Now for something really scary!!

You know that erica and christy will meet for the first time face-to-face in Madison, WI on April 8th, 2011, right?

Yep. Madison. Us. April 8th.

Here.

This is us, simply thinking about meeting our soul mate blog partner for the first time:



this isn't really us, but if it were, erica would totally be the monkey

Then, we realize we're going to a conference, and it's more than just meeting each other. It's about networking and socializing and learning and perfecting our craft and . . .we look like this:



this isn't us either, but we love the WI shirts!

Then - and this is where it gets really scary - we realize that we're pitching to real-live agents. For eight minutes. Eight. Ocho. Huit. 8. At which time we look more like this:



back to erica here

Seriously, have you thought of all the things you can do in eight minutes? 'Cuz we have. Let us share:

Walk a mile.

Read a chapter

empty the dishwasher

okay, this is christy. hehe. she won't be happy.

So, anyhow, we will be heavily looking into tips for face-to-face pitching in the next few weeks. Plus ways to get through an 8-minute monologue. What would you like to know about it? We'll share what we know/find out!!!!! (and also, um, 8 minutes? any tips?)

be realistic

This post is in continuation of erica's (enlightening!) post from Tuesday, or maybe it's just my take on it.  She posted on writing about what she knows, or at least finding inspiration from her real life...and then twisting it to let her novels take on their own life (completely unrecognizable from where the ideas came from). 

Or something like that.

I wouldn't write if I could only write from my blessed, but boring existence.  Living vicariously through my characters is the whole point.  Well, maybe not the whooooole point.

However, I often wonder what "reality" is missing from my manuscript(s). If what I'm writing is completely fabricated (for example, I'm 34 writing from the POV of a 15 year old or 17 year old), I worry the "believability" (of teen life) is missing.  I'm aware this is a major issue for many of us YA writers who are not teens by birthdate (regardless of our claims of being young at heart and/or perpetual teenagers) and that many agents search extra hard for adult writers with a genuine teen voice.  Granted, I was once a teenage girl, however, my memories of being one are now glimpsed through my 34 year old hindsight.

So, the thoughts streaming through my MC's head need to be (believable) thoughts a "real" teen might think in whatever situation I place them in. 

Kiersten White wrote a post a while ago sticking up for Evie from Paranormalcy (in response to someone discussing protags liking "girly" things (if my memory is working correctly).  Kiersten said she remembered being a teen and thinking about boys, boys and more boys.

And, sure, I might have, too.  Thought about boys a lot, I mean.  And about friend issues.  And about homework issues.  (Again, had I chosen to write from my own life, the novel would have put anyone to sleep in four seconds flat.) 

BUT, how can I know for sure that my character will still think about boys and friends and homework in the midst of running from a haunting blue creature in search of her great-grandma's long lost journal?  How do I know that she would take time out to fall in love with the unnerving boy from her French class while also trying to figure out why she has a pearly aura surrounding her body?  How many times per page can I mention her heart rate, nervous stomach, sweaty palms and shortness of breath?  And isn't it just great that she finished all her homework before transporting to another dimension for the first time?

How do you add reality to the unreality of your fiction novel?  (HEHE.  Just kidding.)

~christy

Is the New Year Over Yet?

Remember January 1st, 2011?? The world was full of possibilities. Would we all lost weight? YES! Work out to gain muscle? YOU BETCHA!! Write everyday? ABSOLUT-wait, what??

I (erica) haven't told my family that I write yet (my resolution). But I will, I swear. As soon as either someone asks randomly or if I have good news to report (okay, so I'm cheating a little).

And, um, losing weight wasn't actually a resolution for me, but it's a new one. Remember the other day when I said I play bar-league poker? Well, I was in a tournament Tuesday night and the winner won an almost-free trip to Las Vegas last fall. I jokingly said that if I won, I'd have a lot of work to do to get ready for a public bathing suit appearance (because I'm willing to go to a water park in Wisconsin this way, but LV is sssoooooo different).

AND I WON!!!!!

