A New Chapter

 A new chapter has begun for this writer. This summer I started Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction MFA program, and I've already made friends, met mentors & REAL witches! 

Yeah, this is definitely where I parked my car. It just took me a long time to find my keys. 

Now I'm off to write about witches, murder, curses & star-crossed Sapphic lovers. 

xo

B

Merry Book-mas!

Papa Hemingway would be proud of this book tree's topper. May your season be filled with good reads & good friends!

B*

A Day in the Life

Since I haven't posted anything in 4 months (wow, that's embarrassing!) I thought I'd treat you to a day in the life of writer Me. As oppose to works 2 day jobs then rushes home to write Me since I'm on vaca from day job this whole week! Woot woot!

6:00am: Wake up because I'm too hot. Throw covers off, try to go back to sleep, then decide to hop ship into the guest room bed so BF won't wake me when he gets up for work.

8:49am: Wake up (for real this time) and force myself to stay in bed until 9, which is my designated start-your-day-or-you're-a-worthless-slacker time when I don't have to muscle out of bed at 7:15 for day job. Didn't want to cheat myself out of those precious 11 minutes!

9:00am: Eat leftover au gratin 'taters for breakfast while reading this week's EW. Feeding the body and mind!

9:30am: Quick shower. Then back in the PJs. Before you judge me on this one, I recently discovered a direct correlation to my writing productivity and how binding my outfit is. Tight pants = creative block. So there's a method to my seemingly lazy madness. Once my water bottle is full and computer's booted, it's writing time!

11:05am: Sell my old car. Who knew?

11:35am: Back to writing!

1:30pm: Lunch break. Frozen tortellini with veggies. Cook time: 10 mins (in which I can still write). If you're confused by my mention of cook time, read this past post for explanation.

1:45pm: Back to writing!

2:45pm: Stuck on a line of dialogue, so I attempt some well overdue yard work. Get to pet the neighbor’s dog—bonus!

2:55pm: Solution to line of dialogue issue miraculously forms in my head, and I drop my shovel and run inside to get it down.

3:30pm: Stuck again. Back out to finish yard work.

4:00pm: Back to writing (again)!

5:30pm: Get dressed and go to my weekly writers crit group where I'll regale them *sarcasm applied liberally* with a new chapter from the novel  I'm working on while I wait to hear back from my agent about my soon-to-be out on submission novel. Oh, did I not mention I checked my email about 32 times throughout the day to see if she's sent me anything? Hmm, must have slipped my mind. 

9:00pm: Get home from writing crit group and finally eat dinner while I go over comments and suggestions from writing group. They tell me I have too many kissing scenes in the first 60 pages. Hm...

9:15-11:15pm: Catch up on some QT with my DVR (oh, and the BF). Last week's Awake, 16 and Pregnant (Briana's ep is no joke!) & Up All Night are up tonight!

11:15-12ish: Read in bed to BF's dismay. Torn between The Fault in Our Stars by John Green , The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg ,and Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin . Handcuffs has an edge for obvious reasons (I share a name with the author, hello!), but my agent suggested I read You and Me, so You and Me wins.

12:12am: Eyes start to hurt. To sleep with me now.


B*
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Things that Kept Me Sane(ish) in 2011

It's that time of year again; the yule tide time. A time for friends and family and food--oh the glorious food! While I would love to recount the numerous (14 to be exact) flavors of pie I sampled this holiday season, I thought it might be more relevant to commemorate 2011 with a list of favorites. So here they are, in no particular order, the Things that Kept Me Sane(ish) in 2011:

1. Holiday card from my literary mgmt team- This one came late in the year, but man did it kick me into finish-this-draft-so-I-can-submit-it-to-my-fabulous-agent-before-Dick-Clark-rings-us-into '12 gear. Note to DGLM: you may want to start sending out Arbor Day cards or Autumnal Equinox cards to keep your authors motivated.
2. Story Engineering by Larry Brooks- This book on writing craft opened my eyes to why I landed my agent, but not yet an editor. And, more importantly, empowered me to change that (hopefully!).
3. Adele's "Someone Like You" -I must've listened to this song 478 times to capture the mood I needed to be in to feel out my characters. Plus, bonus, the video is a Paris-based Scorsese (although I linked to the live version 'cause I love hearing her delicious accent as she discusses).
4. Metric , Kelly Clarkson, The Joy Formidable - Again, mood capture-ers. And the occasional procrastination station dance party.
5. The return of Libby Gelman-Waxner to EW- Libby's new/old column, If You Ask Me... is witty, honest without being mean spirited, girlie without apologizing and pop culture hungry. This is what inspired me to start writing. (See Dec. 16 issue of Entertainment Weekly for the IYAM glory.)
6. Grooveshark.com - As you can tell from #3 & 4, music inspires me. My obsession with learning the lyrics to every song I hear--even the cringer-worthy crappers--makes for lengthy playlists for every novel I write (and read). Grooveshark had me rockin' to literary soundtracks all year.
7. The non-twangy side of Taylor Swift -My (new) main character likes pop-country. There, I said it. *The video I linked to is not Taylor Swift, nor the official video, but damn if this girl didn't commit to twirling that Miss Sparkle Girl Autumn--that's a real title. Check it out--dress to it's lyrical lengths. Kudos Noelle248!
8. Sour Gummy worms- Brain food. YUM!

