Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #28: What photos inspire your books?

I can honestly say that the only time I use photos for my books is when I’m trying to describe something. I didn’t do this with my first two books, but found the need to do so with the DA series.

This apartment complex inspired Draven’s living quarters. I went there, photographed the outside, and even toured an empty apartment, writing down everything I saw. Everything I saw ended up in the book.

The Portland Square apartment complex on Portland Avenue had been the first complex Ty had shown me my second day here, and I’d fallen in love with the open floorplan at first sight….

….On the street level is the parking garage, a City of Phoenix police sub-station, a small gym, a reasonably priced restaurant, and a sandwich place. A dog park with wrought iron benches sits in the middle of the street, like a median, and spans the whole length of the street, from Central Ave to 3rd Ave…….

…..As I take the elevator to the 4th floor in building C, I can understand why we’ve never run into each other. The complex has 410 units, 4 levels in each, and the three buildings take up three blocks….

Formally known as The Willow House, this coffee/deli shop was the inspiration behind Draven’s favorite hangout, CoolBeans Cafe. It’s under a new name, new management and totally looks different now. But again, I went there, ate, took pictures of each room, and talked to a couple of the employees (who worked there at the time) to get the story about the place.

Located in a cute historic house, CoolBeans Café is a coffee/deli place and a popular hang out for the students at Craycroft. Rader is already waiting in line. After paying for snacks, we walk around the converted house, past the kitchen where Vanessa hands out food, and check out the porch. Then I take him back to one of three non-smoking rooms.

“Do all the rooms have a theme?” he asks as we sit down.

I grin, knowing he’s thinking that because of the room where I like to sit. I refer to it as the Mother Nature Room due to the paintings about saving the environment and Mother Earth. The books on the small bookshelf are about natural healing, saving the environment, and nature.

“They have poetry slams on Thursday nights and open mike nights out on the porch on Mondays. I’ve yet to go to one, but I’d like to sometime,” I say, removing the lid from my strawberry yogurt and stirring it with a spoon.

“Definitely sounds like an experience. The closets are so small, but it’s neat how they made them into display cases for all that stuff.”

“Yeah, I never would’ve thought of doing something like that.”

He points at the walls. “Are the paintings from local artists?”

“Yep. So’s the merchandise. The books are from estate sales.”

“Nice. So, you come here a lot?”

“Everyday, actually. In the morning for breakfast and sometimes for lunch.”

He nods. “So this place used to be a house?”

“Uh-huh. It’s been a coffee shop for about eleven years. The ladies that run this place, Jules and Van, told me it used to be a real estate office, a pet shop, a knickknack store, and a karate studio.”

Do I sound like a travel brochure or what? Gawd, just shut up and eat your damn yogurt.

The school that Draven goes to, Craycroft School of the Arts, was inspired by the high school my niece graduated from: Metropolitan Arts Institute.

When I first started writing Book One, I took the day off and “shadowed” her. Very fun and very cool (everyone thought I was a new student. Shock abounded when her classmates found out I was her aunt…and a lot older than I what I appeared to be. LOL). The school is in a former office building. There’s no cafeteria–only a break room type of room with two vending machines and a refrigerator–no athletic teams and the former offices are now classrooms. The whole time I was there, I was wishing I had gone to a high school like that.

I’ve never used pictures for my characters. My niece (the girl in the pic) is the inspiration behind the DA series and the character of Draven. Draven’s friends, as well as all the characters from my first two books, are based on everyday people. People I’ve met, maybe people I’ve worked with, or people I saw from just people-watching. When it comes to creating characters, I’ve never been the type to search for pics or tear pics from magazines. It’s always been just people I see and writing down what I see.

So, what about you? Do you use pictures to inspire your stories? Do tell.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, The Willow House, Metropolitan Arts Institute

Today officially ends the Spring semester.

I made it through another semester without having a little breakdown.

This is good.

Kristi Edwards, North-Central Region advancement officer for the Arizona Community Foundation, and the Director of the Yavapai County Community Foundation, was my mentor for my Nonprofit Explorations course. The only mentored course I had this semester. Being a newbie in the NP world, she gave me a great overview of the NP sector in general, so now I have a better foundation–no pun intended–for the other courses in my degree plan. She was a wonderful mentor and I look forward to working with her again in the Fall for my Fundraising course.

I turned in my mentor evals and now I’m waiting for them to be signed. I get a whole month off before the Summer session starts. And, unlike my first two semesters, it’s going to be balls-to-the-wall 3 classes up until graduation in Dec next year.

No more whining about feeling overwhelmed.

