Big News: Did you see it? The follower button? I'm like SO CLOSE to a thousand followers! I know, I know!!! I'm so excited! Okay here is the deal... the thousandth follower wins a little treat (make sure to show yourself!) and unlocks the secret giveaway I've been planning!! So blog help is welcome... there are some great brownie points involved!
I’ve lost it.
I’m no longer a writer virgin.
Shocked?
I didn’t think so.
It’s been a long time coming I admit it.
At the beginning of this year I had no idea what I was doing.
I told myself possible things:
I wanted to write.
I wanted to write a blog.
I told myself impossible things (I didn’t realize them at the time):
I wouldn’t lose sleep.
It would be easy to finish a book.
I would not be a victim of writer’s block.
I would be published after my first draft (I didn’t even know about agents then)
I would not consume alcohol while writing (Talli has my back on this one… simply impossible… too much fun)
So to all you wanna be writers… you’ve been warned. Trust me, you think you know what you’re doing, but nothing prepares for the love you’ll feel for writing and the fight you’ll put up to get your wish granted.
So what possible and impossible things did you think about writing at the beginning?
Friday, December 10, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
You had me at hello.
I know. I know. I shouldn’t show my love so openly, but my love for you grows deep (like trees).
Let’s see here.
How does the blog world show love vs. people in my real life?
Conversations with PICS (people I can see-duh):
Jen: I wrote a book.
PICS: Nice *stares* what’s it about?
Jen: *blinks* Um, it’s complicated, but it’s about a girl who’s a witch-
PICS: Oh like Harry Potter?
Jen: No, Harry is a boy, my character is a girl (so clearly not Harry Potter related).
PICS: Hmm *blinks* *yawns* so can I buy it at a store?
Jen: Not yet.
PICS: So you really didn’t write a book then?
Jen: *mind slaps them* I wrote a book. Publishing is just a hard place to get into.
PICS: Oh. *awkward silence* Well good luck. I’m sure you’ll be rich soon.
Jen: *blinks* yeah *walks away
TWO MONTHS LATER
PICS: Is your book in stores yet?
Jen: *blank stare*
PICS: So is it?
Jen: No, it’s complicated.
PICS: Have you called any publishers?
Jen: *laughs hysterically* *clearly crazy* Um, no, you don’t call publishers.
PICS: Sure you do, my friend did. It worked for her.
Jen: Who is your friend? *what a liar*
PICS: Oh no one you know…
Jen: *figures*
PICS: okay, well she was self-published, and it was about flowers.
Jen: flowers?
PICS: Yeah, she’s a florist
Jen: Cool
PICS & Jen: *silent stares* *walks away*
Conversations with BIL (bloggers I love-duh):
Jen: I finished my book!
BIL: OH MY GOD THAT’S HUGE! How did you celebrate?
Jen: Glass of wine, bubble bath, and read a book.
BIL: Perfect! What is this one about?
Jen: My MC is sick and tired of being treated like garbage from the queen bees in the school. When she finds that she’s a witch her mother moves her to give her a fresh start and my MC decides that this time she’ll take down the queen bee before the queen bee takes down her.
BIL: WOW! That sounds SO good! Oh my gosh I can’t wait to hear when you query.
TWO MONTHS LATER
Jen: My MC hates me.
BIL: Dreaded writers block?
Jen: Ugh, yes. It’s awful. She won’t even talk once I told her I had to kill her friend.
BIL: Lost the element of surprise did ya? That stinks. Don’t worry it’ll come back to you.
Jen: I know you’re right. She just makes me angry.
BIL: Take a bubble bath, watch a chick flick, then try again in a few days.
Jen: Thanks.
See you. You guys get me. I don’t have to explain all the crap. So stay cool, stay sweet, stay solid.
How’s your experience in the real world?
Author Note: This is not everyone. For overdramatic purposes I chose an idiot, who isn’t my friend, I needed to make this work for me people. My husband is very supportive and several of my family members. THAT IS ALL. (Well not as in all who supports me. Just all the statements I have… CRAP!)
Let’s see here.
How does the blog world show love vs. people in my real life?
Conversations with PICS (people I can see-duh):
Jen: I wrote a book.
PICS: Nice *stares* what’s it about?