*contemplates leaving blog to walk on treadmill for about 8 million hours*

But first - Christy and I are going to our first writer's conference in a few weeks and while I do have an ms to pitch to agents (the one in ABNA right now), I would love, love, love to have Coyote Hotel in at least first-draft finished form by then. I had to delete (another) huge section, including an entire character, this week, so I'm back down to 17k words and a few plot holes you could sink a boulder into.

*contemplates leaving blog to plug holes and add thousands of words to WIP*

*remembers Christy, who's tiny, might see her in a bathing suit next month and pledges to walk an additional 5 million hours*

*hopes blogger buddies notice that erica will be busy for awhile, but will definitely visit when she can!!* (what's up with the 3rd person?)

Oh, and in (almost) conclusion - I watched my kids feed a newborn calf a bottle today (i's mom was a bit unhappy and didn't to let him feed). Cutest. Thing. Ever. May you find the wonder of every day things in your life today!! (now get walking, I mean writing!)

So, how did you do so far? Let us know what worked and what didn't (and why, if you feel like sharing) in the first two months of 2011.

It Really Can Happen and Blogging/Tweeting CAN Help

Sometimes it takes reminders from others to nudge us along during times of low motivation. 

Sometimes rejection can get us down.

Sometimes the non-writers in our lives can roll their eyes when we say we need to check our blog or twitter account.  And sometimes when they say it's a waste of time, we wonder if they're right.

Well, recently I read two blog posts within minutes of each other that reassured me that my gut instinct was right.  (See here and here.  Both Shelley Waters @ Is It Hot In Here or Is It This Book? and Roni Loren @ Fiction Groupie (during a guest post @ Ashley March's blog) blogged that they received agents, not only because they are wonderful writers, but also because they had referrals from blogging/tweeting friends.)

I'm NOT wasting my time writing.  AND I'm  not wasting my time building a platform and making AMAZING connections with fellow aspiring and published authors who blog and/or tweet.

And neither are you.

Please continue to share your success stories with me.

Now That's What I'm Talking/Writing About.

Writers across the world have been told to "write what they know." So how does that explain my new ghost story? I've never seen a ghost. I've never been a 12-year-old boy. I didn't grow up in a b&b. BUT - I do watch Ghosthunters and Ghost Adventurers with my 10-year-old son and have parents who own a b&b. Mix it together and I got my idea!!

Here's some other things about me that I might use - or you can. Go ahead, take them, I don't mind. Or mix them with your own, make a million dollars, and let me know (it'll make me feel better, trust me).

Growing up, my younger sister and I didn't get along. On family vacations, we weren't allowed to ride in the same car. I once kicked her so hard (in a swimming pool, no less), I broke two toes. Hey, she was annoying me!!

I have a story about my childhood rabbit, but fear either PETA or the ASPCA or whatever exists in virtual pet-dom would get really, really mad at me if I told the whole thing. Suffice to say I was busy, didn't do chores, and my sister had the same problem. Several days in a row. Poor bunny.

When I was a senior in high school, I went on a date with a guy I worked with who was a couple years older than me. We went to his apartment, where he kept playing songs involving words like "I used to love her, but I had to kill her." Date over (yes, I cried and felt bad for weeks. dumb boys.)

Last year, my husband and I decided to do a "date night" once a week. Since he works weekend nights, this means we go out after I get home on Tuesday nights (our only free night) and get home by 9:00 bedtime for the kids. This could make for a boring book...

...except that a lot of Tuesdays, we go play Texas Hold 'Em poker tournaments in the backroom of a nearby bar. I'm actually pretty good at it (don't expect to see me on any TV tournaments, but I hold my own around here). The games usually attract 9-20 people (2-3 women in the group) and they are a super-fun, super-high-energy crowd. Plus, they lie bluff, so it's sorta' like hanging out with fiction writers!

I went to more bars in the year before I was legal than I have in the 14 years since (I'm rounding, but close). Yes, I did graduate college. It's a bit hazy, but I have the diploma to prove it (hehe).

My master's is in non-profit management. Yes, I paid $15,000 to have someone teach me how not to make money. I got straight-A's.

Okay, that's it folks. Use it for good, not evil. And add lovely, weird, useless useful comments of your own so I don't feel dumb to give others inspiration. Plus, you know, write a bestseller based on me. :)