So, You're a Writer...: March 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

Results! (The Bases of Romance)

Remember when I promised to be less creepy this week? Well, I lied. Kind of. I forgot about having to report back, so you'll have to bear with me.

Side note: Whenever I say "bear with me," I picture a grizzly bear chilling in the chair beside me...

Ahem! If you missed last week, you can find the poll/updated results here.

As of Saturday, these were the results:

Person B files a restraining order against Person A.

...Just kidding. Everyone still with me? :)

So, how do you feel about these results? Are you surprised by any of them? Let me know in the comments. :)

Have a great week, guys! ♥

P.S. I know. The little baseball player switches glove hands a few times. He's, uh... ambidextrous! *grins*

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Princess of Las Pulgas

I'm doing a review today!

...Well, kind of. You know I can't pull those off. Instead, I'm going to hit you with a book description and a few bullet points!

(From Goodreads:)
-------------------------------------------------------------

"After her father's slow death from cancer, Carlie thought things couldn't get worse. But now, she is forced to confront the fact that her family in dire financial straits. To stay afloat, her mom has had to sell their cherished oceanfront home and move Carlie and her younger brother Keith to the other side of the tracks to dreaded Las Pulgas, or "the fleas" in Spanish.

They must now attend a tough urban high school instead of their former elite school, and on Carlie's first day of school, she runs afoul of edgy K.T., the Latina tattoo girl who's always ready for a fight, even on crutches. Carlie fends off the attention of Latino and African American teen boys, and one, a handsome seventeen-year-old named Juan, nicknames her Princess when he detects her aloof attitude towards her new classmates. What they don't know is that Carlie isn't really aloof; she's just in mourning for her father and almost everything else that mattered to her.

Mr. Smith, the revered English teacher who engages all his students, suggests she'll like her new classmates if she just gives them a chance; he cajoles her into taking over the role of Desdemona in the junior class production of Othello, opposite Juan, after K.T. gets sidelined. Keith, who becomes angrier and more sullen by the day, spray paints insults all over the gym as he acts out his anger over the family's situation and reduced circumstances. Even their cat Quicken goes missing, sending Carlie and Keith on a search into the orchard next to their seedy garden apartment complex. They're met by a cowboy toting a rifle who ejects them at gunpoint from his property. But when Carlie finds him amiably having coffee with their mom the next day -- when he's returned her cat -- she begins to realize that nothing is what it seems in Las Pulgas."

-------------------------------------------------------------

See, a couple months ago, I won a copy of The Princess of Las Pulgas by C. Lee McKenzie. (I know, I know. I love her, too!) Um, can I just say it was amazing? Here are five things I loved about it:

It painted a realistic image of a family dealing with death.
It was like Save the Last Dance meets Dangerous Minds.
There were some pretty intense underlying themes.
It was twisty!
The fact that I can't share the quote I had planned, because I already force-loaned it to my sister. LOL

Intrigued? Want to read the first page?

-------------------------------------------------------------

Where to find The Princess of Las Pulgas:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Etc. | Goodreads | Facebook

Where to find C. Lee McKenzie:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
-------------------------------------------------------------

Have a great week, guys! ♥

Monday, March 12, 2012

Whew!

Who knew this time of year could be so busy? The past month has been a dizzying blur of writing, reading, blogging, editing, revising, drafting, critiquing, commenting, and corresponding. There have been blogfests, contests, awards, tags, giveaways, and campaign challenges. We've done interviews, book reviews, celebrated book releases, and thrown parties. Do you know what it's time to do now?

Take a nap. :)

Image by dannyelbrazil

Okay, before that, we do have a few things on the agenda... but they're fun, I promise!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Remember the "Get Fired Up!" blogfest? Well, it turns out our generous hostess, the lovely and talented Melissa Sugar, named me as one of the finalists for the grand prize! Guess who the other one was? Cassie! (♥!) How stinkin' cool is that? Congratulations to Cassie for winning! (At least, I'm assuming she won.) Woohoo!

