Friday, February 26, 2010

Yikes--a snipit...breathe ...oh and contests.

O.k. so I toyed with not thinking of my MC's Ian and Anna and it is difficult not to-- so after you read about more awesome contests you can enter go down a little further and read a brand spanking new clip from my WIP.  Why I put myself through constant torture is beyond me. I have decided that I have contracted a disease called knotinmytummyitis--it flairs up every time I post one of these snipits.  I guess I am getting myself ready for the world of rejection.  I think it may roll off my back a lot easier if I torture myself now.  Anyway, It is not in the original first draft and it needs work...a lot of work but I thought I would see what you thought.  I came up with it on a whim.  There is more to it but it would reveal too much of the story and -well- this post would be wicked long.  Please be gentle but I will take any criticism--I'm getting used to it. :) 

A couple of contests I have found and thought I would mention first --yes I am putting you off --the blogger--from reading my snipit.

Contest on Noelle Nolan--A Life Rewritten  Check out her cool blog and enter to get a $10 gift card to Amazon.com-- Wahoo!


Contest on Reading Writing Rachel Way cool--win a copy of her book Hex Hall-- autographed of course, a Hex Hall t-shirt (yes, they are cool too), and a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble--Wow!



O.k. a snipit.  This is not in my first draft so totally brand spankin new.  Again please disregard the messiness. This is a dialogue between Ian and Anna again no teaser of the whole story just a simple back and forth.

I played with lace on my shoe as I prepared myself to ask.  "What about you?  You seem to hide behind a wall about your family."

"Like I said before, it would require therapy if I told you." he wrapped his arms around his knees looking away from my gaze. He picked up a small pebble and rubbed between his finger almost as if he wanted to tell me--tell me all of it but something held him back.  I was getting annoyed at his games and all the hiding he protected me from. In fact, It was making me angry.

"That's it!" I stood up with a huff.

"What!" His eyes laid back to mine but they tried not to portray that he was just as annoyed as me. 

"Really, are they that bad?" I put my hand on my hip and slapped the other hand on my thigh.  I had to stand my ground and show I would not fall.  Not fall into his beautiful eyes, or melt into the palm of his hands. 

Focus Anna! screamed from the back of my mind. I shook my head as I diverted my sight away from him and onto an ugly brown leaf that crumpled in the corner of the old ruin.

"Yes, they are." He stood slowly and turned his body to compliment mine.

"So that is how this relationship is going to go.  I pour my life onto you but I get nothing in return." I turned away and faced the cobbled rock wall sliding my finger across a jagged edge.

"If you mean return as in my personal detailed resume... then your right ...nothing." his tone so calm compared to my insides which were about to explode like a volcano erupting in annoyance at the fact that I know nothing about him.  I turned to face him and to my surprise he was right in front of me. 

How did he get here so fast? My thoughts began to toy with reality. Don't look at him in the eyes..avoid the eyes. If you do you will loose control and he will win.

He smiled then pushed a stray hair away from my face and my stupid eyes gave in-- catching his ice blue ones that tamed the angry fire that was burning in my gut. Every bit of me loosing the reasons why I was so annoyed and allowing his lips to cause a distraction --a distraction that made my mind clear and forget why I was angry in the first place.



There you go.  I wrote this quickly yesterday so it is by no means in any shape to be considered remotely good but I promised you a snipit so this one is fresh out of the brain. 

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend:)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

More thank yous and contest.

Contest Alert--Dangerous with a Pen --Lindsay--Is giving away a bunch of cool stuff for reaching 100 followers--Yeah Lindsay! Check out her cool blog!

Thanks to Amber Lough for also giving me the From me to you Award.  Since I just gave it away, I will let any of you just take it if you like. Thanks Amber! Check out her blog --I wish we lived closer we could go get that cup of coffee :)

I received a funny award yesterday! Thanks to Bethany from Aspirations!



This is way too funny --I have to make up six lies and one truth and you my fellow bloggers must uncover the truth.  This ought to be good.

