Have I Seen This Before?

Today, myself, Nicole Ducleroir, and Lydia K are co-hosting DL Hammon’s 
DÉJÀ VU BLOGEST! 

The Gist: On December 16^th, everyone who has signed up will repost an old blogpost- perhaps from their early days- or a post they feel is the most helpful or worthy of a bigger audience.  

**What I love about this idea is that it’s a way to unite the blogosphere in a really accessible way- no need to brainstorm, research, or put together a new post, because the posts have already been written! And it's an occasion to reflect on what you want to put back out there now that you’ve been in the blogosphere for awhile.  It will be interesting to see what everyone picks to post that day and I wonder if I’ll be able to recognize any of the oldies!**

For more details, be sure to visit DL at Cruising Altitude 2.0. 


You can SIGN UP HERE!

This Is Why...

250 paper pages.

75,000 printed words.

A cast of supporting characters.

A girl named Sadie Brooks.

A whole story with a beginning, middle, and end...

And to think, none of it existed just a few short months ago. 

I created this.  Out of thin air. Like magic.

I took something invisible and intangible- a simple idea. 

And I made it into something concrete- something you can hold in your hands.  Words that stick on the page, exactly as I wrote them, even if you crumple it.  Something I can share.

That is the power of the written word. 

And there's nothing else like it.

*CQG*

We All Know Sacrifice

Today is the long awaited chart-rush for Jessica Bell’s debut novel ‘String Bridge’- a story about a young woman, Melody, who struggles to go after the dreams she’d set aside in order to become a wife and mother.

We all know sacrifice.  It seems like no matter what stage our lives are in, we had to sacrifice something to get there. - Whether it’s sacrificing proximity to our loved ones in order to set out on our own, go to college, or get married.

We might sacrifice time spent with family in order to progress in our career.

Or sacrifice our career in order to have a family.

We give up old pleasures for new ones and it’s a constant balance of cutting out things that once made us tick without cutting out a part of who we are. – Meanwhile trying to make sure we always take a step forward and not a step back.

As writers and artists, sacrifice can come in even more shapes and sizes which is why I think Bell’s book, String Bridge, has touched so many in the writing community:

“Jessica Bell’s STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page, yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy—just as with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell’s narrative.” ~ Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie and Publishing Editor ofRose & Thorn Journal

“Poet and musician Jessica Bell's debut novel String Bridge is a rich exploration of desire, guilt, and the difficult balancing act of the modern woman. The writing is lyrical throughout, seamlessly integrating setting, character and plot in a musical structure that allows the reader to identify with Melody's growing insecurity as her world begins to unravel … String Bridge is a powerful debut from a promising writer, full of music, metaphor, and just a hint of magic.” ~ Magdalena Ball, author of Repulsion Thrust and Sleep Before Evening

“Jessica Bell is a brilliant writer of great skill and depth. She doesn't pull back from the difficult scenes, from conflict, pain, intensity. She puts it all out there, no holds barred, no holding back. She knows how to craft a scene, how to develop character, how to create suspense. This is an absolutely brilliant debut novel. I look forward to reading her next novel, and next and next.” ~ Karen Jones Gowen, author of Farm Girl,Uncut Diamonds and House of Diamonds

I've known Jessica more than a year now, and I can tell you, she is an amazing, evocative writer. Her descriptions are so real and intense, and she can conjure a difficult scene and fill it with so much emotion, you'll be crawling for the door...- Leigh T. Moore 

So today I’ve got my running shoes on and I am rushing Amazon’s chart list to get my own copy of String Bridge! Plus, if you buy it today you get the Sting Bridge sound track for FREE!!! Hope to see you there!

To purchase String Bridge:

Paperback:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

Ebook:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Dear JK, It's me, Creepy.

Okay, so nanowrimo is starting to make me feel a little like Jekyll and Hyde. This weekend I was filled with optimism. 

Then this morning I spent fifteen minutes staring at a blank page.

I don’t like what I’ve written. 

I’ve begun this book all wrong. 

And this idea!?

 Okay.  I still think the idea has merit.  But it’s like having this very specific, vibrant, colorful image in my head- but when I go to paint it, everything is ‘off’’.  The colors are dull, the lines blurry- it’s just a shadow of what I’d hoped to capture and not coming out at all the way I’d imagined. 

Now comes my inner conflict-  After getting almost 4k into it, should I trash it all and start from scratch?  4k isn’t that much, after all. Or in the spirit of Nano- should I just keep writing from the point I’d want to see things change and tell myself I’ll go back and cut at the end of the month?

To be honest, the second idea makes me cringe.  Just like old habits dye hard- all the new writing habits I’ve acquired through hard work and study of the craft are making it difficult to just let things slide and move on.  My inner editor, who was duct-taped to a chair over the weekend, has broken free and is now gibbering loudly in my ear. 

It’s saying : ‘Katie.  You’ve tried pantsing a project before and look what happened.  It’s still sitting in your closet.  You might work through it, with it, or around it but you can’t deny it- you are a revision hater and therefore you can’t give yourself the liberty of spewing out a first draft as it comes.  And at this rate, this thing is going to end up needing more editing than you’re honestly willing to deal with.  Pull out now and save yourself the heart ache.  Abort!  Abort!”

So it appears Nanowrimo and I are at a stand still. 

Okay, that’s not exactly true.  It’s more like:

Nanowrimo: 1

Me: 0

These are the kinds of situations that have me wondering ‘WWJKRD?’. 

*CQG*

You Show Me Yours, I'll Show You Mine

Now, there is a reason I started plotting manuscripts instead of pantsing them.  My first manuscript was pantsed.

It was also 180,000 words long. 

