Shufflin' Saturday: WIP Playlist

Yay! Shufflin' Saturday! So, I've been working hard, trying to get my playlist down for this WIP. So far, I've only found a few songs that click. Here they are! Enjoy!

Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Robbie Coltrane, Warren Beatty, and John Astin!!!

So, I'm still coming down from the awesomeness of The Hunger Games. Despite the fact that I had to sit in the third row, all the way to the right, and in front of two chatterboxes (at least the girl was asking her guy questions about the story which led me to believe he had read the book), I still loved the movie! I only have two small criticisms, but they're not really worth mentioning.

I'd like to try something a little different today. I usually talk about up and coming fangirl events like new movies or books, but today I'd like to talk about some things that I feel every nerdgirl should know about. I wouldn't judge you if you didn't know about these things, of course. This article, On the Fake Geek Girl, from The Mary Sue got me to thinking about how wrong it is to look down on someone who calls themselves a geek, but doesn't seem to know the things they should. Geekdom is an all inclusive club! Anyone can join!

So, let's start with:

The Classics: Movies 101

Stefanie is Bedazzled!

Once upon a time, there was a girl who went searching for a writer buddy. After meeting a few people, this girl thought she would never find "The One". Nobody was clicking with her. In an act of desperation, the girl posted on the AbsoluteWrite.com forums, titling the post "Can a girl get a writer buddy :)". The heavens shined down on her then. Her savior came in the form of a girl who wrote awesome YA and was funny and just as silly as the girl was. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, but considering the impact this writer buddy has had on me, the dramatics are warranted. I first started exchanging emails with Stefanie Gaither back on March 27, 2011. Over the past year, Stef has become not only a writer buddy, but also a dear friend. I even had a dream once in which we met at a writing conference. When we saw each other in said dream, there was lots of hugging and girly squealing (later, when I told Stef about the dream she said she would have tackle hugged me, lol). After the hugs, we became detectives to find the person trying to sabotage our writing... But back to the point of this blog post.

Without Stef's help, my writing would not be what it is today. She taught me the difference between its and it's. She opened my eyes to the wonders of the semi-colon and the emdash. She's tried to help me with my comma problems, but that is a lost cause. She has always been honest about my writing without being harsh. She's helped me out of many writer blocks including one last night. She listened to me rant about how hard writing is and life in general. We have stayed up into the early morning hours just being crazy.

Needless to say, Stef will be getting a very heartfelt acknowledgement at the end of THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD  because, if not for her, the book would be crap.

Here's just a small collection of things we've traded in chat sessions (of which, there have been "many" or that's what gmail says, apparently there are too many to count), emails, through facebook, and twitter. Enjoy the crazy!

Book Swag

Free stuff, freebies, swag... Everyone loves this stuff. As someone who's starting to plan their promotional campaign for an upcoming book, I've been giving this some thought. I personally love it all! But I know some people just end up throwing some things away when they get home. So, here's a poll. What items would you head for at a conference or a book festival? You can choose up to 3.

Shufflin' Saturday

I've been on a Dave Matthews kick here recently which I attribute to Phillip Phillips on American Idol.

He reminds me soooo much of Dave Matthews, it's eerie. Anyway, my Dave Matthews Pandora station keeps playing nineties rock which just sends me back to Junior and Senior year of high school. So, let's look at that.

Fangirl Friday: The Hunger Games Edition

Happy Birthday to all these awesome, strong actresses (just like Jennifer Lawrence!): Keri Russell, Catherine Keener, and Michelle Monaghan!

Oh my goodness... It's here... IT'S FINALLY HERE! The Hunger Games... We've all been waiting a while, feels like forever, and it's finally here! So, let's get pumped up!

Let's go back, when all of us were just getting into the books. This is how we saw the characters before we had a cast:

And now we have this:

Fangirl Friday: The Hunger Games Edition *SPOILERS*

Do not click this post if you don't want the movie or the first book to be spoiled for you!

Lucky 7-ish

I've been tagged by a couple of cool mamma-jammas with this, but I haven't gotten to page 77 on my WIP yet so I wasn't going to do it. But, after reading all the other fantasticness, I can't help myself. So I figure, since I don't have a page 77 yet, then I can pick from anywhere. Right, we'll go with that!

The Rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS.
2. Go to line 7.
3. Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences, and post them as they’re written. No cheating.
4. Tag 7 other victims …er, authors.

Excerpt:

 Just when I'm about to give up the ghost and betray my beliefs by saying that I never really saw what the big fuss was about when it came to The Lord of the Rings, she shocks the hell out of me.

“How did you know Two Towers is my favorite one?”

