Truth Thursdays

I missed last week so I have to make up.

This will be the last Truth Thursday until the A-Z Challenge is over. Unless my creative juices are flowing and I find someway to make it happen. We shall see. For now, here you are:

1. I love food shows. Kitchen Nightmares, Hells Kitchen, The Next American Restaurant, Top Chef. What's funny is I'd never be found eating their food. I'm a picky eater.
2. I'm excited for the A-Z Challenge to start. 26 days of making those creative juices flow. Over 600 entrants. It's nice to be co-hosting something so brilliant.
3. My husband and I use our computers too much. He's in school and I of course am writing. Having the full work week leaves us staring our eyes into the computer for hours in the evening.
4. I loved being apart of LiLa's blog tour on my birthday. It was a ton of fun and I feel special.
5. I tried True Blood. I hated it. I don't know if it wasn't what I had anticipated at all which lead to disaster or what. So for all you True Blood Fans out there I'm sorry, just not my cup of tea.

Badass Besties

Michael over at In Time is having another Harry Potter Blogfest... Hart is also apart of the fun as well, and you all know that I'm not one to turn down Harry Potter stuff. He was sweet enough to switch the date so I could fit in (sweet right?). So let's not waste time... after all my besties are waiting.

Let me set this up for you, we were to choose two characters who would be are BFF's at Hogwarts and share why they were... Umm, I did one better. They wrote me letters, though I can't attend Hogwarts we've become pen pals, they tell me what it's like to be wizards and in turn I give them the definition of the rubber duck (or any other silly muggle things).

So, here, I leave you to my besites.

Jen,

It appears last week in transfiguration did not go nearly as expected. Professor McGonagall had told Ronald Weasley he was reciting the spell wrong, and well, another Seamus Finnegan incident occured. Don't worry yourself, Professor was more than happy to scold them and deal with herself. It feels like it's been ages since we've spoken but I understand that our owl system has to stop midway through Houston to drop it into the appropriate bucket. Next time I will not use Ronald's silly bird. Seeing as they can't properly see I should have forseen this coming. If you'd like I'm sure my farther knows of another animal, quite possibly a Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

Speak to you soon,

Luna Lovegood

Jay-D,

I got it! I knew you would be dying to get this piece of valuable information you requested just weeks earlier. It seems that not everyone is as willing to have their photo taken, especially Harry Potter. After our last meeting he's still be really kind but has asked me to take less photos. I have no idea what he is so against them, especially for the muggle world. That being said I was lucky enough to get him, Ron, and Hermione all posing together with space enough to fit your body in time for your scrapbooking assignment. I think your teachers will find it wild that you were able to visit Hogwarts without having any magic. Ginny Weasley borrowed my camera and took a picture of the bedroom you would have stayed in. She thought I was crazy, what's new.

Let me know how you faired.

Colin Creevey

See? They're fabulous aren't they? Luna worries too much about mailing my letters but other than that she's a doll. Colin, oh Colin, he really does help me perfect my scrapbook. I'm already better than Michael because I've 'visited' the real Hogwarts. Watch your back peeps, you can't be this awesome.

Shall you want to check out the other entrants do stop by In Time.

The Liar Society Blog Tour of Awesome!

Guest Post from the lovely Lisa & Laura Roecker. This is their stop on the one-way ticket to Liar Society Love.



Once upon a time, there was an incredibly awkward teenager named Lisa Roecker. She told all sorts of stupid lies that more often than not blew up in her face. She also loved wearing clogs. Without socks. This is important.

One fateful day, Lisa skipped downstairs in the dead of winter, sporting a light brown leather bomber jacket, some fantastically tapered jeans and a snazzy pair of matching clogs.

Regulator: Lisa, are you wearing socks?
Lisa (whose fantastically tapered jeans are coincidentally revealing approximately 2 inches of naked ankle): Yes.
Regulator (while staring at Lisa's naked ankles): I'm going to ask you again, are you wearing socks?
Lisa (avoiding eye contact): Yes.
Regulator: I know you're lying. If you lie again, you are not going to the dance tonight.
Lisa: Mooooom, I'm not lying.
Regulator: Go to your room and get a pair of socks. You are not going to the dance tonight.
Lisa: Ugh. I HATE YOU.
Laura (snickering into her Cheerios, all frizzy, pyramid-style hair and caterpillar-browed): If you're not gonna wear your clogs, can I?

