How to tell a story

Writing a book involves several emotions.

Happiness from the first page.

Anger at the second.

Heartbreaking when you hit the wall.

Perserverence when you pass the wall.

Triumph (complete with cookies) when you finish the novel.

Everyone has a story to tell, it's all in how you start, it's all in how you feel. It's all in how you push yourself to the finish line.

So... how do you tell a story?

Crazy Holiday Blogfest - Early!

Small note: Our friend Shannon McMahon is doing an awesome service for the writing community! Annonymous critiques! The writer's could use your help! Hop over and shed some love!

I’m cheating! I hope Christine will forgive me but her Crazy Holiday blog fest is tomorrow and I only realized it after I had everything set up, and since I now post at Jules on Tuesdays I decided I should still participate I’ll just post early.

So pretend today is Tuesday.

Author Note: If this makes the week seem longer don’t blame me. It was not my intention.

Since I’m moving (in TWO DAYS) I had to be more prepared. So here is my piece in 250 words or less.

The snowflakes flitter
My heart beats
Rosy cheeks
Children laughing
Snowballs forming
A fight’s beginning
The war is on
Forts built
Frozen in silence
Heart beats become one
Wind shifts
Birds chirp
Clinking glasses
Parents chatter
Wind chimes ring
Release the cannons
Man down
Laughter amongst all
Snowballs high in the sky
Blue eyes water from the cold
Fight comes to a close
Lying in the snow
Making angels
Running inside
Cocoa for all this holiday season

Don't forget to sign up for the upcoming Be Jolly By Golly happening on the 20th!

Informal Book Club

Happy Monday!!!!

This weekend I hung out with a few of my girlfriends and one of them gave the rest of the group each an envelope. It was such a great opportunity I had to share it with you to see who was all interested!!! So here are the details!!

Informal Book Club

There is no money involved so it is legal and fun.

All you have to do is send a book (paperback, audio book, hardcover) that you have already enjoyed to the person listed on the back of the sheet I will mail to you. There is no need to box the book you mail; a mailing envelope is fine. Be sure the book you send is still in good condition, we don't want anyone being shorted out on the fun.

How do you know where to send the book to?

The letter that will be mailed will have a address label listed on the back (that is where the book will be sent) from there you will make 6 copies of the letter and attach the 6 address labels I provide for you. Find 6 people you would like to join in on the fun and send the letter (with my address label on the back) and 6 address lables of your own (loosely in the envelope) so you can receive books.

What's the point of this? Sending out 6 letters means you will eventually get 36 books for FREE!!!! You are only sending letter amongst friends and people you know so you can already see how much fun and how easy this will be!! It will be interesting to see what kind of books you'll receive!!

So anyone want to join??? I'm hoping you all say yes! If you'd like to be apart of something super cool say yes in the comment section provided with your email address and I'll contact you for your address! Who doesn't love books!

ONE MORE THING - If you cannot do this soon (withing a few weeks of when you receive the letter) let me know so that we can be fair to all participants. I don't want anyone waiting to get their novels.

PS - If you haven't heard about my upcoming Blogfest please check it out and sign up!! Happening the 19th and 20th!

Revising Style

Happy Monday, Happy Bloggers! I trust everyone had an awesome weekend!!! I have tons of pictures for today's post, which is something that I don't normally do!

So last Friday I shared that I had completed post-it revisions!!! You all graciously congratulated me and told me that it was never early to celebrate (even if it was 9AM) I will have you all know that I celebrated! My mom, sis, husband and I went to TGI Fridays (on Friday, lol) for some cocktails and dinner and Saturday the hubs and I went to the beach and then had dinner with some great friends. I also received Rachele Alpine's Summer Giveaway package, which I adore!!!



The Naughty List by Suzanne Young is already super cute!!! LOVE IT!

Okay so the real reason for this post is to talk about revisions! I know, a lot of you love revisions (add sarcasm) and we all have different methods. I thought it would be fun to show you how I do the first set of revisions.



This is my Getting to Peloria binder where I put the entire rough draft of my manuscript. I leave it here for at least 3 days then I grabbed some post-its and my red pen and went to town.



A page out of my binder! There are only a few post-it's here, but this is the first page and I can tell you that before I took the picture you couldn't even see that there was a page. I have multiple post-its on this page (around 20) just talking about re-structuring, working on chapters, etc.

Now that I've shown you a few pictures of what my post-it revisions look like I'm wondering how you revise. Have you ever tried post-it revisions? Do you prefer working off of a computer? How is your writing going?