I’m just going to have to suck it up and remember to breathe.

This summer, I’ll be taking:

~ Creative Writing II: Revising Your Novel mentored by the wonderful Georgia McBride, founder of YALITCHAT. I’m so looking forward to this class because I’ll be working on revising the first 100 pages of DA Book 2. A novel that I finished a while back, and started to edit, and then…stopped. So, it’ll be nice to revisit that story.

~ Advanced Children’s Lit: an online Moodle course through Prescott College

~ Sustainable Financial Mgmt mentored by Chantal Sheehan, COO of local nonprofit New Global Citizens. I met with her this evening and got a really good vibe from her. I think it’s another good mentor/mentee match. This organization is doing wonderful things with youth, so I’m very much looking forward to gleaning all I can from her.

Can’t wait to get started.

Technorati Tags: Kristi Edwards, Arizona Community Foundation, Yavapai County Community Foundation, Georgia McBride, YALITCHAT, Chantal Sheehan, New Global Citizens

If it seems like I’ve been MIA from the blogosphere and only posting a couple of times a week, it’s because I’ve been up to my hairline in school stuff. I realize it’s been a while since I’ve done a Weekend Wrap-Up. For a while it’s because there wasn’t much going on on the weekends. I should get back to that, seeing as how this weekend should be blog-worthy. Although, New Years was blog-worthy, too, and I didn’t blog about that, either. Go figure. So, let me catch you up on what’s been going on.

I was taking three classes, but then dropped the Modern Fiction course at Rio Salado. I guess I wasn’t into is as I thought I’d be. I figure I’ll take up a Creative Writing course at a later date. I’ve also been working on a community project for one of my other courses (which I’ll officially announce on Monday) and that’s overshadowed just about everything. That assignment involved a powwow with my BF and grew into something worth “squeeing” about.

I knocked out one of my New Years Resolutions last month by joining a gym: 24 Hour Fitness. I’m currently taking 2 dance fitness classes a week and let me tell you: that first class was. A. Killer. The 24Dance is on Monday nights at 530, so I basically go there straight from work. It’s all different types of dance—salsa, jive, hip-hop, bellydancing, etc. Seeing as how it was my first time, I didn’t stretch out. And paid for it two days later. By the time the Zumba class rolled around on Thursday evening, I was no longer sore. Of course, that comforting thought ended after an hr in that class. I could barely walk the next few days. Everything hurt and my body was saying things like “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. Stop. Moving.” But I was sleeping good. Sleeping like the dead. And I had more energy. Now, a month later, I think my body’s gotten used to the high-intensity-heart-pumping classes and I’m no longer sore. Ar least, not as much as I used to be. I think I may be even losing some weight.

In the midst of all this, I tried to join a writing accountability group. “Tried” being the key word because I only did it for 2 weeks. This group was going to help me balance my writing life with my real life. We posted daily goals each week, but by the second week, I was already starting to see a pattern: 1) I would forget was I was supposed to be doing each day and 2) When I was supposed to be concentrating on writing DA3, I would think about something I had to do for school. During this 2 week period, I was feeling a little depressed and was carrying around this…raging anger. I was holding all this in and it was affecting my interactions with my manager at work.

The group itself wasn’t making me feel this, by no means. Part of it, I’m sure, was because of Auntie Flow’s Monthly Visit. The main thing was that I had inserted something new into my life and it wasn’t working. Once again, I was getting overwhelmed. My writing felt forced. I needed to take stock. Even though I was excited and hopeful about being a part of this group, it was just a case of wrong place, wrong time.

I’ve come to realize that until I find a balance with school, I can’t balance anything else. I need to find a groove with school before I can throw writing into the mix. I’m a officially a junior now, in my second semester, taking only two classes. I’ll be taking 3 starting in the summer until I graduate. I may never find a groove. Trying to find a mentor for these classes is a little intimidating and a little time-consuming. It’s something that’s always in the back of my mind, so I can never really relax. I may not be able to fit writing in–comfortably–until I graduate. I don’t want it to come to that, but it’s a possibility. I’m not okay with that, but unfortunately, I know me and my personality… I’m hoping that next year–January maybe?–I may have calmed some and can get back into Draven’s world.

Due to the whole school thing, I’ve also been neglecting my first two books. They’ve been reissued through a new publisher, with new covers, and I have yet to re-introduce them to the public. To help a sistah out, I invested $20-something and change in John Kremer‘s 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. Little by little, I hope to get the word out again about my books.

