In which I vow to care less...

So, this post from Chuck Wendig: Ask A Writer: In Which I Exhort You To Care Less

It seriously hit me hard. Like hard hard. I encourage everyone to read it.

After reading it, letting it really soak in, I came to two conclusions.

1. I let things get to me way too easily. Then, I let those things dig their stupid, meaningless claws into my brain where they constantly bug the crap out of me. You see, I'm a worrier (I might have mentioned this before). Tiny things, things that happened years ago, still nag me. Most of the people that were involved in these insignificant happenings probably don't even remember them or remember them differently than I do, but still, they're there in my brain. This habit has got to stop because pretty soon, when TSIBAN is released, there will be people who like my book (hopefully), but there will also be people who really don't like it, maybe even hate it. I've already vowed not to read the bad reviews, like the really bad ones that might be super hurtful. I don't know if this makes me smart or a coward, but it's just the way I'm going to approach the whole thing because life is too short, dude.

2. I have GOT to unclench when it comes to writing. I have GOT to relax and remember what is wonderful about doing this. I don't know what it is that's causing this sometimes overwhelming feeling of fear and doubt. Maybe I'm trying to hard to improve, maybe I'm letting other people's writing intimidate me because there are so many awesome authors and am I even worthy of a place on a shelf even close to them and *PANIC*

... Deep breaths...

See how quickly the anxiety sets in?

So, here's my promise to myself (and maybe you want to join me on this):

I shall care less. 

Simple enough. Easy? Highly doubtful, but if by saying that over and over in mirror gets me another thousand words down then it is worth it.

And just to end on a happy note:

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!

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