She looks like what??

Stephanie over at Chronicle's of a Novice Writer had a wonderful topic last week about books vs. movies. How as readers we are often disappointed in the character choices.

It got me thinking. (my friend Nick would follow with - Oh geez)

What if what I imagine my character to look like is someone different then what you as readers would choose?

Isn't this a perfect time to play a game? Well I thought so! Below I've included a small snippet, nothing fancy, not much to go one but I want to see what your first reaction would be to the character, based soley on her attitude and way about things! I'll post what she looks like soon so you can see how close you were!!!

SNIPPET

Beaded necklaces are a girl’s best friend. At least that’s what I tell myself until my sixteenth birthday rolls around where I’ll get my very own diamond necklace. It’s been a family tradition for years.

“Royalty gets the best my dear Stella” my grandmother always said. Don’t go thinking I’m a princess, because I’m nowhere close, it’s something my grandmother desperately wishes for, she's just yet to realize that's impossible.

“Your first set of diamonds won’t be your last either dear, especially after you marry Prince Kensington” there’s the kicker, the plan. Regardless it would not be the end of diamonds because throughout the years you are given them at certain times; however my grandmother would prefer I just marry the highest of royalty, the prince himself. Problem you ask? I don't want too, but in life sometimes you don't get that choice.

END

So what does Stella look like??

Munday Funday - GiVeAwAy

HAPPY MONDAY MY FAVORTIE PEEPS!!!!

Thank you to everyone who commented and was interviewed last week for Featured Writer's Week! I had so much fun interviewing and enjoying everyone's comments!

This week I have some awesome posts so I figured I'd start with my best today!!

A GIVEAWAY!!!!!

So what's up for grabs?

A copy of LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater!!!!



I am interviewing Maggie on July 25th so that will be the day I select the winner!!! Now I do have to note that this is for the US only (super sorry! This book is being given away because I've joined the blog tour and their are certain requirements)... trust me I love all of my out-of-state bloggers!!!

What do you have to do??

Follow Me!
Comment! (Tell me how excited you are about the book release and add your email!)
Sidebar Me!
Blog about Me!
Tweet about Me!
Facebook about Me!

Have an awesome Monday and GoOd LuCk to EvErYoNe!!!

Mondays tales from the notebook

The path that lead into town looked like it had been made directly from the rainbow, colors poured over the cobblestones and every step Tommy and I took seemed to brighten them, it made me giggle as Tommy ran ahead and under his feet lit up like christmas tree.

The trees had crystals hanging off them and they sparkled as bright as the stars, this place radiated beauty.

"Come meet Elsa!" Tommy yelled with excitement.

I ran to catch up, it hadn't been fair, he had visited so many times before that I didn't get an ounce of what I'm sure he experienced. I ran up along side him and told myself I'd look at more later. He led me to a small shop that read - INN - It was cute with two little windows and a bright blue door. Tommy entered first and I followed closely behind.

"Tommy dear how are you?" said a sweet voice from behind the counter.

I couldn't see her so I was surprised that she knew that Tommy had shown up. As she stood up I saw the prettiest girl I has ever laid eyes on, beautiful long black locks, lightly curled all the way to the small of her back, her eyes looked like blue ice so elegant and lively. Her voice was a sweet as her appearance.

"A guest I see" she said as she welcomed me "You must be Emily," I nodded "Tommy speaks of nothing else"

Tommy blushed as she spilled his secret.

--This one is a little short, I wrote it on the spur of a moment. I don't think it has enough umph, excitiing enough, but it's what I had written so naturally I post what was original!--

Mondays tales from the notebook

Good Morning Bloggers!! Thank you for all of you still reading my blog, I guess dragon boy was wrong after all! So I've devised a plan... well sort of. I have a schedule that I may or may not follow, but at least you will all have some idea of what's in stores for the weeks to come! Thanks to Sandy Shin for showing me how to add color to my writing!!! So here's what's on the menu:

Monday:
Tales from the notebook - Sharing stories from my notebook
Writings on the wall - sharing my inspiration from my whiteboard


Tuesday:
Teaser Tuesday - I think you all know what this means
Tuesday Twist - Summaries of three novels I'd like to read or am reading.
Tube Tuesday - A fun video I make (more dragons vs. Talli Roland to come! LOL)

Wednesday:
Interviews
Fun reads/book reviews
insightful posts

Thursday:
Truth Thursdays

Friday:
Video Day - I'll showcase my own funky video!!! (Candyland we should do one together... and also make it so we are doing them every friday together!!! What do you say?)