Anyway, big shout-out to Melissa for organizing such a wonderful event. As I said on her post, for anyone who "shows up late to the party," don't think you need to wait for another blogfest to get help with your blog. With a supportive community like ours, there's no reason to go it alone.:)

Oh, and speaking of contest-type-things, thank you to everyone who voted for me during the First Campaign Challenge. I came in third and really appreciated your support. :)

2) Just a heads-up. I'm going to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to post a review of The Princess of Las Pulgas by C. Lee McKenzie on Wednesday. "But Carrie, you suck at writing reviews..." Well, I'm going to try! To keep myself on task, I'm going to use bullet points. ;) Be sure to stop by for that.

3) A huge thank you to Kathleen for the Sunshine award, Melissa for the Awesome Blog Content award, and Leslie for the Kreativ Blogger award! You three are beyond amazing, and I'm so grateful to know each one of you. :)

Now, each award comes with its own set of instructions, so I'm going to take these one at a time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank the person who nominated you. ✔
Write a blog post about it with the answers to the questions. ✔
Nominate 10 other bloggers and let them know. ✔

Favorite Color: Blue or black
Favorite Animal: Wolf
Favorite Number: 5
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink: Water
Facebook or Twitter: Twitter (It fits my attention span!)
My Passions: God, family, friends, writing, volunteering, art, etc. I could go on and on.
Getting or Giving Presents: Giving. I treat every gift-giving occasion as a strategic mission to find or make the most personalized thing possible. Besides, receiving presents makes me all squirmy and awkward. :P
Favorite Pattern: I have no idea what this means, but it made me think of that game Simon. Do you guys remember that? "If ya miss, you get the RAZ!" Hahaha!
Favorite Day of the Week: Friday
Favorite Flower: Chrysanthemums

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Use the alphabet to describe yourself. ✔

Pass the award to ten nominees and let them know. ✔

Artist · Behaved (only as a child) · C~~razy~~ Creative · Determined · Energetic · Foolish · Geek · Hockey fan · Inappropriate (at times) · Jackets fan · Knowledge-seeker · Loud · MMO player · Ninjesque · Ohioan · Panhead (Skillet fan) · Quick-witted · Reader · Spit-fire · Trombonist (back in the day) · Umbrella scoffer · Vertically challenged · Writer · X-chromosomed twice (Hah! That was such a reach!) · Young-ish (Hush! I said -ish!) · Zippyphobic (I spent my first year of college afraid of this mascot...)

Nominees: Lisa Regan | Lindsay Currie | Trisha Leaver | ~~Pegasus~~ Peggy Eddleman | Becky Wallace | Michael Di Gesu | Lydia Kang | Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi | Talli Roland

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leslie combined the Kreativ Blogger award with the 11 Questions tag going around. (Meaning, I've already answered those questions. Woohoo!) You can find my answers here. :)

P.S. While you're over at my personal blog, would you mind following again? Blogger spazzed on me last week, and I lost my followers there. Thank you!

Official rules of the tag:

1. Post the rules

2. Answer the questions and then create 11 new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

3. Tag 11 people and link to them.

4. Let them know you've tagged them.

I think most of you have been hit with this one, so consider yourself spared. *grins*

Official rules of the Kreativ Blogger Award:

1. Tell ten things about yourself

2. Pass it on to six others

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4) One last thing. Two fabulous ladies (Gwen and Nancy) have tagged me in the Lucky 7 Meme! According to the rules, I need to do four things:
1. Go to page 77 of my current MS/WIP
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines – sentences or paragraphs – and post them as they’re written. No cheating
4. Tag 7 authors

Well, my current WIP doesn't have 77 pages yet, so I'll revert back to my last one.

(I'm using seven lines as they appear on my MS Word screen. Sorry it's kind of boring...) Here we go!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I threw my coat over the back of the chair and reached inside to grab my phone. “Funny.” I scanned the screen. “I don’t see any missed calls from you. Not even a text.” I set the phone down on my desk, giving her a pointed stare.

