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 #37: What’s your favorite reading memory?

My favorite reading memories involve being read to. I’m currently reading Mem Fox’s READING MAGIC: WHY READING ALOUD TO OUR CHILDREN WILL CHANGE THEIR LIVES FOREVER for my ACL class. I have to write a documented essay on the importance of reading and thought how appropriate this was for this week’s RTW.

Mrs Yates.

5th grade.

Huffaker Elementary School

Reno, NV.

She was a little heavy-set, short in height, with hair dyed a light reddish tinge. She always wore too much make-up (rougey cheeks, vampire-white foundation, caked-on mascara, bright red lipstick) and ate tuna fish sandwiches or sardines. My best memory of this woman was when she read to us. By the end of the day, her lipstick had worn off to the point where all that was left was the lip liner. LOL. For some reason that fascinated me and occasionally I would watch her lips move. She would take off her shoes and walk up and the down aisles. I would close my eyes and let my senses take over:

The swish of her pantyhose.

The faint scent of her “old lady” perfume.

The jangle of her bracelets.

The rhythmic turning of the pages (she used to lick her finger before turning them).

The hypnotic up and down cadence of her voice.

I don’t remember any of the books she read to us, but she was amazing at reading them aloud.

Another read-aloud memory:

Mrs. Hornbaker

7th grade

Cocopah Middle School

Scottsdale, AZ

Short in stature, short gray hair, somewhat mannish (now that I think back on it, she was probably gay), blue eyes that bulged a bit, round cheeks that sounded like she was holding something in them every time she spoke. She too used to walk up and down the aisles as she introduced us to S.E. Hinton’s THE OUTSIDERS.

I’m addicted to books now. Totally. Addicted. If I had a stack of books, I could read all damn day. I have, in fact, done that at one time or another. This is, in part, thanks to my parents. But I also have to give credit to teachers like Mrs. Yates and Mrs. Hornbaker who made it even more enjoyable on a different level.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, Mem Fox, READING MAGIC: WHY READING ALOUD TO OUR CHILDREN WILL CHANGE THEIR LIVES FOREVER, Huffaker Elementary School, Reno, NV, Cocopah Middle School, Scottsdale, AZ, S.E. Hinton, THE OUTSIDERS

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 #35: What was your favorite book for the month of June?

A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak

For my ACL course this semester, we have to read an autobiography about a children’s author. The assignment itself isn’t due until July 25th, but I wanted to get a head start so I chose to read about Shel Silverstein. Where the Sidewalk Ends is one of my favorite children’s books and it was given to me by my parents when I was young; I still have it. I actually just finished the autobiography today and am just….blown away. Even though he was most famous for his children’s books, he was first and foremost, a cartoonist (he was a longtime contributor to Playboy). He was also an accomplished singer (although he didn’t have the right voice for it), songwriter (he wrote “A Boy Named Sue” which was first sung by Johnny Cash), playwright (The Lady or The Tiger Show), and screenwriter (collaborated with director David Mamet on the movie THINGS CHANGE in 1998 starring Don Ameche and Joe Montegna). He never married, but fathered two children (his daughter died when she was 11 of a brain aneuerysm).

Last week, I was telling my best friend about all the stuff I’d learned about him so far and she said, “It sounds like you’re having a love affair with this author.” I laugh about it now because she was so right. This man was the ultimate creative being. He dabbled in every creative medium across the board and was very successful at all of them. Shel was a hardcore life observer and everything—and everyone—he came into contact with was inspiration for his work. He would get so in the zone with his creativity that if he wasn’t near a piece of paper to record his ideas, he would find whatever he could at that point in time: his arms, his hands, his clothes, a tablecloth, etc. He’d lived such a full, rich life by the time he passed away of a massive heart attack in May 1999 (he was born in 1930), I was a tad jealous.

He’s the male version of SARK, who’s one of my favorite authors. She has such a presence about her, a positive aura, that every time I left her company, I felt uplifted.

I think I would’ve felt the same had I ever met him.

He was just an amazing, amazing person, who touched so many lives—readers and friends alike. After reading this, I wanted to go out and buy more books that he wrote. As a writer, I liked this quote the best:

“You should never explain the philosophy behind anything you do, it’s not important. If your work is weak and needs to be explained, it isn’t clear enough.”

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, A Boy Named Shel, Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Playboy, A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash, The Lady or The Tiger Show, David Mamet, THINGS CHANGE, Don Ameche, Joe Montegna, SARK

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

After reading Shel Silverstein’s autobiography for my ACL class, I would life swap with him. But only certain parts:

~ Endless travel

~Homes in different places

~ Camping out in the conference room of my publisher to take over the production of my book (if I was going the traditional route, that is) and have people be on Celise Patrol (glorified gofers that would bring me whatever I needed)

~ Worldwide adoration of YA fans

~ To have ideas come so ridiculously often that if I don’t have any paper around, I have to use what I got–whether it be my arms are the tablecloth at the restaurant where I’m eating.