Oh the possibilities! Let me know if you'd like to see anything else on the blog!!! But for now lets start the week off right...

Tales from the Notebook -

I was ten the first time Tommy told me about Mystic. We sat on the tire swings until our mothers called us for dinner.

"You can catch the falling stars" he said.

"You can't catch stars Tommy, they're balls of gass, you'd burn yourself" I said, clearly disappointing him. I hadn't intended to burst his bubble.

"You're wrong" he said.

I knew I was right, we'd just talked about it in Mr. Tucker's science calls the other day. Tommy had still seemed so matter of fact that I couldn't help but be a little curious.

"Prove it." I blurted out, I had surprised even myself but I'd figured what did either of us have to lose, maybe a little of his ego. I didn't think he'd actually take it any farther.

"After dinner" he said as he jumped off the swing. "bring a bag."

"A bag?" I asked, "Where are you going" I said as I too jumped off the swing.

"Speeding up dinner" he yelled running across the field "Bring a bag to catch the stars" he finished as he approached his front door.

How silly was this, I was going to eat dinner and catch falling stars, what a joke. He was so excited and yet I was still skeptical, when was he going to give it up? When was he going to quit joking around. I guess after dinner.

THERE YOU HAVE IT!!! Enjoy your Monday!!!

winners among other things...

Happy Monday!

Birthday - Thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes!!! The weekend was great, I got had a lot of fun and got plenty of fantastic outfits!!! I took a picture of one so you could see how cute it is! My husband was fantastic and took me out to the cheesecake factory on Saturday evening, the food was great and the conversation was amazing as always!


Writing - I was able to get a great chunk of writing done yesterday!!! Another 2,000 words down! I am quickly approaching 70K and I'm pretty sure within the next week or two I will be finished with my first draft, I'm very excited!!!!

Winners - The votes are in... the points have been added!!! I'm very excited about announcing the winners! One who just the other day told me she never won was selected!!! So without further ado I give you the winners

KIMBERLY FRANKLIN
SARAHJAYNE SMYTHE
CRYSTAL COOK

Congratulations to the winners!!! Sarahjayne & Kimberly please either leave your email address below or shoot me an email at jenniferdaiker(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send the gift card over!!! Crystal you should be receiving an email shortly!

writings on the wall

Happy Monday!!!!

The Travelers

I saw him. I was standing in the school parking lot alone and he was surrounded by all his fellow teammates, but he noticed me. My heart had dropped and like an idiot I stood still. It was like a tug of war in my body, part of me wanted to stay but the other part wanted me to go. His friends all told him goodbye and that's when I knew it wasn't just a joke, he'd meant to look at me, he was still staring, I didn't want to look behind me, I didn't want to see that he was actually looking at someone else. He walked toward me, my heart began to pound, what did he want? I had hoped it wouldn't be to do homework because I would refuse to help him for being such a jerk, ok well I would have but that's besides the point. His hair tousled gave him the sexy surfer edge every girl couldn't help but woo over. I had hoped I wasn't one them, but it had happened all to quickly to avoid. His last steps resulted in standing extremely close into my personal space, but I didn't back away. We'd talked a few times but mostly about homework, I had always wanted more but Ashley Archer would never have let that happen. "Hey" he said it so nonchalantly, like we'd been friends for years, I had fallen for it an returned a "Hey" his way. What did he want I wondered? I mean I knew we'd stared at each other a little more lately but not much. Had he known I'd been watching him? I had tried to be discreet about it, but lately hadn't been to lucky. The last traveler I had watched ended up figuring it out. How did they know what I was? How could they spot me out of a crowd? Had they been watching me all along? Or did they have a list like I had?

Oh and for those who watched the Oscars last night... Hooray for Sandra Bullock! She is who I wanted to win the most, and her speech was amazing. Just another thing to add to the list of enjoying each moment she provides for entertainment!!! Did you watch? Who were you proud won? Whose dress was your favorite?!

writings on the wall

Another Monday... another writings on the wall... decided to try a different genre. I didn't get very far with it, but decided to post it anyway. No editing has been done so I'm sure it's pretty rough, but at least you can see what I think when I write first hand!