Jen: *blinks* Um, it’s complicated, but it’s about a girl who’s a witch-
PICS: Oh like Harry Potter?
Jen: No, Harry is a boy, my character is a girl (so clearly not Harry Potter related).
PICS: Hmm *blinks* *yawns* so can I buy it at a store?
Jen: Not yet.
PICS: So you really didn’t write a book then?
Jen: *mind slaps them* I wrote a book. Publishing is just a hard place to get into.
PICS: Oh. *awkward silence* Well good luck. I’m sure you’ll be rich soon.
Jen: *blinks* yeah *walks away
TWO MONTHS LATER
PICS: Is your book in stores yet?
Jen: *blank stare*
PICS: So is it?
Jen: No, it’s complicated.
PICS: Have you called any publishers?
Jen: *laughs hysterically* *clearly crazy* Um, no, you don’t call publishers.
PICS: Sure you do, my friend did. It worked for her.
Jen: Who is your friend? *what a liar*
PICS: Oh no one you know…
Jen: *figures*
PICS: okay, well she was self-published, and it was about flowers.
Jen: flowers?
PICS: Yeah, she’s a florist
Jen: Cool
PICS & Jen: *silent stares* *walks away*
Conversations with BIL (bloggers I love-duh):
Jen: I finished my book!
BIL: OH MY GOD THAT’S HUGE! How did you celebrate?
Jen: Glass of wine, bubble bath, and read a book.
BIL: Perfect! What is this one about?
Jen: My MC is sick and tired of being treated like garbage from the queen bees in the school. When she finds that she’s a witch her mother moves her to give her a fresh start and my MC decides that this time she’ll take down the queen bee before the queen bee takes down her.
BIL: WOW! That sounds SO good! Oh my gosh I can’t wait to hear when you query.
TWO MONTHS LATER
Jen: My MC hates me.
BIL: Dreaded writers block?
Jen: Ugh, yes. It’s awful. She won’t even talk once I told her I had to kill her friend.
BIL: Lost the element of surprise did ya? That stinks. Don’t worry it’ll come back to you.
Jen: I know you’re right. She just makes me angry.
BIL: Take a bubble bath, watch a chick flick, then try again in a few days.
Jen: Thanks.
See you. You guys get me. I don’t have to explain all the crap. So stay cool, stay sweet, stay solid.
How’s your experience in the real world?
Author Note: This is not everyone. For overdramatic purposes I chose an idiot, who isn’t my friend, I needed to make this work for me people. My husband is very supportive and several of my family members. THAT IS ALL. (Well not as in all who supports me. Just all the statements I have… CRAP!)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Welcome to My World
Note: I’ll be posting over at Jules tomorrow! Be sure to stop by for the latest celebrity gossip!
Here at Unedited we have the wonderful and talented Miranda Dickinson has stopped by my blog today just in time for the holidays! Her novels Fairytale of New York and Welcome to My World are perfect for the upcoming holiday!
I haven’t done an interview in a while and thought with the approaching holiday it would be perfect so you can snag your copy in time for Christmas!
How long have you been writing?
I've always written stories for as long as I could write. When I was younger, most of these were impossibly awful and rarely went much past Chapter One (this became a joke with my family that I would one day have a library of Chapter Ones...) I started writing what became Fairytale of New York as something to amuse myself about nine years ago. A friend gave me a very decrepit PC that I absolutely loved for all its stubborn crankiness and one day I started writing a paragraph which kept growing. I kept coming back to it over the following couple of years and more words came... I'm very much an 'accidental novelist' because I only realised I was writing a novel when I did a word count and discovered I'd written 60,000 words!
In 2008, I uploaded my incomplete manuscript onto Authonomy.com - HarperCollins' site for unpublished authors - just to see if anyone else on their thought what I'd written was any good. To my amazement, it was discovered by an editor from Avon (part of HarperCollins) and I signed a three-book deal in January 2009. Fairytale became a Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller and has sold over 105,000 copies to date... I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I can now call myself a published author - it really is a dream come true!
Has it always been romance?
Actually, no. I have two novels I'm still writing that are more in the vein of Neil Gaiman, Jasper Forde and Sir Terry Pratchett, all of whom I am massively in awe of. Of course, I am an unashamedly girlie romantic, so a bit of romance always creeps in, but I would say that comedy is my first love. One day, I'd love to be able to publish my other work - just to show I can write more than one genre - so if you see a novel about a 3,000 year-old mystical wombat, or a crack squad of undercover tea lady spies you'll know I succeeded!