“Aww, you’re not going to be like that, are you?” She sat up, protruding her bottom lip. “We were all drinking. It’s not like I did it on purpose.”

“Uh huh.” I unzipped my boots, set them aside, and crawled onto my bed. “What happened to bros before hoes?”

She scrunched her nose. “Only applies to guys, Ree.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tag: Tara Tyler | Kathleen Doyle | Leslie Rose | Tina Moss | The Golden Eagle | Sophia Chang | Leigh Covington
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a great week, guys! ♥

P.S. No need to congratulate me, just because it's an award/tag/catch up post. :) In fact, why don't you leave me a comment and tell me... um, what you're having for lunch today!

Monday, March 05, 2012

Interview with Jessica Therrien!

Guess who's back? It's the lovely and talented Jessica Therrien! Yay!

We "met" a few months ago during Rach's 3rd Writers' Platform-Building Campaign. Turns out we're around the same age, both write paranormal romance, and indulge in some of the same areas of nerdiness. How cool is that?

Her debut novel, OPPRESSION, came out 02/28/12 and I'm just dyin' to tell you guys more about her! (If you missed the post I did for her virtual launch party, you can find it here.) Ready? :)

1. Let’s start with the question you’re going to be asked from now until the end of time: What inspired you to write OPPRESSION?

In short, it was my YA book addiction. I went crazy over a certain vampire related series…I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it ;) Then I ate my way through the Hunger Games. After that, I needed more! I tried out a few books, but nothing satisfied my need for that next great YA book. So, I figured I’d write what I wanted to read…

Nope. Never heard of either series. I can't imagine getting addicted to them... *grins and nudges a pile of books under her desk*

2. ZOVA Books—located in LA—is only a couple of hours away from Chula Vista, right? (Thank you, Google Maps. Until five minutes ago, this Midwestern/Appalachian girl did not know where Chula Vista was!) Have you had the opportunity to meet anyone who had a hand in OPPRESSION?

Not only have I met most of the people who worked on Oppression, but I’ve actually grown to be great friends with a few of them. The wonderful thing about ZOVA Books is that they develop personal relationships with their writers. They treat them as friends or family, and they have really taken me under their wing. Oppression wouldn’t be what it is today without their genius. They’re pretty much publishing super heroes. They walk around in capes and say witty things. I’m a lucky one to have them.

Lucky, indeed! I wish I knew people in capes...

3. Speaking of OPPRESSION, if you could be a descendant of any Greek god, who would it be and why?

I’m going to go with Hermes or Iris. Weird choices I know, but you’ll have to read the book to find out why ;)

Oh, we will. We will... ;)

4. If OPPRESSION had a soundtrack, what would the first song be?

First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes OR Everlong by Foo Fighters

If only someone would make it so people could listen to those two songs while they finished reading the interview... *does the Bewitched nose twitch*

Ta da! :)

5. How many books do you plan on writing for your CHILDREN OF THE GODS series?

You know…I’m going to say three. I’ve always envisioned three, but my publisher says I need to keep the option open for more. Just in case…

Hey, I'm all for more. Get ready for some quick questions!

Soft drinks! Do you call them pop, soda, or coke? Soda
You’re stranded on a desert island with one thing. What is it? My husband
Are you a Browncoat or are you with the Alliance? Seriously? Browncoat…hello…I’m assuming you’re a fellow Firefly nut?

You know it!
Did you geek out over that last question? So bad…started googling images of Mal. He’s hot okay. (PS – my mom has the Serenity ship logo tattooed on her ankle…no joke.)

I kid you not. That is the greatest thing I've heard all day.
You’re stressed out. What’s the first thing you reach for? T.V. I’m addicted. It chills me out.
Who’s your favorite paranormal romance writer/interviewer extraordinaire, whose name rhymes with Keri Putler? Why Carrie Butler of course!

