What's in a Series?

So as I look through the #PitchWars twitter feed, one of the @LH_Writes said about 65 of the 75 queries have series potential and the rest are PB. That being said, what the heck is up with all these series?

Of course, what am I writing? A series... of a sort...

I love and hate series all at the same time. Most series are kind enough to provide us an update every year, except for that one guy who no one is allowed to mention because then he might kill off Tyrion.

Yes, I love you Peter Dinklage

But when I start a new series I almost want to wait until I know the last book is almost ready to come out because I'm not a patient person. I started reading Harry Potter three months before the seventh book came out. I read them in two months and thought I was going to die waiting for the Deathly Hallows.

This was me when it finally hit my mailbox

Because I invest in the characters, I want to know everything about them. I fall in love with them and I want to be with them, they are a part of my soul. Over the past week I fell in love with a new cast of characters. Tamlin and Feyre from A Court of Roses and Thorns. And this was only the first book. So now I wait and wait to see what comes next for them.



No seriously, go pick it up NOW

And yet, I have set out to write a series. To torture other readers.

It didn't start out this way, really. I wrote what I wrote. One single fairy tale. Of all the things I'd ever written, I never thought fantasy would be one of them. As a child I read mysteries, poured through every Nancy Drew book I could find. The first book I wrote (in third grade) was a mystery. Then, I grew up. I fell in love with historical fiction. The second book I started writing (seventh grade) was set in the civil war because I loved Gone with the Wind so much. Of every book idea I've ever had, fantasy was never one of them.

Until I sat down to write my first, real, grown-up book.

And at the end there is closure, not 100%, but closure. And yet, I saw one character, a small minor character and thought, what if I give her a story? Then another character spoke to me, a story that I'd had brewing in my mind for some time as a historical. What if I tweaked it just a bit. Yes, he deserves his own story too.




In case you're wondering where I'm headed next...

Thus my series is born. I even sat down to draw a map. Just a crude version to see what my land would look like. I ended up with a continent of thirteen kingdoms. And my intention is to give each a story. A story as different and varied as the spanning of our continents. Does that make it the same as a real series? I have no idea. But I'll keep writing my fairy tales as long as the ideas keep popping out of my brain.

Will the real homo sapiens please stand up?

alternatively: How to stop hate

So when I was in high school I was in the marching band...

Ok, you can stop laughing now.

Anyway, when I meet someone now, if I find out they were in marching band, we play a little game. What instrument did you play?

Not to brag, but I'm pretty good at this game. Because if you look at most of the groups within the band, you notice certain trends, certain groups get a reputation.

If you played trumpet, you were a hot shot and a little full of yourself.

If you played percussion, you were a squirrely spaz, or I dated you.

If you were a flute player, you were a stuck-up girl, or a girl in general.

If you were a clarinet player, you remind me of Amy Farrah-Fowler.

If you were a tuba player, you were a party animal, and generally an all-around awesome person to be around.

Of course, these are exaggerations, but you see what I'm saying. We had our cliques, and it said something about you without even realizing it. And it's always a funny joke for me because people usually guess I played the flute. Which I did, until I became awesome.

What does this have to do with real-life people hate? In case you've been living under a rock, get on your google and search Indiana and gay. It will tell you everything you need to know and more. Then there's the feminist issues popping up all over the internet and rape shaming, which is beyond my comprehension. And I would be remiss if I didn't include the Baltimore riots and before that the Ferguson riots. Can't exclude pretty much everything going on in the Middle East.

But what do all the issues have in common? Hate.

And it makes me sick. Because everyone is so busy trying to decide who is right and who is wrong that we're really missing the big picture. We're all humans. And somewhere, a long time ago, we stopped seeing that. We started segregating into white or black, gay or straight, woman or man. Not just people.

So yes, the marching band is a ridiculously small model of a human ecosystem, but if I'm judging one person based on what I think about a group of people that I knew *cough* fifteen years ago, then how is it really any different.

Will I stop playing my guessing game in the future? Probably not. Because it's a fun way to get to know people. But I will stop judging all percussionists because of that one jerk that broke up with me in high school.

Moral of the story, next time one of these hot button issues comes up, stop. Take the situation and put it in the context of a human being. Things look a lot different from that perspective.



Thank you to http://www.reactiongifs.com/ for the gifs.

Yikes, has it been 7 months...

I'm a little surprised they haven't shut down my account yet. But I'm back now! And eventually I will post all those half finished blog posts that I started over the past *cough* seven months.

So what was I doing over my little blogging hiatus?

In case you're wondering if I love my dog more than my kids, not exactly. But I don't have to worry about her picture being on the internet!

 

 

 

So maybe this will cover me until I get a new post up. Because I'm going to be back, I swear!



My very first risotto

So one thing I do besides write is cook. I'm not sure which I've been doing longer, writing or cooking, but both started when I was about 7. Mostly I loved making desserts, especially cake. Which is funny because no one in my family besides my mother liked cake. My mother used to say the oven timer would ring and no one would know what was coming out.
 
So fast forward a few years and a dietetics degree later, I'm still cooking and making crazy things. This weekend I made a cornbread salad and lemon chiffon cupcakes with lemon zest on top for a draft party. Then for my dad's birthday my sisters and I made five kinds of kebabs and ten tons of food topped off by my famous cherry pie. It is made with real cherries that I picked and pitted myself. It's one of my very favorite dishes.
 