1. My kids are the best sleepers in the world.  I don't know why other kids don't sleep. 

2. I am such a daredevil.  I love to skydive allowing the cool air to fly by my face as I plummet to the earth--so fun.

3. I turned down a cover shoot for French Vogue when I was 16.

4. I have a fairy named Emme that lives in a tree behind my house.

5. One of my best friends --who is so flirty-- is named Robert Pattinson.

6. I drove a 911 Porsche Turbo on a winding California mountain road--really fast.

7. I hate to travel in fact I have never left the country.


There you go.  Which one is the truth? I think I can hear the Jeopardy music playing.

So now I must give this to five bloggers--

1. Kelly-Kelly's Compositions -She an awesome CP and unplugged this week.  This is something for her to smile at when she returns.

2. Roxy- A Womans Write- I can't wait to see what you say.

3. Crystal- CrystalCookWrites--Her new blog --check it out!

4. Karen-Novels During Naptime--Great blog-- I can relate too!

5. Abby Annis--She has sucha  beautiful blog and also has a great contest going on right now.

There you have it and if you have not received this award yet go ahead and take it.  I have a small child in my arms so typing is a little difficult. 

Sorry for the short post! Have a good day!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

The stats!

On a super happy note--Thank you to Michelle Gregory of beautiful chaos. I won an autographed copy of her book Eldala. I can't wait to read it. Thanks Michelle!



Whew! The first step of many is complete and I will put talking about my first draft to rest--I promise. I have fully finished my first draft. Yes, I know a few weeks ago I said I was almost finished but I added some things and now my baby will be taking her first steps to revision. 

I must take a break from her, then print her out and read her all over again. Then the ultimate of scary--revision.  I am scared--not sure why-- but I am on my way.  Sure for some of you this is silly for me to make such a big deal but it is the first story --out of the several I have started-- that I have completed.  I actually took my kids to lunch to celebrate-- including a milkshake.

So here are her stats --I feel like this is the weight and length of one of my children after being born.

Chapters-33

Words- 87,230

Pages-301

There you go. I have alot of revising to do--so scared. 


So I may post a snippit, I may not, because I have a ton of critiques to finish and my CP told me no more thoughts of Ian and Anna--I need to take a break. She is sooo right but it is sooo hard. :) I may not post until Friday. 

Fun question---What is your favorite ice cream?  Totally unrelated and random but something fun and it helps me think of summer.  We are about to get another 10" of snow. 

Have a good day!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

My baby.

Two contests I saw this morning --

1. On Shooting Stars --You can win Two-first five page critiques by two agented authors.

2. On Kristi Faith's R.A.W.-Random Acts of Writing- You can win a gift certificate to the online bookstore of your choice.


I will make it short today because I have to finish my first draft.  I know I said I was almost finished it a few weeks ago but I added more so I hope to post the final stats tomorrow.  I can't wait to finish and revise. 

Well, I am scared because there is so much to be done.  I have to embelllish and my kids don't always cooperate in giving me any quiet time what so ever.  So my poor hubby suffers at night as I stare at the screen thinking and typing my fingers off.  Sorry honey, I'm doing what I love--thanks for letting me just take care of this baby. Yes I still love you :)

So what is your favorite part of your baby--Writing the first draft or revising?

I will not get into what happens after that-- the whole query/searching for agents, editors/ boxing yourself in a corner while you wait patiently, your body rocking back and forth from the nerves that took hold while waiting for rejection I mean an answer--because
     a. I have not done that yet--so no expert here.

     b. It already puts knots in my stomach thinking about the waiting and rejection.

I must go and finish and review some others work --critiques kiddos.

Oh! and where do you get the cute progress bars I see on some of your blogs.  It shows your progress  of what you are working on.

Have a good day!

Monday, February 22, 2010

What planet is that?

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  My time was mainly cleaning house and much needed family time.  I was quite a happy little bee when I looked over at my followers block.  51 --yes-- 51 where did that number come from?  I can't believe that anyone thinks that I'm interesting.  So thanks for making me feel accepted--it makes me smile.

Also, Thanks for your feedback on the Snowflake Method.  I am trying it but it was great to hear that some of you do things by the 'seat of your pants' and have had success.  So far, I have been flying 'by the seat of my pants' and to be quite honest it feels the most comfortable but I will try other methods to see if it helps me become a better writer.  I may post my one liner tomorrow.

