Mash-up: Links and WiP update

Links

TalkToYoUniverse tackles the question: Does your character have to be as smart as your reader? The post addresses a book I've started recently: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, which is an intriguingly voicey book. One that raises the question: can a book have too much voice? But that is another topic entirely.

Kidlit discussed how to balance action and information.

Writer Unboxed argued that you should only query 6-8 agents at a time.

And Nathan Bransford discussed using contradictions to develop character.

This morning, Ladonna posted about letting your character fart. Ladonna is a newer blogger, and I've really been enjoying her posts over the last few weeks. Please hop on over and visit her!

Has anyone used Net Galley? I'm intrigued by it, but I'm always reluctant to sign up for websites until I hear some feedback.

WiP Update

I'm not good at working on one project at a time. For the past few years, I've tried to mold myself into someone who can do that--who can focus on one novel and write the darn thing and then edit it. This is one of the reasons I've added WiP updates on Fridays--I've been hoping that it would force me into continuity. But this week I've realized that I need to embrace my own methods. So I've gone back to how I used to function when I first started writing: I have three or four WiPs open on my desktop, and I work on them interchangeably. A few pages here, a few pages there. Maybe only a sentence in one and a thousand words in another. And you know what--doing this has respawned my love for writing.

Can you focus on one novel at a time?

Teaser Tuesday: Where She Went

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title and author so that other TT participating can add book to their to TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

This week is: Where She Went by Gale Forman. It is the sequel to If I Stay, which I loved. Where She Went hasn't captivated me quite as much, but it is still an interesting read.

Teaser sentences from page 82:

It was weird. You'd think that a platinum record, a pair of Grammys, a couple of VMAs would make your world, but the more it all piled on, the more the scene was making my skin crawl.

Mash-up: One lonely link and randomness

Link and Memory and Loving Writers

I have one link for you today. I'm behind on reading blogs because this week has been all about teeth--the six that my son is getting in all at once. So really I'm just lucky to be able to type coherently.

But I enjoyed this video of Kurt Vonnegut on the Shape of Stories at Writer's Digest.

I enjoy a lot of the articles posted at Writer's Digest. But every time I pull up the website, I gets sucked into memory-ville. You see I interned at F&W--which does Writer's Digest, Writer's Market and a number of other craft publications. I worked on the 1999 Writer's Market and Novel and Short Story Market. I edited listings. Let me explain how exciting this is. I was in charge of the fax campaign. So when a new fax came in, I would compare the new listing to the old listing, marking any changes on hard copy. Then I would take it down to this room where editors insert the changes into the electronic copy. I would then double check the electronic copy. After that--I went back to the fax and stared at it until a new listing to came in. I did this for three months. It was very Office Space.

But! But I loved being around all those writers. Because most of the people who work at F&W are writers, even if they are editing listings or managing faxes. Since my short time at F&W, I've never had another job where I was so surrounded by writers. Even teaching English--many of my co-workers were readers more than writers. That is why I love blogging so much--being surrounded by all you lovely writers!

There are a few other interesting stories from my time at F&W. Like getting robbed (twice). But that will have to wait for another day because you've already hung in for enough of my babble. Thank you for that.

WiP Update

I've put off my current draft, which I'm now calling Carbry for lack of a better title, for a short while to do some outlining for the next novel (which will be number five--craziness!). If I don't have something to work on right when Carbry goes out to alpha read, then I will start to stress about it. And I'm not sure what I want to work on next. I've got two dystopian ones, both dealing with mind alteration, a fairy tale retelling (that I think is just going to be for fun), a stranded on an island idea, and the one that I always come back to but never finish: Aria, my ancient Roman gladiatrix.

And I'm still toying with the idea of re-writing a legend. I don't have any idea which one or how that will work. But that's always how ideas start, right?

What's a girl to do?

Books that Annoy

Not because of the writing--because of the actual book.

I'm reading Anna Dressed in Blood right now. I've been reading it for more than a week, which is rare for me--I usually tear though a book in a few days. I'm really trying to enjoy it. But...

