Thanks to the chicks who rock and any advice?

Well, It's Friday the 13th. Ohhh scary. Anyone superstitious? Actually 13 is my favorite number. It always appears in some form or another for me.

A couple of links to check out. You may have already read these. I'm behind.
One on editing from QueryTracker

The other from Novel Journey I can't get the article to just come up so you will have to scroll down to August 6th. Sorry for the work but it's about juggling family life and writing.

WriteOnCon is done and please go give the fabulous ladies who organized it some love. What a great idea and so very helpful. The link should take you to the founders page where you can click onto each of these awesome ladies websites. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your hard work. It was a success and extremely helpful (yes I said it was helpful twice). Also, thank you to the amazing authors, agents and editors who conducted such great workshops/vlogs/posts/live chats.This is where I've been for the past three days.

So I have a problem. You probably know that I'm in a book club. A friend of mine started it and since I'm in love with books I joined. I figured it would help me read books I would probably never look at. I was right all of the books I have read for it-- I would have never picked up on my own. They have opened my eyes to other styles of writing and all of them were very good. Now, at the next meeting I have to pick two books for the group to decide on to read for the meeting in November (which I'm hosting). I can tell you that pretty much all of  the members do not read YA. YA is my thing-- it's what I love  to read and write. Throw some paranormal/scifi stuff in there and I'm in heaven. My thing is-- I want to pick two books that may appeal to someone who does not normally read YA. Maybe I'm looking into this too much but let me list the books we have read so far.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White (this was my favorite out of the three)
I'm now reading --A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

So I'm looking to you guys on suggestions. What would your two picks be for a book club to read?(for a club that is not particularly YA).

Have a great weekend!

Wow! it's Monday...

Yes, another contest has caught my eye. Since my kiddos are sleeping according to German time and well the focus on my WiP is swirling in a haze --I have been scanning blogs. Not commenting much though--so sorry. Anywho, I came across this contest.

Roni and Julie's Epic Summer contest--Lots of critiques to be given away. Since I like to torture myself, I have entered. Ends August 8th.Which is today.

Tuesday is writeoncon. If you have not signed up you better get over there. I have to say I'm a little nervous. I'm scared I'm going to screw something up, do something wrong or embarrass myself somehow. There are so many awesome and totally talented people that are involved in this which is so great. I'm mostly nervous because I hope to get a little of my baby critiqued. The new stuff. The risk chapter. We will see how that goes. ***heartbeating fast, pinching in my gut***

I've had blog block lately. Not much to say because I have so much junk pushing it's way around in my head. I'm not sure where to start. It's quite overwhelming. It's been happening a lot lately. I think I need a few good writing sessions to clean it out. The MCs are fighting again along with Pessy and Opti. So sorry if the blog posts are repetitive and boring. The weather is not helping either--humidity and heat--puh.

I thought I was catching up on my reading but --holy cow-- there is way too much out there. I started Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. I think I should have read it before I read the Hunger Games (I will say it again--LOVED IT). Guilty Pleasures is a little slow for me right now. I may stop reading and come back to it. I never do this --stop a book I started. I feel bad and have to finish it but this one might be my first. I picked up Linger and Vampire Academy which are staring me in the face with some sexy eyes. Not to mention--Candor and Hex Hall which are sitting right beside them throwing a cute smile. The books are as bad as my MCs tempting me in way too many directions. Whew!

I'm posting early cause a lot is going on tomorrow--plan to write and revise. :) How was your weekend?

The Topic.

So I'm back in the states and way tired. Pretty overwhelmed too. The garden beds look like a jungle due to the wicked hot weather in PA. Yes, I miss Munich but I'm glad to be home too.

Check out this contest from Amie over at I Am Alive ends August 13th. The book covers are way cool. I want one.

Amie also started Three Things Thursday.  Rules--You list three things about yourself --following the topic of the day.

So today's topic--List three things about your childhood that made you who you are today.

Photo removed.