You can read these two at Authonomy.com:
The wombat story
The tea ladies
What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
I love it when characters arrive out of nowhere. I remember reading Stephen King's On Writing when I first realised I was becoming serious about writing, and in it he said to be prepared for your characters to misbehave and surprise you. That's certainly true for me, but I adore the journey of creating something out of nothing. I also just adore being a storyteller - weaving in things I've noticed, memories from my own life and stories I've overheard from others into this amazing, living world that people will get to wander in... It's magical.
How do you come up with your characters names?
Lots of different ways! Sometimes they just turn up already named, other times I search things like magazines and newspapers for interesting first names and surnames to put together. Film credits are awesome for inspiring names - so that's a good excuse to lose myself in a good rom-com for a couple of hours (research, you know!)
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Write for yourself first and foremost. If you love what you're writing, other people will love it too. Write a first draft, warts and all, and then go back to polish it. My biggest mistake in the beginning was editing as I went along - hence the fact it took over seven years to complete the first draft of Fairytale of New York! Just enjoy the creative part as much as you can and let your imagination run free. Some of the best things I've written were serendipitous happenings that ended up shaping the story. Surprise yourself and you'll surprise your readers too. Lastly, never ever lose faith in your writing. The very fact that I am a published author today is down to just being in the right place at the right time. I just made sure I was 'out there' and happened to get noticed by someone who happened to be looking. I don't have an agent, I'd never sent my manuscript off to a publisher or agent before (I didn't have the nerve!) and yet it happened for me. That means it can happen for you, too. So keep believing in yourself and love your writing.
Fun & Random Questions
Hot cocoa or Hot Tea: Always hot tea! I'm a true Brit in that respect.
Snow or Rain: It has to be snow. I love it. I'm like the biggest kid when it snows.
Favorite ice cream: There's an ice cream company in Wales called Cadwalader's who make the best ice cream in the world - I always treat myself to a couple of scoops when I visit. Other than that, Ben & Jerry's Phish Food is irresistible!
Favorite book: I know it's a cliche, but Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is the most perfect book. I come back to it every year. It has everything: social observation, wit, intrigue, brilliant characters and the classic 'will-they-won't-they' rollercoaster. I adore it.
Favorite time of year: Color: autumn. But I also love winter - partly for the snow, partly because my birthday's in January and partly because I am a huge fan of Christmas.
Crazy fun ornament tree or elegant and simple: Probably somewhere in between!
Are you guilty of playing Christmas music early: *holds up hands, blushes* Absolutely, guilty as charged... I'm a bit of a traditional girl - you can't beat a bit of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra at Christmas! I have an old CD I picked up in a pound shop a couple of years ago that I play every year - and every year it sneaks onto my CD player earlier and earlier...
So there you have it, she’s a kid at heart, who enjoys snow, romance and playing Christmas music early. Who wouldn’t love her! Make sure to check out her uber awesome blog and purchase her books (trust me on this one, you will NOT be disappointed!)
Here at Unedited we have the wonderful and talented Miranda Dickinson has stopped by my blog today just in time for the holidays! Her novels Fairytale of New York and Welcome to My World are perfect for the upcoming holiday!
I haven’t done an interview in a while and thought with the approaching holiday it would be perfect so you can snag your copy in time for Christmas!
How long have you been writing?
I've always written stories for as long as I could write. When I was younger, most of these were impossibly awful and rarely went much past Chapter One (this became a joke with my family that I would one day have a library of Chapter Ones...) I started writing what became Fairytale of New York as something to amuse myself about nine years ago. A friend gave me a very decrepit PC that I absolutely loved for all its stubborn crankiness and one day I started writing a paragraph which kept growing. I kept coming back to it over the following couple of years and more words came... I'm very much an 'accidental novelist' because I only realised I was writing a novel when I did a word count and discovered I'd written 60,000 words!