Just like my natural hair color makes me look naturally gross, my natural writing habits do nothing good for me or my manuscript.  So had to tweak them- experiment and try out new methods, lengths and colors until I found one that fit my face.  (You know what I mean.)

Some people have the opposite problem- They underwrite;  write down conversations with sparse description and then have to go back and fill out their scenes.

For the first time in a long time I find myself writing a pantsed project for Nanowrimo.  Okay- it’s practically pantsed.  I only outlined the first three chapters and after that all I have are some vague overhead guidelines to follow.

However, my tendency to overwrite might end up coming in handy if I want to meet the 50k mark by the end of the month.  Nanowrimo is definitely giving my natural writing tendencies some ugly dark roots.

Some (most) of the details aren’t necessary.  Like what the MC has picked out wear or what she’s eating or the layout of her home.

Or the needless descriptions of the building.

Or her town.

Or the state. 

Or the weather. 

Or her physical health.

And I’m also indulging back-story galore.

Bad bad bad bad bad.

Will I keep most of the gibberish that’s twisting my plot into pretzel–like pieces?  Probably not.  But I’m having a hell of a lot of fun discovering this new world in minute detail.

What is your natural writing style? (You can be brave and include your natural hair color too if you want:) Mine’s swamp brown. It’s scary.)  Would writing 50k in a month be a challenge for you underwriters?  Overwriters?  

Failure, Finds, and Follower's Bloffee

Well, the first week of Nanowrimo is already half over and I have written a total of *drumroll please*:

0 words

I know.  This isn’t looking good so far.  In my defence, I did sit down and outline the first three chapters Tuesday.  But since then, I haven’t had any writing time and the scariest thing of all (and my biggest hurdle to overcome) is that it usually takes me weeks to get down the first chapter (see my post on the first chapter hokey pokey)- it’s where I’m meeting my characters and setting for the first time – setting the foundations and I’m one of those writers who just can’t seem to go on until it’s ‘just right’.  Once the first chapter is down though- things usually flow a lot faster.  But I’m definitely starting to feel as though I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

It doesn’t help that I’ve recently discovered (been held hostage by) the Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs.  I could eat these books for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. – They remind me a little of the Sookie Stackhouse series but with werewolves and a much less girly protagonist. 

Now on to a little bloffee.  I could use at least two cups this morning.

All you need to participate in our usual Friday Morning Follower’s Bloffee is:

1.  Comment. 

2. Tell me what you’ve brought for morning bloffee.  (Today I have black coffee with sugar and some 'pains au chocolats' already laid out.) 

3. Click on someone you don’t know in the comments section and check out their blog!  Voila- a new friend and potential follower connection has been made!

In the meantime, I should be around later on this morning to respond to comments and visit.  Tell me- any recurring themes you noticed in blogland this week?  Any ‘finds’ or books you couldn’t put down?

I hope you all have a great weekend!

*CQG*

Open your Mind and walk across a String Bridge

Yeah, I know my title is lame but it's the only way I could think of to include both long-anticipated book releases this week- String Bridge by Jessica Bell and Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn.  I’m so excited for the authors and- of course to read their new books and you should be too!

In honor of Susan’s release of Open Minds- I’m going to share a recent experience.

 As some of you might know, Halloween only arrived in France in 1998.  It saw a rise and then a fatal decline.  Most shopping centers didn’t even sell Halloween paraphernalia this yearL 

But being the stubborn American that I am- determined to give my children and others the authentic ‘experience’, I bit the bullet and went door to door around my neighborhood last week, asking my French neighbors (whom I’d never met- in most cases.  French people in the city suburbs really prefer to keep to themselves and not be bothered) if they wanted to participate in the ‘trick or treating’ part of my Halloween party.  I explained what they had to do and even offered to bring a bag of candy to hand out before hand (because you can’t go up to a French person and say ‘we’re celebrating Halloween.  Go buy candy please.)

To my infinite surprise- not only did most of my neighbors agree, but they congratulated me on my efforts- some offered to buy the candy themselves and others asked if their own children could participate! :)  But then I got to one house where the husband agreed with a smile (once I said I’d provide the candy myself) until his wife came downstairs, took one look at me and said: ‘What do you want?’.

Her husband tried to explain to her but the moment she heard the word ‘Halloween’ she shook her head and cried ‘Oh no no no!  We want no part of that.  Forget it.  The answer’s no.’  She and her husband continued to argue while I tried to slink away from their house with my apologies but the husband shook his head at me and explained that his wife was just in a bad mood because the kids had gotten her riled up and to pay her no attention.  #awkward.

Against my better judgment, I arrived on their doorstep with a bag of candy the afternoon before the Halloween party.  The same woman answered the door- and this time she was looking a lot less worked up.  She apologized for biting my head off the week before and confided that she really found Halloween to be ‘dark, ugly, and without sense.’ 

Thankfully, I’ve been teaching French children about the origins of Halloween for the last four years so I have an entire historical schpiel engraved in my memory.  I explained to her how France also celebrates All Hallows Day on November 1^st- here it’s the Toussaint and it’s the day of the dead.  Most people bring flowers to dead relatives and clean up their graves. 

With that I explained the origin of the idea of All Hallows Eve and how the traditions of dressing up and giving candy came about.  She listened with interest, nodding here and there but then at the end said:  ‘Well the children do it for the candy in any case.’ 

I couldn’t disagree with that. 

But that night when we arrived at her house- the woman looked at the large group of costumed children in surprise and grinned ear to ear as she handed out candy.  She even went and got a camera and followed us to the next house!

I could tell that it went against her grain, but that woman kept an open mind and in the end, shared in the joy and festivities of Halloween.  It was, for me, a sight to see.

I hope everybody here had a fantastic Halloween!  And be sure to check out Open Minds and String Bridge!!!