Category: ME

Friday Fun: Fives (x2!)

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Happy Friday, Friends!

First, a Friday Five from Paper Hangover, a fantastic group blog offering writing tips, book reviews, weekly blog topics, and teen interviews. Here’s today’s prompt:

What are the FIVE best ages of your life and why?

1. Zero to Twelve – This might be a bit of a cop-out, but yeah… I had a lovely childhood full of wonderful people and experiences. There’s not one particular age I can pinpoint as the BEST of my childhood, but I can say that somewhere just after twelve, preteen anxiety and awkwardness set in. It was all down hill from there.

2. Nineteen – High school was, all in all, a pretty tragic experience. Though I had some great friends (a few I’m still friends with!) and was athletic, I was painfully shy and always obsessing about what people thought of me. I didn’t date or go to dances because I was majorly lacking in confidence. But by the time I turned nineteen and started college (Go Cougs!), I came into my own. At nineteen, I nailed down a career path (teaching, which turned out to be fairly temporary), joined a sorority (you can’t help but be social in the Greek system), and met my future husband (who has always been the life of the party and, whether he realizes it or not, played a big part in bringing me out of my shell).

3. Twenty-Two – A huge, wonderful year! I graduated from college, got married, and moved from Washington to Arizona. Twenty-two was the age at which I became a real grown-up. My husband and I bought cars, rented an apartment, learned to manage money, and figured out how to cook for ourselves. I got my first full-time job (management at Bath and Body Works… thank you, teaching degree), and we also acquired our first “baby,” a mutt named Lucy Pup-perman, who’s still driving me crazy.

4. Twenty-Five – By this point, we were living in Tennessee (loved that duty-station!), I was actually using my degree to teach fifth graders, and we had upgraded from an apartment to a house. My husband was deployed for the first chunk of this year which sucked up and down, but other than that,  life was really great. I had the most amazing class, coworkers I adored, and friends who were loads of fun. I went on a fabulous cruise with my parents and brothers, and got to welcome my husband home from a year in Iraq. Twenty-five was also the age at which I ended up with a bun in the oven. 🙂

5. Twenty-Six to Thirty – I know, I know… another cop-out, but I really can’t distinguish any one year since my daughter’s birth as greater than another. She’s just my absolute favorite person in the world, and she makes even the challenging times (three more deployments, sick family members, stressful moves) more bearable. Plus, it was during the last few years that I started writing with the goal of publication which, despite its extreme highs and lows, has been one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had.

Oy. I bet you didn’t think you were going to  get my whole life story out of that simple prompt.

Do tell: What were the five best ages of your life?

And, in an effort to stick with the Friday Five theme (for once!), I present you with FIVE writerly funnies…

(Courtesy of Sara McClung!)

Hope your weekend is full of awesome!

RTW: For the love of writing…

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Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where the ladies at YA Highway post a weekly writing- or reading-related question for participants to respond to on their own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

Today’s Topic: What’s your numero-uno reason for writing?

I write because I love it. I really, really do. I think you HAVE to love writing to make an honest go at a career in it. All of the challenges, all of the nos, all of the endless hours and sleepless nights and blank pages with their blinking, taunting cursors. All of the aggravation and doubts and deleted words… Writing is hard. If you don’t genuinely love it, you’ll throw in the towel the moment the going gets too tough.

But, even though I do really and truly love writing, I don’t think that’s numero-uno reason I do it.

Simply, I write because I can’t NOT write. 

I write for the same reasons many people go to church. Writing grounds me, centers me, calms me. It drains my frustration, is an outlet for bottled up emotion, and it allows me imagine fantastical possibilities. Writing lets me create and discover new people, new places. It gives me something to focus on when life becomes disorderly. Writing gives me a tiny fraction of control over what is essentially a wildly disobedient world.

Also, writing can be such fun!

What about you? What’s the number one reason YOU write?

Friday Award Fun and Would you rather… :)

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Happy Friday!

