need a little spending money and those would be my ideal working situations. Although that spending money would likely go right back into either store!

2) Some new recipes! That can count as one, right? I feel like I'm stuck in a dinner rut. I'm making what is easy and yummy, but I have about ten to fifteen things in the rotation and I need to switch it up. New, easy, yummy Vegetarian or Vegan recipes please!

3) A flying car. Not only am I tired of traffic, it would be nice to have a flying car that could take me Seattle to visit my parents (in time for dinner), Portland for an afternoon of hiking or coffee time with friends and Vancouver Island to see a dear friend that I miss terribly. I would do good things with the car. I would take passengers and drop them off at their destinations along the way...for FREE even!

What about you? What are your Wednesday Wishes?

Finding a Title

For some people, the title comes before the book. For others, it may come during the brainstorming, the outlining or that first draft. For me? It still hasn't come. I started with a temporary title pulled from my prologue. However, the words I chose were a made up language created by The Fae in my book. The pronunciation will likely be different depending on the person. I figured this wouldn't do. I had more important things to focus on these past few months with the rewrite so I kept the working title that I had.

Now that I am in a critique group, I figured that I had better get serious about a title. I brainstormed. I wrote down every noun, verb and adjective that brought elements of my story to mind. No luck. So I took the plunge...

I googled.

And found this gem on Rachelle Gardner's website:
How to Title Your Book

Oh how I love her. I follow her. I think I missed this post because it was written when I was in throes of a Mini NaNo, racing to finish in 30 days (I didn't. I finished in under 90, though!). Although I don't feel 100% confident in my title, it's getting there.

DARK FOREST

Intriguing. But not quite there yet.

How do you title? Is it easy? Does it simply come to you? Or do you have to work at it like I do? Perhaps it varies with you depending on your project? Do tell!

The Teeter Totter of Life

As a kid, I used to love love love the teeter totter. It was quite possibly my favorite thing on they playground. I was a small child but I still managed to push with my legs and launch myself high into the air, giggling as I went, no matter how much heavier the friend on the other end was. In my childhood, the up and down was fun! Now that I'm an adult, the teeter totter of life needs to be balanced. No more launching high up or falling down low. Finding that balance is extremely hard to achieve. I think as adults who write, this is especially true. We have very busy, fulfilling lives. Jobs, husband, friends, kids...then when you add in the reading (books on the craft, books in our genre), workshops, classes to hone our craft...how do we find that balance?

I have been going since I got out of bed this morning. Cleaning the house in preparation for the dog trainer (don't ask me why I thought she would care how spotless the house was). An hour and a half with the trainer here in the house and neighborhood. The great thing? My dog has been snoozing since the trainer left at 11:30am. That bought me some much needed quiet time...as soon as I convinced The Hubster he needed to go for a run in his favorite park that is a twenty minute drive away. We're meeting my in-laws for dinner tonight. It's an hour drive to the restaurant. This left me four hours. What do I do? I have a book to read on writing, rewriting to do, blogging to do and a nap to take (very important). I started with the book, went in for the short cat nap (literally with one of the cats), am writing this blog post and will get an hour in on the rewrite before I have to get ready for dinner. This was an easy day. Balance worked today. Unfortunately, these days are all too few. And was it really balanced when I didn't get exercise in for myself? We have to weigh things and something or someone gets tossed off that teeter totter to achieve that balance. How do we make time for the writing without neglecting other areas of our lives? It's a very fine line we walk. Some days are teeters are up. Other days, we're tottering down. I find it's rare that I have a day where mine is completely flat across like the one in the picture above.

How do you find balance? And, to satisfy my own curiosity, what was your favorite playground toy?

(Don't forget to check out my awesome End of Summer Giveaway below! How cute is that tote???)

SuPeRsTiTiOuS FUN Friday

Are you superstitious? Does Friday the 13th wig you out? Bad luck? Well, turn that luck around RIGHT HERE! Fridays mean FUN, even when they have the dreaded 1-3 in them, and what's more FUN than an End of Summer Giveaway?!?!

Books, Candy, Bubble gum, Lip Smackers are up for grab! I'm even throwing in this adorable tote that can definitely seg into Fall.

CUTE TOTE

BOOKS

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
and
impossible by Nancy Werlin

CANDY & BUBBLEGUM

Gobstoppers! and Whoppers! and Starburst! and Red Vines! and BubbleYum!

LIP SMACKERS

Because who doesn't like to feel like a kid again sometimes!?! In my favorite flavors - Cotton Candy and Watermelon.

