Archive for the 'Writing Movements' Category

May 1, 2008 | Book Stuff, Life in General, The 4-1-1 on Me, Writing Movements

~ You put the wrong lock on your laptop carrying case and don’t know it until you’re at work and want to work on revisions during lunch so you go home during lunch hour and spend a good portion of your lunch hour using a butcher knife to cut your laptop out and end up opening a drawer and finding the lock you shouldve used…AND YOU WANT TO BREAK A WINDOW.

~ You’re home in the evening typing up handwritten revision pages only to realize that you’ve somehow misplaced 5 pages from Chapter 5 and you “oh god, where could they be?” “how could I have-” “they should be right here in this binder or in these two notebooks” “I’m so #@$%#$ed” and search thru garbage then look thru the binder again only to discover that you accidentally put them in the new Chapter 6 and you get a hug from your hubby…AND YOU WANT TO BREAK A WINDOW.

Welcome to my life.

Rinda, I think we need a T-shirt. Something with the words “writer” and “PMS” in them. kthanks.

April 28, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Life in General, Revision Hell, Writing Movements

Still going well. I got 15 handwritten pages in this week. It may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it’s revisions. As I mentioned in my last report, I can still use some of the previous material.

There’s going to be a “special announcement” on May 2nd regarding this book. It was an idea I read about and thought would be a great way to generate interest in the book–as well as the series. So, I’m stealing it. LOL.

Stop by my place this Friday to find out what the big news is.

April 28, 2008 | Family Portrait, Life in General, Movie Queue, The 4-1-1 on Me, Writing Movements

On Saturday, I participated in the Laveen Boutique at Thomas Jefferson High School (which I found out is a charter school). We saw very little traffic at this event, but my parents showed up and one of coworkers did, too. Again, it was a case of buying from each other. I’ve started to think that even if I don’t make a sale (I sold two books and a keychain), it’s all about exposure and networking:

~ I had a gift custom made for my niece who’s graduating from high school in June.

~ I found an interesting toy for my cat. Which can also be used as a baby toy.

~ I found a new “cleaner burning candle” with a great scent: Heart of the Ocean. I plan to contact this rep and get the Fresh Laundry. I’m a sucker for ocean/rain/clean scented candles. I LOVE her last name. I didn’t realize it said that until I got home and looked through my goodie bag of business cards and flyers.

~ I connected with a vendor who’s products would make great party favors for the DA book release party next year.

~ I met an woman who works for the Board of Education. She teaches all the teachers before sending them out to the schools. Thanks to her, I might have an “in” when it comes to doing school visits.

See? It wasn’t a total waste of time. I have another boutique this weekend at another school. We’ll see what kind of connections I can make at this one.

Saturday night, the hubby and I had Date Night: dinner at the Macaroni Grill (their tiramisu wasn’t as impressive this time. Although you get a bigger portion than you do at Olive Garden) and off to see The Forbidden Kingdom:

It’s about an American teen who is transported back in time to ancient China, where he joins a crew of warriors to help free the king. For the record, the hubby and I are big martial arts fans. Before I met him, he got a chance to train at the Shaolin Temple in China for 3 weeks. Any movie that has Jet Li, Jason Statham, or the main plot surrounds martial arts, we’re SO there. While we’re not real keen on Jackie Chan (his stuff seems so cheesy), we’re fans of Jet Li, so we wanted to see it. It wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be. But it was Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Together. In the same movie. For the first time. Ever. It was like a momumental occasion or something, so we had to see it. There was some wire work (like in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) but it wan’t overdone.

Then on Sunday, while the hubby was male-bonding with his BF, I went to see Nim’s Island.

I thought it was a real cute movie. Kinda like Swiss Family Robinson, but not with so many family members. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Jodie Foster in a movie and surprisingly enough, she’s got a funny side. In this movie, she plays bestselling author–and slight agoraphobic–Alexandra “Alex” Rover, who writes Indiana Jones-type novels involving a male character that bears the same name as her: Alex Rover. Gerard Butler does double duty as Nim’s father and the character Alex Rover. I love his accent (which he uses while he’s portraying the novel character). I loved him even more when he was half-naked in 300. Whew, is it getting hot in here?….

So, that was my weekend. Short but sweet. How was yours?

Technorati Tags: Laveen Boutique, Thomas Jefferson High School, Macaroni Grill, Olive Garden, The Forbidden Kingdom, Shaolin Temple, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Jackie Chan, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Nim’s Island, Swiss Family Robinson, Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, 300.

April 21, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Life in General, Revision Hell, The 4-1-1 on Me, Writing Movements

Hasn’t been as hellish as I thought it would be. Another 27 handwritten pages are under my belt, several pages have gotten tossed and some of the old material is still being used or written over. A common pattern I’ve seen is “Chapter This” is now “Chapter That”, “Chapter This” no longer exists, and “Chapter That” has now been combined with “Chapter This.” The December release date I had planned has now been changed to April 17 of 2009. That day is Teen Literature Day and I thought, what better day to drop a book?

