And The Nominees Are …
I was nominated for the Liebster Award! Thank you so much to Jaime Guerard for nominating me for this very unexpected award. 😉 Jaime is a fellow YA fan as well as YA Paranormal Romance Thriller writer and author. Go check her blog out!
The award works like this:
– I list 11 random facts about myself.
– I will answer the 11 questions asked of me by the person who nominated me.
– I will then nominate my 11 picks for the award along with my 11 questions for them to answer when they post a response.
– If you’re nominated, your name/link will appear at the bottom of this post along with your questions. Follow the same format; paste the award badge to your blog, give us 11 random facts about yourself, answer my 11 questions, and choose your nominees…but you cannot nominate the blog who nominated you.
Here are 11 random facts: (Hmm … I’ve gotta think about this.)
1. I’m a Tea fanatic. Yes, really. Hot tea, iced tea, black tea, flavored tea. I could hang out in Teavana.
2. I’ve been dancing since I was a little. Love it. Miss it. Quit after too many injuries. Now I run. (Like that’s better or something … )
3. I’m a chef.
4. I read obsessively. Even when I should be writing and editing my own books. ;P
5. I’m a Tolkien fan to extremes. Love, Love, Love his books. Movies too. I could watch LOR from start to finish without a hitch. All 9 hours.
6. Same goes for Harry Potter. I can recite the books.
7. I have 3 dogs, and if I had more space, I would own way more than that.
8. I love Summertime.
9. I’m an introvert, but a few of my friends would probably argue with me over that.
10. I’m of Irish decent.
Here are my questions from Jaime Guerard:
1. Who is your favorite author?
I have so many, so I’ll name the big ones. Anne Rice, J.K. Rowling, George R. R. Martin, and J. R. R. Tolkien. Oh, and I really enjoy Michael Scott.
2. What is your favorite quote?
“You can’t win or lose if you don’t run the race.” ~ The Psychedelic Furs
3. What type of genre do you like to read? Why?
Fantasy. High fantasy. Paranormal. Mythology and some Sci-Fi. Both YA and Adult. I write what I read. Why? Because these genres are transporting and magical.
4. Where do you hope to be in 5 years?
I hope to still be writing stories from my heart. The ones that inspire me and speak to me.
5. How long have you been writing?
I started writing poems are a young age. 7 maybe. They were a kind of expression that just flooded out. I still write poetry. Short stories followed, and in my early twenties I tried a few strike out swings at novels. I think my writing has grown considerably since then.
6. Who has inspired you throughout your life?
My mom.
7. What is one word to describe your personality?
Hmm … Sarcastic? Hahaha. Probably depends on which friend you asked.
8. What is your favorite book and why?
That’s almost impossible to answer. Although all of my favorite authors have things in common, their writing styles are vastly different, yet equally brilliant. I could name series’ of books. The Witching Hour series by Anne Rice. The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. The Lord of The Rings/The Hobbit by Tolkien. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.
9. Life’s too short for …
Regretting the chances you were afraid to take. Better to have tried/spoke your mind/put yourself out there, and failed, than never to have tried at all.
10. What is your desert island food (you only get one choice)?
Coconut!
11. If you could have one celebrity on your speed dial, who would it be and why?
One celebrity? Geesh … idk. Probably Anne Rice. I could bounce some pretty amazing ideas off of her, I think. She’s the queen of dark fantasy.
And … my nominees are:
Short Story Diary http://shortstoriesdiary.wordpress.com/
My Story To You http://dragoneystory.wordpress.com/
Bottledworder http://bottledworder.wordpress.com/
Gin and Lemonade http://ginlemonade.wordpress.com/
Lee Rawn http://www.leerawn.com/
Rich Weatherly http://richweatherly.wordpress.com/
AK Taylor http://www.backwoodsauthor.com/
Alison DeLuca http://alisondeluca.blogspot.com/
Ido Lanuel http://idolanuel.com/
Leigh Gembus http://submeg.com/
Whitney Moore http://writeinlife.wordpress.com/
Nominees, here are your 11 questions:
- What books are you reading?
- Who are your favorite authors?
- What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
- Where do you see your writing taking you?
- How do stories come to you? (or blog posts, poetry, etc …)
- Plotter or Pantster?
- What is your favorite genre?
- If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
- Introvert or Extrovert?
- Who inspires you?
- What inspires you to keep moving forward in your writing?
Go check out all these great blogs! And Congrats to the nominees!
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Don’t Go.
The leaves are already beginning to rain down. Only August, and I can feel Fall in the air. It approaches so quickly this time of year. One minute summer vacation is in full steam and the next, football season is starting and school clothes are being bought. Another year gone by. They move so fast.
My writing progress this summer has been slacking. It happens. I’m learning, or trying to learn, to be ok with that. To put less pressure on myself to ‘keep up’ with it all. It’s not been easy. I have a pile of work in front of me, work I’ve let overwhelm me, work I’m now viewing in a different light-from a different angle. I simply can’t do it all. Nor do I think I, or anyone, should be expected to.
