Since April 19, 2015...

After Easter and the jury duty kerfuffle...

...to which I didn't have to go!

Happy dance, happy dance, everybody happy dance!

... I got a rejection on a query I sent to an agent about a month before.  Technically, she never responded to the query, which per the guidelines basically meant the same thing.  No reply, no acceptance.

Tears may have been shed.

But that's okay.  I dusted off my poor weeping query, gave it a little spruce up and sent it bravely back into the big wide world of agents.  I may have whispered a prayer to send it on its way.

Then I had a wedding I went to, last week of April/beginning of May, wherein my sister Amanda (keeper of the blog, Hit and Miss) designed floral arrangements for the altar, and we cleaned bucketloads of roses, carnations, baby's breath and greens and I made 15 centerpieces in glass milk jars for the reception.

Or rather:  Design ALL the flowers!

Speaking of which, I don't think I want to go to weddings anymore.  Waaaaaay too many people!

Way too many people I don't know, and way too many random people wanting to talk to me.

Talk? Talk?!   What makes you think I'd want to chat?  I haz nothing to say.  Unless we speak geek.  Then perhaps we speak.

Then we got BACK from the wedding and the weather has been liek dis:

Grey

Rainy

And liek dis:

*snarf, grumble, grouch

*whaaahaaahaaaaaa!

It hasn't been NICE.  It has been the opposite.  It has been DARK.  My mood goeth downhill.

Directly after getting back, we were into Mother's Day week.  Which made the flower shop a crazy busy place.  Which meant yours truly got to work a six-day work week, after a weekend filled with flower arrangements and wedding feels and socializing.

Source

Socializing, for me, can be physically more draining and damaging than a solid week's work, so piling MOTHER'S DAY WEEK on top of that was... was...

Sorry, words fail.

However, good news.  Before driving back from the wedding in Bakersfield, we stopped at Target and all four of us who had attended the wedding picked up copies of the Target Edition of Josh Groban's STAGES, which contains 17 tracks and are all of them amazing.

Make sure you get the TARGET edition with 17 tracks! The normal version
only has 13, so make sure it 's the special TARGET edition you're getting!

Josh has this superpower that never fails to make me marvel at how PERFECTLY he sings.

IMHO, he sings the only acceptable version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

*Oh Groban!

Speaking of Superheroes and Marvel, I also watched the first two episodes of Daredevil on Netflix during that wedding weekend, so when I got back from the wedding I proceeded to watch the other 11 episodes.

Matt Murdoch is the best!  I refuse to say anything, because, as Yoda say, "If Netflix you have, Daredevil you should be watching."  Seriously, he's a new favourite Marvel superhero.  He is so amazing and cool!  Unfortunately, now that I'm done with those 13 episode, the next season won't be up until 2016!  Netflix, why? Why? Whyyyyy?

Then I saw Age of Ultron.

Source

All I'm going to say about THIS is, OH MY GOSH! HAWKEYE!! TONYSTEVETHOR! QUICKSIIIIIILVER!  JARVISJARVISJARVIS!! And never, ever, ever have I let a ship sink as fast as I let Black Widow's and Hawkeye's.  I was surprisingly okay with it.  I waved a hand and thought, I don't mind Natasha and Clint being friends.

After this, Teresa and Jack and I started watching Harry Potter.  I have never really watched Harry Potter.

I know, right?

I had read up to the fourth book (which *I* thought was horrifying) and then watched the fourth movie which, IMHO, did NOT live up to the fourth books horrifyingness (which is not a word, but I don't care.  I'm a writer.  I do what I want).  Frankly, the fourth movie rather bored me, so I gave up on the series.

Then, I dunno, after the final book had been published and was no longer talked about, I thought I might as well finish the book series, and while I thought J.K. Rowling did a fine job with writing, I wasn't entirely sold on the series.  I don't know why.  I just wasn't a fan.

Sorry.

So I have had no urge to watch the movies until after Valentine's Day, when after a long grueling day at work I came home, ate something fortifying and turned on the TV, and discovered The Chamber of Secrets was playing.  Having nothing better to do, I watched it.

I mean, after all, why not?

