Superior Scribbler and Kreativ Blogger Award

Thank you! Thank you! Thomas was kind of enough to award me the Superior Scribbler Award and the Kreativ Blogger Award. How snaptastic! And now I get to nominate people too! How fun! Here are my nominations for the Superior Scribbler Award AND the Kreativ Blogger Award (please hold your applause until all the nominees have been read):

1. Bane of Anubis- his posts are testosterone filled, jam packed, and well written. He's enlightened me on several topics such as anorexic models, Twilight spoofs, and my very own narcissism. I've also read his book, The Lost Children Chronicles, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

2. Marissa, although new to the blogosphere, has the makings of a star (on the ice and paper).

3. Ivy, over at Shut Up and Love, has always been one of my favorite reads. She's a poet but also an observer of the fine inner workings of love.

4. Hilary Wagner, already a proud owner of the Kreativ Blogger Award, has wowed me with Edwin Copperpot and is therefore in my mind a Superior Scribbler.

5. Renne Pinner, is always sharing bits of hope, reality, and passion for writing. I visit her blog regularly.

6. L.T. Host over at Quest Published has made me laugh on many occasions, especially when sharing kitty stories. I thoroughly enjoy her Fantasy Tuesdays and she also received an honorable mention over at Nathan Bransford's first paragraph contest.

7. Matthew Delman, is also a proud owner of the Kreative Blogger award, but is quite deserving of the Superior Scribbler award because he is always talking about steam and these awesomely weird gadgets.

Rule 3 of the Kreative Blogger Award says that I have to post seven interesting facts about myself.

1. I've been ice skating for 18 years.
2. I own a video production company.
3. When I was young, other than being an olympic figure skater, I wanted to be a whale trainer. And thus I watched Free Willy more times than I care to admit.
4. I have a brother who is in dental school and is constantly asking if he can practice injections on me. Yikes!
5. I'm 29 years old. Got a cat in February 2009 and I don't have the balls to tell my parents. Even though I own my home. Cats are looked upon with distaste in Indian culture and my Mom thinks they are allergy brothels. Anyways, it's been so long now I'm not quite sure how to even bring the subject up. Lame. I know.
6. I've watched New Moon....twice. Yeah, I know.
7. I baked brownies last night and...I forgot the egg. It emerged from the oven like bubbling sludge.

These are the rules for the Superior Scribbler Award:

1.Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.

2.Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.

3.Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.

4.Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!

5.Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog


These are the rules for the Kreativ Blogger Award:

1. Copy and paste the pretty picture which you see above onto your own blog.


2. Thank the person who gave you the award and post a link to their blog.

3. Write 7 things about yourself we do not know.

4. Choose 7 other bloggers to award.

5. Link to those 7 other bloggers.

6. Notify your 7 bloggers.

Side effects of blogging: Memory Wipe

About ten minutes ago I had a mental list of all the things I needed to do before I went to bed tonight. Then as I stepped out of the shower I had a vision of my next blog post. And then at that very moment, EVERYTHING I was supposed to do was instantaneously wiped from my memory. Is this paranormal or what?

I subscribe to a newsletter called Screenplay Mastery. Granted I no longer have ambitions to write screenplays I still enjoy learning about them. Michael Haugue, the creator of Screenplay Mastery, has a post on screenplay structure that is excellent. A lot of screenplay structural theory can be applied to your favorite novel or even your own writing. Below is a diagram of what he believes are the basic six stages for a plot:

While this diagram can be a great tool. He warns:

"But a word of caution: don't let all these percentages block your creativity. Structure is an effective template for rewriting and strengthening the emotional impact of your story. But you don't want to be imprisoned by it. Come up with characters you love and a story that ignites your passion. Then apply these structural principles, to ensure that your screenplay will powerfully touch the widest possible audience."

I highly suggest checking out his post. Good luck to all the Nano Writers- just 7 days left with Thanksgiving stuck in the middle. Oh, what fun challenges can be!

Also, don't forget about Dorian and the add on story.

Bursting with Happiness!

I'm just so happy right now. Let me list why:

1. My friend Marissa Spector- well she's more than a friend- I think of her as my little sister, recently started a blog AND just competed in pairs at the 2010 Eastern Sectional Figure Skating Championships. Her partner and her just placed 3rd! They're going to Nationals in January! Woot! Woot! I am sooooo happy for her!

2. I sent off my manuscript for the last partial critique that I won through Brenda Novak's online auction today. It's exciting and nerve wracking.

3. I'm going to see New Moon in theaters tomorrow with cousin, cousin in law (it happens to be his birthday), cousin in law's friend, Sarcastically Delicious (aka boyfriend), Marissa and her madre! So excited! I don't know why I'm so excited because I hated the first movie (loved the book though- yes I'm not embarrassed to say it.). I guess after seeing the trailers my hope is that it will be better than the first movie.

4. I now have 26 followers!

5. Almost done listening to City of Glass. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Stay tuned for Gossip Time.

Don't forget the add on story. Dorian's mustang has magically healed and is driving, of its own volition I might add, to rescue Dorian or help him find the woman carrying his child. Hard to say sometimes what's exactly going on there, its open to interpretation.

I'm also changing my profile picture to a picture that more exemplifies me. I'm the one on the left, my cool cousin- Namstar (that's not really her name) is on the right. I LOVE to laugh and making people laugh, thus I think this pic is more me.

25! Woo hoo!