And today I made something that I've been wanting to make for some time now: risotto. I looked for some recipes, but couldn't find one I liked. And I wanted to use my rice maker as I so infrequently get to use it. So I made one up. And luckily it worked, and I was so proud of it.
 

My first risotto, I'm so proud!

It doesn't look as pretty as it tasted, but my picky six year-old ate it, so you know it had to be good! Now, if you would like to steal my recipe, here it is:
 
1 cup onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup Arborio rice
2 cup chicken broth
3 cup milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. sun dried tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp. fresh basil, cut into ribbons
1 cup corn (I used frozen)
5 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
 
Sauté the onions  in the butter and olive oil for 3 minutes. Then add garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add in the rice and stir until coated. Add in the chicken broth and milk and stir. I had my rice maker do the work, but you cook until the liquid is absorbed and it makes a creamy texture. Then I added in the cheese, tomatoes, basil, and corn. I let them melt in with the risotto and seasoned with salt and pepper. Garnish with bacon and some extra basil if you have it.

September Reading List

August is almost over and I feel like a big failure. It's been a hectic month, so my reading and writing have been suffering a bit. It didn't hit me until I saw that the next book in C.J. Redwine's Defiance series came out. So now I'm attacking Deception with a vengeance. Now I thought I'd give you a look into the next couple of books on my reading list. And you get to love on the beautiful covers. Love them!




 Deliverance by C.J. Redwine













 Graceling by Kristin Cashore












Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge












 May Day by Jess Lourey (A super awesome lady that I met at MWW)

 










Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (Another super awesome instructor from MWW)

 Fiona Street by Stephen Michael Loy (A fantastic writer in my critique group)











I'm still looking for some good YA dystopian based on weather related issues or racial issues. So if anyone knows a good one, please let me know!


Thank you to Goodreads for the covers.

Ready, Set, WRITE! Week 10

 

RSW is a summer writing intensive hosted by Jaime Morrow, Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, and Erin Funk. You can sign up on the linky at any of the host blogs every Monday. Remember to encourage other participants too! For more info on RSW and a link to the lovely buttons, go here.

 

1. How I did on last week’s goals

Well, I didn't make last week's goals, so I'll just update from the week before.

• Revise two chapters in HB- I got about one and a half done then got blocked by major problems.
• Work on SI- This I actually did. I got about 1,000 words written.
• Revise synopsis- Still procrastinating

2. My goal(s) for this week

• Revise two chapters in HB
• Write a new chapter in SI 
• Read every day

 
3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised.
His only ambition in life was to own his own farm. And marry me. The man has no sense.
4. The biggest challenge I faced this week.
Life getting in the way. Two weeks ago was garage sale cleaning week. And last week was first week of school for the kiddos. I'm really hoping things will start cooling down!

5. Something I love about my WiP.
I love having two WIPs. When I get annoyed or discouraged with one, I move to the other. It keeps me from getting so stuck.

How did you do this week? I'd love to hear from you!
  
 

5 Adjectives: Passion, more than just the fruit

One of my favorite questions to ask on interviews is: Give me 5 adjectives to describe yourself. To me, it is always the most telling of the questions. If you're worth anything then you come to the interview prepared for most questions, but this one always seems to get people. Everyone usually has no trouble with the first three, you pick the easy, generic stuff- hardworking, dedicated, loyal. Adjectives that tell us really nothing, it's those last two that you sit there and struggle with, but it means that those are the ones that are real. Those are two that you just had to examine yourself right there on the spot and say, I am: blank.

Over my fantastic time away at Midwest Writers Conference I got an opportunity to do a pitch, with a super real agent, which actually seemed silly to me. I got three minutes to go in to an agent who has been at it all day and try to get her to fall in love with my book. So you work really hard to put together this beautiful, quick blurb about your book and why it is so awesome. But what if it were a job interview? What if I had to answer that question and give that agent 5 adjectives to describe me as an author? And on that not-really-that-long drive home I thought about me and what makes me special.

So here's my first adjective: PASSION

Disney named a princess after me and made her
act just like me.

And yes, Disney making a princess named after me that reminds me so much of myself. This is what I looked like talking to people about my book and my planned books and their books and learning about how to write books and books in general and, well, let's just leave it at I was excited. I am passionate about writing. I buried it for a while, trying to get out from under the "artist" stigma and worked towards a real profession so that I could do the fluffy stuff on the side. But it burst out of me, when I least expected it.

Once I embraced my passion, things started to fall into place for me. I feel like myself when I'm writing or thinking about my stories. I remember the first time I was explaining a new story to my sister and I could barely sit still. People sometimes think I'm a little off my rocker, but to be fair, they thought that before I started writing.

So whatever you do, writing, knitting, or making spreadsheets, make sure that you feel that passion. It's what motivates you to get up in the morning and gets you through the day. So find your passion, embrace it, love it, live it, and share it with others. And then maybe have some of that fruit. I hear it's really good.


I'll be posting the other 4 adjectives next. What adjectives best describe you?


Thank you http://www.reactiongifs.com/ for the wonderful gifs. Especially of Anna, she's my favorite.