...but the text is a dark red--almost brown. Like a russet. I get that it is supposed to look like it is written in blood, which is a wonderful idea and a beautiful and different foreshadowing tool. But...

...but every time I'm reading, all I'm thinking is...

the text is red

the text is red

the text is red

I'm just over halfway though and I don't want to give up on it just because of the text, but I can't seem to get past it.

I've had this issue before, but never to this degree. I don't care for books that have pages with a deckled edge. Like Wolfsbane--I'm always slightly disappointed when I see this, but it doesn't stop me from reading/buying a book.

Are there things about certain books that annoy you? Does it ever stop you from reading?

If you self-publish, did you think about these things when creating your book? Do you wish you had done something differently when putting your book together?

Teaser Tuesday: The DUFF

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title and author so that other TT participating can add book to their to TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

This week is: The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Everything flooded back, and I suddenly remembered exactly who I was kissing. I tore my hands out of his hair and shoved him away from me as hard as I could.

What are you reading?

Worst Movies Blogfest!

Alex J Cavanaugh is hosting the Worst Movies Blogfest today! Hop on over to his blog to sign up or browse the entries.

The first list I comprised was made almost entirely of bad horror movies my husband likes to watch. But I realized it isn't those movies that really annoy me--the movies that irk me are the ones I am super excited about and then...

So this is a list of the top ten movies that thoroughly disappointed me--starting with the worst because I know you've got other blogs to visit.

1. BloodRayne

BloodRayne is a great video game with a heavy amount of action. And Rayne is a sexy female vampire character who is a blast to play--lopping off the heads of Nazis with her swords. How could this not make a good movie? Um yeah...bad acting and out of control blood spurting are just a few of the things that made this number one. And it was so bad that Universal Studios made a sequel. So they'll make a sequel to this disaster, but they won't make a sequel to Serenity?

2. Crank 2: High Voltage

The first Crank was a good, fun ride. And I love me some Jason Statham. So I had high hopes for the second--hopes that plummeted in the first few scenes. It is like the attempt was to make the most ridiculous and obnoxious film ever--mission accomplished.

3. House of the Dead

Again one of my favorite video games. We've got the guns and ever thing. And really--how can zombie killing be boring? Oh, House of the Dead, how you disappointed me.

4. Ed Wood

I guess I didn't get it. I've always been a big Tim Burton fan, so I ran to the theater to see this one. It is the only time I've ever walked out on a movie. I even sat though Vanilla Sky. Which leads me to...

5. Vanilla Sky

What the?

6. Watchmen

Watchmen went on for days and months and years. I kept thinking something would happen. Decades passed. I'm not sure it ever really ended.

7. The Phantom Menace

Another movie I was uber excited about. But this badly acted and plotted mess turned me away from the franchise all together. I never did see Episode II or III.

8. Waterworld

$200 million dollars. Really?

9. Paranormal Activity

I'm usually a big wimp when it comes to horror flicks. I keep a book next to me so I can grab it and frantically start reading to distract myself in the scary parts. So when a horror movie doesn't scare me--that is bad news. Happily, it ended tragically.

10. Up

This is a kids' movie? This is possibly one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. The whole thing left me in a lethargic, gloomy mood. I don't do sad movies for a reason. This sucker tricked me, and for that I will never forgive it.

So there it is. What are your worst movies? Any of these you vehemently disagree with?

Mash-up: Links, WiP update and Skyrim

Links!

Are you participating in Alex's Worst Movies Ever Blogfest? Because you really should! And there is still plenty of time to sign up and create your list.

Odds are you've heard of Shabby Blogs since they have like fifteen thousand followers, but just in case you haven't, there is some new freebies up this week.

And speaking of new...new blog alert! YA Confidential.

On the writing advice side--

Talk to You Universe has an interesting post on using religion in your story.