Since then, I've been off again, on again wanting to watch them, and we started our sporadic marathon about two weeks ago.  While the first four were nothing special (for me, anyway - and btw, the fourth movie is NOT as boring as I remembered it being.  Perhaps one needs to have been away from books and movies for a significant amount of time or something), we just finished Deathly Hallows part 1, and I'll admit the 5th, 6th and 7-1/2th movies engaged me more and made me feel a bit more connected to the characters.  (Though, and I'm speaking from my experience of having read the books YEARS ago, I am pretty certain the scriptwriters could have clarified Harry as being The Chosen One.  That shtick sort of makes an appearance in the Half Blood Prince, and while I *think* it was clear in the book, it was NOT AT ALL CLEAR in the movie(s), and I honestly can't remember how or why or who or when Harry became this Chosen One or even what it has to do with the plot.)

I feel ya, Minion

I don't think I'm still (yet) techinically a fan.  I haven't entirely finished the series, after all.  Deathly Hallows part 2 will possibly (probably) happen tonight, but now that I've watched the movies I can see why people have become fans.  I will be honest even more and state that I do have a bad tendency to quote HISHE or Honest Trailer lines during crucial moments of the movies (such as, Wizzzzard lightning battle! or, Look out, Harry, he doesn't have a nose!, or, "Just saving your life.  And countless others.  In the future.  It's a long story.")  But overall, my favorite characters are Snape, Professor McGonagall, George and Fred, and Harry.  I like Ron and Hermione, but those first five are my favorites.

Source

Lastly, to bring my month to a close, the query I'd dusted off and sent back out came back with a request for the agent to see the full manuscript.

I may or may not have woken up my sister at the obscene
hour of 5:00 a.m. to show her the joyous news.

So I sent the full manuscript to the agent, and now I must wait up to 60 days to see what she thinks.  It's a bit torturous, but she was nice enough to admit that it was torturous, which was good to hear.  Empathy, empathy.  So all I can do now is pray... and hope... and pray... and, you know, hope.

So, that's been my month!  I hope yours has been just as exciting and eventful as mine, albeit less gloomy.  *Rain, rain, go away, come again some OTHER day.*

Until next month...

Cat! :)

Leopold!

Something Writerly About Dreams

So, I don't know about all y'all, but I've not been sleeping well.

I have a gun!

(There are a few voices calling from the aether - they are saying...

JOIN THE FRICKIN' CLUB!

Aether voices, I salute you.)

Salute

Anyhoozle, the weirdest and random dreams have been plaguing my subconscious.  Like one time I dreamed of storm clouds that went roaring by, sort of like those old Disney movies where it films the clouds in fast-forward, and seconds later a veritable tidal wave flooded the landscape.  This happened twice.  It felt quite portentous.

Shelob

Another time I dreamed someone had been falsely accused of murder, and there was a frantic rush while we rushed the accused to safety, and it was very Bourne/Narnia.  I know, right.  Weird.

What?

What?

Another time, the dream started IN prison, one of those old antique prisons, and the nice little prisoner very cleverly found a way out of the prison, picking up a random hairy stranger on the way, and at the end of the dream the nice little prisoner gets hurt and the hairy stranger (who apparently magically sheds his extreme hairiness) has to protect him.

I dunno

Anyway, I mention dreams because I had one where nightmares and bad dreams are different from each other, in that bad dreams are essentially that - BAD dreams - and nightmares are the conscience that can steer a bad dream back to good dreams.
 

*snicker*

That's cool, folks.

I mention THAT because I feel like an oft forgotten necessity for writers is to always keep a notebook by their beds.  You never know when an idea will attack you while you sleep.  You have to be ready for it, ready to pounce.
 

Pounce!

Yep.  I just posted a writerly blog post!!  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!

Pretty much!

Oh, and if you are ever feeling "dried up" creatively, think about buying one of these suckers:

Buddha Board

 I "impulse bought" one at Barnes and Noble the last time I was down there, and it is incredibly soothing and freeing.  You just use a little water and the water "paints" on the canvas.  It's non-permanent, and you wouldn't believe how fun it is to just draw knowing nothing will be permanent.  I love it.  I want a big one.  I bought the mini, which fits in my purse, but I want the big one now.

No, the big one! Big one!

This is the Cat, leaving you with THAT whisker of wisdom.

:-)

Cheers and God Bless!

The Cat

Once upon a Time...