Ohhh tough one.

Let's see:

1. I grew up at the beach in the summer --this is where I fell in love with the ocean and everything beachy. It also made me prefer warmer weather. Although, I'm sure most of you like warmer weather.

2. I had a lot of imaginary friends (no comments from the audience--yes, I know I'm a little strange--I admit it). I think this has led me to be a very character driven writer--due to me talking to my characters. I know they're not real.

3. My parents exposed me to a variety of music throughout my life. This has led me to love a lot of different kinds of music. This also inspires a lot of what I write.

Well, there you go. I'm a little out of it today. I just got back from Munich last night so I'm messed up on the time. My kitties also needed to let me know how mad they were that we were gone--all night. That is probably why there are a lot of dashes in this post.

Hope everyone is well. I'm still messed up on what day it is too so just stick with me.

Strength and weakness

Lately, Pessy (my pesimist side) and been beating up Opti (my optimist side). They have been fighting like cats and dogs. Opti was winning a few weeks ago, but Pessy must have been working out because the fight has gotten ugly. I decided to show Pessy that he can not beat me down so instead of curling into a ball and claiming I'm a horrible writer--that everything I write is crap-- I thought I should take a look at my strengths and weaknesses. A list of each may help me see not only what I need to improve on but what I may be good at.

First, I want to get a couple things out in the open.

I must realize that my journey is not like anyone else's. It is as distinct as my fingerprint and only I'm in control.

My ideas and stories are from my heart and I must follow my gut when writing them.

Now on with my list. I figure I will start with my weaknesses. These are the things I must improve on.

Making a schedule to write--I need to focus purely on writing for at least an hour a day. I need to figure out when I can fit this time in without interruption.

Frustration--I need to stop getting frustrated when I'm not able to write. This only leads to Pessy smiling.

Tenses-I don't like tenses. Currently, I'm having a hell of a time trying to spot this. I need to sit and have a classroom session on this. My CPs will be happy when I figure this one out.

Adverbs and "to be" verbs-- I think I do have "was" under control but those sneaky adverbs are still sneaking in.

Slowing down. I tend to rush things especially because my kids need something at every moment. I have been working on this but I know I still need work in this area. It usually leads to careless mistakes.

I know I'm not great at grammer. :)

With that being said, I will move onto my strengths. I'm not a big bragger so I feel funny even typing this. I decided to write down what I have been told of things I do well.

I have been told-- I can write dialogue well. I do like writing it.

I have been told --I'm great at descriptions.

I have been told--I can write a great cliffhanger.

I have been told--That I write with a pretty good voice and that in my current WiP-- people seem to like my characters. That they seem real and a reader can relate to them.

There you have it. I'm not sure how it has made me feel but I guess it was a good exercise to help me jump back into my WiP.

How have you been?

Have you ever tried to seperate your strengths and weaknesses?

Has this exercise helped you?

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I can't wait to get back into my routine. I will miss Germany but I miss my family, friends, cats, house and ---writing. I thought I would be able to write more here but there are a lot of distractions. To my CPs --sorry I've have not been critiquing as much as I thought. You can say it--I've been a bad CP. I promise to finish all my critiques when I get back. Oh and sorry if this post sounds like I just woke up--well --I did and decided to write it before the kiddos got up. :)

Have a great day!

Meeting a blogger buddy--a blind date.

Hello folks. Blogging is by far the coolest thing. I would never have thought that I could be considered normal (we all talk to ourselves,right?) Anyway, I have connected with so many people I probably would have never met. Currently, I know maybe a handful of my blogger buddies (I've met them or know them in person). I would love to know all of you--maybe someday. :)

Yesterday, I got to meet blogger friend Amie--face to face. It was so funny because as Amie put it--"This is like a blind date." Since I was in Munich and Amie is not far, we set a date and time. We ate lunch, watched crazy street performers, went to a open market and I showed her that people do surf in Munich. I know it's crazy and the hubs being a crazy surfer-- bought a board too. They river surf here.