~ To leave a million dollar legacy that includes: continuing royalties, books translated in 20 different languages and sold well over 20 million copies.

~ To know that I lived my life to the fullest, doing what I love most, and not have any regrets whatsoever.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings, Shel Silverstein

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 #25: What’s the best book you’ve read this month?

I’m warning you right now, it’s not YA. LOL

I finished reading Instant Temptation by Jill Shavis about a week or so ago.

T.J. Wilder is the perfect package of breathtaking adventure and raw sex appeal. Even better, he’s about to reconnect with the one woman he’s never been able to forget…

Get Your Pulse Racing

To Harley, the landscape around Wishful, California, is exhilarating, untamed, and more than a little dangerous. The same could be said for T.J. Wilder, who’s invited himself along on her trek to study a rare coyote. Harley’s career is riding on this trip, and she doesn’t need a stubborn, incredibly sexy distraction. But T.J. is a professional guide who knows when to stay back and when to provide invaluable expertise-just like he’s done since they were in high school. And Harley, as usual, is torn between throttling him and giving in to the raw attraction that’s been smoldering all these years.

T.J. knows how proud and capable Harley is, but he’s damned sure not letting her put herself at risk when there are illegal hunters in the area. She needs him, with the same soul-stirring urgency that he’s always craved her. And here, in this beautiful place days from civilization, he’ll finally have a chance to prove it-over and over again…

Jill is one of favorite adult romance authors. She’s in my blog roll over there, so be sure to go on over and check her out. She’s hilarious. I love reading about Frat Boy’s antics and her need for cookies during tough situations. LOL. I have a nice collection of her books on my shelf and read pretty much everything she puts out. What I love about her books, in general, not just this particular one, is that she describes the guys so well.

With this book in particular, readers are whopped up side the head time and again with how GORGEOUS T.J. Wilder is. Even though we see him through Harley’s eyes, the man is drop dead sexy/gorgeous. But it’s Jill’s words, of course, that make him that way. Whenever she described him, the whole package, including whatever he was wearing in a certain scene, I could clearly see him in my mind.

And day-am, was he gorgeous!

While reading this book, there were many times I wanted to be Harley. I found myself looking at the cover from time to time (that’s why it’s gonna take a lot for me to ever buy an eReader), wishing I could see the whole package and not just a head shot.

Because the man is FOINE. I know I keep mentioning that, but truly, on the Taster’s Choice Hotness scale of 1 to 10, he’s a 30.

All of Jill’s books are like this. You “see” her characters so clearly, you could look up and find them in the room with you. They’re that tangible. And me, with my overactive imagination anyway, find that I have to have a Drool Bowl nearby whenever I read her books.

This is the third book in a trilogy about a trio of brothers who run an outdoor adventure business, Wilder Adventures, and I really enjoyed reading about all the brothers.

Because they’re all so freakin’ gorgeous!

You rock, Jill Shalvis!

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, Instant Temptation, Jill Shavis, GORGEOUS

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: The book that changed everything

Make Your Creative Dreams REAL
A Plan for Procrastinators, Perfectionists, Busy People, Avoiders, and People Who Would Rather Sleep All Day
by SARK
May 2004, Simon and Schuster, ISBN: 0743229215

First of all, I’d like to point out that SARK is one of my favorite authors and literary crush. I am a SARK disciple and pray at the alter of SARK. If she were a cult, I’d join and never look back. I’ve met her several times and have had the pleasure of attending a couple of her workshops. And each time, I’ve come away feeling energized. She has the most amazing presence. Her regular attire of lounge pajamas could be the reason, but I’m sure that’s only part of her charm.

This book changed everything…for my writing. Because SARK (a.k.a. Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) introduces the Micro Movement Wheel.Click image for bigger view

It’s to help you complete a huge task in increments of 5 sec-5 mins. As you can see in this example, the “dream” is in the middle and each of the 12 sections has a task. Each of these can take 5 sec-5 mins, until eventually, you get further every time and have reached your “dream”.

I applied this activity to my writing, but call it Writing Movements. When I actually have Writing Movements, they get posted here. The results of the Writing Movements, not the actual writing itself. I’m superstitious like that. But I digress…

It works! I’ve finally found something that works for me! Hallelujah, praise the Lord, pass the biscuits!

I use this when:
1) I’m not feeling very productive
2) Trying to crack through writer’s block
3) Procrastinating about writing.

This book was made for me because my other middle name is Procrastination (it’s just not on my birth certificate). I love all this woman’s books, but this one has a special pocket of my heart. The one for writing.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings, Make Your Creative Dreams REAL, A Plan for Procrastinators, Perfectionists, Busy People, Avoiders, and People Who Would Rather Sleep All Day, SARK

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

I’m fluent in adult romance books. LOL.