So…that’s the story. That’s where I’m at right now. You may see more posts, but don’t hold your breath. LOL. I like participating in the Sunday Scribbling and YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday. Maybe I’ll get back into the Weekend Wrap-Ups, too.

Technorati Tags: 24 Hour Fitness, John Kremer, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #16: What’s your favorite display of affection in a YA?

I love it when the guy cups the girl’s face when he’s about to kiss her and then continues to do so while he’s kissing her. I consider it to be a very tender gesture on the guy’s part. It’s like he’s saying, “You’re precious to me and would never hurt you.”

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Message

This is an excerpt from DA 2: A Whole Latte Trouble. It’s the first draft, has yet to be revised, so it’s a safe bet this journal entry by Draven will be taken out. Enjoy the snip while it still exists.

from the moment i agreed to work for The Company, i knew it would be the most best kept secret of my entire life. even when Chief went over the details of my new job at our first meeting, he told me it would have to be kept a secret. several times. in the form of a subliminal message.

“all of your living expenses will be paid for by The Company dont tell anyone and you will be given a monthly allowance of five hundred dollars dont tell anyone for your incidentals.”

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings

I normally post this on Sundays, but was feeling a little under the weather to do so. Therefore, it’s going to be “Tuesday’s” Scribblings for today.

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Yes

This is an excerpt from Secrets and Kisses, on sale now.

“You can’t─you can’t what?” she sputtered hoarsely.
I flushed again, thankful that my sunglasses gave me a semblance of protection.
“I’m not about to repeat it. What part didn’t you get?” I uttered between motionless lips.
I didn’t know why I was acting like this. No one could hear us, unless that someone had a long-range microphone, but I wasn’t about to get paranoid. This was only a minor setback. It could be fixed. I watched as Ellie shook herself out of her shock and carefully set her bagel on its wrapper. She rubbed her hands together, removing crumbs, then pinned me with a “Let’s get down to business” look.
“Let me get this straight. You don’t know how to kiss.”
“No…yes…I mean─”
“It’s a yes or no question, Sky,” Ellie broke in.
“No, it’s not a question because you didn’t ask me anything. It was more like a…verification statement.” I just made up something.
“Okay. Then tell me this: Do you know how to kiss?”
“Yes,” I answered, then nibbled on my bottom lip nervously. “Sort of.”

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings, Secrets and Kisses

Resolution Update: I took the initiative with Resolution #2 and got a membership at 24Hour Fitness. Much pain cometh.

It’s that time again. Time to reflect on your life, lament the things you should’ve done, give yourself a pat on the back for things you did. I can’t seem to find the resolutions I’d made for 2009, so I don’t know if I was able to mark anything off or wince and say “Okay, well, maybe next year.” I made it easy this year with a real easy title. So, without further ado, here’s my resolutions for 2010:

~ Write more on the daily – I only seem to do this when I’m in Writing Mode. I think I should be in Writing Mode more often and get into the habit of writing on one or both of my breaks.

~ Take a dance fitness class – I got hooked when I attended a few classes here, but got discouraged because a) it’s so far away. With traffic, it would’ve taken me over an hour and I’d only be there for 45 mins and b) the classes I wanted to take didn’t fit into my schedule. However, in doing research for Book 3, I found a place that’s closer and at a more reasonable time.

~ Find a YA crit partner – I’m so jealous every time Rinda talks about her crit partner. If I could find one person like that, whom I could trust implicitly with my work, I would be golden. So, uh, if you write YA Rom/Coms and/or mysteries and looking for a crit partner…holla

~ Finish writing Book 3 by June and start Book 4 by Sept – I’m not like other writers who put Speedy Gonzales to shame in the writing dept. I know what my limitations are and that gives me a little leeway. What I would like to do is just get through the whole series first–first rough draft–then go back and edit all of them. Just the idea of having them all “in the bag” would be a nice weight off.

~ Read more YA – I mean, hell, it’s the genre I write. So I should read more, right? I’m working on it. Really I am. I have a few in my TBR pile.

~ Try NaNoWriMo again – A fresh new story. No series, no outlining, pantsing all the way.

~ Be more green – I use eco-friendly cleaning products, eco-friendly laundry detergent, feed our cat organic food, use a couple of organic kitchen towels, and use energy-saving lightbulbs. I’m going to try and incorporate more, though. With help from Eco Mama and The Eco Diva, two blogs I read on the regular, I should have no problem doing my share to minimize my carbon footprint.

~ Offer up some Free Reads – I’m going to try my hand at writing flash fiction and/or short stories. I’ll either add another page to this website or create a separate blog space and display them there.