9. Slothville.com-Though I was disappointed when I realized it was only an Animal Planet special, not a series.

10.Sons of Anarchy -Bikers aren't my thing, but solid story telling and Charlie Hunnam are (proof below).

It's on Tuesdays on FX. You're welcome.

And Things that will Surely Get Me Through 2012:
Ryan Gosling Reads YA- Who says your Canadian-turned-Hollywood crush doesn't totally get the books you read (and is Team Gale)? One more reason to want the final item on my list.

(Fingers crossed) Getting published!!! I may be shooting my book karma in the foot just by typing this, but I want it and have been working hard for it, so I'm saying it. So it is written, so it shall be...pretty please with grinning baby sloths on top.

What's on your lists? I'd love to hear so I can add it to my 2012 list. HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!

B*
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My Hair is Bluuuue!

So...my hair is bluuuue! And like all good things it happened sometime around midnight at the response of 3 days spent locked in the Writertorium on the floor (don't ask me why I edit best on all fours) with a box of animal crackers, bottle of ice water, a fan on low to drown out "distractions," and a first, er, rough draft.

Was the dye job reward for working my authorly magic on the draft and molding it into a tastey second draft treat in under a week? ...No. But writing is hard, and sometimes a little encouragement is needed to forge ahead. This particular brand of encouragement can be credited to The Mockingbirds author extraordinaire, Daisy Whitney when she tweeted a pic of her pink hair. I've been talking about dying my hair blue (according to my mom) since I was 4-years-old, and seeing Daisy take the follicle plunge I thought to myself, self, it's about time you stop stalling by saying you'll go blue when you get published and realize going blue might be the edge you need to get published! (Okay, I realized that is twisty, midnight logic, but it was convincing.) Plus now that my crazy's on the outside, people can stop giving me that look when I start talking.

So, what do you think? Has anyone else made a decision so bad it turned out good?

B*

Killin' My Darlings

Drum roll please...I am finally moved in to my new house and new Writertorium! I have to say that I miss the wood floors in Writertorium Uno and Number Two is significantly smaller, but it exists with functioning internet and a desk with all it's legs screwed on and everything. (Although there was a tragic loss of keyboard tray that I don't feel comfortable talking about.) This, of course, means I'm back to escaping reality on a daily basis i.e. writing.

 

(Loveseat not included in joy jumping. Disclaimer: New Writertorium is too small for my "thinking couch". It now sadly resides in the basement.)

Evidently stifling my creative flow for three odd weeks with signing and resigning a bagillion documents three different times for two different companies (how does that make sense?) and having to pack and unpack and paint and budget for a new furnace (gah!) has brought upon some revelations. 1) Reality sucks. But we already knew this. 2) I'm a shell of a human (and a ton more cranky) when I'm not writing. 3) Taking a couple weeks to gel after one finishes a first draft is equal parts painful and helpful.

I've read it a hundred times in countless writing craft books that you should "Let it cool" and "Do something else" after you complete your first draft. I've never been able to do this. I have this freakish interior motivator that tells me if I'm not writing daily I'm wasting time and thus any potential success I may have in the future. Real rational, huh?

Now that I've been forced into letting my first draft cool, I'm sing a lively chorus of "Killin' my darlings, killin' my darlings, killin' my darlings all the time..." (which is in reference to a William Faulkner quote if you got confused by my sing-a-long lyrics.) I am typing away (sans keyboard tray), changing my male lead, onioning out minor characters (my totally professional way of saying character development) and basically starting from crumbs for the second draft of my new project that you will have to be patient to hear about in lieu of previously mentioned massive rewrites. All this wreckage and reconstruction is making me a little...giddy, actually. I missed writing so much that I must get back to it. Now!

B*