:O What a pleasant and totally unexpected answer! Thank you!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow Jessica on: Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Find OPPRESSION at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & GoodReads.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for stopping by, Jessica! Have a great week, guys! ♥

Guardian Release!

[Update] What a way to start the week! Below, you'll find the announcement for Rachel Morgan's awesome debut, GUARDIAN. If you check back in half an hour, you can read my interview with the wonderful Jessica Therrien. Woohoo! Lets do this! :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today the Creepy Hollow series kicks off with the release of the first story, GUARDIAN!

GUARDIAN introduces readers to the magical world of Creepy Hollow, a realm where fae creatures — both safe and definitely-not-so-safe — dwell. Things are cool as long as the fae stick to their own realm. It's when they find their way into the human world that things start going wrong...

1. Receive assignment.

2. Save a life.

3. Sleep.

4. Repeat.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.

Buy from Amazon US

Buy from Amazon UK

Buy from Smashwords

The Creepy Hollow Series

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Book Trailer

Author Info

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+

To find out more about the series, the author, and the characters, check out the blog tour that’s happening over the next two weeks.

And there is a GIVEAWAY going on at Rachel's blog!

Second Campaign Challenge!

There were plenty of prompts for the Second Campaign Challenge. This is what I chose to focus on:

Prompt 1:
Two people are sitting together under the remains of a concrete bridge. ✔ Their backs are against a rusted bridge support. ✔ One person’s leg is cut. ✔ The other person has wet hair. ✔

Instructions:
Do one or more of the following:

Write a pitch/logline for a book based on the prompts. It has to be less than 100 words. (Mine was 28.) ✔
Write a short story/flash fiction piece of less than 200 words based on the prompts
(I did 199.) ✔
~~Write a poem with a twist using the prompts as inspiration (in less than 200 words)~~
~~Write a story/poem in five sentences, each sentence based on one of the prompts~~
~~Write a poem/flash fiction piece (in less than 200 words) about the water pear *without* using the words “pear”, “spoon”, or “droplet”.~~

For added difficulty/challenge:

~~Complete at least three of the above activities and tie them all together with a common theme (feel free to either state the theme in your post or leave us to guess what it might be)~~
Write in a genre that is not your own ✔
~~Ask Challenge entrants to critique your writing.~~

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Derrick,” I rasp, the word ripping barbs from my lungs as I pant the bitter nighttime air. “I-I can't do this...” My head falls back against what’s left of the thick, rusted support, and tears sting my eyes.

Image by tetratoon

The knit of his brow speaks volumes as he runs a hand through his hair, making the wet, darkened tufts stand on end. “I know it’s hard, but I need you to hold on.” He pauses, glances back at the water, and adds in a softer voice, “Just a little bit longer.”

“The others—” I begin, but cut off as another jolt of cold, nerve-shorting pain shoots up my leg. I squeeze my eyes shut and press against the rough, unmoving concrete with blood-soaked hands. Like time itself since the bridge collapsed, it doesn’t move.

“Don’t worry about them right now,” he says in a strained voice, brushing his thumb across my cheek. “I’m going to get help.”

A cold wind whips past, bringing with it the river’s trademark stench. I listen to the silence around us, imagining bodies and debris littering the water. “…T-They didn’t make it, did they?”

“No.” He lets out a deep, shuddering breath. “They didn’t.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pitch: "When the bridge collapsed at midnight, there were two survivors—if they don’t make it out of the city by dawn, they’ll wish they’d died with the others."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My goodness. What’s with my campaign entries lately? They're not the feel-good stories of the year, I'll tell ya that much. *grins*

Anyhoo, if you’d like to vote for and/or check out the other (probably happier) entries, click here. :) Oh, oh! And come back in a few hours for a post about Rachel Morgan’s GUARDIAN and an interview with Jessica Therrien. It’s going to be a fun Monday!

♥

Thursday, March 01, 2012

"Get Fired Up" Reveal!