So on with my post.
I thought of you Michelle Gregory (beautiful chaos) when I started this post. I need to come up with names for my novel.  Not just names of people but names of things not of this world.  I have been racking my brain and have come up with nothing.  I may be trying too hard and when I do that I get nothing.  I stand in awe at the authors/movie folks who come up with a whole planet that includes a whole new way of life ie. George Lucas, JK Rowling, Tolkien, etc.

Do any of you have any advice? Have any of you needed to come up with names of other worldly places, languages, races of people, etc.?  If you have, how have you gone about naming things?

Don't forget about Michelle's giveaway.  Her book Eldala--I have to read this one.

Have a great day!

Friday, February 19, 2010

One sentance.

Let me start out by apologizing for my long post on Wednesday but I thought I would get the snipit out there.Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your encouraging comments.  It means so much!

Yesterday, I had to catch up on things.  I finished four chapters in my first draft while I revised the first chapter.  Yes, I am doing things out of order but that is me. I do things out of order.  I am looking into the Snowflake Method for my revision and I am having the hardest time with Step 1.

Step 1. Write one sentance to summarize your novel in 15 words or less. I need to take 80,000 words and condense--holy cow! I know I will do this somehow but how?  I know my main points but condensing them is going to be a huge headache.  I am learning as I go and it only making me stronger.

So, I ask you any of you --any advice.  Have any of you tried this method?  If you have, do have any advice on your approach to writing this crucial sentance?

Also, Thank you to Summer from ..and this time concentrate for  From Me to You Award.  I just posted my recipients the other day.  I was flattered to receive this from two people.  You guys are so nice:)

Today is a short post.  Enjoy your day:)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Yes, a snipit and breathe...

I missed the Valentine's Day blogfest.  My WIP is no where near a finished product but I felt the need to do this.  Call me insane or on the verge of crazy for putting myself through the torture that is twisting in my stomach --maybe it is cabin fever.  That could be a real disease.  Enough blabbing Christine, just let it out--whew! Like I said, this is in no form of a final product so please excuse any mistakes.  This is a scene between my MC's Anna and Ian.  I don't want to give too much away so here it goes--*cringe* *biting my lip*---sorry for the length--


My breathing ceased as the doorbell echoed in my ears. I closed my eyes doing my count to ten exercises before I opened the door.
“Hi!” came out with a nervous twitch. I looked at him with a stare I could not break.

“Hi! Are you ready to go?” he looked me over which I didn’t mind in the least bit.

I just nodded and pulled the door closed making sure it locked.

“You look very nice.” He leaned down to my ear as the words were softly delivered and I hid the warm shiver that went through me.

We walked to his car and he opened the door for me as he did the night before. As he started to drive, the suspense was killing me and I was hoping we would go somewhere without a lot of people.

“So where are we going?”

“You’ll see…it is a surprise.” he smirked as he looked at the road ahead.

We drove for maybe five minutes and pulled into the parking lot of the Country Club. Great—I really didn’t want a fancy dinner at the Country Club. The town’s elite along with their offspring dining in pure snobbery. I would be the talk of the school not that I already was.

Ian pulled into a parking spot and turned to me-- watching my reaction.

“The Country Club..Really?” I tried not to make it sound like I was disappointed.

“No..I just have to park here”

“Why?”

“You will see. Here put this on.” Ian leaned over me to get into his glove box. His cologne made my mouth water and his touch sent my blood rushing to my face.

“What is it?” I said with a hint of breathlessness.

“A blind fold, I don’t want you to see where we are going.” he held up a black velvet blindfold as I was taken back not sure what to make of it.

“Don’t worry I will guide you.” he handed me the blind fold.

“O.k.” my word flowed out with hesitation.

I placed the blindfold up to my eyes, tying the straps behind my head and Ian guided me from the car. We walked a short distance until the pavement turned into grass. I kept my mouth shut knowing his answer to my one and only question of the moment would be---- you will see.

My shoes crunched on some leaves and Ian stopped.

“Wait here for a minute” I heard him move something like a branch cracking in half and he took my hand to guide me to him.

 Where on earth are we?  I thought.

He then placed his hands on my waist to pulling me to our destination. We stopped and I felt him unravel the knot of the blindfold.

As the darkness lifted, I focused on bright lights that flooded my corneas. I tried to catch the breath that was becoming short with the excitement that was beginning to build in my chest.