Lela Kemp never planned for the worst which explained why her car wouldn't start and she was in the middle of nowhere without a phone. Her auburn curls completely frazzled looking and her face scrunched up in anger was making matters worse. She just realized she had no phone, and no on star, thanks to her mother convincing her it was for old fogies. Right now she felt like the unluckiest girl in the world. She looked around for any source of communication, under the seats, in her handbag, the glove compartment, there was nothing. She sat her head back against the seat and let out a deep sigh. "Why do I do this" she said allowed with such despair. She climbed out of the car, to what would normally be her delight the day was quiet and peaceful, only a few birds out chirping around the fields. She was deserted, and it didn't seem like anyone would be coming for quite sometime. She let out another sigh, she needed to be smart and decide what to do, however she looked at her attire and realized she wasn't exactly dressed for the part, she wore dark blue skinny jeans, paired with her favorite black boots and a a comfortable purple tank top. A little to dressed up for this predicament but she had no extra clothing so at this moment she would have to either wait or walk in what she was wearing. She grabbed her bag out of the passenger seat and started walking. The Mercedes was a gift she bought herself once she had moved to the big city, but what a gift it was turning out to be, it was had been quite the disaster lately, and there wasn't much she could do about it at this point. As she walked in her uncomfortable boots she reminded herself that this was part of the deal living in a big city, she was too visit her family as frequently as possible, and this part wasn't turning out as she had hoped.

Happy Monday! Happy Blogging!!!

writings on the wall

Another addition of writings on the wall! So Happy Monday! Todays will be shorter, not because I wrote less but because one of the stories is part of the collector, and I am thinking about making that something for teaser tuesday... so you will have to stay tuned and see what I decide!

I stood there as he took his last breath, frozen with terror I watched as it all unfolded. His best friend cried as he passed on, I unable to move did nothing, they still could not see me. I wanted to help, to console, to tell what happened, but being invisible was next to impossible to have anyone hear me. I stood behind the trees watching, I had seen it all happen, the man meeting them by the river and murdering that boy, they couldn't have been any older than 12, I only say this because they looked about my age, and I just turned 12. Somehow I woke up here and when I tried to talk to them they couldn't see or here me. Frustrated I stayed close, I had no idea where I was, or why I was here, as I tried to piece everything together one of the boys parents showed up, they pulled their son away from the incident, they were thankful he was still alive but then began the questions. I knew he was in trouble as the police arrived, no one else had seen a thing, only the three of us, and now only two.

mondays writing on the wall

Two ideas I am working on...

One Story:
A collector he was, the paintings on the trees cared for with pride. The images burned into her mind. Closing her eyes made her relive it over and over. Nathan stood at the foot of the bed concerned as he faced her. She'd met him shortly after her kidnapping and together they've tried to piece the story together. It had been three months and they were no closer to finding him. Her description had been detailed, the places she visited were real, but no trace of Casey and the collector.

Two Story:
Natalie stared at the front door. The Parkers all piled in, Their life hadn't changed, their cares remained the same, excpet now Natalie had been invited in. She knew they were kind, well she at least felt that way, the thought though of possibly altering their lives did upset her. Right now she had nowhere to go and at this point no idea who she was. She inched closer to the door, once she would cross the barrier it would be real, was she ready for that?

Just a few ideas I have been working on!!

mondays writing on the wall

So here it is, the writing on the wall. My first attempt, but most certainly not my last. I have taken pictures upon request, the one above is me contemplating what to write (my husband thought it was cute)



and the second picture is of the view that inspired me. The board that I purchased isn't what I wanted so I will be changing that this week, but the concept is excellent, its a whole new world of writing when I stand in that corner of the room.

This is what I wrote:

The building remained empty, quiet, and rather eerie. The path was lined with tall trees, very secluded, I stood at the entrance, the only thing standing in my way was the locked gate and No tresspassing sign. It was a tease, an abandoned area that laid beautifully in the middle of nowhere, and I couldn't even take a quick peek? I contemplated as the birds flew around unaware of the position I was in. Who would know if I just walked a little further? The more I thought about it, the more I saw myself inching closer to the closed gate. The gate was simple, it locked in the middle, used more for keeping vehicles out rather than people. I decided to take a chance, I climbed over the gate and began to walk down the path, as I turned to look back at the entrance I began to realize no one else was around, it was even quieter, for such a place being abandoned it was in beautiful condition, the landscaping had certainly been cared for, the building was long, at one point it could have been some sort of plant, but now it was just wasted space. As she neared the building she felt a little more dangerous, she inched further, she wanted to look inside.

I have decided that I will continue this weekly process to get a little more inspiration, to continue a story or just random thoughts as they come through my head, each Sunday I will write, and every Monday I will post!