Laurie Dennison over at Unavoidable Awkwardness was kind enough to pass on the Liebster Award (isn’t the little award banner adorable?!). Thanks so much, Laurie! I’m passing this one on to five fellow writer/bloggers: Kris Asselin, Sophia Richardson, Kirsten Lopresti, Jus Accardo, and AE Rought.

And, I was TAGGED by Katherine Owens (thanks, Kat!), which means I get to share ten random facts with you, and then tag some more of my favorite bloggers. So, Ten Random Facts:

  1. I’ve been married eight years and have lived in seven different houses during that time.
  2. I’m a dedicated dental flosser. I don’t get non-dental flossers.
  3. I recently cut sugar from my diet (though I do eat fruit). It was hard, but I’ve been feeling so much better since doing it.
  4. I was in a sorority during college. This surprises people. I’m not the most outgoing person, but it was seriously fun.
  5. I much prefer YA literature to any other level/genre out there. (Who doesn’t?!)
  6. I don’t like coffee, but I wish I did. It always smells so yummy!
  7. I’m a neat-freak. My house and yard are always tidy.
  8. I love Disney’s Tangled *almost* as much as my daughter.
  9. I love the ocean and the sun and the sand SO much. I dream of living in a cottage on the beach someday.
  10. I’m addicted to shopping at Target and I’m insanely happy that “my” Target is about to become one of those Targets with a full grocery.
And I’d like to TAG Laurie Dennison,  Alison Miller, Rebecca Behrens, Tracey Neithercott, Caroline Tung Richmond, Jessica Love, and Erin Bowmanto share their Ten Random Facts. Have fun, girls! 

And, since it’s been awhile, a Would you rather…? question to ponder:

Would you rather always lose or never play?

Given the fact that most of us are (or have been) ASPIRING authors, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I *think* I can guess what the common answer for this question will be… 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend!

On the elusive “perfect” novel…

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I’m not sure there’s really such a thing as a “perfect” novel (all books can all be improved upon somehow, right?), but this weekend I read a story that was, in my opinion, about as close to perfection as one can get:


Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins was just SO FREAKING FABULOUS. I mean really… I found myself grinning like an idiot as I read, blown away by the awesomeness printed on every. Single. Page. I’m not going to go into a full review today (though one will surely come later!) because more than anything, Lola got me thinking about what makes a novel stand out as truly amazing.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you read several books in a month. The bulk of those might hover somewhere around GOOD (like, three or four stars on Goodreads). There are probably a few that STINK, or, just weren’t for you (the one or two star books). And, if you’re lucky, there might be one that separates itself from the pack. It’s that elusive five-star book that makes you laugh and cry and gasp and clench your fists in indignation and cheer for the characters as if you know them. It’s the book that makes you feel.

I think we can all agree that the perfect book is a careful combination and precarious balance of crucial literary elements, melded together in a seamless, harmonious way. A way that makes us care totally and completely about the future of the book’s characters. It’s those crucial elements, though, that are different for all of us. Some people are all about character development. Others, pacing. Some are looking for adventure, or gorgeous writing, or steamy romance, or a setting that sings. It’s the importance of each of these elements, and the way they’re merged, that makes some people swoon over Edward and Bella’s undying love, and others cringe in disgust.

It’s a very subjective thing.

For me, the crucial Big Five elements that play into MY perfect book are:

  • Relatable, likable main characters. These people need to sPaRkLe.
  • A believable, naturally progressing (read: HOT) romance.
  • Flawless, distinctly-styled writing with engaging, authentic dialogue.
  • A unique setting, so richly and beautifully described I want to go there. Or, so crazily terrifying it gives me nightmares.
  • The unexpected. Twists and turns that leave me reeling. My jaw needs to drop at least once.
If those Big Five are all there, skillfully blended, I’ve found a favorite. In fact, if my Big Five are strong enough, I can overlook other weaknesses. A slow pace, for example. Or a somewhat flat supporting character. Or a slightly unresolved ending. If my Big Five are present and accounted for, I’m going to care. I’m going to feel. I’m going to have an emotional experience, one I’ll always remember. I’m going to recommend that book up and down and all around. And I’m going to be a very happy reader. 