Ian brought me to my sanctuary—the ruins of the old house. He had probably a hundred candles lit and scattered on any surface that would hold them. My mouth slightly opened without me trying. It was beautiful and so romantic I thought of possibly crying on the spot out of joy but I decided against it because it would ruin the moment.

“Well.” He stood there proud but waiting for my approval.

“It’s beautiful…It’s perfect.” I smiled back at him.

“Have a seat.” He pointed to a soft, blue blanket he had layed in the middle of the ruin.

I slowly sat still taking all of this in. It was so hard not to look in wonder. Ian sat down next to me just watching my face fully satisfied by his handy work.

“How did you do all this?”

“I know the security guard—Bill.” He smiled and handed me a glass of sparkling grape juice in champagne glass.

I looked at it strangely.

“We are not legal. You know to drink.” he winked.

“Right…so Bill helped you? How sweet.” The grape juice tickled my throat as it slid down.

“Yes, he really thought you deserved this. Oh.. and we need to be out of here by 10.” he turned and grabbed a few Tupperware containers opening them quickly. They contained fruit, cheeses and crackers.

“You didn’t have to do this” I picked up a grape and enjoyed the sweetness of it.

“No, I did-- especially after last night. You deserve a proper date.”

I tried not to let my staring freak him out but he has caught me off guard and making fall completely in love with him.

“What.” he noticed me staring.

“You are not normal are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean --are you really a teenager? Because the last I checked no teenage guy let alone any guy would do something like this.” My eyes rolled to indicate the display he has set.

“Yes, I am a teenager but I disagree with you. There are a few –Guys—that would do this. I guess I am one of the few.”

“I guess I’m the lucky one.” My smile was hard to erase in fact I think it was beaming.

“Oh…. here I got you something.” He turned to get something from behind him.

“What …why…. did you get me something. Was I supposed to get you something?”

He turned back to me with a cupcake in hand that held a lit candle on top.

“No, you were not supposed to get me anything. This is for you.” his eyes lit up as brightly as the candle.

“What is this for?” my words came out confused.

“It is for your birthday.”

“But my birthday was a month ago.”

“I know. I just wasn’t there to celebrate so here I am celebrating with you. Happy Birthday …well belated birthday.” He handed me the chocolate covered cupcake with rainbow sprinkles. “Make a wish.”

My wish was already coming true so I just closed my eyes and blew the candle out with one small breath. I really didn’t want to eat it right there in front of him. It looked delicious but I guess the girl inside me didn’t want him to see me stuff my face.

“So who told when my birthday was?” I had my suspicions.

“Who do think?” his lips pressed together and formed a small curve in the corner of his mouth.

“Ivy….”I licked the frosting that smudged on my finger.

“Well she sort of said that you never really celebrated your birthday on the actual day.”

“No, I didn’t. You know another year older and an adult to top it off plus my dad not being there. Let’s just say the combo made for a somber birthday.” I caught his eyes which made my heart flutter.

“And now…”

“Now …the most incredible birthday ever….I can’t believe this really. I am almost speechless.” I began to babble as my nervous crush whirled inside me. “Almost speechless..really..I…

His lips interrupted my verbal train. Thank goodness because it was turning ugly.  He kissed me softly and I was glad I didn’t eat that cupcake otherwise it would have been a chocolate mess. He seemed very confident and forward with his feelings for me and I have to admit this personality trait would normally shy me away but with him it made me want to follow him wherever he went.

Our lips took a brake by slowly parting and my lips quivered with the electricity that was left from his.

“Sorry. You are so cute when you babble that I can’t resist you.” He smiled as he saw me regain my sense of reality. “Speechless?”

I nodded. He then slid back leaning up against the one wall of the ruin and motioned for me to join him. I put the cupcake down and made myself comfortable next to him as he wrapped his arm around me. I instinctively leaned my head back onto his shoulder watching his fingers intertwine into mine.

“Thank you” I whispered

Ian kissed the top of my head as we sat there gazing up at the stars. He managed to make me feel loved, accepted and wanted all at the same time. I know I would never forget this for the rest of my life.



Yes I know cutsy, cliche but I love my characters and this was just a cute moment I came up with.  Now, I need to get to writing, and revising--yikes.  Nerves calm down!

Thanks!