... I had a life.

Source

Now I spend much of my time working and working and working, and while I'm not doing that I'm writing.

Source

However, I have done some crafty things.

I made a this:

Ignore my fat hand. Haha

I drew a this:

Ronan Lynch - The Raven Boys

I did a this at my flower job:

That's a wreath, folks

I have to go back to work tomorrow and I'm not really looking forward to it.  I don't feel like I've been "off" for awhile, which is really terrible of me.  I mean, I had a LOOOOONG time off in April-May.  I'm just a vacation person.  Work doesn't suit me.  Hahahahahahahaa!

Anyway, this is my super short blog post that I felt I simply HAD to do, since it's been something like 1-1/2 months since I last blogged.

Oops

So now I'll love you and leave you.  God bless.  Byeeeee!!!!

Cat

Six-Sentence Saturday 05/26/2012

Good morning, everyone!

For my six sentences today:

1.) I'm cleaning my house like a mad thing right now! *achoo*

2.) I have no good books to read. *pout*

3.) Having no books is a GOOD thing, 'cause it makes me more motivated to work on my WIP

4.) My WIP is showing me new ideas I never thought possible.

5.) Isn't it funny how you hang around other writers, get super jazzed about what you're working on, and come home to discover you had less time to write NOW than you thought you had before?

6.) Memorial Day Weekend! As a shock and a surprise, I'll get to have Tuesday off, 'cause Monday's are my normal day, so I get it anyway! Squeeeeeeeeeeee!

That's all. I'm just going to share a couple songs I'm LOVING right now... (my taste is widely spread, so don't feel TOO shocked at the weird array down there.)

God bless

Cat

I'm back... reluctantly. :)

Yes, I've come back home from Scotland. I got back Saturday the seventh of May, and I've been too jet-lagged and homesick for Scotland to think about posting. For the first time, I'm feeling a rekindling spark of writing interest, so I guess it's time for me to return to reality.

There may be some people who can blog AND journal as they travel. Perhaps if I hadn't been quite so giddily busy every single day I could have done both, too. As it is, I relied heavily on my camera, and my trusty travel journal. I will now proceed to transfer my journal notes onto my blog.

So,for the next few weeks I'm going to post entries from my travel journal, sharing my experiences with you all. Believe me, it was an experience worth having. The best part is the setting for a story I've been thinking about has come vividly to life. That's a bonus.

The first post I do will probably be a post on what to bring with you when you travel. There were some items I didn't realise I'd use quite so frequently, and some items that I didn't use at all.

The Art of World Craft from Other Writers' Writings

How perfect does the world you craft for your story have to be? Do you read other writer's books in order to glean some little sparklet of genius from their words?

Some authors really do it for me. Patricia McKillip is one author who just delights in her words, and in her worlds. She weaves together the most remarkable terms in order to create a shockingly vivid picture. Her lands, her worlds, her sense of place is solid and firm and there. You can't visualize another land except the one she snares you in during the duration of her tale. You're there, in Hed, in Sealy Head, in Ombria, wherever she takes you.

Diana Wynne Jones, of course, is another writer that does it for me. She has a real talent for picking random words, combining them, and creating a word that is completely new, bizarre, and amazingly perfect. She also has a vivid sense of place. She writes, and her worlds come alive. In between the pages you can believe in magic, in a series of worlds numbered 1-12, in an askew sense of normality. She knows how to draw you in and keep you there, in Ingary, in Dalemark, wherever she takes you.

Tolkien is the one I go to for sheer inspiration. I read what he writes, and the poetry in his words refreshes me, makes me think, makes me wonder about my world, and my worldbuilding. His sense of place, his intricate attention to detail make him one of my fantasy heroes of all times. Plus, he has a great way with words.

Below is one of my favourite passages from his book, "The Silmarillion." The beauty of his language sings like poetry.

"Then the discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of turbulent sound. But Iluvatar sat and hearkened until it seemed that about his throne there was a raging storm, as of dark waters that made war one upon another in an endless wrath that would not be assuaged.

Then Iluvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that he smiled; and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began amid the storm, like and yet unlike to the former theme, and it gathered power and had new beauty."

From: The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Taken from the first chapter of The Silmarillion, with the creation of the world and the re-harmonizing of Melkor's first discord.