Writer's Digest had a couple of interesting posts this week: First 50 Pages Checklist and Choosing the Best Outline Method for You

And with her own list of links, Brooke posted on The Writing Bug about her Inner Plotter Checklist to Better Dialogue.

But the post I've been thinking the most about this week is Michael Offutt's take on Understanding Men to Write Your Fiction. I haven't figured out whether I completely agree or disagree with this post--but it is one of the two.

WiP Update

Every WiP has *that* section--the one that is really difficult to write. Many writers say they hit it around 30k, but it is always much later for me. I've been wallowing in *that* section for a few weeks until on Tuesday I hammered out 4,600 words. It was magic. And now I can see the end---only like ten more chapters to go (the MC in this story likes super short chapters, so like 15k words at the most!).

NaNoWriMo

Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Have you done it before?

I just can't decide. And it isn't because I'm not interested in doing it--it is because of what else is happening in November.

You see, on November 11th, something else is happening--and unless I can somehow write 40k of my 50k words before the 11th, I'm done for.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I don't talk much about it, but I am gamer. And there is no way that I'm not going to pre order this game. And there is no way I can resist putting in some all night gaming sessions with this sucker. And this isn't a game you can beat in 20 hours--it is way, way bigger than that.

So am I a complete nerd for not wanting to do NaNoWriMo because of a video game? Probably. But I am who I am.

How much do you share about your kiddos?

Do you blog about your kids? Should bloggers discuss their kids?

This is a topic I wish I had considered more before starting my blog. I've posted about our son on occasion, including a few pictures. No naked pictures or anything, but things like this...

You know, him being him. In his favorite shirt.

Different bloggers do a variety of things when it comes to including kids into their blogs. There are some bloggers I know have children but NEVER mention kids on the blog. Others seem to post about them on occasion, as I do.

For those of you who don't post about your children--why not? Do you have safety concerns? Privacy concerns? Concerns that readers are not interesting in hearing about your children?

And for those who post about kids on occasion--how do you decide when to post/not post about the kids?

I'm so interested in your thoughts--please share!

Teaser Tuesday: Anna Dressed in Blood

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title and author so that other TT participating can add book to their to TBR Lists if they like your teaser!

This week, I am just started Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake.

Teaser sentences: "I can feel her there, mingled into the mud of a hundred other ghosts, some shuffling and harmless, others full of rage. I can't imagine what it is to be dead; it's a strange idea to me, having known so many ghosts."

And with that--I want to go read!

Friday Mash-up

Links!

For those of us writing about women warriors, the website Women in Reasonable Armor has beautiful pictures for inspiration.

Another place for inspiration is this list of fiction curse words--some ideas for making up those fun curse words so often seen in science fiction lit.

To help with diction, check out Wordle. You can paste in text and it creates a word cloud where greater prominence is given to more frequently used words. Good for seeing what words you are using too often. And one of the wonderful things is that you can remove common words like "and" or "the".

One of the downfalls is that it can point out things like the fact that one of the most common words in your ms is "like". I need to look into that.

Wordle is also a great tool for teachers to create word banks, personal word walls, etc.

And I know these have been blogged about time and time again, but since we are on the subject of fun things to do while you should be writing, check out these as well: The Gender Genie and I Write Like.

New blog alert! For the Love of Contemporary focuses on contemporary YA. There are already a few book reviews up and it sounds like a lot of wonderful/interesting posts are planned for the future.

Finally--my only link re writing assistance this week--Writer's Digest has a question and answer session with Donald Maass, James Scott Bell and Christopher Volger about Story Structure.

WiP Update/ CP Updates

Ah..I'm still moving very slowly on my WiP. But I'm at 6ok, which means I should be getting to the end at some point here.

My CPers are working away as always. Marie has been polishing, polishing, polishing her WiP for the Colorado Gold Conference. She is pitching--but she won't know for sure to which agent until she gets there. Good luck Marie!

Gina has been in the query trenches for a few weeks now--riding the ups and downs that are part of the experience. Hop on over to her blog and give her some support!