Archive for the 'The 4-1-1 on Me' Category

December 22, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",3rd Semester,Fall 2010,Fundraising,Intro to Fiction Writing,Life in General,Mentors,Prescott College,Rio Salado,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me

I turned in my last assignment of the semester just today and wait with bated breath for my grade. Introduction to Fiction Writing was a challenge and I knew it would be going in. Short stories are not my forte and in this case, practice definitely makes perfect. The completed short story had to be 3,000 words.

Mine turned out to be 3,800.

I did the best I could, people!

As part of the class, we had to keep a journal. For part of the last assignment, I had to reflect on what I’d learned based on the things I’d written in the journal. Here’s a snippet:

I went into this course knowing that short stories were not my forte; I always want to keep going, to add more. I thought it would be a tad easier because I was building on previously written material—the Prologue from Book One of my YA series. Despite having a little bit of a head start, it wasn’t as easy as I’d thought it would be. The biggest difficulty, and something I mentioned in the midterm reflection, was the disruption of my normal writing process. I knew what I wanted the story to be about, but it wasn’t coming together. I didn’t have my usual normal flow, my thoughts were becoming blocked, and I was afraid that the story wouldn’t be cohesive…

The short story is called “A New Beginning” and it’s a prequel to the DA series. Once I get that website up and running and move forward with the graphic novel route, I’ll be sure to post the story. Thank you, Mrs. Nancy Ullinskey for the challenge, the encouragement and the times you wished you could give me more than the maximum points. Taking this class was proof enough that I should really do my best to take more creative writing classes.

Unlike the online writing course at Rio Salado, my Fundraising and Resource Development class was mentored. Meaning, I actually had someone in the field teaching me about, well, fundraising. At the end of the course, we have to submit a mentor evaluation. I’ve had nothing but good things to say about all the mentors I’ve had so far and Maureen was no exception:

Out of all the courses I’ve taken thus far, I feel that this course was one of the most important to learn. I researched and profiled individual donors, corporations and foundations; outlined a proposal; created a membership plan, a fundraising plan for an event, and a fundraising page for my organization’s website. I also wrote many letters (annual, committee, acknowledgment, letter of intent, membership campaign, etc). At the beginning of this course, my future nonprofit was going to be a writing center for teens. By completion, my future nonprofit is now going to be for writers of all ages. Due to the variety of different assignments, the ideas for my organization became more defined and helped me to see which direction I wanted to take.

By giving me visual examples from the nonprofit my mentor works for, I was able to see the inner workings of her organization and specifically, her department. These examples became a guide for my assignments and I found it immensely helpful. Working with Maureen was a great learning experience and all the information I’ve gleaned will be invaluable when I open my own nonprofit.

I received an A in the class.

Thank you Maureen Baker, for taking time out of your schedule to be my mentor and for sharing your expertise. It really was a great experience and I hope to work with you again sometime. If any of you live–or plan to visit–the Phoenix area, be sure to check out the Musical Instrument Museum (where Maureen is the Manager of Individual Gifts), where you can check out 190,000 square feet of musical instruments from all over the world.

I get a nice long break until Jan 27th, when the spring session starts up. After we move into our new place next month, I’m going to enjoy reading all those books in TBR pile.

Technorati Tags: Introduction to Fiction Writing, Maureen Baker, Musical Instrument Museum

December 17, 2010 | Follow Fridays,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me

It’s Follow Friday, ya’ll!

This week’s question: What did you study in college, or are currently studying and did it lead to your current 9 to 5 or are you doing something totally different??

The second time around, I’m studying Nonprofit Management. I want to open a writing center for people of all ages in my hometown. The first time around, I was planning on getting my degree in English. Not to teach, just for writing. My current job has nothing to do with English or nonprofits, but after I graduate in 2012, I do plan to work for a nonprofit. At first. I think I need to get my feet wet before starting my own.