Monday: On Writing

Well, happy last day of February, everybody! It would have been better if I hadn't had to work at my "normal" job today, but one can't have everything, I suppose. Good news: we hit bonus at work, so that's something. If we hadn't worked today, there's a good possibility that we wouldn't have gotten bonus. So, all things in perspective, right?

Anyhoo, this is my Monday: On Writing day. Here goes!

When I first decided that writing was going to be my "job", I thought I was such a great writer. But my goodness, how deluded I was!

I thought I was quite good where I was. I didn't understand the importance of critique groups, revision, and most important, market study. Who'd have thought writing could be such work, you know?

Of course, I do know better now. Writing is like any other job, or talent. The only way to get better is through constant practice. And, or course, having other eyes to catch what you miss in your own revision and editing process is wonderfully helpful.

Since my first egotistical journey into Writerland about two years ago, I've learned a couple tricks that I have since been employing in my writing. They are my favourite tricks that I've learned so far, and I want to share them with all the rest of you.

The first is, cut back on adjectives. Don't use more words than you have to. In fact, use concrete writing.

The second is, change as many "ing" words so that they end in either "ed" or "s". Instantly, voila! You're writing is tighter, cleaner, more gripping.

Until Wednesday, thanks for reading!

Wednesday: On Reading

Some writers are so brilliant, I just want to imitate them.

If you don't know it yet, I'll tell you right now. Diana Wynne Jones is one of my favourite authors in the world. She's so imaginative, and she just loves to play with words. When you read one of her books, you can generally tell it's written by her just by the way she uses words. No one else employs word usage quite the same way she does.

When I find a book by her that I have not yet read, I feel amazingly blessed that I have a chance to savour her style again. Whenever she writes, her stories are from a perspective that is entirely fresh and new. Here's an example from one of her books that I was reading a book by her the other day. This book is called "The Eight Days of Luke," and I have to say she shocked me, as she always does, with a versatility of her brain.

In this story, she introduces the main character, David, in once sentence: "Unlike most boys, David dreaded the holidays." That about sums him up. David is unlike most boys, he hates the holidays. Why? Already, you're curious and drawn into the story. Later, she describes how David has decided that smell is more important to the human race than anyone believes, and when he steps into the house it smells "thick and dampish, of polish and old cabbage." At the smell, she writes that David's heart, obstinately cheerful, goes down "about seven notches with a rush." You can just visualize that feeling. It's amazing.

I love to study the way she writes. Look at this sentence: "He got up and stalked upstairs, feeling for the wall as if he thought it might escape him unless he kept in touch with it. His bedroom door did escape him." Isn't that imagery vivid? Look here: "He picked up the skull and knocked an onion ring out of its eye socket." Brilliant! I'd never have thought of that line! Last, one of my favourite lines ever: "Christopher discovered that you dealt with obnoxious masters and most older boys the way you dealt with governesses: you quite politely told them the truth in the way they wanted to hear it, so that they thought they had won and left you in peace."

So, after reading many, many, many of her books,  I've discovered that I'm endeavouring to come up with new, fresh ways to say things that will make people think, "Wow, that totally hit the picture!"

Which authors do you read over and over again, just so you can study how they DO it?

On Writing Monday: Computer versus Pen

I know bloggers everywhere have gone over this topic again and again and again. I'm going to take a minute to talk about it too, 'cause I found this idea very interesting.

I was at Borders the other day, my heaven on earth. I picked up this book in the Reference section, which is the heavenliest part of the Borders heaven, and skimmed through it. (I have to take a moment here, and apologize to the author of this book for not committing her name to memory, but Unknown Author, you have my undying homage.)

This Unknown Author devoted a lengthy amount of time as to why writers should take the time to write by hand, on paper, with that most archaic of all writing devices, a pen... or pencil, if you prefer. Her reason?

Often, when writers put their fingers on keyboards and let their minds and fingers take off at the same time, they're writing too quickly. The thoughts emerge, are plunked down, and the writer is away on the next fragmented idea. Typing is a much more instant form of writing that's more detached from the actual physical exercise of hand writing.

Writing by hand allows you to slow down, to take a moment between words to let the next golden idea blossom. Writing by hand allows your thoughts to emerge more freely, to come out truer and more believable than typing does.