While The Liar Society does not feature any naked ankles or clog-wearing characters, it does feature some crazy-powerful lies, threatening to blow up at any moment. And there's also a frizzy haired ginger that isn't quite as socially awkward as young Laura Roecker, but close.

If you want to enter The Liar Society Blog Tour of Awesome contest, and really, who wouldn't want to enter!?! There's a $100 Amazon gift card up for grabs! Just click here and enter the super secret password, ICEQUEEN, for an entry. Remember you can enter one time for each stop on our blog tour, so be sure to click here and see where else we're visiting this month to maximize your chances of winning.

Audi, Vide, Tace,
L&L

Cupcakes don't hurt....

Happy Monday!!! Tomorrow is my birthday!!! WOoHoO- for those who care I'll be 25 years old. Go Me. Last week I had my query critique. It went better than I could ever expected. It has since then been revised and I've tested the waters now. That's right I've dived into the querying world. And I've been cupcaked (also known as rejected but those are hurtful and harsh words and aren't used here. I was given the word my fabulous blogger friend Karen Amanda Hooper). It's not always a negative (it's a cupcake for junk sake, cupcakes rock). When I received my first one I was actually excited. My husband and I celebrated. It's like a rite of passage. Something you have to do to realize you're one step closer to that agent. There is an agent out for you. YOUR work is good enough. Don't give up. Just take each rejection with a grain of salt. Appreciate each company for even bothering to take a look. They don't have too. They look at thousands. So the next time you get a cupcake look at it as a positive. Sprinkles and frosting how's that a bad thing. Even if it's #189 (just don't be eating them... weight will be gained and I don't want to be responsible for that), because they're looking. You two were just not made for each other. What process are you on? Do you need a pick me up?

The Life of an Editor

Today I have Karen Gowen a fellow blogger on Unedited to share with you what it's like to be an editor at a small publishing house.

Jen asked me to tell you what it’s like being an editor for a small publishing company. Three words? IT IS FUN!!!

It’s fun to assist authors in polishing their work and getting it ready for publication. Okay, sometimes it can be rough, like when the editor and the author have different viewpoints about what direction the manuscript should go. In these cases, compromise is king. Although the editor has greater objectivity and also must maintain the marketability of the finished product, the writer often has insights about his work and audience. The editor must respect that, just as the writer must respect the editor’s experience and professionalism.

Recently, WiDo finished work on a regional Southern novel, MISSISSIPPI COTTON by Paul H. Yarbrough. The editors (all Northerners) took issue with some of the references in Paul’s manuscript. Paul (a Southerner) insisted that his Southern audience would “get it.” The editor admitted that he was probably right. He knew his demographic better than anyone and therefore she let him have the kind of creative control that this book needed in order to be a hit with his Southern audience. Judging from the enthusiastic advance reviews for MISSISSIPPI COTTON, this was the right decision.

But sometimes an editor must stand firm or compromise the quality and/or marketability of the finished product. A level of trust must exist on both sides to make this relationship work. When it does, a wonderful book is the end result. When it doesn’t, well, sometimes a contract might be cancelled but we won’t go there because Jen’s blog is a happy place.

As difficult as it is to “let go,” sometimes an author must do just that. Get rid of the favorite parts. Rewrite entire scenes. Take out extra characters. Change names. Change the title. It’s called “the editing process,” and sometimes it hurts. But then so does childbirth.

Besides working with creative geniuses otherwise called authors, I get to work with other editors and miscellaneous brilliant people who are passionate about publishing books. One of my favorite parts of editing is helping to review new submissions, because it is so EXCITING to find something with that special spark of originality. Then there’s the final edit, when it all comes together, and you can’t wait until the book is released. Maybe not quite as excited as the author but almost!

So if you'd like to submit to WiDo publishing check out their website and don't forget to stop by and say hello to Karen Gowen over at her blog!