So How do you WIN? Easy follow these rules:

Required
1. Follow Me (Lily and I promise to keep you entertained!)

2. Sidebar Me (If you do that sort of thing!)

3. Comment

4. You know how I love love love creativity! How about the first line of your current project? If you don't want to share, feel free to give us your favorite line from your favorite book (share with us what the title is along with the author) or feel free to use a one-liner that you've always wanted to use but never had the chance! It's all about FUN!



Optional
Tweet Me, Facebook Me, Blog Me (Optional, but brownie points are a bonus!)



So there you have it!!! Comment below telling me the love you gave me along with your email address and I'll announce the LUCKY winner on Friday, August 20th!

Wednesdays Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

My Wednesday Wishes for the week:

1) More time in a day! Just a few more hours should do it.

2) Venti Shaken Green Tea (iced) with two splendas! My newest obsession. My wish is that I will be able to recreate a fairly similar version here at home to save myself the $2.30 a day I would be willing to spend on it (but the hubby certainly isn't willing to let me spend on it).

3) Stunning hair color. We'll see how this works out. I have an appointment today for color, but my stylist fights me. For example, two months ago, I wanted to go red with copper highlights. He had done this for me a decade ago. He won't now. I get lectures. He reminded me how hard it was to maintain; how I whined and complained about how often I had to come in for touch-ups; how a mere eight weeks after he had colored it, I came in insisting to be blonde again at which point he had to strip the color out of my hair and it took my hair six months to recover and him at least eight months (he's very dramatic). He flat out refused. To make his point, he gave me a touch of copper highlights in my hair. He was right. It was gone in less than three weeks. My hair is thin. It doesn't hold color. I bring in pictures of styles I want and he laughs until he cries. Then he shows his employees and they laugh, though not as hard. My hair will never be thick. I get what I get and I love it. But trusting someone that completely is hard for me. He won't color my hair dark in the Summer. He will do it in the Fall. I have color in mind, but there is a chance what I think is stunning, he will think is 'tacky' and refuse to do it. He'll give me a less tacky variation. I can't fault him, though. There are so many times he has made me the talk of a party when I worked in television. I would go before the party and show up with a 'do that I didn't feel confident in until the first person gushed "OHMYGOD, I LOVE it!" His view is - if I don't look good, he doesn't look good. Which I get. But it doesn't mean that I always like it! So...stunning hair color of my choice (please please please).

What are your wishes this Wednesday? Remember if you can say "Wednesday Wishes Wisely" five times fast without messing up, you get an EXTRA wish!

Oh, Oh, Listen To The Music

While I have found that I can write in a crowded teacher's lounge when inspiration strikes, my ideal writing setting is at home with the windows open for breeze, a scented candle burning and music on. What do I listen to? It depends on my mood and what I am writing. I have several playlists specifically for my writing on my iPod and iTunes. I also have You Tube up when I'm in the mood for something I don't have downloaded. I am very visual so I can picture scenes unfolding as I listen to the music. Music can help me sort through a scene. I use it as a tool in the car sometimes as well. A song that isn't on my playlist may come on while I'm running errands and suddenly I am inspired! The scene unfolds before me. I can hardly wait to get home and write it!

For my current WIP, The Healing, I listened more to Native American flute music (R Carlos Nakai), Celtic, New Agey sounds with little to no background vocals. It takes place in a forest so I feel more connected to the story, the characters and the setting when I have Native American flutes or Celtic music flowing into my ears. My Balsam Fir scented candle also helps the mood.

I have a dystopian idea that I've been brainstorming over the last month or so. Evanescence "Fallen" sets the tone for that one. Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I've been playing Niyaz as well. Not exactly end of the world music, but it's haunting and beautiful. It works to take me forward to the new world.

What about you - does music inspire you? What's on your play list when you write?

Give us some recommendations!

Growing Your Story

I was organizing our pictures on the computer and came across this one of Lily as a puppy. She was SO tiny. I think she was less than 20 pounds in that first picture. When we got her, we were aware that puppies are a lot of work. Sleepless nights for a few weeks as you crate train and housebreak, attend training classes, socialize socialize socialize. It was a bit overwhelming and exhausting at times. We were committed, though. We didn't miss a puppy class, training class or chance to socialize her with other dogs and people of all ages. We took the time to raise her right, as any new puppy owner should. Your dog is a reflection of you - all the time, effort, reinforcement you have poured into this being. Hard work up front pays off later.