Writing by hand lets your thoughts communicate with the touch of your hand on your paper. Your mind feels the ideas flowing through your brain. Those ideas rush through your blood and stream down into the tip of your finger, from your finger through the pen and ink, and onto the paper. It's a much more living act than typing. You see, feel, hear, smell the sound of the words as they emerge from your imagination and make their way through your body to the very whiteness of the waiting paper.

For me, this is good news, 'cause I happen to LOVE writing by hand. So, I'm curious. Which is the way you find you're more likely to write? By hand? Or by keyboard?

Your One Thing

This is going to be just a short note from me today. After this, I'm going to curl up somewhere in my blanket with a lovely book, and try to forget that my throat is sore and my nose is all plugged up. Ugh.

Sitting here, I can hear the wind blowing up outside. The house isn't super heated, but there's just enough warmth coming from the fireplace to lend a feeling of coziness to the living room. The lights are mostly dim, and the clock's ticking is just a faint little sound I can hear over my clicking keys.

Then, there's the wind.

Wind is such an element to a story. Have you ever noticed in books how wind, or the absence of wind, makes such an impression on the writer?

1. The MC enters into a frightening situation: something happens, and there's silence. Not even a breeze stirs.
2. An MC is on a life-and-death escape, and the wind is snatching at her as she monkey-bars her way across a balcony's rafters.
3. The MC has just lost her one true love. She stands on a hill top and weeps. The wind pulls her hair up like a banner.

There's just so much good USE one can get out of the element of wind in a story. Wind adds that aura of mystery, tension, and poetic imagery that all stories need. Wind is one of my favourite elements to work with. It's a sense that I use frequently in my books.

What about you? What's the one thing you find you're drawn to the most, the one thing you like to insert that adds a heightened sense of drama, tension, or pacing to your story?

From High Fantasy to Historical Fiction. Any takers?

What is your favourite genre to write?

I used to think I could ONLY write one genre, and that genre was fantasy, all fantasy, high, low, comic, light, dark. You name it, I wrote it. However, I like to think I have matured just a little. :) I owe my "maturity" to two different sites, two sites that still give me tons of inspiration and writing confidence.

One is Critique Cafe, my little niche of the cyber world where I can chill with my critique friends and just talk about our hopes, excitements, bummers, and joys of writing life.

The other site is the Writer's Retreat at the Institute of Children's Literature's website. It is a great place to connect with hundreds of other writers. It's a place where people are willing to critique stories for you, where people lift you up when you are down, and where you get so much helpful news into the publishing world of writing.

Both of these sites have helped me in more ways than one. They've helped me gain confidence in myself as a writer. I know I can write MORE than just fantasy.

Granted, all of us have our own special niches. Me, I still love to sit in her little world of fantasies and mysteries and plot out stories that combine a little bit of each fantasy/mystery element. Even though I have since experimented with picture books, steampunk (a genre that is fast becoming a favourite style of mine, to read AND write), and science fiction, fantasy and mystery are my two genres that I LOVE to write.

But because of Writer's Retreat, and Critique Cafe, I have been able to experiment with different genres outside my comfort zone.

Next on my agenda for "experimentation" is Historical Fiction, because I've heard that Historical fiction is on the rise. We've gone through vampires, fairies, and angels. Time to take it to the next level, right? Agent Ginger Clark says to think of this uprising Historical Fiction trend as "Tudor for teens." That could be interesting.

Hey, I've tried (nearly) everything else. Historical Fiction is a lake waiting to be jumped into. Do you want to come with me? The water's fine.

What do you look for in Critiques?

What's the biggest thing you look for in a critique?

What do you hope people will give you in their critique?

I happen to have a remarkable crew of critique partners. In my humble opinion, they are awesome. They are wonderful, because even after I proofread and proofread, they still catch the things I always, always miss.

For instance, I have a terrible habit of repeating a word, such as "then," "and," and "but." It's almost like I get addicted to a certain word, and just have to use and use and use it... rather like "use" in this sentence.

Another bad habit of mine is my overuse of commas. Sometimes I catch myself, and then I have shocking lack of commas. I always do one or the other. As I said, it's a bad habit. Or habits.

