Fangirl Friday

Long time, no FF! I know, I know, but today I'm feeling especially fangirly so let's get right to it.

A little while ago I mentioned that I would start watching Doctor Who. Guess what happened...

Yep... So, I think I'm finally emerging from my Doctor depression (or Tennant-itis, as I like to call it) and I can talk about how awesome this series is. One of the things I think is so great about Doctor Who is the way the writers have taken every day things and worked them into the essence of what Doctor Who is. They've created a fandom like no other. Take this picture above. The 3-D glasses, the bowtie, the TARDIS coffee mug, the thing-a-ma-bob he's holding (that's a sonic screwdriver, btw), and the banana are all references to the show and 3 of those things you could come into contact with often. Now that I'm a fan, I can't go a day without being reminded of The Doctor just by living life. Talk about smart writing.

I could seriously go on and on about the sheer brilliance of Doctor Who, but it would probably involve lots of spoilers and girly squeeing and ugly crying so I'll save that for another day.

Next on the FF agenda is the Nerdist! Go listen! Tons of podcasts featuring only the coolest celebrities and film and TV writers. I must say that my favorites are the ones where Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira just have a conversation. The David Tennant interview is, of course, awesome.

Also, listening to these guys is strangely inspiring. I feel the need to find someone to geek out with, to start on that costume I've been wanting to make, and write about all the nerdy things.

Which is what I shall do now!

What are ya'll nerding out about?

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:

New Ideas Drive Me Crazy

I decided to go back over all my old blog posts today because of this post from Roni Loren and I realized something. In the beginning, this blog was meant to be a place for me to discuss my writing journey. Back when I started that first book, this blog was where I went to vent, talk about writer stuffs, converse with new friends, get advice and maybe even give some advice along the way. And rereading some of those posts reminded me of this. Granted, some of those posts make me shiver, but ya know, whatever.

Anyway, I enjoyed those posts, so I'm going to try to get back to that type of blogging. Being honest, talking about the craft, and sharing stories instead of these other things I've been doing (or not doing because I'm sure you can see that I haven't been blogging hardly at all lately).

So, I'll just get right to that :)

I've been having trouble lately with... well... all of my WIPs. I remember the days when I had just one book I was working on writing.

*sighs, looks wistfully off into the distance* Those were the days. 

Now I think I might be stretching myself too thin. With book #1 and then with TSIBAN, I had this need to focus on just them. While I was writing each one, they were it, the end all, be all. I don't know what's happened to my brain. It's like I'm just walking along then:

BOOM! NEW IDEA!

Then I can't be satisfied until I've written the first few pages. THEN after I've done that, I immediately go into this self-doubt mode like, "What am I doing working on this? I should be working on this other thing. And this isn't that great anyway. Right? But I really like it." And on and on.

SHINY NEW IDEAS! THEY'RE KILLING ME!

*deep breaths, deep breaths*

And there you have it. A seriously rambly and out of nowhere post. Please tell me I'm not alone in this. What do you do to keep the new ideas at bay? How do you stay focused?

Teen Cult Classics

I was talking with my husband the other day about my characters. I mentioned something about how the characters might have known each other as children, maybe played video games when they were little kids.

"Aw, yeah," he said, "I can see them hanging out playing Nintendo."

"No, they wouldn't have played Nintendo," I said.

"Super Nintendo?"

"Nope, try Playstation 2," I said.

"Oh my God, I'm so OLD!"

This conversation got me to thinking. My generation's classics are completely different from my target audience's classics. I watched Care Bears and Rainbow Bright. They watched Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues. I played Nintendo and Sega. They played PS2 and XBox. I was obsessed with Leonardo Dicaprio (who am I kidding with that "was", I still am obsessed with him). They're into Zac Efron. 

So, here's my question, what are this generation's cult classic movies? I wasn't entirely sure so I went to the most knowledgeable source: My 19 year old niece. 

Her immediate answer was, "Mean Girls!!!! Hands down."

Then she said, "People quote The Hangover, too." 

So, what do you guys think? Do you have anymore? 

Fangirl Friday: A Quickie

Okay, the kids are off to the grandparents' today so I have to make this quick because the grandparents will be here soon and there are dirty dishes and I hate it when that happens... So, here we go!

A new Marvel Girl comic in which her origin story is told??? Whaaaaa?!?!?!

I really want to see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter this weekend.

The Beautiful Creatures movie wrapped shooting here recently, so that's freaking awesome!

So... yeah, that's it. Quick and lame. What are you excited about?

New WIP Music

Okay, I have so many pots on the stove it's ridiculous, folks. I have book ideas coming out the wazoo, but here's the thing, there's this one that has been eating up all my brain power (and let's face it, I don't have a lot of that). It's this beautiful, or at least I consider it beautiful, story that absolutely must be told. Or else I will hate myself for all eternity. Okay, maybe that's a little extreme...

But still...

So, as you might have noticed, I like to create a soundtrack, as many writers do, for my WIP. And since playlist.com sucks now, I'm gonna have to give a link to my Pandora station for this book.

http://www.pandora.com/station/play/906049481888864147

If anyone knows of a website similar to what playlist.com used to be, could you let me know because it makes me all kinds of sad that I can't just add songs to a playlist then paste the html here without having to sift through youtube videos :(

If you don't want to check out the Pandora station, then here's one song that I think fits my story perfectly (Stef introduced this to me because she's awesome, of course).

The Summer I Became a Nerd is on Goodreads!

I feel more and more official everyday, folks! That's right, my book is on Goodreads and waiting for you to add it to your shelves!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14744489-the-summer-i-became-a-nerd

The comments so far have me doing this all over the house :