The Isar River runs through Munich and is channeled off throughout the city. It sometimes has a wicked current and the way the bottom of the channels are formed creates a standing wave. The main one is in the Englischer Garten (Eisbach)--I think it's the hardest one to surf too. There are other standing waves around the city as well where these crazy people surf (the hubs being one of them).

Amie took some fantastic pictures. Please go to her site and check them out.

We had such a great time and she is really cool. I hope to meet up with her again one day.

Have you met any of your blogger buddies?

Oh and Amie sorry about the whining German kids on the way home. :) Let me know how the books are.

Have a great day!

The genre question--revisited.

So to answer your burning questions about Monday's post. I've decided to take the risk. I can always go back and change it. I have a lot of work ahead of me. Whew! I'm smiling about my decision though.

I've written about genre before and I found a couple of posts I want to share. I'm so baffled by the age group for YA (12-18). This amazes me because to me it is such a broad range. The maturity level of a 12 year old is way different than an 18 year old. It's up to the parent to make the decision on what their child should be reading. I have other reasons why this bothers me. My main concern is where does my story fall. Would it be considered YA? What agents represent a new adult novelist? I do write high school scenes but usually they are at a senior level and my MCs are usually 18 and up. Now, I'm taking a risk with my chapter 1 --will that throw me out of YA and make it hard to place?

One of my past posts is about genre and my questions regarding the new genre, New Adult. I have not seen this section in the bookstores yet unless I'm blind. This new genre is supposed to bridge the gap between YA and adult. For the novels that don't fit in either. Here are two articles I found quite interesting.
One by Jodi Meadows and the other by JJ.  These posts did answer some of my questions but now I have questions for you.

I'm curious if any of you have seen this new genre.

If so, have you read something that is New Adult or should be considered New Adult?

Have you seen any agents or publishers promoting this new genre?

Jen at unedited is hosting a blogfest on August 19th and 20th. Guess that character blogfest. Sounds like fun!

Hope you guys are having a Happy Wednesday!

Do you take the risk?

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

First check out Jayne's contest. She sent her query out so now she can feed her cat. Ends August 8th.

Oh sweet progress-- why do you take your time? As you all know I'm a slow writer. I've discovered this over the past few weeks. There's nothing wrong with it-- I just have to deal with my impatience biting at my skull. I'm now trying to make the beginning of my WiP more concrete. I'm trying to stick to one thing but my mind gives my fingers way too many options to type. I know I told you I was going to put chapter 1 away for a while and come back  to it when I'm done the revisions but I keep coming back to it.

I have come up with two ways to write this. One way is safe in my mind--maybe typical but it's happier,comfortable. The other is a little darker, a little more, well, possibly controversial. I love the second one and think I may stick to it. The only problem is my pessimist side keeps poking me on the shoulder and whispering.

"This beginning may not help on your journey to getting this published. Heck an agent may not even look at it. It's too risky."

"But I like it. It sets it apart. Sure it may require more re-writes but why not try." My optimist side tries hard to push pessimist out of the way. "It is your story to tell it doesn't matter if it gets published--it is from your heart."

"Your writing is not that great, you can't pull this off. You will only get rejections." Pessy snarled.

"So what? Many authors get rejections. If it doesn't work, you can try again and go to the safe option."Opti folded her arms sticking up her nose.

"You'll never make it." Pessy yelled.

"Don't know till you try." Opti stuck her tongue out at Pessy.

"Mugjnweoir." Pessy angerily mumbles as he disappears from my shoulder.

So now you may think I'm nuts because my spilt personality is fighting with itself and I'm writing about it.
This is my dilemma. To take the risk or not. My gut is pulling me heavy in the direction of risk making it hard to ignore.

How do get over your pessy side while trying to follow your gut?

Do you write what you love ignoring the safe option and risk it?

Any good things happen this weekend?

Any goals for the week?

Have a great day!