Me, the biggest thing I look for is readability. If a story doesn't flow, I can't read it properly until I've edited it and made a sentence flow more cleanly into the next. That's the one thing that niggles me the most when I critique. Flow is so important to me. What's the most important story element that you HAVE to correct when you're critiquing someone's story?

When I send a story to my friends, the biggest thing I hope they give me is their honesty. I don't want praise (though that can be balm to the writer's soul). What I want are their honest opinions and suggestions that will make my story that much better.

How about you? What's your critiquing attack?

About Me... not really.

'Once upon a time there was a girl named Catastrophe. In all the kingdom of Serenity there was never a girl so catastrophic as Catastrophe. Whatsoever she did or touched or made was either ill-done, broken or destroyed. She could not even dream, for when she did her dreams were shattered.


When Cat was first born, she was the seventh daughter of the seventh son of the seventh son, and on and on for quite a few generations. When she was born it was quite tragic for her parents, for she broke the seventh son trend. When she was born her father looked at her and cried out, "Catastrophe!" That was how she got her name.



Isn't that sad?

When Catastrophe turned eighteen, she became a maid in the Castle of King Melliflous. When she swept the floors she did so carefully, so that she would not break the stones. She was often scolded by the Official HouseKeeper for damaging Royal Property. She wept at nights behind the cupboards in the kitchen, and escaped her sorrows by retreating into her imagination. In her made-up world, she poured forth such tales of wonder that she found solace even in the worst days.

One night, after Cat had finished sweeping and scrubbing and cleaning for the day, she lay down on her pallet behind the warm fireplace and shut her eyes. She could not sleep. Too much sadness was going through her mind.

"I shall never be anybody," she thought sadly. "I shall always just be a catastrophe. Why, even tonight I managed to destroy the Official HouseKeeper's broom. Now I must pay her for a new one, and heaven knows I make few enough Ownsies as it is. This is a tragedy."

Cat turned over and stared at the sooty cobwebs above. She wished she could take them and make a ball of wishes from them.

"Soot of cobweb, can't you see
how sad I am? I beg of thee,
Send me something, one or three
wishes small that are just for me."


When she had finished her little rhyme, Cat lay awake in the darkness. As she lay there, she noticed one of the stars in the sky dancing about as though it were alive. From where she lay, near the fireplace, she could just see through a little cell-like window that was above the kitchen sink. The night sky glimmered through the slit, and occasionally Cat caught a whiff of cool outdoor air. Now she saw this star, dancing and glimmering like nobody's business, and she sat up in amazement. It was drawing nearer. As it grew closer Cat noticed a figure taking shape inside it. She stared, so amazed that her mouth hung open. All of a sudden there was a flash, like lightening, and the star was in the room with her.


Isn't this exciting?


Cat sat up, staring at the figure that materialized from the starlight. It was a little woman, very old but still very pretty. There was a mischievous gleam in her eye and she was dressed all in white, with a little silver tiara on her brow. Her white hair was braided and bound in a bun about her head. About her waist she wore a blue sash and in her hand she carried a wand.


Cat stared: the wand looked very much like a fountain pen.


But surely, she thought, it really isn't!

"Hello." The old lady spoke then, and her voice was very sweet. "Dear Cat, don't look so alarmed! I am the wish fairy, here to grant your wish."

Cat stammered in amaze, "But Lady, what did I wish?"

The wish fairy tutted. "You must remember. You wished for something, one or three, wishes small that were just for you."

Cat's mouth formed an O.

"Quite right," said the fairy and she handed Cat her wand.


Cat took it reverently and looked at it. It is a fountain pen, no doubt about it.

"I perceive," the fairy said, "That you have a vivid imagination, yet you cannot afford the money it would take to buy yourself a pen and paper. So here. Here is the pen, and here," and the fairy pulled out a monstrous ream of paper, "Here is paper. And don't worry. No matter how much you write there will always be paper for you. It will magically replenish. Isn't that something?"

It was something.


Cat sat upon the floor, marvelling at the white texture of the paper, at the fine nib of the pen. She wrote the first three letters of her name upon the whiteness. Cat. The blackness of the letters looked very fine against the white.

The wish fairy smiled. "No matter what you write, there will never be a catastrophe so terrible that it can't be fixed. That is the power of writing. Happy writing," she added, and vanished.

