The Good, the Bad, and the Blogfest

I thought I would throw together another fun facts post, since I had way too many things I wanted to talk about. A few things are good, some others are not (or at least aren't yet!). Oh yeah, and some kind of blogfest, or something...

The Good

- I have this weekend off! Working every other weekend instead of every single weekend ever makes my current job infinitely better than my last one.
- My fiance had jury duty yesterday and luckily didn't get picked for a jury, plus came home early and since it was my day off, we got to go out to lunch and spend some time together.
- As much as I would have loved to go to the first ever Broadwaycon this past weekend, being in New York during the snowstorm would have been a disaster! While my main reason for not going was money, I'm glad I didn't cave in and go.
- The snowstorm didn't hit us too hard here. I walk to work, so all I had to do was put on some boots. Plus while I was working, my fiance cleaned all the snow off my car <3

The Bad

- I won't be switching to earlier hours at work because something went wrong with the person they hired to take my hours. So now I have to wait until they hire another person, and it's a really long process. Guess it's still 11-7:30 for me for a while...
- I didn't get to read any blog posts on Monday since I pretty much went to bed right after work. I also procrastinated too much on Tuesday and probably didn't get to everyone's posts like I wanted to.
- The A to Z Challenge sign ups have already begun! Can you believe it? I can't! I don't know if I can participate this year. If I can come up with a theme like, within the next week or so, then I can try to write my posts ahead of time. If I can't get them all done before April, then there's just no way I'll have time to take part.
- I have had a theme idea floating around in my head but I'm not sure if I have enough ideas for every letter: guilty pleasures. I think it could be fun but I'll I've thought of so far are a few TV shows and some junk food. I don't know if I have 26 guilty pleasures at all, let alone one for every letter of the alphabet.
- There was a bomb threat made to where I work on Monday night (and is also right up the street from my apartment). Luckily it turned out to be nothing. There have been a ton of bomb threats around my state in the news lately and they need to stop!

The Blogfest

In case you missed it, I'm hosting another Muse Party Blogfest! This one is the (Anti-) Valentine's Day Edition. Whether you love Valentine's Day or hate it, if you have a muse (or a character) you can still have fun at the party! Find out all the details and sign up here!

Well, that's pretty much all that's going on right now. Writing? you may ask. What writing? There was never any writing...kidding. I have no idea! Add that one to the bad list, I suppose. But I'm trying not to dwell on it.

Has your week been good or bad? Have any guilty pleasures? Have you signed up for the Muse Party Blogfest (you should!)??

Questionable Google Searches

I thought I'd do a quick little fun post today (and make a list! I love lists!). As writers, we have to do a lot of research when we're writing our books. No matter how familiar we are with our subject, there is always going to be something that we don't know. So chances are you're gonna have to do a little research. And maybe sometimes you have to Google some questionable stuff. Stuff that makes you think whoever is monitoring this sort of thing probably thinks you're some kind of weirdo.

But hey, books can be complicated. Maybe one of your characters commits a crime, or one gets hurt and you have to search for what happens during blood loss (it was a vampire story, ok??). Not every story is happy and fluffy and requires zero sinister or questionable activity.

I've had a particular story on my mind for the past few days and I was thinking about all of the research I'm going to have to do for it. And when you put all of those things together, it seems like a very screwed up kind of story. So that's what I did. Put all of the things I have already searched for or will eventually have to search for in order to write this book into one weird list. Some of the things are more tame, others are not.

So here are all of the potential Google searches for this particular novel, whose title is most likely going to be Truth or Dare, and I may or may not ever write it. It could just stay in the back of my brain forever.

• Colleges in New York City
• Wedding announcements
• Private investigators (although I'm more than likely going to have a character find another one through Facebook instead)
• Paternity testing 
• Candy Land
• Do open bars ask for ID? 
• Characteristics of an abusive relationship
• Types of recreational drugs 
• Effects of rohypnol
• Several legal questions, including:
• Third degree assault
• Attempted sexual assault
• What the victim has to go through to report these things
• How likely it would be prosecuted & what happens when the defendant pleads guilty
• Also, statute of limitations on a past crime
• How long does a black eye take to heal? 
• Bunk beds 

I figured I'd end on a light note there with the bunk beds. And maybe at some point I should write just a normal, happy, fluffy story. Yeah, at some point...

Happy Friday!

Question: What's the weirdest thing you've ever had to Google while writing a story? 

Things I Should Be Doing

Since I couldn't quite decide what to write about today, I thought I'd provide a sort of counterpart to my Things I'm Doing Today post. Because that was a busy day, and today is not. So here are the things I should be doing.

Turning off the TV

If I can turn it off before the Law & Order: SVU marathon starts, then maybe I can save myself. Oh wait, was Glee new last night? It was, wasn’t it? Uggggh…must…resist…On Demand screen!!!!

Grocery shopping

            Seriously, I have no food.

Working on my 100 facts

Still at 55. I’m sure I can come up with more ideas. Right? I just don’t want them to be nonsense! Like this post!

Reading

I know I write better when I’m also reading something. But then reading takes away time that could be spent writing! I can’t win! I’ve got a pile of books waiting for me. I still have J.H. Trumble’s latest book, but I kind of don’t want to start reading it because I don’t want to be done reading her books. I love them so much! And I know the universe wants me to read David Sedaris but I’ve only gotten two stories into Naked and that was like, two months ago. Somebody tell my books to stop staring at me.

Planning this stupid trip

Still no hotel room. No bus tickets. No dinner reservation. I still want a picnic, though. Yes, in February. It could happen.

           

Writing my synopsis

Do I really think I’m going to be able to do this last minute? No, this needs to be crafted. Every sentence needs to be perfectly executed, giving just enough detail to tell people about the story and still leave them curious.

Doing more to promote my blog

            It’s not like this is something new or anything.

Actually venturing out into the world to do my Christmas shopping

But…but…that would require interacting with people. And finding a parking spot. And dodging psychos with shopping carts. It’s just so easy to point and click and wait for a package! I’m introverted, what do you want from me?!

And finally...

Things I’m Actually Doing That Aren’t Useless:

I did start my second draft last night. Totally revamping the first chapter. I wanted to start in a scene rather than having a whole page of exposition before anything happens. I really like how it’s coming out so far. And I’m handwriting it! How crazy is that?!

I'm also planning out my blog posts for next week. Sort of a buildup to the 100^th post. I think I’ll post the synopsis sometime during the week, so that on Sunday I can just focus on the 100 facts and not have the post be too long. I’m also thinking of sharing some snippets of dialogue in a post called “The Dialogue Awards.” Hopefully they’ll make sense out of context. But I’ve got fun categories, like “Most Romantic,” “Best Inappropriate Comeback,” and “Best Brian Still Doesn’t Know that Jordan is Gay Line.” Should be fun!

Well, hopefully this post was good for a laugh. Come back next week when all the festivities begin! Still don’t know what to get Jordan for his birthday, though. It’s kinda hard to keep a secret from someone who lives in your brain…

            

Things I'm Doing Today

It's time for another list! Because I don't have time for a real post! Kinda sorta like my fun facts. But instead, here's a list of the various writing and non-writing things I am doing today. Hope it's worth a chuckle.

Today I am:

• Working a double. Yay. 
• Looking forward to the next four days off! 
• Accepting the impending doom that is my NaNo defeat. I've barely gotten past 20,000 words. It's not looking good. But hey, four days off, you never know. 
• Procrastinating. On several things. Activating my new phone. Finding a hotel room for my trip. Grocery shopping. Not a lot of fruits, veggies, or pretty much anything to make dinner with, but there's lots of yogurt and waffles! 
• Totally cheating on my diet. I've lost about 8 pounds so far, but I also have absolutely no will power. Plus, you know, no food. Which results in either take out or bringing food home from work. So even the salads will make you fat. 
• Making a motivational playlist. It seemed like a good idea. I may or may not share it once it's done. Because, you know, spaz. 
• Geeking out that Catching Fire, the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, and Frozen all premiere within a week of each other. And that week is almost here. So much geekery, so little time. 
• Feeling a serious need to go shoe shopping. I mean, it's getting cold. I need boots! Nice boots. With heels. In several colors. 
• Anticipating the end of NaNo and the return to editing. Really, really want to get my book query ready. Don't get me wrong, I like my NaNo book, but focusing completely on that is giving me withdrawals. 
• Still having absolutely no idea what to do for my 100th post. 

What is everyone else up to today? 

Fun Facts: I Wish...

Time for another round of ramblings! It's better than nothing, right? Tonight's edition is a list of things that I wish for, some big, some small. Some have to do with writing, others don't. But it was fun.

I wish…

• I could eliminate 98% of my social awkwardness. I think 2% is good for being quirky and adorable, don’t you? 
• Writing burned lots and lots of calories. 
• I was more stylish. 
• I had 20/20 vision. Or like, 30 pairs of glasses. Because, you know…STYLISH. 
• I had an apartment with two rooms. 
• I hated cheesecake. But I don’t. I really don’t. 
• That my book will be turned into a movie and I get to write the screenplay and I get my dream cast and we all win Oscars! Totally realistic, right? 
• I could make friends more easily. And also had a real life gay best friend. That’s probably why I created one to live in my head… 
• I had a library like Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. 
• I didn’t look horrible in every single picture of myself. I mean, every. Single. One. 
• That I could change at least one person’s life with my writing. 

Well, that's it (for now). What sorts of things do you wish for?

Fun Facts: Volume Two

I'm finishing up a chapter tonight (hopefully) so as a fun little side project I've been making a list of things my characters are always doing. You probably don't notice these things when you talk to someone in real life--the sighs, shrugs, and all the tiny little movements we make that reflect our moods or what we're saying. In writing, these things are usually filler, especially in scenes with a lot of dialogue. They help make the scene more real and break up the line after line of speech. However, if you're like me, you end up using the same actions again and again. And again. Sometimes this can be useful, if say, one character has a particular trait that is shown regularly. But when you're constantly bombarding the reader with these little action tags, they might learn to just glaze over them to get to the juicy dialogue. So this is my list, and I am most certainly poking fun at myself. Maybe you'll notice the same things you make your characters do.

Things My Characters are Always Doing

• Sighing
• Shrugging
• Smirking
• Rolling eyes
• Frowning--This wouldn't be so bad, but having a first person narrator realize that he’s doing it feels a bit odd
• Smiling sadly--EEK! An adverb! With an oxymoron! Kill it! KILL IT!
• Glaring at each other/eyes narrowing--If I put Jordan and his mother in a scene, my God...I'm surprised they can see enough to walk around with all the glaring.
• Staring
• Grinning
• Taking deep breaths/exhaling slowly
• Sticking tongues out--Ok, that's pretty much just Jordan. He's a cranky little boy who likes getting his way.
• Shaking heads--Interesting note, not a lot of nodding. Apparently my characters are always disagreeing with each other. 
• Groaning--In frustration! My God, get your mind out of the gutter!
• Moaning--Ok, proceed to the gutter...
• Snatching things--cell phones, wrists, and a chin once to steal a kiss, but I'm not getting rid of that. It was adorable. 

I'm sure there's more, but these are my worst offenses. I hope they were good for a laugh.

Fun Facts: Volume One

What's that, you say? This isn't a real blog post? Again? Well, too bad. I'm feverishly typing away Chapter Five at the moment and with my writing-ADD I started making a list of things I've noticed about my writing. I find most of them rather humorous, so hopefully you can at least have a laugh this week.

Here goes:

• ·         Despite my self-proclaimed status as grammar nazi, I wholeheartedly believe that when it comes to dialogue, all bets are off. People don’t always speak perfectly. I probably overuse “uhs” and “ums” and “…” as well. I won’t apologize. Except maybe to my first editor.

• ·         If I’m writing from the point of view of a teenager (which is, um, always), I will find some way to get their parents out of the picture, whether it’s through supernatural elements, important jobs, or general whorishness (e.g. Jordan’s mom).

• ·         I didn’t know whorishness was an actual word until Microsoft Word did not put a red squiggly line under it just now.

• ·         I will never just give you the first person narrator’s name. You gotta work for it, wait for the right character to say it. Sometimes you have to wait for chapter two.

• ·         I live under the impression (or delusion) that every male character I’ve ever created has no chest hair and wears boxers. And they’re circumcised. There, I said it.

• ·         I have a tendency to occasionally write prose in a poetic fashion. And even if it’s beautiful, it never works. So let’s just say that rereading Lolita for inspiration right now is not helping as much as I had hoped. WHERE ARE ALL THESE FLOWERY WORDS COMING FROM? DAMN YOU HUMBERT!

• ·         I feel as though I have a translator in my brain that takes what I want to write and changes it into what a teenage boy would say. My favorite example is a line of dialogue that started as “please don’t speak,” and in about five seconds became, “just shut up, ok?” This translator was not always so great and my original strategy was just to swear a lot.

• ·         What isn’t so easy is having a word that seems PERFECT for the situation but then I realize that my narrator wouldn’t know or use that word. So if anybody has a dumbed down word that means “pretense,” please let me know.

• ·         I’m crazy about making playlists for my books. There are official ones, unofficial ones. And if you happened to make your way into the Borders I used to work at that one Thursday night during liquidation, you were poisoned with the playlist for my current book because I was allowed to take over the CD player. I will now enjoy an evil laugh with my muse.

• ·         He just said that he doesn’t have an evil laugh, but that all of his laughs are inherently evil.

• ·         Sometimes, and I mean ONLY sometimes, and it has to be the perfect trigger (when my boyfriend annoys me) I will start talking as Jordan. He always catches on right away, which I suppose is a good thing, if it means I’ve defined the voice enough.

Ok, I’m done rambling, I swear. I’ll get back to my chapter now.