Monday’s Muse

I had an amazing weekend. One full of inspiration and awesomeness! And it’s all because I was able to attend the annual SCBWIAZ Welcome to Our House Conference.

The faculty was amazing! I threw out a few highlights on Twitter, but really, there was so much to absorb, that I’m still pouring through my notes (and wishing I could have recorded it because I just know I couldn’t write fast enough to capture it all).

Still, what notes I did manage to scrawl are full of amazing insights. Now I’m ready to pour myself into writing. Unfortunately, I still have other obligations. Like my eighth and fifth graders who are doing online school and are home all day needing my assistance. And then my sixth grader who comes home and needs help with her homework. And dinner and washing clothes and all that other “mom” stuff that needs doing. *sigh*

But, I’ve made a plan. Starting tomorrow (when they all have school again), my two at home are getting up at about 9:00 and we are going to get through school by noon (let me dream, people—let me dream). Then I’ll have about two hours to write before I have to go pick up my sixth grader from school and get started on her homework (I’ll find some time to eat something in those two hours—I hope). And on those miraculous days when sixth grader doesn’t have homework, I’ll be able to have more writing time before dinner. As for the cleaning stuff, the rest of the family is just going to have to pitch in more.

This is my plan. It probably won’t work, but my main point is that I’m going to find ways to adjust things so that I do have more writing time. Because I haven’t been writing every day or even once a week—sometimes two weeks go by—and I need to get back into it. I miss it (and I’d like to pretend that it misses me).

On a totally unrelated topic, I’ve been using an app called My Fitness Pal to log my daily calories. It’s been eye opening! I’ve been watching how much I eat and have started exercising (because when I exercise, I burn calories and can eat more LOL). And just by doing this—and eating less of what I normally eat—I’ve lost 8 1/2 pounds over the last couple of months!

So, what has inspired you lately?

Write on!

A Very Gloom-y Giveaway

I had planned to post this giveaway on Monday, but then the whole getting ready for WriteOnCon thing happened. For those of you who write children's literature, there's still time to click on the link and check out the posts and videos (there's always more to learn).

Okay, excuses made. Time to move on to the giveaway (cause that’s why you’re here, right?)!
If you read my review of book three, you know I love the Gustav Gloom series by Adam Troy-Castro. This MG series is amazing. Just the right amount of spooky for young readers (and not so young ones, too). And the quirky voice and characters have won my heart.

Because I love this series so much, I want to share the love! Thus the giveaway.

I’m giving one lucky winner the first three books in this series (because there are only three out at the moment):

Gustav Gloom and the People Taker


Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault


Gustav Gloom and the Four Terrors


The pictures don’t do justice to the awesome covers. There’s a little “window” cutout on each one that hides the inside picture. Here’s a pic of the third book’s cover that I took with my iPhone (I didn’t take pictures of the others—well, you can see a tiny glimpse of book two peeking from under book three):

Cool, hu?

In addition to the three books, I’ll also load some other surprise spooky prizes into the box before I ship it out.

What do you have to do to enter the giveaway?

Leave a blog comment letting me know what spooks you, and mark that you commented on the Rafflecopter form (you'll have to log in with Facebook or an email address so I can contact you if you win).

That’s it!

Of course, if you want extra entries, there are other things you can do on the form; such as be a follower of my blog,  follow me on twitter (@justJoanS), share links to the giveaway. But those are optional. So click on the link and get to entering!!

Book Love on!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gustav Gloom and The Four Terrors—Recent Reads Review

It’s time for another book review (hopefully I’ll start posting these more frequently)!

As a reminder of my new scoring system, I’m using emoticons. Here’s what they mean:

--WOW—I loved this book and will talk/have talked about/shared it with others.

--Not totally in love, but this was a great book and I may talk about/share it with others.

--This was okay. I enjoyed reading it, but it’s not my favorite.

--This wasn’t for me. I stopped reading and couldn’t bring myself to finish.

--How did this get published?

If you happen to be the author of one of the books I review, please remember this is my honest opinion. Don’t hate me if I don’t give your book a great big happy grin. I am only one reader in the whole wide readership and I’m sure there are those who’ll love your work—it just wasn’t me.

Gustav Gloom and The Four Terrors by Adam Troy-Castro and Illustrated by Kristen Margiotta

Rating— 

I first learned about this series when I went to a writing conference last year and attended a session where the lovely editor, Jordan Hamessley,  spoke about it during her presentation. I went to the bookstore immediately after the session and picked up a copy of Gustav Gloom and the People Taker (book one). And I was hooked! There aren’t enough words to describe how much I love this series! It’s spooky and quirky and incredibly amusing in places. The voice sucks me right in and keeps me reading—well, the voice is helped by the masterful way the author ramps up the tension.

The Story—After having been through two incredible adventures with her half shadow best friend, Gustav Gloom, Fernie What is forbidden to enter Gloom Mansion. In fact, if her safety obsessed father has his way, they’ll be moving. But before they can go, Gustav Gloom asks Mr. What for a favor—nothing dangerous, he promises. He just needs help rescuing his father from the Dark Country.

There’s a certain shadow inside Gloom Mansion who has information that will help Gustav rescue his father, but the shadow will only talk to Fernie. Reluctant to allow his daughter to enter a house he considers extremely dangerous, but feeling sorry for Gustav, Mr. What strikes a bargain. He will allow Fernie to enter the house as long as he comes with her and as long as they can turn back if Mr. What decides it’s too dangerous.

Gustav agrees and the family enters the mansion (Fernie’s sister insists on coming, too). On their way to speak with the shadow, things go horribly wrong. Fernie’s father and sister are captured by escaped convict shadows—known as the Four Terrors (and “terrors” is putting it mildly). It’s up to Fernie and Gustav to rescue the captives—but they soon discover the Four Terrors aren’t working alone. And the “boss” is a formidable opponent they may not be able to defeat.

The combination of Adam Troy-Castro’s words and Kristen Margiotta’s illustrations guide the reader on another amazing adventure through the Gloom Mansion. I can’t wait for the next book!!

And because I love this series so much, I want to share the love. I’ll be posting a giveaway on Monday in which one lucky entrant will receive the first three books in this series. That way, they can join the rest of us who are anxiously waiting for the next book!

Read on!!

Monday’s Muse (sort of)

Writing is like . . . Yeah.

I’ve written previous posts in which I’ve compared writing to anything from gardening, to an amusement part, to a road (with agents as a GPS). While those posts still apply, lately I’ve come to think of the whole writing process as something more like the Winchester Mystery House.

For those of you who aren’t aware of this phenomenon (okay, maybe it’s more of an oddity), here’s a brief summary (from what I remember off the top of my head—so if I’m inaccurate forgive me). After the death of her husband (who invented and produced the Winchester rifle) and young daughter, Mrs. Winchester is reported to have visited a medium who told her that the deaths of her family were due to the ghosts of those who were killed by the Winchester rifle. In order to keep the ghosts at bay, she needed to build a house—and not stop building it. So she did. If I remember correctly, she built onto the home for about 40 years (constant construction that went on 24/7). She would draw up plans and the builders would construct it no matter how strange the request. And some of them were strange, for sure.

There are doors and stairs that lead nowhere—supposedly to confuse the spirits and make them become lost so they wouldn’t find Mrs. Winchester. Anyway, you can look up more about the house if you’re interested, and I included a link to their website above.

So, how is writing like this crazy house? Let’s face it, we are very much like Mrs. Winchester. Of course, we may not be writing to keep the ghosts at bay (or maybe we are), but—much like her daily building that only ended upon her death—we too continue on in our writing. Day in and day out we keep working. Perhaps we’re a little crazy (some believe Mrs. Winchester was).

And like some of the staircases and doors in the house that lead to nowhere, sometimes the things we write don’t take us anywhere. We get rejections, but we construct a blueprint for a new work and get right back at it. We keep trying and building and learning and growing in our craft. Mrs. Winchester wanted to achieve success in keeping the ghosts away—and we want to achieve success in being published.

And like the crazy maze of rooms in the Winchester house, getting to our goal can be a crazy maze too. As I said, we usually have many false doorways and stairs that lead nowhere in our pile of manuscripts, but each one serves a purpose. Each new door and stairway and room kept the ghosts away from Mrs. Winchester, and our writing keeps us moving forward. We learn more and more with each thing we write.

So, writing is like the Winchester Mystery House. We’re never done doing it (at least not if we’re truly invested in our goal). Mrs. Winchester achieved her goal of keeping the ghosts away, and we, too, can achieve our goal of publication.

We just have to keep building.

Write on!

Hello . . . hello . . . hello

Wow. Did you hear that echo?

Yeah. Things have been awfully empty and deserted in my blogosphere. I am still here even though I haven’t been “here” posting on the blog (poor neglected thing).

I’ve spent the summer in frustration and confusion and a bit of depression. I totally expected to have a new novel finished before the kids go back to school (which will be on the 29th of this month)—and—well—I don’t. Not even close. I’ve started and stopped several, but haven’t even made it to the midpoint on any of them.

I HAVE been writing and completed two picture book manuscripts so at least that’s something (right?). But the rest of my summer has been spent studying my craft. I’ve attended a couple of webinars, purchased many books about writing (probably too many), and have been reading blogs and books in my chosen genres and learning—and trying to figure out where I’m going wrong in my process. Because the rejections I keep getting tell me that something is obviously broken.

I even had a couple of industry professional critiques—which had helpful feedback, but not enough to get me that “yes” I want. So where am I going wrong? Yeah. I wish I knew. Even with all my studying and learning and trying to figure it out, I don’t have an answer.

I did learn quite a bit about plotting and structuring  and characterization (some amazing revelations occurred), but I haven’t been able to move forward. And it’s not for lack of motivation. I’m definitely motivated.

I have an unopened package of Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates (my favorite treat) just waiting for me. And all I have to do to open the package is reach the midpoint of a novel project. That’s it!

I want to open that package and enjoy a bite of chocolate heaven, believe me!

And yet, I can’t seem to reach the goal.

It’s not the fault of the stories I’ve tried writing—the concepts are good, the characters are good, the structure and plot and everything is all planned out (turning points etc.) and it is good—but me? I’m not so good.

And I don’t know why. If I knew what it was that’s holding me back, I could figure out a way to annihilate it and move on.

Have any of you ever gone through this? What is it? And how do I get myself out of it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Write on (if you can)!

Writing Advice from Doctor Who

Please forgive my absence here on the blog. I’ve still been having problems with my foot (went for more x-rays today). During my recuperation, I’ve been travelling with the Doctor. My eyes have been opened to the wonders of the universe and beyond. I’d like to pretend I actually stepped foot inside the Tardis, alas, it isn’t so. Nay, my journey was only taken thanks to DVD and Netflix. Still, I learned much from the Doctor and have returned to share the writing knowledge.
The Doctor: “What's wrong with being childish? I like being childish.”
What it means to writers: If we are writing for children, we need to access the child within.
The Doctor: “That was a nice nap, now down to business.”
What it means to writers: Sometimes we need to take a break—and it’s okay. We’ll come back better able to do what needs to be done.
The Doctor: “The best way to find out where you are from is find out where you are going and work backwards.”
What it means to writers: Know your ending. Even if you don’t have everything planned out, it’s helpful to know where you want the story to go. Once you know your ending, you can work backward to make sure you have the character development and story arc you need.
The Doctor: “First things first, but not necessarily in that order.”
What it means to writers: It doesn’t matter what writing method you use—as long as it works for you. You can write scenes out of order if you want.
The Doctor: “. . . The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.”
What it means to writers: Make sure your characters have a balance of good and bad things in their lives. It helps make them more real.
The Doctor: “You can't rule the world in hiding. You've got to come out on the balcony sometimes and wave a tentacle.”
What it means to writers: You’re going to have to promote your work—no matter how shy/introverted you are.
The Doctor: “Oh, marvelous. You're going to kill me. What a finely-tuned response to the situation.”
What it means to writers: Make sure our characters act and speak in believable ways. They need to respond to other characters actions and words appropriately.
The Doctor: “I always like to do the unexpected, it takes people by surprise.”
What it means to writers: Don't be cliché.
The Doctor: “I think you'll find, Sir, that I'm qualified to deal with practically everything, if I choose.”
What it means to writers: Write what you know—and know that you can write about anything you want to—just make sure you research the things you may not be as familiar with/knowledgeable about.
The Doctor: “I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not.”
What it means to writers: Be you. Don't try to be like writer X. Some people will like your work, some people won’t, but be happy with what you’ve done!
The Doctor: “I was trying to help. Surely even a blockhead like you can see that!”
What it means to writers: Don’t be close minded when it comes to critiques. The critique is meant to help—but you have to let it.
The Doctor: “Don't worry. I always leave things until the last moment.”
What it means to writers: We aren’t The Doctor. We don’t have a Tardis. We can’t go back in time. Therefore, leaving things to the last minute when we have a deadline isn’t a good idea.
The Doctor: “No, there's something else going on here. I was taken out of time for another reason and I have every intention of finding out what it is!”
What it means to writers: Explore new plot ideas. Don’t sell your characters and story short by going with the first thing that comes to mind. You may find the first thing ends up being the best thing, but at least explore other possibilities.
The Doctor: “Well, look at me. I'm old, lacking in vigor, my mind's in turmoil. I no longer know if I'm coming, have gone, or even been. I'm falling to pieces. I no longer even have any clothes sense... Self-pity is all I have left.”
What it means to writers: This is how some writers may feel after plugging along in the business for an extended period of time. We aren’t alone. But don’t stay in the self-pitying phase too long.
The Doctor: “A little gratitude wouldn't irretrievably damage my ego.”
What it means to writers: Form rejections and no responses hurt. But they’re part of the business so we have to accept them and move on.
The Doctor: “Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal.”
What it means to writers: Whatever misery we are in, whatever struggles we may be going through, all we need is a little perspective—it won’t last forever.
The Doctor: “Anybody remotely interesting is mad, in some way or another.”
What it means to writers: Embrace your inner madness—let the creativity flow.
The Doctor: “We're all basically primeval slime with ideas above its station.”
What it means to writers: We are all in this together.
The Doctor: “A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.”
What it means to writers: Make sure your plotting has twists and turns. Following the beginning straight through to the end makes a boring read.
The Doctor: “No. Impossible. I'm fully booked for the next two centuries.”
What it means to writers: It's okay to say no when people ask you to do something that takes you away from your writing time.
The Master: “I don't know, rocket fire at long range - somehow it lacks that personal touch.”
What it means to writers: Give our work the personal touch. Even if you’re writing fiction, there should be a part of you in your story somewhere. If there isn’t, you’re creating distance for your readers (the long range rocket fire). While this can still be a good story, making it up close and personal makes for a better reading experience.

Even though that final quote wasn’t from The Doctor himself, it was still from the series and is still good advice. These quotes and more can be found here and here.

Write on!

I Am Broken

So, things have been pretty quiet here on the blog. I meant to have more contests through out the week and more prizes and more fun and a book review for When the Butterflies Came, but pain kept me from hobbling out to my shed/writing room and since my laptop is out there, things didn’t get done. If you read my April 8th post, you know of my injury (but I’ll go into more detail later in case you don’t). I suppose I could have made hubby or one of the kids venture into my space and bring my laptop to me, but with the pain I’ve been in, I just wanted to lay in bed and let the meds do their thing.

This is my left leg (yes, I have very white skin and need to see some sun, but just concentrate on the bruising and swelling and ignore the rest):

I do have an ankle bone, but the swelling makes it look like I don’t. This picture is almost two weeks after the initial incident. What incident? Why the one where I slammed my leg into my dresser. Now that doesn’t mean I took it off of my body and repeatedly banged it on the dresser (get that image out of your mind if you can). No, I was running from my youngest daughter after waking her by tossing stuffed animals onto her until she was buried under a mass of fluffy furry things (it’s a game we sometimes play to keep her from being cranky in the mornings before school). She erupts from the burial and gives chase. I run to my bedroom where I jump onto my bed before she can get to me. We’ve done it many times before.

Unfortunately, hubby left his laptop and iPad on his side of the bed (nearest the door) so I couldn’t jump onto the bed like I usually do—well, at least not without the risk of breaking his electronics or hurting my self (ironic?). I could have hurried to my side of the bed, but my daughter was almost upon me. So when I reached the foot of the bed, I took my leap. My ankle veered off course. Really it should have followed the rest of my body’s trajectory, but for some reason it didn’t (which I’m sure wasn’t my fault—okay it probably was). My leg banged into the dresser. This caused massive pain and much crying and a little bit of blood (those aren’t razor cuts on my leg, but rather they are scabs from the healing scrapes where the dresser bit me).

After hobbling to take the kids to school, I went to Urgent Care. They took some x-rays and said it wasn’t broken and sent me on my way with an air cast and some crutches.

I wasn’t able to use the crutches because I’m a weakling and don’t have the upper body strength for it (my arms almost hurt worse than my leg—yeah, I need to do some weight lifting or something). So I spent a week limping around when I had to, but spending most of my time in bed with my leg propped up and some ice—which also hurt (even running my hand down my leg hurt). I’m not a wimp, mind you. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this H-U-R-T. So I limped back to Urgent Care last Thursday. They said I should follow up with my Dr. because it “might” be broken after all (hairline fracture). So I set up an appointment and went yesterday (it takes a while to get an appointment with my Dr. sometimes).

And now I have this new stylish footwear:

I’ve been booted. This new footwear will be part of my wardrobe for the next four weeks.

As I said, being absent from the blog during the contest was not my intention. And because I didn’t get to do all the fun things I wanted to, I’m going to extend the contest so I can have the chance to do what I want. And since this is my blog—well, I can.

So the blog contest will be extended through April 30th. That gives me time next week to do all the fun things I wanted to do (and still time to prop my leg up and ice it to reduce the massive swelling that gives me an elephant ankle).

Now I’m going to hobble into the house to grab some lunch and get back out here for some writing time before the day gets away from me (it’s on the run and I’m falling behind).

Write on!