Cat smiled. Happy writing indeed! Perhaps she could write and sell her work. Think of all the Ownsies she would earn! Cat shivered and ran her fingers along the edge of the paper. These white pages are full of possibility.

"The tale of Catastrophe," she whispers to herself, "By Cat Scribbler. That sounds fine."

How's Your Day Been?

So far, mine's been quite nice. Of course, it's almost over now, but it was a good day.

For one thing, I had a stellar moment with my Whisper Mansion novel, and have drafted a whole new outline that hopefully takes care of the holes I discovered in it earlier.

I bought eight new books from the library, all in fantastic condition and just BEGGING to be read.

I worked on a collaborative synopsis that I'm doing with a writing pal over at the Writer's Retreat, and just sent that off to my buddy. (I'm not naming any names, 'cause this is a secret story. :-)

I took ten minutes to help with dinner and thought about a possible story for the Monthly Write Off at the Writer's Retreat, with a prompt that calls for either western, or science-fiction, or a shocking combination of both. The shocking combination is the one that's stirring my imagination more.

I read two book that I got from the library yesterday, and hoped that I could one day be as good writer as they.

I listened to my new Narnia soundtrack, and practiced my two songs for my singing class.

Now, I'm going to have tea, and watch "Behind Enemy Lines" with my family. This ought to be good!

Good night, God bless, keep writing.

How To

Sometimes, when writing just doesn't do it for me, I like to read books on the craft of writing. How many of you like books like that, those "how to write" books? All of those who do, raise your hands.

That many, hey? Hurray, I'm not alone!

Seriously, now, which is your favourite "how to" book? I have read one that is an absolute must-have. It's called "No More Rejections" by Alice Orr, and it is fabulous! She really pinpoints the elements of a stellar manuscript, and gives fantastic tips on how to compose a perfect manuscript. There's a little section on sex and love scenes that I don't really like, because she gets a little too familiar about what to include in an adult novel, but other than that, the book is great.

For fantasy writers, check out Orson Scott's Card's "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy." Heavens, but that man is a masterful writer! After reading his book, I was inspired beyond inspiration to get myself published. He's that good, and that motivational. It was amazing.

There's another book I love, that I found at Barnes and Noble one time. It's called "The Little Red Writing Book", written by Brandon Royal, and there's nothing in it that's not to love. It's got these lovely black-and-white illustrations that complement the simple, funny style of the book. It reveals twenty "powerful principles of structure, style, and readability," defining each principle with examples, exercises, and the occasional anecdote. It's a wonderful read, and it's adorable, too. It's fun to read just for the pictures and the exercises.

One other book that I think is awesome is one called "Police Procedure and Investigation" by Lee Lofland. That is a fantastic read. It's part of a "Howdunit" series, of which I own "Police Procedure" and "Forensics." There's another one, about poisons, that I really want to get.

Oh, and there's this writer's toolbox that looks like fantastic fun. Just as an aside. It looks super cool and fun. Here's a link, so you can peruse it and drool, too. The Writer's Toolbox: By Jamie Cat Callan.

What sort of "how to" books do you like? Which do you own, and which ones do you recommend?

The One Thing I HATE

I love writing. I love, love, love it. It's one of the things I do best. Some would say it's one of everything I do best, but I disagree. I admit, I'm a good writer, and a good singer, and a good artist, but I am NOT good at everything.

Anyhoo, there is one thing in writing that I hate most of all, and that's when I'm writing a story, and I get to this great part, and suddenly realise that the story has changed and I have no idea what I'm doing in this part of the tale anyway.

Don't you just hate that? Usually, that occurs when my characters take on lives of their own and rather peremptorily TELL me what's going to happen in the story, instead of me dictating to them what really is supposed to happen. I don't mind too much. I mean, it's nice when my characters answer the questions I put to them, such as, "Do you like Ramen noodles?" I love it when they answer me. But I hate it when they change the story on me, and I'm typing (or writing) away, and when I stop for a second to think, I realise I have no idea where the story is going from here.

That's probably the only thing I hate in writing. What about you? What's the one thing in your writing that you simply can't stand?

Your First World

What was the very first world you created? What was the setting of the land that made you realise anything was possible in a book?

Mine was a world created in my own backyard. My very first story idea was about a girl who shrinks down to the size of a caterpillar, and finds adventure in her own back yard. She explores her world from the perspective of an inch-high person, and discovers just how challenging the life of a bug can be.