Today is the day! A big thanks to Melissa Sugar-Gold for hosting this wonderful blogfest. It has probably helped a ton of people. :)

For those who missed out on the fun, here were the guidelines:

1. Sign up here ✔

2. Look for or stumble upon a blogger in need ✔

3. Offer to help them with whatever issue they are struggling with (this could be showing them how to make sure their comment on a blog post links back to their blog or profile or making sure they have their blog linked to their blogger profile.) There is no requirement here. It is simple really. Lend your blogging experience or expertise to help another blogger gain readers or help them with a problem they are struggling with. You could help them get their blog noticed by other bloggers. Offer to do a guest post on their blog or interview them on your blog. Do as little or as much as you are comfortable doing. ✔

4. Do this from now until February 29th (Leap Year). ✔

5. On March 1st post about it on your own blog. Tell us who you helped or discovered, what you did, and provide a link to their blog so we can all visit the blogger you mentored. ✔

-------------------------------------------------------------

I chose to mentor one of my friends/critique partners: Melissa Maygrove.
(You may know her from the guest post I did over at her blog two weeks ago.)

A month ago, she was terrified of blogging and who could blame her? From the outside looking in, our close-knit community can be pretty intimidating. So, we took it one step at a time...

We went over the basics--how to navigate blogger, how to post and schedule posts, how to format text, how to include photos, links, etc.
I gave her some tips for maintaining an appealing (and consistent) blog. Here's a brief overview of what we covered:
- Create a posting schedule and stick to it.
- Be authentic--post in your own voice about what matters to you.
- Network with/follow/befriend other bloggers. Stay active. Create long-lasting relationships.
- Reply to the comments you receive. (In any way you see fit.)
- Try to include an image in your posts.
  (Look for CC-licensed images, whenever possible. Provide credit.)
- Turn off Word Verification.
- Participate! Join blog-hops, blogfests, contests, and campaigns.
- Put a link to your blog on your other virtual haunts.
- Etc.
Finally, we gave her blog a complete makeover:
- The first thing to go was the bland, cookie-cutter template she had before this. (I probably shouldn't subject you guys to a screenshot of that. *grins* Right, Melissa?)
- She needed something that reflected her personal style, so we went background hunting. Plum Rose Lane had a blue print she loved.
- After that, she needed a custom header. We didn't bother looking for something that probably wouldn't match, anyway. I made one in Photoshop.
- Next, I ~~commanded~~ asked her to put a photo on her profile. Faceless bloggers are suspicious. (...I'm totally kidding about the last part. Relax! *grins*)
- Then we set to work on gadgets. (GFC, Twitter, labels, blog archive, writing status, etc.) Just enough without cluttering the sidebar.
- When we were finished, I made her a new blog button.
So, what do you guys think? :)

Melissa is an information sponge. I showed her a few tricks, taught her a little HTML, and bam--she was good to go! Talk about self-sufficiency. The woman gained sixty followers this month!

I am oh-so-proud of my blogging mentee, and she deserves all the traffic I can send her. So, if you get a chance, check out her blog. You won't regret it. :)

Have a great weekend, guys! ♥

Monday, March 26, 2012

Results! (The Bases of Romance)

Monday, March 19, 2012

The Bases (of Romance)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Princess of Las Pulgas

Monday, March 12, 2012

Whew!

Monday, March 05, 2012

Interview with Jessica Therrien!

Guardian Release!

Second Campaign Challenge!

Thursday, March 01, 2012

"Get Fired Up" Reveal!

Person A kisses Person B (on the lips).
First Base Second Base Third Base Home
pollcode.com free polls

Person A "touches" Person B (through clothing).
First Base Second Base Third Base Home
pollcode.com free polls

Person A "touches" Person B (underneath clothing).
First Base Second Base Third Base Home
pollcode.com free polls

Person A uses his/her mouth to stimulate Person B (chest area).
First Base Second Base Third Base Home
pollcode.com free polls

Person A goes all the way with Person B.
First Base Second Base Third Base Home
pollcode.com free polls

It is possible to go to a "half base," e.g. second and a half.
True False
pollcode.com free polls