100!!!

It makes me all sorts of happy to see that my blog now has one hundred followers. It frequently astounds me that there are people out there that take time out of their busy lives to read what I have to say. So I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who reads, comments, or has clicked that on the FOLLOW button. Thank you! Thank you!

I also wanted to remind everyone of the Possession ARC Book Give Away Contest that ends midnight on May 25, 2011. The author of Possession, Elana Johnson, wrote a really cool post today on Jemi Fraser's blog about world building. Check it out.

Characters That Stay With You

A few weeks back one of my critique partners mentioned that while she was doing the dishes she found herself thinking about Maya and Fabian, two of the main characters in my novel, Shift. She said that they were the kind of characters that stayed with you long after you finished reading.

This was probably one of the best compliments I had ever received about my writing because I totally get what she means.

After I finished reading the Mortal Instrument Series by Cassandra Clare, I thought about Jace, Clary, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, Luke, etc... for days. I think I even dreamed about certain scenes from the book. I felt the same way about the character's in Maggie Stiefvater's books Shiver and Linger. And also *cough* Edward *cough* and Bella *cough**cough.* Excuse me. Allergy season is horrid down here in Alabama right now.

So today being May 20th, the release date of Pirates of the Carribean 4, I don't think you can even comprehend how excited I am about seeing this guy again:

Jack Sparrow is the epitome of one of those characters that you'll never forget. I thought about him and his antics for days after I finished watching Pirates 1, 2, and 3.

I want to remind everyone of the Possession ARC give away. Go to this post to enter and for contest details. Have a great weekend!

Possession ARC GIVE AWAY!

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading Elana Johnson's soon to be published Possession, set to debut on June 7, 2011. And I want to share the fun.

Step 1: Leave a comment on this post in which you do one of the following:

• Share what your greatest possession is. Please don't list people because we all know that our loved ones are the most important things in our lives.
• Tell me how you would thwart governmental mind control.
• Make me laugh.

Step 2: If you aren't already, become a follower.

Contest is open for entries from today until midnight of May 25, 2011. The comment I find most intriguing will be the winner. Contest is open to U.S. Residents only.

Day One

You know how sometimes people say, I wish I had time to pick the roses?

Well, that's what I did with my new found time. Much to my surprise, the knock-out rose bushes on the side of my house had grown so tall that the flowers were touching the roof. I promise I didn't give them any mutant plant food or genetically modify them.

I cut the ones I liked and the photo on the left depicts my shoddy attempt at flower arranging.

And as always I must find a way to tie this into writing or skating or laughter, because someone might say that the banner of this blog is misleading in it's ideals.

So here goes...

I think it's important to be happy and to have free time to do whimsical things such as cut mutant roses from your garden. Because these little things are part of life, and the more of life we experience, the richer our writing will become.

Vision

I have a poster in my home office of Mr. Walt Disney standing on a bleak stretch of empty land. Behind him is a faded dream-like image of the ever-famous castle that we all know as the icon of Disney motion pictures and the Magic Kingdom itself. Beneath the photo is the word VISION in big white letters and then there is a quote under it from Mr. Walt Disney:

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

I love this poster because it inspires me. I've recently made some drastic decisions in my life that I think are for the better (aka more time to clean my oven, be happy, cut that second toe nail that keeps digging into the skin of my big toe, play with my kitties more, catching up on weeks of unwatched episodes of Dancing with the Stars, continue crying a little for James Durbin getting kicked off of Idol yesterday, and most importantly write the best book that I can). I hope the outcome of these decisions will allow me to reach my vision, my dream for my life.

Happy writing!

Happy Mother's Day

To all the writers and authors out there that are mothers, and to all the mothers that aren't writers or authors: Happy Mother's Day!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Nearing the End...

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel despite the fact that this past weekend I had to gut and rebuild the walls of the metaphorical tunnel that is my manuscript.

You know how last week I said the middle of a story is murky? Yeah, well the middle is nothing compared to the last chunk. The last chunk is riddled with pot holes and little demons that chant you suck, this story sucks, and you have bad hair. And I can't tell you how much better it made me feel when awesome author, Libba Bray, confessed to struggling with the very same.

But talking things out with my shrinks (aka critique partners) helped dig me out of some of these pot holes, which are really like chasms full of quick sand.

So I may be a bit incommunicado for the week as I try finishing up this first draft. Happy writing and have a happy week!