In this here and now, that world of the back yard has been reborn, and become a whole different land called Entomologia, the world of insects. Before last year, that place was simply Bonnie's back yard, and her garden, where she tries to find a way to return back to her normal size and life. Now, it is Entomologia, and the stakes for Bonnie have been raised higher.

Since that first venture into the imagination, I have discovered a whole slew of new worlds just waiting to be explored. However, Entomologia is one that is closest to my heart, since it was the very first world to be crafted out of my mind.

So, I just wanted to know. What was the very first world you created, and how special is it to you?

Dream in Life

Everyone has a dream, something they want the most out of life.

For me, my first dream has been to get married, to be a mother like my own wonderful Mom. I want to have my own little kids, little children that have a little piece of me in their faces, in the way they talk, in the way they move. Those little souls, that my husband (to be) and I can teach to love God. That is my first dream.

My second dream is to a writer, someone who reaches out with a pen and touches the hearts of people, all across the world. How fantastic is that? To know the words you say will resound in someone's mind. What a gift! What a frighteningly powerful gift!

If I could be a singer too, and touch people with my music, that would be a powerful thing too, but I'm trying not to be TOO greedy, here. ;-)

Working With Wonder

Work is work is work, right?

Not always. I have a job I love. Not many people can boast of that. But I do. I have a job that MAKES you dream, imagine, pretend, and act like a kid all the time. It's the best. I get to work with wonder, and inspire others with wonder.

One of the things that's so funny about what I do, is that I can never give myself too long a break. For instance, I finished my NaNo novel, and I felt... hollow. It was almost as though I'd carved out my heart and soul and left myself completely drained. In order to fill myself back up again, I started on other projects. I'm working on my two other novels, The Key Keeper, and Whisper Mansion, and several short stories that I'm writing for submissions. I just love it.

The thing about being a writer is that you are basically your own boss. It's good, and at the same time, it's bad. I mean, you have to make sure you schedule yourself. You can't take off time all the time, because you'll never get anything done. You can't just say, "I'll write an hour each week, and that's all," because, unless you are a genius, you'll never perfect your skill, and you won't get much done, anyway. You have to schedule yourself. This is a part of the business I'm still trying to perfect, myself.

You have to be dedicated. It does absolutely no good to say, "I'm a writer," and then do nothing but research, research, research, without any pen-to-papering going on. Research is important, but you can't let yourself stray into the realms on internetism. You have to keep your focus.

You have to love it. If you're writing purely from intent to become rich and famous, you're not going to make it. Your writing is going to be shallow and quick, with no time taken to the ebb and flow of cadence, and no care taken to revise and edit repetitive words. Writing comes from the heart. Write the absolute best you can, and you'll be a success.

Reaper's Son

I'm not one for horror. Horror... well, it horrifies me. I generally walk away from it going, "uhhhhhh" and **shudder**.

However, at the online Writer's Retreat that I frequent (and get lots of writing tips from), there are these fun monthly competitions called Monthly Write Offs. What it is, is this: one person gets to be the "Ruler", and say what kind of story needs to happen, i.e., fantasy, fiction, non-fiction, etc. The Ruler also gets to say what kind of word count you get, whether 750 words to 2500, or even 500 MAX! Then there are certain key elements that you must include. For example, in one Monthly Write Off, we had to insert four different random lines (two of them were "Give it to me",and "It must be a joke") and several different words, such as "confabulation", into the story, and make it FLOW. It's always fun, and at the end of the month you've got this story you'd never thought you'd write, but which might just be marketable.

Well, for the MWO in May, we did a Halloween theme, and I surprised myself by actually dreaming up something creepy! Really, really creepy. I scared myself, you know? In fact, it was so eerie I called it the Reaper's Son, and submitted it with a kind of shocked disbelief that I had written it. Now, I'm in the revision process of the Reaper's Son, and I've got two potential markets I'm going to sub it to. Isn't that something?

So, no matter what genre you think you're "blocked" into, remind yourself to always try something new. I'm rather fond of the Reaper's Son... I hope I'm able to place it. Be that as it may, it opened a new door for me and let me explore a new niche that I actually enjoyed venturing into.

Good night!