A Blog in Pictures

Lately, I've had no time, mostly because of this:

And today I'll be off doing this:

But at the end of the day, this is what's waiting for me:

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

Contemps Blogging

I'm blogging over at The Contemps site today, spotlighting an awesome book by a friend of mine.

I won't tell you who this author is, but here's a quote I just read from her the other day, which I did not know...

"My editor thought that my (first) book sounded like gay erotic porn because of the first sentences I had. Which my editor made me change."

So if you want to find out who this is and what she's writing now, stop by The Contemps!

Monday Stuff

Well, it's October 3rd, and so far I'm doing really well with NaBloWriMo - Blogging every day of October. Of course my blog titles are already suffering. Sigh.

Let's see, what do I have to blog about today...

I added a new little widget highlighting some blurbs and review excerpts for LOSING FAITH at the top of my blog. Do you like it, or is it annoying?

Also, very exciting news for me over the weekend...Several months ago LOSING FAITH was nominated for an INSPY award (An award for faith-driven literature). I just found out that my book was short-listed for the award!! The winner will be announced in December, so please cross your fingers and toes (and your eyes) for me :-)

I finished reading MOONGLASS by Jessi Kirby. I really enjoyed it. As you probably know, I don't usually do reviews on this blog, but as a challenge to myself, I thought I'd see if I could convince you to read it in five words or less (because it really is a very good book!) Okay, here it goes...

Hot lifeguards cliff-jumping naked.

Did it work? Are you going to check out this book???

But seriously, it has a lot more going for it than naked lifeguards, I promise. Here's the summary from GoodReads:

I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.

Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love- a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.

While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing- not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death- stays buried forever.
That's all the news I have for you today. Catch you back here tomorrow (probably).

How Awesome is @SaraZarr ? Pretty Freakin Awesome

Yesterday I had it in my thoughts that I might get to the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour - on location in Vancouver. I did have several other things going on, so I didn't know for sure if I'd make it (plus Vancouver is a bit of a drive for me). But I did get there, and I was so glad I did!

More than anything, I wanted to meet Sara Zarr, because, well, she's my hero, and I hoped to get my greedy little hands on her latest book HOW TO SAVE A LIFE, which doesn't actually release until October 18th. I got there late and the place was PACKED, but I did see a copy of Sara's book and snagged it right away. I was directed to get into line or I wouldn't be able to get it signed.

Well...the lineup was about a mile long. No kidding. Granted, it was for five awesome authors (Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Beth Revis, Margaret Stohl, and Sara Zarr). The section of line I was in was all very hyped over Kelly Armstrong. I personally haven't read any of Kelley's books yet, but it was so fun to see groups of teens so excited over books and authors!


We got to talking, and I mentioned I was also an author and passed out a few bookmarks. A couple of the girls in line with me rushed off to get my book so I could sign it for them. :-))))


But in reality, I was there as a total fangirl. It's not all that often that we get great YA authors in Vancouver and Sara Zarr really is one of my favorites. The five authors gave what sounded like a very entertaining Q&A (unfortunately I couldn't hear much of it from my place in line). When they started signing, it seemed like the line didn't move for ages, and at one point I tweeted about being in a very long line with my copy of HOW TO SAVE A LIFE.


The sweet girls who bought copies of my book held my place in line repeatedly while I went roaming the store to check on my seven-year-old. He was doing fine (Chapters has a huge toy section) and by the time I got back, the line had finally moved so we could now actually make visual contact with our idols. Though we were still many rows of people away.


At one point, Sara Zarr stood behind her table on the stage and waved in my direction at the back of this huge crowd of people. As much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, she doesn't know me, so I did what any other person in the crowd would do and looked behind me. There were a few customers, a few Chapters staff members, but none of them were looking back in Sara's direction.


Weird.


So I got to talking with my Kelley-Armstrong-fangirl-friends again, and was lost in conversation, when suddenly who was standing beside me? Yup, Sara Zarr herself.

Apparently she'd seen my tweet and didn't want me to have to wait all day. How freakin' cool is that?! THEN...to make my day even BETTER, when I introduced myself and told her what I wrote, she said she already knew that! So now Sara Zarr AND Elizabeth Scott totally know who I am! (Somebody slap me before I truly embarrass my fangirlish self here.) The day that Laurie Halse Anderson walks up and says, "Hey, aren't you Denise Jaden?" my life will be complete!


So, yeah, I had an awesome time, with an awesome picture of Sara (not so great of me) and an amazing book to show for it. I'm a little sad that I didn't get to say hi to Beth Revis, but I would have had to keep my son in that store for another couple of hours to accomplish that.


 Anyway, here's the pic, and the book (which I *may* give away in an upcoming contest after I've had a chance to read it.

#NaBloWriMo and my #NaNoWriMo History

So there's this thing I saw floating around Twitter last night called NaBloWriMo. Any guesses as to what it stands for? I was lacking creativity last night, so I just asked. Apparently it's National Blog Writing Month - which they're naming the month of October. The idea is to blog every day - AKA Write Every Day. If you want to get more involved, here's their website.

