Thursday, May 6, 2010

truth thursdays!

Happy Thursday awesome blog buddies! Hope the week is flying by!! Today is another installment of Truth Thursdays, one of my favorite days of the week, I know some of you haven't seen this post since the A to Z Blogging Challenge was a rather long one! However this will be a weekly bit where I showcase my oddness and honesty! Enjoy!

(I wanted to give a shout out to my girl Amber Tidd Murphy, if you haven't visited her blog you must, she has the most awesome Thursday posts called TMI Thursday, she is much braver than I am with her truths, but they will make you laugh hysterically!)

1. Lately ice cream has been on the menu for dinner. With the hubs not being home in the evenings it's easy to forget about eating and just go with something easy!

2. I've never liked the name Jennifer, I wanted my mom and dad to name me Brooke Lindsay, I know realize how silly that would have been.

3. I don't drink coffee but I do drink wine!

4. I'm making a quilt for one of my sister's for her new baby girl. It will be my first,I am taking photos and putting them onto a blanket, like a memory blanket! (idea from Step Mom with Julia Roberts) We'll see how it goes!

5. I get scared very easily, if I'm working on one of my WIP's and it's about a killer I can't work on it when the sun starts to go down, otherwise I'll have nightmares!

--Thank you for all of those who commented on the interview with Talli Roland yesterday! It was a ton of fun and I look forward to showcasing another aspiring/published author! If you are interested please email me at jenniferdaiker@gmail.com! I'd love to showcase your work! Now here are the extra questions some fellow bloggers had for Talli, she was sweet enough to take the time to answer them!--

The Alliterative Allomorph asked - How many years of writing and querying, and how many more novels did you write until you found a publisher?

Talli answered: I only started writing seriously about three years ago, but I trained and worked as a journalist for awhile. In the past three years, I’ve written six novels and send out loads and loads of queries to both US and UK agents (I figured if the UK wasn’t interested, maybe the US would be – plus you can email US agents! UK agents usually ask for hard copies). The Hating Game is the latest novel I’ve written, and the one that will finally make it into print!

Laurel asked - How has the discipline of non-fiction writing helped Talli write fiction? I'd love to hear about "non-fic skills every fiction writer needs".

Talli answered: I really had to think about this one! My non-fiction writing demands that I keep it short, snappy and readable, while trying to get in quite a bit of detail. I do lots of research then condense it all down to three or four sentences. It’s definitely taught me not to overwrite on the fiction side, although I might not write enough sometimes. Also, writing to deadlines has taught me how to organize and set targets for both my fiction and non-fiction work.

How did Talli go about choosing her pen name? I bet it is a great story and I'm dying to hear it! :-)

Talli answered: Sadly there’s no great story! Roland is my mum’s maiden name and I wanted to have some emotional connection to my pen-name name, so I decided to go with that. Then my editor and I threw around a lot of first names to try to find the right one. We wanted something different so people would remember, and something that would work well within the chick lit genre. We were firing emails back and forth when she sent me one suggesting Talli. I loved it! And Talli Roland was born!


Creepy Query Girl asked - why do you think your first books didn't get picked up? When you go back and read them now, do you still think they have potential? And in that case, would you consider resubmitting them to publishers once your first fiction comes out??

Talli answered: I don’t think they got picked up because they sucked! My first novel I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know anything about plot structure, characterization, the publishing industry… I just went for it and surprise, surprise, no-one wanted it! I got some fairly brutal rejections from UK agents – one simply returned my cover letter with a slash through it and a big ‘NO’ scrawled across it in red (I must see if I can find that letter! I’ll put a scan up if I can find it. I might have chucked it in a fit of anger!) I got better the more I wrote, but there was nothing really unique about my plots or characters. Agents told me my writing was ‘competent’ but my stories just didn’t stand out. I think I was too quick to latch onto ideas that I couldn’t make interesting enough. Choosing the right concept and knowing what you’re going to do with it to make your story stand out is really important in commercial fiction.