My eyes widen and the next few sounds out of my mouth could never, ever be construed as actual words. “Guh... Uhh... Bah?”

Her hands start to dance nervously over the plastic pages of the binder as she says, “I mean, yeah,” she shrugs, “we could watch that.”

Thanks to Kate Avelynn, Tracy Rohlfing, and Tiffany Truitt for tagging me!

I only have a couple of people I'm going to tag because I can't think of anyone else who hasn't been tagged and even these people have probably been tagged and I just don't know it. So, if you haven't been tagged yet and want to participate, just say so in the comments and I'll add you to the list here! Cool? Cool!

Ophelia London

Suze W

Rambles About Characters and Settings: A Downton Abbey Edition

So, I'm a character girl. I love intriguing characters. A book, movie, TV show, or what have you could be set in a white void, and as long as the characters are great, I'll love it. Don't get me wrong, location is fun, too. Anne Rice is really good at location description, but once I got it, I got it, ya know? After reading Interview with the Vampire, I pretty much just skimmed the description in her other books. Some people say, "Location is a character, too," which can be true. Like in Harry Potter or The Hunger Games or The Shining or Firefly. Those examples might be more literal than what those people are meaning, though. But it seems easy to me (and I use the word "easy" very loosely here because writing, especially good writing, is never easy) to make a setting a character in say a fantasy or horror novel. I think I might be getting off track here...

Anyway, back to characters... Like I said on Friday, I've started watching Downton Abbey. What a wonderful example of great characters. I goofed up though. I started watching season 2 first and didn't realize it until I was almost done with the ones that are out so far. So, last night I started at the beginning with season 1 and something was revealed about a character that I didn't know even after watching 7 or 8 episodes of the second season (I won't give any spoilers, but for those who do watch DA, I will say this: THOMAS!).

Anyway, that one thing changed my view of that character, not in a decidedly good or bad way, but I now look at him just... differently. And that's why I consider this show a shining example of character building. The thing is, you never know what a character will do just like you never know what people will do. None of the characters so far are straight up good or bad. They're real people. They make mistakes, sometimes intentionally, and because of that, they are more human than almost any of the characters I've ever read or watched. I can only wish that someday I'll be able to write characters as good as these.

So, what about you guys? Are you a setting or a character person? Do you watch Downton Abbey and, if so, what do you think about it? What other stories can you think of where the setting was a character? Post in the comments!

Shufflin' Saturday

Music is definitely inspirational for me when starting a new WIP. Sometimes I feel like the vibe I'm going for in a book can't be fully realized unless I find a theme song. This is why, last night, I asked my Facebook friends to suggest music. And I got a wide range of recommendations.

Commence the deluge of Youtube videos, Mr. Chekov!

A Bookish Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Juliette Binoche! Happy one day early Birthday to Jon Hamm and Rick Rubin!

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and man, have I struck gold. The first book that blew me away was:

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (Click image for Goodreads page)

Such a lovely story. I will definitely be adding other books by this author to my TBR pile. This is exactly what it's supposed to be. A love story. The characters are deep and well-developed even though the story only happens in maybe 2 days. Worth the read if you're into love stories and cute British boys.

And just because it's fun to look at covers and especially those from other countries, here's a few for this book.

Pretty Amy Cover Reveal is Pretty!

I've been waiting on this one, folks, and I have not been disappointed!


Here's a little about this awesome upcoming book:


PRETTY AMY releasing May 15th


Amy is fine living in the shadows of beautiful Lila and uber-cool Cassie, because at least she?s somewhat beautiful and uber-cool by association. But when their dates stand them up for prom, and the girls take matters into their own hands?earning them a night in jail outfitted in satin, stilettos, and Spanx?Amy discovers even a prom spent in handcuffs might be better than the humiliating ?rehabilitation techniques? now filling up her summer. Worse, with Lila and Cassie parentally banned, Amy feels like she has nothing?like she is nothing.


Navigating unlikely alliances with her new coworker, two very different boys, and possibly even her parents, Amy struggles to decide if it?s worth being a best friend when it makes you a public enemy. Bringing readers along on an often hilarious and heartwarming journey, Amy finds that maybe getting a life only happens once you think your life is over.


And ze COVER!

Shufflin' Saturday

I love music! I mean, who doesn't, right?  So, I thought I'd start a new series of posts where I just talk about the music I'm diggin' at the moment.

Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Daniel Craig, Jon Bon Jovi, and Dr. Seuss!

New Avengers Trailer!!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMG!!! Soooo BADASS! Am I right? I know. I'm right.

I started watching Downton Abbey this week. And yes, all the hype is correct. It's awesome!