I have 25 followers! There are actually 25 people that care about what I have to say! These past few months have been an absolute delight. I love all the blog buddies I've met and the ideas that we have shared. In honor of this milestone, I am going to post 25 snippets from the book How I Got Published, a collection of essays from famous authors. I highly recommend it.

1. Hallie Ephron
Rule 3: Just because an editor says you should change the gender of your protagonist doesn't mean you should do it.

2. Jack Bludis
There is no magic formula-- just persistence and send the damn thing out.


3. Stephen Coonts
Writing in the evening on a portable typewriter on the dining room table after the kids were in bed, I created Jake Grafton and his squadron mates...


4. Thomas Perry
I never stopped writing. I went to graduate school and got a P.h.D. in English, worked as a commercial fisherman because I was sick of being indoors, then became a university administrator, but I still wrote.


5. Ray White
As an unknown, unpublished writer, whose favorite uncle probably isn't an editor at Random House, you must make contacts in the publishing industry. The best way to do this is to attend writer's conferences.


6. Charles Benoit
Your real goal is to write a book that people would pay good money to read...You can't achieve this goal if your reason for writing is to just see your name on a bookshop shelf.


7. Louise Penny
Like most writers I was turned down more often that I care to remember, or cared to admit to my agent.


8. Karen Rose Smith
After six years of writing and the completion of thirteen manuscripts, I sold two books in one week!


9. Shane Gericke
Scared? Do it anyway. I became a best-selling author because of those four little words. You can too.


10. J.A. Konrath
There's a word for a writer who never gives up... Published.


So uh...I know I promised 25...but geez this is taking longer than I thought (and I need to go to bed). So take these 10 multiply that by 2.5 and that should give you 25. Have a good night peeps! And Wooohooo for 25!

Our own fictional straight jacket...

When I sat down to write today I felt incredibly blocked. Some mumbo jumbo about british royalty, time travel, and lost siblings- blah blah- was basically slamming the breaks on my WIP.

I keep thinking over and over- how am I going to make this all work. I've brainstormed in the car, in the shower, during many a day dream, etc... I've been waiting for some kind of epiphany on the matter since 2004- and I just can't (and I hate the word can't- in fact I don't even believe it exists) figure it out.

And then after almost five years of trying make something work I realized- why does it have to be that way. Why contrain myself to specific fictional parameters that I made up? Isn't this all imaginary anyway? Does it really have to be the 1480s? Or that specific prince? No it doesn't.

So I turned the prince into a pirate and voila-I'm back in business folks.

Character Empathy

I have a friend who is going through a very tough time right now. Every aspect of his life is problematic: career, family, and personal health. I've been kind of down the past few days because of this (and getting a cavity filled that made my face hurt as if it had been beaten by the fury of a thousand fists).

Sarcastically Delicious (aka boyfriend) noted I was a bit melancholy. He knows about close friend going through difficult time and asked me, "But, why are you down?"

"Because close friend is hurting," I said. "It makes me sad when's he's sad. It's like when you have a family member that's sad or hurting. It makes me you hurt too."

Of course, our conversation made me think about writing (what can't be related to writing if you're a write-a-holic like us). The books that I enjoy are often the ones where I have empathy for the characters.  It's when we as readers identify or understand another person's feelings or motives are we truly engrossed in that piece of work (yes, that definition was straight from dictionary.com).

Recently, I had the honor of being a beta reader for Bane of Anubis. By the end of The Lost Children Chronicles, I was empathizing for Kevin, Prince, and Natalie (Jenson not so much- he's just a smeghead). I'm also listening to City of Glass in the car and wow do those drives go by fast. Cassandra Clare makes you empathize for all her characters, even the bad ones. I'll have to do a gossip time about it when I'm done.

So then I began to wonder if I empathize with my own characters. And I think I do on some levels, and then not so much on others. I definitely have some work to do in the empathy department. How about you guys? Do you find yourself empathizing with fictional characters, whether they be your own creation or belonging to others?

Also don't forget about the add on story. Dorian is apparently walking down a desert road to find the woman carrying his child.

Dream Lists...

Let's face it we're all dreamers. We wouldn't be writing if we weren't. Our writing aspirations are often private- shared only with family, friends, and blog mates. We don't let the "real" world know what it is that we're really up to- typing diligently during lunch or "cleaning up" when our kids are asleep.

A life time in the sport of  figure skating taught me many important lessons. One of the most important being, goal setting. Now for the purpose of today's post, let's interchange the word goal for dreams. It is said that to become succesful it is important to actually write down what you're dreams are. The act of writing our dreams makes us accountable to them. And of course, our dreams will evolve as time passes, and thus will need to be updated.

So let's get started....Dream List Time....Just fill in the blanks.

Dream Agent: for me this would be someone quirky, fun, hard working, knowledgable, savy, and gets me.

Dream Publisher: a house with a strong YA department (I haven't actually picked out which one is my dream publisher yet)

Dream Cover: Simple, elegant, with a tad of flashiness to it

Dream Book Tour Itinerary: Start in New York (I have a ton of family there), then go to Baltimore (cause I have more fam there), and then North Carolina (that way Nicholas Sparks can show up and congratulate me and I can oogle over him), from there I'd like to hit Florida, then Atlanta (have a bunch of friends and fam there), then in Alabama I'll have to hit Huntsville (go to my highschool) and Birmingham... oh and then Chicago to see Oprah...you get the picture

Whew...that book tour tired me out. What are some things you would put on your dream list?