Seriously.

Bookshelf in my office taken a few years ago

I’ve been reading them since about my sophomore year in high school, starting with the Loveswept imprint. Wow. That was so long ago and that line is now defunct.

Then I switched to Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Desire, Harlequin Superromance, and Harlequin Temptation. By this point, I was reading 2 books a day, sometimes 3 if I stayed up late. I was at the library nearly every weekend. I barely graduated from high school I read so much.

Then I discovered Harlequin Blaze and never looked back. I’ve since ditched all the other lines and have stuck with this one. I use my Barnes and Noble Preferred Reader card once a month to read these.

Then I discovered other authors like Alison Kent, Jill Shalvis, Donna Kauffman, Susan Mallery, Lori Foster, Sandra Hill, and Carly Phillips. I’ve also taken to reading some erotica, too. Although I probably shouldn’t admit that seeing as how I write YA.

Some people are addicted to drugs, alcohol, caffeine or even chocolate.

Reading adult romance books is my addiction. Yes, I even go through withdrawals when I have nothing to read. No, I don’t plan on getting help for it.

EVER.

I think that I’m so fluent in adult romance that I could write one.

I plan to. Someday.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings, Loveswept, Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Desire, Harlequin Superromance, Harlequin Temptation, Harlequin Blaze, Alison Kent, Jill Shalvis, Donna Kauffman, Susan Mallery, Lori Foster, Sandra Hill, Carly Phillips

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 #20: List your favorite reading/writing blogs and/or resources

Before I started school, I was reading everything in my Blogroll on a weekly, if not daily, basis. And commenting. Now, I’m barely reading them and have dropped to lurker status on all of them. These are just the highlights.

Crystal Green – Because we’re both Team CHUCK and Team WINCHESTER (Supernatural).

Bria Quinlan – Love reading the monthly Excerpt Monday, her great posts about the writing life and am anxiously awaiting her Edit Cards.

YA Highway - Road Trip Wednesdays. Need I say more?

Wendy Prior - Fab beta reader. And her stories about Riley are, well, hi-larious. When I need a laugh, I go to her blog.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi - Love the comic strip.

The Intern – It’s not every day you read someone who refers to themselves in the third person.

Resources –

Shrinking Violets – Marketing for Introverts. That is all.

Writing on the Wall – All things writing. And if you’re brave enough, you can send the first page of WIP and get publicly critiqued on Monday Mania.

Book Marketing Buzz – Because lord knows I need all the help I can get in this department.

Future Perfect Publishing – Exploring new trends and possibilities in book publishing

Writer Unboxed - “the craft and business of writing genre fiction”….from the POV of 12 different people! Awesome!

Sunday Scribblings – I’ve never been one for writing prompts but I like to participate in this one.

The Creative Penn – I just discovered Joanna Penn recently after reading a post about self-publishing. Finally got around to listening to one of her podcasts and I love, love, love her accent.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, Crystal Green, CHUCK, Supernatural, Bria Quinlan, Wendy Prior, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, The Intern, Shrinking Violets, Writing on the Wall, Book Marketing Buzz, Future Perfect Publishing, Writer Unboxed, Sunday Scribblings, The Creative Penn, Joanna Penn

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 #13: What book(s) do you love that no one else has ever heard of

My Sergei: A Love Story by Ekaterina Gordeeva with E.M. Swift

Synopsis

They were two mismatched kids teamed by the Soviets to perform for the state, but they grew up to win four World Championships, two Olympic gold medals — and the adoration of millions. Along the way, they fell madly in love and married. By 1995 they were the most celebrated pairs skaters ever — until Sergei died of a sudden heart attack that year. In this moving love letter, Katya recalls their storybook romance and their thrilling career as skating stars, even offering a candid glimpse behind the Olympic glitter. And she bares her heart as she tells of Sergei’s tragedy, her struggle to build a new life for herself and her daughter, and the courage she needed to skate again…alone.

If you’re not familiar with the ice skating world, then you’ve probably never heard of these skaters, or this book. I am a GINORMOUS ice skating fan, particularly pairs, and the Russian pairs team of Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov were my favorites.

What’s shocking is that Sergei died on the ice during practice, at the young age of 28. He had a heart condition that had gone undetected. Watching these two skate was amazing. You could totally tell that they loved skating and they loved each other. I think all pairs skaters wanted to be them, to skate like them. They made it look so effortless.

When he died, I was stunned. Completely. Stunned. And so devastated. I cried. When she skated by herself for the first time, it was heartbreaking. I cried. When this book came out, I snapped it up because I wanted to read their story. They were my favorite skaters. They were part of the reason why I loved watching the sport, watching the pairs teams, and continue to do so.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, My Sergei: A Love Story, Ekaterina Gordeeva, E.M. Swift, Sergei Grinkov

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