Will I go back to them? There’s one novel that won’t leave me alone, so yes, I might go back and have another crack at it.

notesfromnadir asks: What is your favorite brand of chocolate?

Talli answered: Great question! I love Lindt dark orange chocolate with almonds. My husband travels to Geneva quite a bit and he always picks up no fewer than five massive bars for me. I knew there was a reason I love him so!

BTW - T.J. I have not forgotten that you tagged me I just have yet to add it in! I don't want people to leave when they see how ridiculously long my posts have been lately! I hate to drive people away!!

CHECK OUT TOMORROW'S POST!! IT'S GOING TO BE THE EPICNESS OF AWESOMENESS!! An announcement for the upcoming battle of Dragons vs. ?!!!

One More thing and then I'll leave you, if you would like to be showcased on my blog (another sort of interview!) I would love to help you get the word out on your upcoming book! Just send me an email at jenniferdaiker(at)gmail(dot)com!!!

46 comments:

Christina Lee said...

Jen< I luv ya just for the ice cream and wine! I also gobbled up those exra questions from Talli!

Candyland said...

Ice cream for dinner is wrong???

Moll said...

My sister always wanted to be called Alabama Julia, which is even sillier than Brooke Lindsay. =)

And thanks again the interview. I loved it!

Joanne said...

Ice cream for dinner? Hm, I've been trying to plan some summer recipes, I like that one :)

Thanks to you and Talli for the interview questions. Following along on other writers' journeys is always enlightening!

Theresa Milstein said...

I love the follow up interview. This is great. It makes me so happy that Talli is finally getting published.

Not thrilled with the name Jennifer? Please read this post:

http://theresamilstein.blogspot.com/2010/01/dashes-and-diversity-in-designations.html

Jaydee Morgan said...

My heart always skips a beat when people say they don't drink coffee *gasps*

Loved hearing your truths and the follow up questions with Talli :)

Anonymous said...

You had me with "Ice cream for dinner..." You must live in Heaven. :-)
Mary

Matthew MacNish said...

Wine IS so much better than coffee.

Thanks again to both you and Talli, these follow up questions are great!

MTeacress said...

Jen, you did such a good job on that interview. Usually when I read author interviews, the questions are all the same. Yours seemed to have a twist all it's own. Good job. :)

j.leigh.bailey said...

Jen--

As a fellow Jennifer, I totally understand the desire for a different name. My mom told me she named me Jennifer because she didn't know many/any Jennifers. There were 6 in my kindergarten class. :( Then I struggled with being called Jenni (everyone wanted to spell it with a Y and that annoyed me). I have since come to like and appreciate my name, but I really, really wanted something unique or exotic for a while.

Also, big thanks to you and Talli for the follow-up Q&A. Very cool.

Shannon said...

I've found that if I put my ice cream on Lego waffles, it feels more like a meal. :)

I'm also a little jealous that you're making a quilt. I'm not very handy with sewing stuff. Share the pics.

And thanks for the Q&A follow up. Great interview!

mel said...

loved reading this:) ice cream for dinner!
cheers around the world:D
xx

Christine Danek said...

Great follow up interview. I don't drink coffee either. Plus, wine is so much better.

Patti said...

Just add a banana or strawberries to the ice cream and you can call it a healthy meal.

I think if my husband wasn't at home I'd have ice cream too.

Sara Louise said...

Ice cream for dinner sounds pretty perfect right about now :-)

Emily White said...

I recently made quilts for my sons out of their newborn baby clothes. I'm so glad I did.

And growing up, I wanted my name to by Crystal. I thought it was so beautiful.

Unknown said...

I'm planning ice cream for dinner tonight. It's already been one of those days!

Quilting rocks! Best of luck with it!

Diane J. said...

I understand the scared thing. Those scary parts come rushing out at night. I never used to be like that, darn it all, what happened?

Talli is awesome, answering extra questions, kudos!

Can't wait to find out who is up against the dragons next.

Christine Fonseca said...

Thanks Talli for answers extra qustions - and Dude, Ice Cream for dinner rawks!

Cynthia Reese said...