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host [Parajunkee.com] and anyone else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow the Featured Blogger – http://rabid-reads.blogspot.com/
3. Grab the button up there and place it in your post.
4. Answer the question (cuz it’s always nice to know a little sumpin’-sumpin’ about the people stalking following me).
5. If you’re new to the Follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Technorati Tags: Parajunkee.com, rabid-reads.blogspot.com

December 15, 2010 | Road Trip Wednesday,The 4-1-1 on Me

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 #51:What do you want Santa to bring you this year?

We’re moving into a new place next month and we’re looking at it as “a new beginning” type of thing. I’ve even found a local feng shui consultant to well, feng shui our place.. We plan on selling what we can up until we move, then we’ll either leave it or give it to Goodwill.

So, in honor of the new place and a new beginning, I would love for Santa to give me a $5,000 IKEA shopping spree. Our Wish List is around $1500 right now, trying to figure out what we want now and what to get after we move in. It’s been so long since we’ve done the Rental Thing, we’re not used to move-in costs and pet deposits. We decided that IKEA was the cheapest way to go when it comes to furniture. Babendude’s good and putting stuff together. It’s funny, but we’ve been to this place more times in a month than we’ve ever gone before. And it’s always been more than an hr. Utter craziness.

Technorati Tags: YA Highway, feng shui, Goodwill., IKEA

November 24, 2010 | Creative Soulery,How coolio is THAT?,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me

One of the many things I love about being a creative soul is meeting another creative soul (this happens so rarely, I’ve decided to create a new category). Babendude and I went to dinner at a place that is quickly becoming a favorite: BLISS/REBAR We saw it on a news segment one day about a month ago and went down the same day. We’ve been there about 4 or 5 times now. This time around, we got to know our waiter, Bryan, a little bit more.

Turns out he’s a writer like me.

And he’s releasing a new piece next month, Section 1138: The Adventures of the Parallels. Isn’t it cool? Agent Apple Tree looks fierce, doesn’t she? For all you comic book fans out there, be sure to get over there and get in on the ground floor. And support a fellow creative soul while you’re at it.

I’d been sitting on the fence for a while now about what route I should take for publishing the DA series.

After talking with Bryan and checking out the site for his upcoming comic book, I think I’m leaning towards the graphic novel genre. I think it would be kinda cool to see Draven in Technicolor. It would mean a lot of re-writing of the first two books. And it’s possible that I could eek it back out to 6 from 4. If I made the novels small enough.

It would also mean of lot research, more writing classes (Gah! Like the ones I’m taking now aren’t enough), and some trial and error (more trials, very light on the errors, please). Talking to Bryan about his work and writing in general, I was so envious. He has one job, works 25 hrs a week…and spends most of his time writing!

I WANT THAT LIFE! Can I put that on my Christmas list?

I wish, wish, wish, I could do that but the only way I could is if I played the lottery. And I don’t. Even when it gets ridiculously high.

But I digress.

Meeting and talking with another Creative is like getting a hot poker in the butt. I get a little more jazzed, a little more stoked, a little more…inspired. And that’s always a good thing. At least to me, anyway.

But it also let’s me know that I’m on the right track when it comes to that degree I’m working towards and that I really need to start making more creative connections.

I seriously need to get out more.

Technorati Tags: BLISS/REBAR, Section 1138: The Adventures of the Parallels

November 12, 2010 | Follow Fridays,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me

It’s Follow Friday, ya’ll!

This week’s question: What’s your book budget?

Funny question. I don’t really have a book budget. I read the Harlequin Blaze adult romance series and they come out with 6 new books every month. I don’t buy all 6, but close to it. They’re pretty cheap, only $4.99, and with my BN Preferred Reader’s Card, it’s 10% off of that, so…Needless to say, I’ve never gone over $100 in one sitting. But I probably get up to that a month, depending on what other books are coming out from my other fav authors or catches my eye.

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host [Parajunkee.com] and anyone else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow the Featured Blogger – http://insanehussein.com/blog/
3. Grab the button up there and place it in your post.
4. Answer the question (cuz it’s always nice to know a little sumpin’-sumpin’ about the people stalking following me).
5. If you’re new to the Follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Technorati Tags: Harlequin Blaze, Parajunkee.com