So, it’s good. Revisions are going well. I’m going to go for a May 31st finish deadline. Hope I can stick with it. Wish me luck.

Technorati Tags: Teen Literature Day

April 14, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, Calendar of Events, DA Series, Draven Atreides, Life in General, Revision Hell, Writing Movements

Friday night I had a book reading at a coffee shop. I normally don’t forget to post events on here, but I forgot to do so for this event. However, Draven was kind enough to post it on her blog. Thanks, D. This is my second time doing it and it’s hosted by Monsoon Voices Live Literary Magazine: Spoken Word, Poetry, Prose and Song. Authors and musicians submit their pieces and if chosen, have approximately 6 minutes to read or sing their piece. Hence, the Live Literary part. If you’re a musician or an author wanting some exposure, and live in the Phoenix area, contact Traci and Patrick at monsoonvoices@cox.net. The next event is Friday, May 23rd and the submission deadline is May 9th. If you have merchandise, you’re allowed to sell it. I sold two books.

This time it wasn’t as packed, but normally, by the time we get started–or even after the first two performers–it’s standing room only. Those are good, but this time was better. Our musician of the nite was Darin Mahoney of Mahoney Guitars. He makes and repairs instruments. He plays guitar too and he does it beautifully. The first song (all of his songs are instrumental, by the way) he played was called Woodland and it was about his mother’s favorite place. He set the scene by giving us a visual:

“Picture yourself by a lake, anyplace, anywhere, the sun is starting to go down, birds calling, crickets chirping lazily, a slight wind rustling thru the trees…this piece starts out with a few chords from my mother’s favorite song.”

Her favorite song is Amazing Grace.

Tears welled up in my eyes when he began to play. It was a different version of a song I’d heard so many times, even though it was only the first stanza. The whole song, beginning to end, just moved me. The songs he played after were just as fantastic. Maybe it’s because he’s 10 yrs cancer free (creative people tend to write great stuff and we’re going thru something). A cancer that was terminal but obviously not, because he was performing that night. I can guarantee the chemo he went thru was more vigorous than what my father got. His CD comes out at the end of the summer and I’m looking forward to buying a copy. He said that sometimes be performs with a violinist. I can just imagine how that would sound and would like to see him perform again.

My other favorite was Nadine Lockhart, who had some great poems about an 87 yr old aunt who’d recently passed away and a poem that had the word “panty” in it 36 times. LOL. That one got a lot of laughs. After the event, as I was driving home, I called my BF because Darin’s music was still resonating with me. I was reminded of her and I knew she would’ve liked it, too. For the next 20 minutes we talked and cried. She had been going thru a spiritually cleansing exercise that night and she suspected I had felt her energy. I think I was feeling Darin’s too.

Saturday was a do-nothing day. The hubby went hiking with his BF, so I had a little quiet reading time in the morning. He was in the mood for ice cream later, so we hit up Swensen’s. Sunday, I did laundry (GOD, HOW I HATE DOING LAUNDRY), spent some time typing up revisions, and working on the book cover. I hit a 4 ft wall in the writing movement process on Friday. Rader had just dropped a verbal bomb on Draven and I was instructed by my editor to get to “the plan” quicker; and throw more obstacles in their path in getting to the bottom of the case. If I think about it too much, I might get stressed. The hubby hates it when I get stressed because he can’t do anything about it. My BF says I should meditate more and I think she’s right.

Sunday night, we had dinner with friends at the Salty Seniorita, a place with great Mexican food and 50,000 different types of margaritas. Okay, not that many but close to it. For the record, I rarely drink. A few years ago, I tried the berry sangria at Olive Garden. That’s the only alcoholic drink I like–and am willing to drink–and since most restaurants we go to don’t have it, I hardly drink. If they do happen to have it, it’s in a glass so freakin’ big there’s no way I’d be able to finish it. In general, my family is not a drinking family. My Dad always had a semi-stocked mini bar, but it was only for guests. The bottles of liquor had been down there for so long, they were caked in dust. When they moved into the new house, he probably tossed it. Or my Mom did. We both have a nasty habit of just throwing stuff away, thinking we–or anyone else–will ever need it again. Anyhow, dinner was fun. It was us and two other couples. Lost of laughter and margarita drinking(on their parts) abounded.

So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: Monsoon Voices Live Literary Magazine: Spoken Word, Poetry, Prose and Song, Darin Mahoney, Mahoney Guitars, Woodland, Amazing Grace, Nadine Lockhart, Salty Seniorita, , Olive Garden