Books that are on my Favorites List because they so perfectly unify my Big Five: Gayle Forman’s If I Stay and Where She Went, Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, Melina Marchetta’s Jellicoe Road, Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Franny Billingsley’s Chime, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield, and Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere. 

What are your must-have elements for an ideal reading experience? What books are on your personal “Perfect” List?

7X7… An Award!

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My blog received an award! Coolness!

The deal with the 7X7 Award is to share seven past blog articles that fit the superlative given. Then you, lovely reader, get to go and check out those posts, if you’re so inclined. I’m also supposed to share the award with seven other bloggers.

First, thank you so much to Alicia Gregoire for passing this award on to me. She’s adorable and her blog is all kinds of fun (and funny!). Definitely check it out if you’re not already a member of her Lurkdom.

And, without further delay, I present you with my 7 blog posts…

Most Beautiful: This is a hard one! I’m going with my entry for Campaign Challenge #1 – Last Kiss, a piece of flash fiction I’m pretty proud of.

Most Helpful: Probably my hints On Querying or To Plot or Not to Plot, in which I discussed my views on (duh) plotting.

Most Popular: My How I Got an Agent story… I always love to read these too! Good news, good news, GOOD NEWS!

Most Controversial: Hmm… I’m not really a controversial kind of gal, but I last year I did a post on some Bad Advice I heard at a local writing event. You may or may not agree with my thoughts.

Most Surprisingly Successful: Ha! It’s Cookie Day! My readers love their treats. 🙂

Most Underrated: Probably a Tales From the Trenches post entitled To Be, or Not to Be, which is chock-full of fantastic questions writers might ask an agent during The Call. I spent a good, long while compiling those questions!

Most Prideworthy: An oldie but a goodie: A brief but enlightening conversation about publishing…  And a new post about inspiration, plagiarism, and Making It Yours.

And I’d like to share the 7X7 Award with the following fantastic bloggers:

Katharine Owens
Lindsay Currie
Erin Schneider 
Tracey Neithercott
Rebecca Behrens
Chantele Sedgwick
Kirsten Lopresti

Hope you girls have fun with the 7X7 Award!

Friday Fun: Where I Write and What You Eat…

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First, a Friday Five from Paper Hangover, a fantastic group blog offering writing tips, book reviews, weekly blog topics, and teen interviews. Here’s today’s prompt:

Oh, sheesh… pictures? Do you really want pictures of various locations around my house? I’ll try to mix it up a bit. Here’s where I like to write…

1. My La-Z-Boy. It was a pregnancy gift from my husband (he may have been a *tiny* bit tired of hearing me complain about my aching back when he bought it five years ago :)), and it’s the most comfortable seat in my house. It’s where I most often write.

2. The kitchen table. Lame-o, but yeah… it’s certainly the most functional sopt for when I need to spread papers and notebooks and index cards out.

3. Target. Weird? Maybe. I used to go to Borders to write during my daughter’s preschool hours, but of course Borders is closed now. So, I’ve recently discovered that Target’s little cafe area is quiet and relatively empty from 10:30-12:30 every day. Also, there’s no free Wi-Fi, is a blessing in disguise. My productivity while a Target is through the roof.

4. Tully’s Coffee. True confession: I really dislike Starbucks. I find it to be very yuppy-ish. Also, the Starbucks near me is always cold and loud. (Why, incidentally, do mothers organize play-dates at Starbucks? Your toddlers aren’t having fun there.) Tully’s, on the other hand, is quiant and adorable and they serve amazing coconut chai tea. I work there every Friday while my daughter is at her Spanish lesson. Look how cute!