In 2008, I uploaded my incomplete manuscript onto Authonomy.com - HarperCollins' site for unpublished authors - just to see if anyone else on their thought what I'd written was any good. To my amazement, it was discovered by an editor from Avon (part of HarperCollins) and I signed a three-book deal in January 2009. Fairytale became a Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller and has sold over 105,000 copies to date... I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I can now call myself a published author - it really is a dream come true!
Has it always been romance?
Actually, no. I have two novels I'm still writing that are more in the vein of Neil Gaiman, Jasper Forde and Sir Terry Pratchett, all of whom I am massively in awe of. Of course, I am an unashamedly girlie romantic, so a bit of romance always creeps in, but I would say that comedy is my first love. One day, I'd love to be able to publish my other work - just to show I can write more than one genre - so if you see a novel about a 3,000 year-old mystical wombat, or a crack squad of undercover tea lady spies you'll know I succeeded!
You can read these two at Authonomy.com:
The wombat story
The tea ladies
What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
I love it when characters arrive out of nowhere. I remember reading Stephen King's On Writing when I first realised I was becoming serious about writing, and in it he said to be prepared for your characters to misbehave and surprise you. That's certainly true for me, but I adore the journey of creating something out of nothing. I also just adore being a storyteller - weaving in things I've noticed, memories from my own life and stories I've overheard from others into this amazing, living world that people will get to wander in... It's magical.
How do you come up with your characters names?
Lots of different ways! Sometimes they just turn up already named, other times I search things like magazines and newspapers for interesting first names and surnames to put together. Film credits are awesome for inspiring names - so that's a good excuse to lose myself in a good rom-com for a couple of hours (research, you know!)
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Write for yourself first and foremost. If you love what you're writing, other people will love it too. Write a first draft, warts and all, and then go back to polish it. My biggest mistake in the beginning was editing as I went along - hence the fact it took over seven years to complete the first draft of Fairytale of New York! Just enjoy the creative part as much as you can and let your imagination run free. Some of the best things I've written were serendipitous happenings that ended up shaping the story. Surprise yourself and you'll surprise your readers too. Lastly, never ever lose faith in your writing. The very fact that I am a published author today is down to just being in the right place at the right time. I just made sure I was 'out there' and happened to get noticed by someone who happened to be looking. I don't have an agent, I'd never sent my manuscript off to a publisher or agent before (I didn't have the nerve!) and yet it happened for me. That means it can happen for you, too. So keep believing in yourself and love your writing.
Fun & Random Questions
Hot cocoa or Hot Tea: Always hot tea! I'm a true Brit in that respect.
Snow or Rain: It has to be snow. I love it. I'm like the biggest kid when it snows.
Favorite ice cream: There's an ice cream company in Wales called Cadwalader's who make the best ice cream in the world - I always treat myself to a couple of scoops when I visit. Other than that, Ben & Jerry's Phish Food is irresistible!
Favorite book: I know it's a cliche, but Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is the most perfect book. I come back to it every year. It has everything: social observation, wit, intrigue, brilliant characters and the classic 'will-they-won't-they' rollercoaster. I adore it.
Favorite time of year: Color: autumn. But I also love winter - partly for the snow, partly because my birthday's in January and partly because I am a huge fan of Christmas.
Crazy fun ornament tree or elegant and simple: Probably somewhere in between!
Are you guilty of playing Christmas music early: *holds up hands, blushes* Absolutely, guilty as charged... I'm a bit of a traditional girl - you can't beat a bit of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra at Christmas! I have an old CD I picked up in a pound shop a couple of years ago that I play every year - and every year it sneaks onto my CD player earlier and earlier...
So there you have it, she’s a kid at heart, who enjoys snow, romance and playing Christmas music early. Who wouldn’t love her! Make sure to check out her uber awesome blog and purchase her books (trust me on this one, you will NOT be disappointed!)
Friday, December 3, 2010
Revisions Week - Collages Reveal
Characters. My favorite part of the story.
I love creating them, I love watching them come to life.
My main character comes first, they speak to me, tell me what they like, what they dislike.
We talk. I listen. We argue. I win. They stop talking. A vicious cycle that eventually works itself out.
Then I write. Let it sit. Outline. Begin Collages (sometimes before I write a story, but rarely)
Here is what before looks like.
I grab my trust accesories box. Pens, paperclips, post-it's, glue sticks, rulers, everything I'd need for the perfect collage.