It made me think of the process of writing a book. We start out with our little Lily - our idea. So fresh, so cute. A blank slate! Just like a puppy. Then we brainstorm, we write, we spend every waking moment obsessed with the idea. It grows. Like a puppy, it's only as good as we make it. All of our time and effort pay off, but we have to put in the hard work. It's not going to grow if it never leaves our brain; if we never put it down on paper; if we don't continue to brainstorm and write. We have to help it.


We end up with this - a bit bigger Lily. The idea is now on paper. The book has been written. But it still needs work. It's a constant process. Writing, like training, never ends. You constantly reinforce the training with your dog so they don't forget. You polish your dog's behavior. As writers, we polish up that manuscript. The classes we may have taken, the books and articles we may have read, are all applied to this manuscript in an effort to nurture it along towards it's full growth. We take the feedback we get and apply it.




Until we get to this point - the full grown Lily. The dog that always draws attention on the street. People always comment on her manners - "What a good dog!" "I wish my dog were that well behaved!" All that time and effort is evident in the finished product. Friends visit and can't believe how she dashes to her bed on command and stays there until she is released (or not). A people loving, dog loving, cat loving, kid loving, fun loving goofball of a dog or a captivating, adventure-filled, romantic, mysterious, heart stopping tale that everyone loves. All that potential recognized - in book and in dog.


With patience, consistency and work, work, work, you end up with the polished gem at the end. In this way, I think growing a story and growing a puppy are very, very similar. Daily training sessions, daily writing sessions. There are days when I would have given anything to have Victoria Stilwell ('It's Me or the Dog') in my office whipping me into shape and getting my writing focused! I can just hear her voice as I bring up the internet to check my email or my blog..."Bup! Bup! Bup!" Drawing a malt ball up to her eye to get my attention, then holding it out to screen and my manuscript. How funny would that be? Probably annoying after awhile as well!

Do your characters behave the way you want them to? Where is your WIP on the Lily growth scale?

Karen Gowen Says LETTUCE WRITE!

We all want to be published. As writers, it's part of the dream - sharing our words with the world. We've all heard the whispers of people who have been published under less conventional means. Karen Gowen's path to publication is one that falls "outside the box" (her words). It's an uplifting story of someone who believed in her work and forged forward. You can read Karen's story of her road to publishing here.

Karen is full of The Awesome (and not just because she loves Xena). She is very supportive of other writers. Karen does more than share her story. She has been hosting LETTUCE Contests. The current contest is LETTUCE WRITE. We are, after all, writers! Right? Write!

Submit your first three chapters of your manuscript. The submissions editor at WiDo Publishing, with Karen's help, will be reading them and picking the top THREE winners! Regardless of whether you are a winner, you still win because you will get a brief review and suggestions for ways to improve. For more details on this wonderful opportunity, click here. For more information about WiDo Publishing, click here.

Good luck to everyone! And thank you to Karen for always being so supportive.

AND THE WINNER IS...

It was really hard to pick a winner! I loved every answer. The Hubster wasn't much help either. So we narrowed it down to three, threw names into the button hat (pictured) he hates so much (but everyone else LOVE LOVE LOVES, including me) and I picked one out.

So the winner of the $10 Starbucks gift card is...

SHANNON O'DONNELL!

Congratulations!!!!!!

I just need your mailing address so I can get this in the mail on Monday. You can email me at jennveg@aol.com.

A BIG Thank You to everyone who participated. And a WELCOME to my new followers! I promise to entertain you.

Remember the cute tote full of goodies is up for grabs starting Friday the 13th (insert evil laughter here) so don't forget to check back for that!

FUN Fridays

To kick off this FUN Friday, here is a look at NEXT FUN Friday:

What a CUTE tote! And it's FULL of goodies! I can't think of more FUN for Friday the 13th than a SuMmEr GiVeAwAy. Winning it will be super easy (and did I mention FUN?)! Check back next week.

Back to this Friday's FUN!

I decided that today was going to be full of my favorite things. What could be more fun, right?

Strawberry Mini Wheats

Vanilla Lattes

Balsim Fir Candle

Xena Season Four on DVD (my fave season of my fave show!)

Kickboxing Workout (gotta make it FUN and nothings says FUN like uppercuts and round houses, right? Or maybe that's just me!)

Staples (post-its and binders and journals - oh my!)

Malt Balls (still have a few left for a little chocolate fix throughout the day)

SUN

Sushi for dinner!

Is it sad that Staples in on my FUN list?

I know there will be some IcE cReAm in there somewhere as well (maybe even more than once!!)! Oh, and a trip over to the WriteOn Con site for bit.

What about you? What do you do for FUN even if it's not on a Friday?