5. My desk, but honestly I use this space more to sew. I only work here when I want to feel like a “real” writer. Real writers work at desks, right?

I showed you mine… Now what are your favorite writing spots?

And, a totally unrelated, completely frivolous, sort of funny Would you rather…?

Would you rather give up eating meat forever, or cut all carbs from your diet indefinitely?

Yeah, this is totally a no-brainer for me. I rarely eat mean anyway (and usually only chicken or fish), so I’d gladly lose it in favor of pasta and bread and rice and pastries. That said, I’ve been trying hard to cut back on carbs, and when I do eat them usually go for whole wheat.

Usually… not always. 🙂

Have a fabulous weekend!

Friday Fun: Best Books of Summer, T-Swift(!), and Love Musings…

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Happy Friday!

I had a summer of amazing books. In fact, it’s difficult to limit my list of favorites, but Paper Hangover–a fantastic group blog offering writing tips, book reviews, weekly blog topics, and teen interviews–is making me do it!

Here’s a Top Five countdown to my favorite book of the summer…

FIVE: A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young – I flew through this one. Main character Charlotte is likeable and totally torn, and she has a hot boyfriend you’ll want to date. This book has a unique perspective on Heaven and Hell and a message that’s–dare I say–inspirational.

FOUR: Room by Emma Donoghue – About the strength of the human spirit and an incredible mother-son bond. While I wouldn’t call Room a “thriller,” I certainly found it to be a page-turner.

THREE: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta – I recommend this one to anyone who enjoys contemporary YA. You’ll love the setting (an Australian all boys’ Catholic school that’s recently opened its doors to girls), the dialogue (smart, funny, perfect), and the characters (engaging, delightful, memorable).

TWO: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly – Just finished this one yesterday and LOVED it! Main character Andi is someone I want to know in real life. Revolution is a very sophisticated contemporary-historical-time-slip novel that will make you desperate to learn more about the French Revolution. No–really!

ONE: Chime by Franny Billingsley – The characters, the mythology, the humor, the writing–oh, the writing. The language is absolutely amazing: lyrical, beautiful, enviable. I cannot sing the praises of Chime enough. It’s gorgeous. It’s unique. It’s a bit of a trip. It’s completely unputdownable.

So, there are my Top Five. What are the best books you read this summer? 

And, since summer is coming to a close, my husband and I decided to surprise our daughter with… tickets to Wednesday night’s Taylor Swift concert! Now, my daughter is only four which–in my opinion–is way too young for a concert. But, she adores Taylor Swift. Like, really and truly idolizes her. She knows the names, lyrics, and stories behind all of her songs, asked for (and got!) a guitar for her birthday, wants “long, yellow, curly hair” like Taylor, and aspires to sing country music when she grows up.

So, we splurged on last-minute tickets, got all gussied up…

and hit the Tacoma Dome…

Let me tell you, Taylor Swift puts on an AMAZING show. She is totally adorable, so genuine, and a fantastic live performer.

My daughter was in awe (so was I, actually!) and rocked out right on through the encore. 🙂 I highly recommend you check out one of Taylor’s concerts should the opportunity arise. I’m so glad we did!

And finally, a bit of a deep Would you rather…?

Would you rather love and not be loved back, or be loved but never feel love yourself?  

Have a wonderful weekend!

What a difference a year makes…

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This is my sweet pea just before her first day of preschool last year. Don’t be fooled by that big grin. She began sobbing as soon as we pulled into the drop-off line and continued sobbing well into the first hour of school. She was fine by the time I picked her up, but holy heartache, her tears were just about my undoing.

Here she is today on her first day of Pre-K. First of all, where did last year go? When did my girl become such a little lady? And what a difference a year makes! At drop-off she couldn’t have been more excited. She couldn’t wait to see her friends and her teachers and show off her new outfit (isn’t it cute? :)). I had to remind her to give me a kiss! But that’s okay. Seriously. I’d so much rather a cheerful, independent girl who’s excited about new experiences and happy to be social and learn new things. I’m such a proud mama!