Here is a side view of both boxes. My trust accessories box and my magazine and paper box. Beautiful is it not?
Just a peek inside. Glamour always has amazig stuff. But I have tons of magazines, anything I can get my hands on I tuck away, I even have a western magazine (no.I.did.not.pay.for.it.) it has been useful!
You can see my jeans (right hand corner) this is me at work, carefully planning everything, making sure I have the perfect colors, pictures, and all to make the best character collage for my peeps!
I love everyone I make. Every piece is thought out. Colors, designs, names, models, all represent something in my story. It may not mean anything to you, even after reading the story, but it's there, hidden beneath the written words.
My Traveler's Collages - I will warn you, I'll share just a little about each character, however not a whole lot. I am in revisions so there is still a lot of unknowns and a lot of secrets I'd like to keep.
Lauren
My main character. Lauren. 16 years old.
Mel, Lauren's best friend in the real world.
Tully, the first person Lauren meets for the Travelers.
Blake, an arrogant guy in the Traveler's house that thinks he is Lauren's perfect match.
Brianna, Lauren's roommate at the Traveler's house.
Cameron, her friend in the real world. The only one to see her for who she really is.
All of these characters are in order of how they were introduced in the book I wrote. I hope you enjoyed.
What's your favorite part of the writing process? Do you make character collages?
I love creating them, I love watching them come to life.
My main character comes first, they speak to me, tell me what they like, what they dislike.
We talk. I listen. We argue. I win. They stop talking. A vicious cycle that eventually works itself out.
Then I write. Let it sit. Outline. Begin Collages (sometimes before I write a story, but rarely)
Here is what before looks like.
I grab my trust accesories box. Pens, paperclips, post-it's, glue sticks, rulers, everything I'd need for the perfect collage.
Here is a side view of both boxes. My trust accessories box and my magazine and paper box. Beautiful is it not?
Just a peek inside. Glamour always has amazig stuff. But I have tons of magazines, anything I can get my hands on I tuck away, I even have a western magazine (no.I.did.not.pay.for.it.) it has been useful!
You can see my jeans (right hand corner) this is me at work, carefully planning everything, making sure I have the perfect colors, pictures, and all to make the best character collage for my peeps!I love everyone I make. Every piece is thought out. Colors, designs, names, models, all represent something in my story. It may not mean anything to you, even after reading the story, but it's there, hidden beneath the written words.
My Traveler's Collages - I will warn you, I'll share just a little about each character, however not a whole lot. I am in revisions so there is still a lot of unknowns and a lot of secrets I'd like to keep.
Lauren
My main character. Lauren. 16 years old.
Mel, Lauren's best friend in the real world.
Tully, the first person Lauren meets for the Travelers.
Blake, an arrogant guy in the Traveler's house that thinks he is Lauren's perfect match.
Brianna, Lauren's roommate at the Traveler's house.
Cameron, her friend in the real world. The only one to see her for who she really is.
All of these characters are in order of how they were introduced in the book I wrote. I hope you enjoyed.
What's your favorite part of the writing process? Do you make character collages?
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Talli Roland's Blogsplash!
Help Talli Roland's debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.Amazon.co.uk: Click Here!
Amazon.com: Click Here!
Goodreads: Click Here!
No Kindle? Download a free app at Amazon for Mac, iPhone, PC, Android and more.
Coming soon in paperback. Keep up with the latest at Talli's Blog.
About THE HATING GAME:
When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £2000,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?
My review:
Mattie Johns is crumbling to pieces, a man-eater by nature she has sworn of guy after guy before it gets to serious, burned by her last ex she finds not only her heart falling to the ground but her business.
A solution walks into her office, a proposition that Mattie will not refuse. Go on a dating show and win the prize money to save her company. Nothing is as simple as it seems, she soon finds out she's not dating just anyone, she's dating her exes.
Talli Roland left nothing to chance, her writing keeps you on your toes, surprise after surprise lunged one right after the other, and just when you think you've got it all figured out she turns Mattie's world upside down once more.
This novel was light, fun and perfect for any girl who has ever guarded their heart until they've found the one. Break up, make up, whatever stage you're at in the dating world you're sure to love this tale!
(See... told you it was awesome... now go get your copy and wish Talli a Happy E-Book Birthday!)
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