When we sit back and look at everything we as writers are expected to do, especially with social media, it can be incredibly overwhelming.
A few of my friends are having a difficult time with their own writing journey’s right now. It breaks my heart, because I know that feeling. Really well. I’ve been in that place. Wondering why I was wasting time, wondering what I was doing. Who am I to be doing all of this, writing all the time? What if it goes nowhere? I think most of us hit that wall now and then, it’s normal. Some of us push-off the wall, others stay glued to it.
We become so focused, so embedded in our thoughts–our own heads, when we write. It’s easy to understand why throwing in the towel is an appealing option. Who needs all those headaches?
I guess that depends on who’s asking–and who’s answering.
I think a lot of very talented writers simply become overwhelmed. This industry can be too much. It can be easier to just stop. Put the laptop down, close up the notes and walk away from the desk. Close off the writing thoughts until they stop creeping in anymore. A chapter closed.
Thing is, these writers–these people, they touch other writers.
I have come to depend on certain fellow blogger/writer friends I’ve made over the course of my journey and selfishly, I want them to hang around. I want us all to see this thing through together, even if our goals and aspirations are completely different. I want to know we all did our best and tried.
So this post is to two friends in particular who are having doubts and questioning what they are doing right now and why. Two friends who have simply run out of something to say.
You know who you are. And I want you to know, that YOU inspire me. You inspire a lot of writers. So don’t go.
Sometimes, all we need is a little inspiration.
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Let the story ride?
Am I concentrating on the right book? Are you?
I put my heart into my recent novel. My time–sooo much time–my energy and my focus, and I’ve begun the second book in the series. But I continually come back to my original novel–the one I began forever ago and walked away from. The one that is so damn hard to write. It nags at me. Throws ideas in my face and sits there all the time in my head. And I wonder if I shouldn’t bite the bullet and just write it.
If you had one chance at publication, just one, what would you want to say? Could you say it? Should you?
Not all of our book ideas wrap themselves up in neat little packages with cute bows. Some are edgy and raw. Some are hard to talk about–and harder to write.
Is there a line in the writers sand? Do Not Cross. Or do you let your story ride?
If what you need to say most, is the hardest thing to say…do you still say it?
I think so. Yeah, I think you do.
Comments, thoughts? Love to hear your views:)
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I don’t read.
I tried not to squawk or burst out laughing or stare. But as I sat quietly, my head shot up and I did stare. And I’m almost sure I shook my head, rolled my eyes and in some other way, incriminated myself, as I gawked in total disbelief at two women having conversation in the local hair salon.
I fidgeted in my chair and attempted to look normal, crossing and un-crossing my legs, wanting desperately to stand up and say: “What do you mean, you don’t read? Are you INSANE?” But I didn’t do that. No, I did what any other respectable writer would do, I yanked out my iPhone and began filling my notes app with their conversation.
“Oh gosh no, I just can’t concentrate for that long. I mean some books are 500 pages! Who has time for that?” She went on. “Really though, even if I did have the time, why would I want to read a book that long? I’ve got better things to do.”
WOW.
Even if I wasn’t a writer and a voracious reader, I still would have been speechless. Seriously? Reading is a waste of time??
It got me thinking.
The perception of reading is a varied one. One that is generally learned from childhood. If you are introduced to reading in a positive way as a child, you are more likely to love reading as an adult. If not..well, you’re missing out on a truly incredible part of life.
One of the main reasons, if not the main reason I read so much, is because of my mom who ALWAYS reads. She recommends books, passes them down to me and had me reading novels at a very young age. I was taught to love books by example. And what an important example it was and continues to be. I wouldn’t be a writer if I didn’t have a genuine love for books.
So although it has been said before, I have to say it again, hats off to JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer for gaining an enormous wealth of young readers. Regardless of whether you are or aren’t a Harry Potter or Twilight fan, these authors both did something very special.
They got millions of kids to read. Millions. And they changed the view of reading from something kids thought was a boring waste, to something they thought was cool and important and fun.
They changed the way generations of kids view books.
And thank goodness for that because as writers we need as many readers as we can possibly get.
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Content
I’m wondering about novel content today. Novel plot really and how it correlates with content. Being a fan of YA Mythology, Fantasy and recently, Paranormal Romance, I’ve wondered about the content of Urban Fantasy and how it relates to these other YA genres. I’m curious to know if readers, generally speaking, appreciate the mix of these elements in a story. For example, a paranormal romance mixed with modern-day crime or fantasy caught up in the big city drug scene. What are your thoughts?
Do they mix or distract from one another? Should the supernatural fantasy world be woven alongside the drug scene or inner city crime of say… New York city? And if they can coexist, what creates the draw? What about these two elements entices you as a reader? Is it the idea that this fantasy world could be ‘real’, or more believable if it was just outside your front door? Or is it the idea that it simply feels more relatable? Or let’s take the opposite approach. Do you hate it when these elements are woven together?
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Laney McMann's Blog 