SuPeRsTiTiOuS FUN Friday

Are you superstitious? Does Friday the 13th wig you out? Bad luck? Well, turn that luck around RIGHT HERE! Fridays mean FUN, even when they have the dreaded 1-3 in them, and what's more FUN than an End of Summer Giveaway?!?!

Books, Candy, Bubble gum, Lip Smackers are up for grab! I'm even throwing in this adorable tote that can definitely seg into Fall.

CUTE TOTE

BOOKS

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
and
impossible by Nancy Werlin

CANDY & BUBBLEGUM

Gobstoppers! and Whoppers! and Starburst! and Red Vines! and BubbleYum!

LIP SMACKERS

Because who doesn't like to feel like a kid again sometimes!?! In my favorite flavors - Cotton Candy and Watermelon.

So How do you WIN? Easy follow these rules:

Required
1. Follow Me (Lily and I promise to keep you entertained!)

2. Sidebar Me (If you do that sort of thing!)

3. Comment

4. You know how I love love love creativity! How about the first line of your current project? If you don't want to share, feel free to give us your favorite line from your favorite book (share with us what the title is along with the author) or feel free to use a one-liner that you've always wanted to use but never had the chance! It's all about FUN!



Optional
Tweet Me, Facebook Me, Blog Me (Optional, but brownie points are a bonus!)



So there you have it!!! Comment below telling me the love you gave me along with your email address and I'll announce the LUCKY winner on Friday, August 20th!

Wednesday Wishes

This is Wednesday leaning out of her cat tree. She may look like just your average gray tabby cat, but she has many skills. Most of these skills, she uses for The Good. Okay, 'most' might be a slight exaggeration. Wednesday is a good little kitty, though, at heart. She loves her family, loves her sisters, loves annoying those sisters and she also loves to grant wishes. Every Wednesday morning, I will rub the side of the cat house and summon our magic cat!

Here are my wishes for Wednesday:

1) A Magical Door - All I have to do is stand in front of the door, whisper the name of the place (date, time) that I want to be, open it and walk right through!

2) A New Purse - My current two have seen their outings. Time for a new purse. Or two. Does this still count as only one wish if I change it to two purses? It's much easier to match your outfits if you have two colors.

3) Better Dental - I've already spent over $4,000 out of pocket on my teeth this year and I just cracked another tooth. I am anal about brushing, flossing and rinsing with my special mouth was every night but years of steroid inhalers for my asthma have rotted these teeth away (coupled with inheriting my mother's horrible teeth). I hate how expensive it is despite the insurance.

Choose your weekly wishes wisely (say that one five times fast without tripping over your own tongue and she will grant you a magical fourth wish) and share them with us! Wednesday can't grant them if you keep them to yourself!


Be sure to check out my contest below! You can win yourself some FREE coffee at Starbucks. Who doesn't love COFFEE and FREE?

SurvivorWriter Contest

Today, I am going to drop you into the Lakes Basin. You're only 9 miles from a trailhead, but that trailhead is a good 45 minutes (in a car, which you don't have) from a paved road. Once you hit that road, you are about a twenty minute drive to the nearest grocery store in a small town. Although, you are only five minutes from a coffee stand once you hit that asphalt (priorities, you know).

You are dropped alone with the following items:
Tent
Sleeping Bag
Backpack

You have the clothes on your back so I hope that you layered. I went with longjohns underneath jeans and a t-shirt with a sweatshirt over it. I'm wearing two pairs of socks in my tennis shoes and a beanie on my head.

You have to make it 7 days on your own. Your prize for surviving the week will be a whopping $100,000. (Not in reality, though. In reality, the prize is much smaller. See below for details.)

In the backpack, you have a water bottle, iodine tablets (for purifying your water), waterproof matches, a swiss army knife, a small frying pan and a book on edible plants. You get to choose THREE items to add to your backpack. What would you add and how would it help you survive the week? You can be realistic (fish hook to help you catch fish, rope to help make a snare, etc.) or you can use your imagination (shiny object to give to the Fae in exchange for a bed and meals, trading Bigfoot fish for protection from the cougar who roams the territory, etc.).

Most creative answer wins a $10 Starbucks card. That's almost three grande skinny vanilla lattes, or three tall Americanos. Who doesn't love coffee???

So how do you score yourself this Starbucks card?

1. Follow Me (You want to! I have some great blog posts coming up along with a really fun Summer Giveaway on Fun Friday!)
2. Sidebar Me (Pretty Please!)
3. Comment (Don't forget to list the 3 items you will need and how you will use them. Include your email address so that I can pick the winner!)

Winner will be announced on SATURDAY! Dazzle me and you win the prize!