It's probably a good idea, to warm up for NaNoWriMo and all. Not sure I can commit to really, truly doing it every day, but I thought I'd at least start and keep my fingers busy. I'll try to blog a bit more about my process of getting prepared for NaNoWriMo as I do it, but I've been tying up a few other projects first.

At this point, I'm at the brainstorming stage, so not much to share yet. For today, I thought I'd give you a history of my NaNo experience, what has worked for me and what has not.

2007 - First draft of LOSING FAITH - started with a logline/query blurb. Not a very thorough outline.

2008 - First draft of BELLY UP - thorough outline and SOUNDS LIKE THUNDER - without an outline. The one without an outline was fun, and easy to work on during the days I wasn't feeling super-driven on the other one, but it kind of ended up as a plotless heap of *$#$%&*. I've since learned that I need some sort of an outline. The outlined book is still in revisions, and I hope to publish it one day.

2009 - First draft of PERFECT AIM. During this NaNo, I was also in the midst of heavy edits on LOSING FAITH. I had a 38k outline for this one, but to tell you the truth, I think it was over-outlined. I got lazy because of the outline and the writing became stilted. I still hope to go back to this one, but I know it will require a complete rewrite.

2010 - first draft of FINDING HOPE, a companion novel to LOSING FAITH. I'm still in revisions on that one, so I can't tell you for sure about the success of the outlining/preparation, but I did try to go back to a simpler outline for this one, and even though my revisions have been almost total rewrites, the first draft has helped me worked out a lot of issues.

Hope that has helped you some. It actually has helped me, so I'm glad I took the time to get it down.

See you tomorrow...Maybe.

Friday Four

1. Wow, I blogged FIVE times this week! I can't promise this will be a regular thing, but I do hope so, because it kind of gave me a bit of a feeling of "normal" back. Which I've been looking for for a long time.

2. I learned a few interesting things from yesterday's post  (thanks to all who weighed in!) about being a Sprint Writer or a Marathon Writer. First off, in a way, I have been a Sprint Writer for several years, really, because I participate in NaNo. I hadn't thought about that! Also, sprinting doesn't mean I have to take long periods of hiatus. That's the part of it that I've struggled with the most. During long breaks I really lose my mojo. Having ambitious goals really does work for me, though, so I think I'm re-categorizing myself as a marathoner who sprints from time to time.

3. I still can't show you my cover for NEVER ENOUGH (sad face) but I do have a copy of it, sans the tagline, and so I ordered some cool new swag this week. If you're into passing some goodies around for me to help get people excited for my next book, email me your mailing address and I'll pop some into the mail for you when they arrive. Also, with my cover reveal (which truly should be very, very soon!) I will have a special contest and some more deets about how you might get your hands on an early copy. It's coming...

4. Apparently my first pass pages for NEVER ENOUGH will be done by the end of the week (which is, like, today!) Didn't I JUST finish copyedits? This seems really soon, but I'm excited! First pass pages are the first time I get to see the interiors of the book the way they will look in their printed form. It was one of my most exciting times for LOSING FAITH, one of the parts that really made it feel real to me (and also, have you seen the cool little butterflies they added on the chapter heading pages??) This stage also comes with it's share of anxiety of course. This will possibly be the last time I see my book before it's, well, a book. Last chance for changes and all that. I'm not going to talk about it anymore for fear of heart palpitations!

5. I have one more thing to ask before I go (Friday Five again!) I'm thrilled to be part of The Contemps again this year. Our big objective is to spotlight up and coming contemporary YA. Last year, as part of The Tenners and Class of 2k10, I was really up on what would be coming out later in the year. This year I'm feeling out of the loop. So if you have suggestions for me...YA Contemporary that is releasing this fall or next year that you think sounds really awesome...I'd love to hear about it!

Happy weekend, everybody!

Sprint Writer vs. Marathon Writer

When it comes to physical training, I'm a big believer in the sprint over the marathon. Sprinting increases muscle mass and is not as hard on your joints. Besides, look at the body of a marathoner vs a sprinter!

But when it comes to writing, I've always been a marathoner. In it for the long haul, taking a little bit at a time, plodding along every day whether I've felt like it or not. I enjoyed the process, and even when I had a less than stellar writing day, I always figured my ideas were just brewing and my writing would be better the next day (which it usually was). I know many sprint writers--writers that take months off at a stretch and then come back with lots of time and energy and zeal for their projects, but that has never been me.

In this last season of life, though, I've transitioned into more of a sprint writer. I could say that I've "had to," but I believe we always have choices. To be honest, I don't like it. I don't like myself as a writer this way. I feel like the people who always make excuses of why they aren't getting to the gym. Always looking to "the next big break in their lives" when they'll have time for it. And besides that, my brain just works better as a marathoner. If I have my story in my head every day, even if I only get a few hundred words down on it, at least it's still brewing. At least my mind has opportunities to find solutions to literary problems. When I come back to another "sprint" of writing, I feel so much pressure to be writing while I have this time I've set aside that I don't feel like I have the space to sit back and ponder. I write through things because I have to, but to me they feel mediocre. And worse, I don't expect more from myself the next day.

Are you a marathon or a sprint writer? I'd be interested to hear if you're a sprint writer, why it works for you.