And speaking of last year… it was on this first day of school one year ago that I wrote the very first scene of Where Poppies Bloom (that scene has remained largely unchanged, in case you’re wondering). I’ve since revised Poppies a dozen times, queried, revised some more, and signed with an amazing agent. I’m currently finishing up some final edits and then–*gasp*–the submission process begins!

I’m curious… How has your life changed in the last year?

RTW: Early Bird? Night Owl?

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Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where the ladies at YA Highway post a weekly writing- or reading-related question for participants to respond to on their own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

Today’s Topic: What time do you prefer to do your writing? Early Worm? Night Owl ? Any five seconds you can grab?

Um, can I go with All of the Above?

When my husband is deployed (often), I am essentially a single parent. My daughter does not take naps anymore (*sob*) and she participates in lots of activities (swimming, ballet, pre-school, etc…), activities I get to shuttle her to. On the rare days we’re home and not out and about, I really try to devote as much of my time to her as possible. Sure, I’ll pop in a movie occasionally and get a little bit of work done, but for the most part she dominates my day. (Good thing she’s so fun, right? :))

So, that means I get to do the bulk of my writing, revising, editing, critiquing, and blogging while my daughter is asleep. I wake up between 5:30 and 6:00 every morning (this happens naturally, in case you’re wondering… no alarm for me!) and work until my kiddo wakes up (usually around 7:30 or 8:00). Then I get back to work at bedtime and go until I can’t keep my eyes open. During the pre-school year, I also get a few hours during the week to work, which is such a treat.  (Too bad the Borders I like to go to is closing… Grr!)

So, I claim Early Bird AND Night Owl, and occasionally everything between.

When do you like to write?

A Very TANGLED Birthday…

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First, pardon me if you read this blog purely for my discussions on books and writing. The following post has absolutely nothing to do with either, but I still want to share.

As well as being an enthusiastic writer and avid reader, I’m a mom and a lover of entertaining and all things Disney. This weekend I threw my daughter a killer fourth birthday party. The theme? Tangled, of course! I won’t bore you with dozens of pictures of my daughter eating cake and opening gifts (though she really is very cute :)), but I thought it would be fun to post a few images of the details, which (in my oh-s0-humble opinion) came together so well.

First, Kingdom Flags, which I made out of purple felt and suns die-cut from yellow card stock. I strung them all along my fence, then hung the leftovers in my daughter’s bedroom, which she LOVES.

I dangled tons of “floating” lanterns from the ceiling of my kitchen and used what was left of the purple felt and suns to make a cloth for the cake table. And, gotta have lots of balloons.

These flowers were only $10 dollars at the local Farmer’s Market. Love!

My brother and sister-in-law trying out the coloring station, where I set out Tangled coloring pages and lots of crayons. Other entertainment? Swing set, wooden play castle with Princess toys, bounce house, and paddle ball.

The Birthday Girl rockin’ her Rapunzel t-shirt (and Rapunzel and Pascal Jibbitz in her Crocs!)

My daughter doesn’t have thick enough hair to French braid, but she still wanted to wear lots of flowers in it. I made these by doubling up paper flowers, adding jewels, and hot-gluing them to little bobby pins.

I’m a fan of snacks and finger foods. I served (healthy-ish) wraps, mini corn dogs, Swedish meatballs, veggies, and lots of chips and dips to munch on.

I put kid-friendly snacks outside too. Fruit snacks, peanut-butter-and-jelly crackers, and colored marshmallows (or, edible floating lanterns!).

This was my vision, but definitely not my handiwork. My town has the BEST bakery and they did a lovely job decorating the cake (and oh-my-gosh… was it yummy!).  Though they’re hard to see, I added Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder toys to the grassy area.

And, my girl and me post-party. We had so much fun!

Throw any good parties lately? Any tips to share?