~ Get through this year of school without any breakdowns–mini or otherwise – Ahem….okay, moving on…

~ Travel – If there were rules for writers, one of the requirements should be traveling: “You are not a legitimate writer unless you’ve traveled to at least 3 places.” Or something like that. There are several places I want to visit–both in the US and internationally. I’d like to try and plan two trips a year: a small one in-state and then a big one out of state or country.

So, these are my resolutions. I should probably print this out as a reminder or something. So, what are your resolutions for 2010? Post your answers or link to your blog post in the Comments section.

Technorati Tags: 24Hour Fitness, Eco Mama, The Eco Diva

Here are more pics from my company holiday party

Friday night was date night for Mr. Maul and I. We had dinner at Claim Jumper then went to see AVATAR in 3D. It was long, but I liked it. James Cameron did a really fabulous job. I’m glad he waited as long as he did to do it right. When they were in “Avatar” world, it was so cool. It was so real, right down to the movement of hair. When they did up close shots of Neytiri (Zoe Saldana. I LOVE this name. It’s going on my Girls Name List) and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), you could hear the beads in her hair when she moved her head. But the planet of Pandora was just…amazing.

They say that humans are connected to Earth and we need to get back to that, but the race of the Na’vi really are connected to their planet. Literally. And I didn’t really understand how tall the avatars were compared to the humans until the very end. Since the two races were always fighting when together in the same frame, you couldn’t really tell. Needless to say, tall is an understatement. They’re more like giants. LOL. James Cameron created a beautiful world and I can totally see why Jake wanted to stay. So cool. I wish I’d seen more behind the scenes on this movie.

Saturday and Sunday, we did a little shopping. Both for Christmas and ourselves. On Friday, we exchanged gifts at my job and I snagged a $15 GC from Barnes and Noble. Woot! I think if anyone tried to take it away from me, they would’ve had to pry it from my dead cold fingers. LOL. So I used it to buy Karen Kelley‘s latest in her Planet Nerak series, Dating Outside Your DNA. LOL. Neat title, eh?

I also bought a Betty Boop 2010 calendar for work, some reasonably priced Cal King sheets for our bed from Ross, and a couple of body butters from The Body Shop (Mr. Maul’s best friend’s wife gave me a GC here for Christmas). I’m trying two new scents: Nutmeg and Vanilla, and Black Velvet Apricot.

I’m not a big fan of the scent of Vanilla. Never have been. But this stuff smelled pretty good and the Vanilla scent was light, not overwhelming.

I also found this kick-ass short-sleeved shirt at Hot Topic (CLICK PIC TO ENLARGE VIEW)

LOL. Barbie is Diggin’ It. And so was I. That’s why I bought it. I won’t be able to wear this until it starts warming up, but I laffed when I saw it. I don’t think they had Barbie’s like this back in the 70′s did they? Wouldn’t that be cool if they had? Hah!

That’s it for me. So…how was your weekend? Are you all ready for the holidays?

Technorati Tags: Claim Jumper, AVATAR, James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Barnes and Noble, Karen Kelley, Dating Outside Your DNA., Betty Boop, Ross, The Body Shop, Nutmeg and Vanilla, Black Velvet Apricot, Hot Topic, Barbie

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: DARE

The following is an excerpt from my second book, DANCE JAM PRODUCTIONS.

“Look, you have to understand something. I didn’t care about anything. I didn’t want to live with the constant pain. Ty had me on suicide watch the first two years I was with him. He didn’t dare leave me alone for fear I would kill myself. Smart man, cuz I would’ve tried the minute his back was turned. His friends would trade off watching over me. I got so used to the constant company that I started following Ty around the house. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight for fear that I would never see him again. If he ever did leave the room, he made sure I knew where he was at all times by talking. Or making a lot of noise.”

Mattie chuckled at the memory.

“You’ve met Ty. Making a lot of noise and talking a lot goes against his nature, not to mention his training. But he did it for me. He and the guys.”

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings, DANCE JAM PRODUCTIONS

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: BRAVE

Since I had so much fun doing it last time, I’m going to do it again. Here’s an excerpt from my first book, SECRETS AND KISSES, using the word of the day.

“You look absolutely hot, Skylar. Your dress is totally amazing.” Kedren said the last word as though he’d been running in a marathon.

Blushing, I glanced up at him and flashed him a quick smile.“Thanks.”

Hot. Was that better than gorgeous? I asked myself.

“You look…pretty handsome yourself,” I reciprocated. Handsome was a major understatement, but I wasn’t brave enough to use the word delicious.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings