MAY I tell you something about The A-Z Challenge?

May 8, 2012May 8, 201226 Comments

Some how, some way, I survived 2012’s April A-Z Challenge. Even in the middle of a rewrite of my contemporary YA manuscript and a family upheaval (also known as an out-of-state move) and all kinds of other craziness, I blogged every day last month. Honestly, typing that now kind of boggles my mind.

So, today I’d love to share a bit about my A-Z Challenge experience using the reflection question so thoughtfully supplied by the A-Z C-hosts and organizers (who rock, by the way… I cannot even fathom the time and energy and effort they dedicated to putting together the blogfest!):

How did your journey through the alphabet go? Did you meet new bloggers with similar interests? I did meet some awesome new bloggers, and I learned tons about bloggers (who participated in A-Z) that I’ve been following for months. I loved getting comments from new readers, and I loved discovering blogs that I probably wouldn’t have happened across without the challenge.

What were the highlights for you? I had a lot of fun planning and writing my posts, then seeing how readers reacted to them. I also enjoyed meeting new bloggers. There are so many smart and creative people out there!

Did you enjoy posting daily? What was your biggest hurdle? What was your easiest task? I did enjoy posting daily, but I’m not gonna lie: It was time-consuming and, at times, a little stressful. I did NOT want to fail the challenge, and getting my posts written (well) and up on on-time made me anxious some days.

Was time management an issue? Surprisingly, the commenting is what gave me the most time-management issues. When I signed up, commenting on five new blogs daily didn’t seem all that daunting. But I didn’t really consider the regular blogs I comment on daily, as well as the new bloggers who visited my blog. I wanted to return the commenting love to everyone, and sometimes that took far longer than I’d anticipated.

And what about your content – did you have a theme or did you wing it? Was it easy to come up with ideas for each letter, or were some harder? No theme. I tried to mix my posts up and give them lots of variety. Sometimes they related to writing craft or reading YA, sometimes to my family, sometimes to current events within the YA community. Sometimes they were completely random, which is always fun. 🙂

How about commenting – did you stumble upon lots of sites still using word verification? Did this prevent you from leaving a comment? Yes, I did stumble on a lot of blogs with word verification, and I found it quite annoying, honestly. I still commented, but I rarely revisited those blogs. I just didn’t have enough time to devote to Captcha.

What will you do different next year? Hmm… Not 100% sure I’ll participate again next year. While I loved the challenge and had a blast creating my posts and meeting new bloggers, the time commitment was a bit much. Depending on what’s going on in my life next April, the A-Z Challenge might be one of those “Bucket List” things that I’ll check off now and reminisce about later.

What pearls of wisdom do you want to share with the Co-Hosts of this event? From my perspective, A-Z ran smoothly. I thought the Co-Hosts did fabulously, and again, I’m so grateful to them for all their hard work!

Tell me: Did you participate in the A-Z Challenge? Will you next year?

MAY I ask something about you?

May 2, 2012May 1, 201238 Comments

Would you rather… Be an anxious genius or a carefree simpleton?

{Me? I’m an inherent worrier (as my mostly lackadaisical husband will attest to), so I’ll go with ANXIOUS GENIUS. I’m already halfway there, after all. ;)}

Image courtesy of Sas Christian

MAY I tell you something about country music?

May 1, 2012May 3, 201241 Comments

♥ Thanks so much for all the love regarding my YA Confidential announcement yesterday, guys! Your excitement and support mean the world to me! ♥

Welcome, May, and the first day of Blog Me MAYbe! Since it’s been awhile since I last posted about this awesome idea, here’s a refresher:

The brainchild of writer/blogger/all-around-awesome-person Sara McClung, Blog Me MAYbe is a weekly blog format for the month of May, an easy schedule to follow with topics built right in. Of course, if posting every day sounds like too much, or if you miss a few days, or only do a couple posts a week, no biggie. Blog Me MAYbe is all about ease and fun! You don’t have to worry about following every blogger who participates or commenting on everyone’s daily posts (though if you want to do that, feel free!). The intent of Blog Me MAYbe isn’t to gain followers — although that could very well happen – but to branch out, make a few new friends, share information, and get into the head space where ideas for blog posts flow freely.

And here’s the schedule:

Mondays: May I tell you something about writing?
- This can be anything writing-related. A post on craft. A post on your process. A snippet of your WIP, if you like to share. A book on craft that you want to recommend. Things you struggle with. Things you rock at. ANYTHING at all!
Tuesdays: May I tell you something about myself?
- Pretty self-explanatory… Share something about yourself that your followers might not know. Or, maybe they do. It doesn’t matter–this is just so people who read your blog can get to know you a little better.
Wednesdays: May I ask something about you?
- Ask your followers something about themselves.
Thursdays: May I tell you something about someone else?
- Make this post about someone else. A writing friend. A critique partner. A person from history who’s fascinating. A character from a book. Have a guest poster. Give an interview. Get creative, but let the spotlight shine on someone else!
Fridays: May I share something funny?
- Fridays = The start of the weekend… BOOYA! A reason to celebrate and laugh on its own — plus, who doesn’t want to see something amusing after a long week?

Fun, right?! There’s still time to sign up, so head over to Sara’s blog if you’re interested, and feel free to grab our banner or the button below (both made by crazy-talented Tracey Neithercott) to use on your own blog.

And, since today is Tuesday and Tuesdays are for Tunes :), I’m going to share a little something about myself in the form of this fantastic music survey I snagged from Love is your Shield (slightly modified):

1. What are your three favorite songs right now? This Years Love by David Gray, Alone With You by Jake Owen, and Dancin’ Away With My Heart by Lady Antebellum.

2. What is the most played song on your iTunes? If I Die Young by The Band Perry (pretty much the theme song for my manuscript Where Poppies Bloom, so no surprise there!)

3. What song are you listening to right now? Farmer’s Daughter by Rodney Atkins

4. What was the last album you bought? I never buy full albums on iTunes and it’s been forever since I bought an actual CD, so… Maybe the soundtrack to Annie to listen to in the car with my daughter? (Incidentally, you should hear my girlie sing Tomorrow… Adorable!)

5. What was the last concert you went to? Taylor Swift’s Speak Now Tour last fall. It was freaking amazing. I took my daughter, and we had a blast!

6. What was the first album you ever bought? Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet (the cassette tape!). My parents bought it for me in the eighties because they’re cool like that.

7. What was the last single you downloaded? Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson… Such a fun song!

8. Favorite artist or band? Tim McGraw. I ask you: Is there a sexier man? (I also love Johnny Cash and Sugarland and T-Swift and Kenny Chesney.)

9. What’s your favorite musical genre? Country. Obviously.

10. Quote one of your favorite lyrics: I love this verse from Anna Nalick’s Breathe (2 am) because it speaks of writing:

2 AM and I’m still awake, writing a song
If I get it all down on paper, it’s no longer inside of me,
Threatening the life it belongs to
And I feel like I’m naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you’ll use them, however you want to

I encourage you to grab this survey, fill in responses of your own, then comment here or tweet me to let me know where I can find your answers!

Until then… What’s your all-time favorite song?

X is for an X-tra Special Moving Post

April 27, 2012April 26, 201240 Comments

Ha! Who am I kidding?

Sadly, this post isn’t as x-tra special as I’d hoped. I’ve had movers packing my house into cardboard boxes for the last two days.

We have a lot of books...

Today, they’ll load all of our crap onto a moving van and drive it away. My husband, daughter, dogs, and I will be staying with my hubby’s parents for the next two weeks (that might sound crappy, but my in-laws are pretty awesome), and then we’ll be jumping into our trucks and driving to California.

You’d think I’d be well versed in the fine art of moving by now. This is certainly not my first rodeo, after all. Let me tell you: It does NOT get easier.

When the moving van is gone, when our house is exceptionally clean, when our new tenants have signed for their keys, and when we figure out our living situation in California, the cloud of stress that’s been hovering over my head for the last few months will finally dissipate.

Until then…

Thoughts on moving? Advice to offer? Anecdotes? Stiff drinks?

V is for Vader

April 25, 2012April 24, 201252 Comments

Don’t freak out but… I haven’t seen Star Wars.

Before you judge me too harshly, I should tell you that I know the plot of the saga in its entirety. I know the characters and twists and turns and arcs. I’ve even caught bits and pieces of the action while my husband (a Star Wars enthusiast) watched over the years.

Oh, and speaking of my husband? In the three short months since he returned home from his last deployment, he’s somehow managed to turn our daughter into a massive Star Wars fan . Don’t get me wrong… She still loves Rapunzel and Barbie and Tinkerbell, but now she owns an Ewok shirt and a Yoda shirt, and a Darth Vader action figure. She wants to be Princess Leia for Halloween. She also wants my husband to be Anakin and me to be Padme, because (spoiler alert!) they’re Leia’s parents. Makes, perfect sense, right?

To me? Not really.

Star Wars fans, don’t hate me, but I just don’t get it. Sure, I haven’t sat down and become absorbed in the franchise, but the thing is: I don’t really want to. I see value in the story and the entertainment it lends — I really do — but it just doesn’t appeal to me.

At all.

Tell me: Is there a super popular movie (or series of movies) that holds no interest for you? Does your disinterest make you feel like a crazy person?

U is for Upperman

April 24, 2012April 23, 201253 Comments

Of course U is for Upperman!

Is there a better opportunity to share a little about myself? And why not use the cool Alphabet Survey I happened across on Just Everyday Me while searching for healthy banana bread recipes? Without further ado…

A is for age: *sigh* Thirty-one… I honestly never thought I’d be THIS OLD.

B is for breakfast today: Cinnamon toast and an apple.

C is for currently craving: Well, there’s banana bread in the oven and it smells amazing, so a slice of that would be pretty perfect.

D is for dinner tonight: Date night with my hubby! Dinner at a cute little bistro called The Windmill Cafe. I’m looking forward to it!

E is for favorite type of exercise: Running because it burns tons of calories, but I most enjoy doing yoga.

F is for an irrational fear: Being pinned down or enclosed in a small space. Claustrophobia… yikes.

G is for gross food: I hate celery. Also mushrooms.

H is for hometown: Western Washington is where I’ll always call home, but I’m just about ready to head to California for a military move… not too shabby.

I is for something important: My family, for sure. I love my husband and daughter more than anything.

J is for current favorite jam: Sugar-free strawberry. Wait…what? Jam, like jelly, or jam like music? In the musical sense, I’ll jam to anything twangy.

K is for kids: I have one. She’ll be five in August. She’s adorable.

L is for current location: My kitchen (waiting for the banana bread).

M is for the most recent way you spent money: Um, we ate dinner at Wendy’s last night, so that? I had a Grilled Chicken Cobb. It was delish.

N is for something you need: Internet access. A massage. Hummus. A daily shower. A daily workout. A daily dose of dark chocolate.

O is for occupation: Wife, mama, aspiring author.

P is for pet peeve: Generally, lack of manners. Specifically, cheeky misspellings of words for business names, like: Kidz Kutz.

Q is for a quote: When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew. ~ William Shakespeare

R is for random fact about you: I’m obsessive about dental hygiene. I’m an enthusiastic brusher, and I floss at least once a day.

S is for favorite healthy snack: I made mention of hummus above… Love it with carrots and cucumbers.

T is for favorite treat: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, in all its forms (bars, cake, pie, ice cream, cookies), but the darker the better.

U is for something that makes you unique: Thanks to my husband’s job, I move a lot. We’ve been married nine year and during that time we’ve lived in seven homes. Next month, it’ll be eight.

V is for favorite vegetable: Carrots.

W is for today’s workout: Half hour circuit training, half hour yoga. Possibly a walk with the dogs later.

X is for X-rays you’ve had: Lots on my teeth, one on my arm when I fractured it as a child. A few ultrasounds when I was pregnant. Do those count?

Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Progress on my rewrite, dinner and laughter with my family.

Z is for your time zone: Pacific.

There you have it: All about Katy!

I totally think you should copy the Alphabet Survey, fill in your own answers, and add it to your blog. When you’re done, comment here or tweet me so I can drop by and get to know you better.

🙂

S is for Sparkling Almond, Solitude, and Super-Sized

April 21, 2012April 20, 201228 Comments

Remember how my family and I are moving out of state in a few weeks? Well, tonight my husband and I are having one last hurrah with our fantastic neighbors. It’s a bittersweet event, for sure. Dinner and dancing and drinks will be a blast (thank you so, SO much, Theresa, for organizing! ♥), but I’m so sad to be moving away from these awesome people who’ve been all kinds of supportive and kind and fun. They’ll be sorely missed.

Fortunately, we’ve got lots of Sparkling Almond to ease the pain.

Switching gears completely: I’m an introvert at heart. I value quiet time, and in most cases, I’d rather be at home watching movies with my husband and daughter than out on the town. That’s not to say I don’t go out. I do, occasionally (see above!). And once I’m out, I throw down with the best of them, but still… I like my yoga pants. A lot. I like my books. I like my laptop and my DVR and my comfy couch. I like to make my own rules and spend time in own head, where it’s peaceful and quiet and serene.

And I think that’s just fine.

In other news, last weekend my husband, daughter, and I tried out a new restaurant, The Buttered Biscuit, which prides itself on “authentic gramma food.” (Hungry yet?) We didn’t think twice about our girlie ordering a cinnamon roll with a side of bacon because we were halfway through a twenty-five mile bike ride and were ready to treat ourselves. Imagine our shock when the waitress presented our four-year-old with a cinnamon roll the size of (quite literally) a dinner plate:

She did a number on it, I have to say. But in the end (after inhaling my veggie omelette with ravenous enthusiasm), I was forced to help my girlie put a dent in her breakfast confection. Let me tell you: It was AMAZING.

Two questions: Are you an introvert or an extrovert? And, what’s your favorite breakfast food?

P is for #PhotoADayApril

April 18, 2012April 17, 201229 Comments

I am head over heels in love with Instagram, a photography app that lets iPhone and Android users edit photos with all kinds of cool filters, then share them with friends and followers on a feed. This month, in addition to the A-Z Blogging Challenge, I’m participating in one of Instagram’s many photo challenges: #PhotoADayApril. Basically, it’s a fun way to stretch my creativity, and it’s super inspiring to see how other people interpret the prompts. Here they are:

And here are a few of the photographs I’ve posted:

Day 4: #SomeoneWhoMakesYouHappy... Two someones for me!

Day 6: #Lunch (Hummus should *totally* be its own food group!)

Day 10: #Cold... Iced tea after a long bike ride.

Day 13: #SomethingYouFound... Daisy, wandering the mean streets of Tennessee eight years ago. (She's yawning, not snarling. :))

Day 16: #Flower

Do you use Instagram? How (other than writing) do you exercise your creativity?

What’s new?

March 20, 2012March 19, 201242 Comments

Oh, life. How did you get so busy?

I’ve finished another round of revisions on Poppies. It’s amazing what a few months away will do for your perspective on a story. This particular revision proved to be one of the most challenging and most satisfying I’ve worked on. In case you’re wondering, I focused on amping up the tension to make the story feel more thriller-esque, and I also took a main character from creepy to super-extra-über creepy, which is always fun.

My life has been consumed by this revision over the last several weeks. My DVR is chock-full of ANTM and Project Runway All Stars, and I’m pretty sure my husband is sick to death of hearing me talk about any and everything related to Poppies. Now that I’m done with this round, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I also feel like I have all kinds of time on my hands, which is why I’m (finally) blogging.

In other news, my hubby and I visited Vancouver, BC over the weekend. I had my doubts about the idea of a getaway (see above paragraphs), but we ended up having an incredible time. Also, thanks to some ridiculous wait times at the border, I was able to get quite a bit of revising done in the car. If you haven’t visited Vancouver, I recommend it. It’s a much bigger, more diverse city than I’d realized. It’s also very clean and the food is amazing. Plus, there’s tons to do:

We went to a kickass country bar where my husband rode a bull, and subsequently banned me from posting the pictures online. Boo! (Oh, and there’s nothing like a nineteen-year-old drinking age to make you feel ancient!).

We visited–and walked across!–the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Awesome.

Okay, I admit it: I was a little scared. The bridge spanned an insane ravine and was, quite literally, suspended. It swayed a lot and by the time we made it across, I was experiencing a bit of motion sickness. Still, totally worth it!

There was a cliff walk, too, which was equally thrilling.

We got to watch the Canucks play, and win! I’ve never been to an NHL game, and I have to admit, it was surprisingly entertaining. My husband was all about teaching me the rules of the game, and we ended up sitting in a section full of very enthusiastic (read: drunk) Canadians, which made the sporting event all the more authentic.

Now that we’re home from Canada, we’re getting focused on our pending move. We’ll be leaving our beloved Pacific Northwest for the beautiful Monterey Bay sometime in May, and I’m pretty excited. The actual act of moving sucks, though, and I’m not so pumped about its finer points (packing, cleaning, driving, unpacking, settling, blah, blah, blah…). But, the Army wife in me knows it’ll be an adventure, and moving means my husband won’t be deploying for a good 18 months. I’d do pretty much anything to make that happen!

Changing gears a bit… I’ve decided to participate in April’s Blogging from A to Z Challenge (because I obviously don’t have enough going on). I feel like I’ve neglected my blog lately, and this seems like a fun way to reinvigorate it. If you’re interested in playing along (you totally should!), you can sign up HERE.

And a few more links worth checking out: This article about The Hunger Games movie. According to Hollywood vet Nina Jacobson (who acquired the rights to the trilogy), “Young people are actually really savvy about what they consume, and the success of this book is a reflection of their sophistication…” Thanks, Nina. We totally already knew that. 🙂 And this post by the brilliant Kate Hart, detailing 2011-2012 YA book deals, with infographics!

So, what’s new in your world? Will you blog A-Z in April? Are you counting down the hours till The Hunger Games?!