Hey, ice cream is a great source of vitamin D and calcium. And it goes down much easier than kale. :-)

Jai Joshi said...

Thanks for the follow up!

Jai

Mary Aalgaard said...

Ice cream for dinner...I'm in!

Aubrie said...

Brooke Lindsey is a beautiful name! But so is Jennifer. And I think Jennifer is more of a writers name than Brooke for some reason.

Lindsay said...

Great extra questions from Talli. :)

Plus, any sort of ice cream instead of a meal works for me.:)

Anonymous said...

I have had two cups of coffee everyday for the past week. Wine is kinda bitter. Maybe I had the wrong one. I'm not old enough to drink anyway. :)
Brooke Lindsay?..Sounds fun, but....haha

LOVE!

Creepy Query Girl said...

TJ- Quilting is awesome. I made my family get me a sewing machine and a knitting basket for christmas. But the second the underside bobbin got all knotted up, I put it away cause I didn't know how to fix it:)

Talli- Thanks so much for answering my question! I wish you SO much luck!

Crystal Cook said...

I love truth Thursdays :)

I can't wait to see that quilt you'll have to post pictures when you're done k? ;)

And Talli's interview was the best! I just loved it, and such a great idea Jen!

Amy Saia said...

This is great, I love it! It's so much fun to learn about other writers.

Shelley Sly said...

Love your truths, and love Talli's interview! You both are awesome! <3

J.R. Johansson said...

I love it :) Awesome! And don't let anyone tell you ice cream for dinner is wrong. ;P

Leigh Hutchens Burch said...

Thanks for the shout out, lady. You are the best.

Your truth-list made me want Rocky Road for dinner. And that quilt idea is so sweet! When is your sister due?

Jemi Fraser said...

Great post! I don't drink coffee either and for some odd reason it often makes me feel guilty. :)

Ice cream for dinner? Sounds like a fabulous idea!

Kelly H-Y said...

You just can't go wrong having ice cream for dinner! :-)

Kimberly Franklin said...

Ice cream and wine, now there's a fabulous dinner!! ;)

Alyson said...

I use to eat ice cream for breakfast. No judgment here! Out of all the books I read only the scary scenes tend to creep into my dreams. Hello? Where is the dreamy love interest or fun party?

B. Miller said...

Cool! I do like Truth Thursdays. Fun! Thanks for sharing!! And GREAT job on the interview yesterday! :D

Molly Hall said...

I love Truth Thursdays! What a great idea! I DO drink coffee AND wine. I have found that a late afternoon coffee, followed by an early evening wine is an EXCELLENT combination. : )

Cynthia said...

wonderful interview -love the
way you think.

Eva said...

I eat ice cream for dinner all the time. It's the best!

Laura S. said...

I get scared very easily, too! I wouldn't be able to write anything frightening after dark, either. That's why I've read only two Stephen King novels (The Eyes of the Dragon and The Green Mile-both unscary and rather normal for King). I'm too much of a baby to read his others, haha!

Susan Fields said...

I think you have to get scared easily to write scary things. That's a good sign. :)

Ice cream for dinner - yum!

Talli Roland said...

Jen, sorry I'm so late to comment on this! I have a houseguest (!).

Thanks again to you and everyone for all the lovely comments. You're all the best! :)

And big thumbs up for ice cream for dinner!

India Drummond said...

Fantastic post! I loved the truth bits and the extra questions from Talli were just a bonus!

Clara said...

Reason # 5: Me too!!! Omg thanks for this, I thought I was the only one!!!! There was once, I wrote a horror short story and I couldnt stay alone in the house in the night anymore...that was awful!....and pathetic lol. Im ashamed to this day!

Kittie Howard said...

Your dining menu's fun! My hub's gone a lot which means Grazing has become one of the food groups! Jen, you did a really great job with Talli's interview and follow up! But I'm like Talli and not much for dragons! I'll watch from the firey sidelines!!

Stina said...

Ice cream for dinner sounds good to me!

I love your #5 about your wip and the sun going down. I can relate to that. :)