It's blog chaing time again! Why you do what you do...

This blog chain topic was brought to you by the lovely Michelle who asked,

"Do you choose WHAT you do because of WHO you are? Or is who you are determined by what you do?"

Check out the stupendous Shaun who answered before me and the tantalizing Rebecca who will answer tomorrow.

I can go both ways with this question. The desire to create is as powerful to me as my desire to eat, sleep, and breathe. If I wasn't writing, sewing, or quilting - well - I'd probably find myself in a nice padded room.

I'm sure most of you can relate. I often joke about the voices that whisper stories inside my head. To a non-writer, this is a sure sign that I need to up my medication. But for those of you who have chosen to follow the most heart breaking, rewarding, frustrating, and euphoric paths there is, you know that you didn't really choose to take it at all. You know that where your muse travels you must follow. And if you're like me, you ran down that dark scary path, stumbled a few times, and continue on - refusing to look back.

I can say that following my creative path has allowed me to do some fun things with my appearance that I wouldn't have been able to do were I still serving my time in a cubicle.
Three words: Teal Hair Dye
:)

It's Blog Chain Time Again!!!

The fabulous Kate started our current topic - Rule Breaking - by asking:

"What writing rules/advice - whether it was a matter of cannot or will not - have you broken?"

Please check out the astounding Shaun's blog (who posted before me) and the stupendous Rebecca's blog (whose post will follow mine).

As you can already tell, one of my favorite rules to break is that I love adjectives. But I won't go into great detail because that blog has already been posted on the chain. I encourage you to start with Kate's original post and read through the entire chain because this has really been a great topic - one I'm not going to address.

"What?!?"

I know, right? My rule breaking is going to be not following the rules of the blog chain.

"Bad, Cole! Bad! No cookie for you!!!"

I'm only doing this because the posts before me have been so fabulous (there's that adjective again - hee) that I felt I didn't have any more to add on the subject.

Instead, I'm going to tell you about a writing rule that I WON'T break. Now, this isn't a writing rule per say, but rather my own personal rule: My main characters will not drink or use drugs.



That's not to say that they won't be around it. It's high school after all and it would be unrealistic if I didn't include situations that reflected the pressures of an average teenager's life. In fact, in my second book, my poor MC is on a speed boat surrounded by her drunk and stoned peers when the driver of the boat decides to race a rival's boat. It was important for me to show the negative role the drugs and alcohol played in the events that followed.

I can't say that when I was in high school I didn't experiment. I wish I could say that, though. So please don't think I'm all self-righteous or anything - that's not my intention at all. I've just read far too many YA books where the characters drink and smoke and it's portrayed in a positive light. When I became a mother I was filled with a sense of responsibility. As a writer for young adults, it's my job to give them realistic characters, that while not perfect, teach my readers that it's okay to say "No".

It's my own personal rule. How about you, YA authors? Do feel responsible for the actions of your characters?

Okay, sorry that I veered so off topic. I know some of you were really hoping for some rules. So, without further adieu, here is a video with rules that I live by. Enjoy :)

Write or Die

Woo Hoo! I'm back in the game. I must say - this writing without thinking about editing really works. I just have to get over the fact that I'm writing crap and I'll be able to fix it later.

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lab.drwicked.com

Things I learned at Dragoncon

What a blast! You'd think that with all the celebrities, parties, and all around debauchery that there would be no time to learn anything at Dragoncon. Well, you'd be wrong!

I took several of Michael Stackpole's writer's workshops and was suprised by the Eureka moment that occured.

The following are two important things I learned:

1. Never read a novel without a notebook near by. Genious! Why haven't I been doing that? *face palm*

2. Never edit your WIP while it's a WIP. D'oh! Michael said that when you switch to editing mode it hinders creative mode. If you edit while you write your internal editor is going to whisper negative comments in your ear while your writing which may slow or stop your writing all together. OMG this rings so true with me. So crit groups, I'm going to be MIA for a bit. I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, I took a workshop by Michael called "How to Write a Novel in 21 Days". It was fabulous. Lucky for you guys you can go to his website and download his workshops and books for yourselves! :)

My book picks!

Today, while I was in the library, the children's librarian approached me and asked if I would mind giving my book pick selections to be displayed in the young adult section of the library.
Let me see...Young adult books are my absolute favorite things in the world and now I get to share my favorites with the local YAs? Squee!

So here's where I need your help. I composed two lists for September and October, my only problem is I have a tendency to lean toward the female protag paranormal, well, for obvious reasons. :) So I would love your suggestions and additions to my lists!

September - The YA Must Reads (no particular order)
1. GRACELING - Kristin Cashore
2. HUNGER GAMES - Suzanne Collins
3. UGLIES - Scott Westerfield
4. WICKED LOVELY - Melissa Marr
5. TWILIGHT - Stephanie Meyer
6. BEASTLY - Alex Flinn
7. 13 REASONS WHY - Jay Ashers
8. WAKE - Lisa McMann
9. I'D TELL YOU I LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU - Ally Carter
10. THE PRINCESS DIARIES - Meg Cabot

October - Spine Tingling Tales (no particular order)
1. THE HOLLOW - Jessica Verday
2. SWOON - Nina Malkin
3. BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE - Katie Alenders
4. A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT - Laura Whitcomb
5. THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH - Carrie Ryan
6. SHADOWED SUMMER - Saundra Mitchell (I haven't read this one yet, but it's on my list)
7. STRANGE ANGELS - Lili St. Crow
8. PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS - Margaret Stohl

Also, I was invited to give my suggestions for future YA book purchases. Automatically I thought of:
THE HOLLOW by Jessica Verday
ASH by Melinda Lo
HATE LIST by Jennifer Brown.

What I'd like to know is: What upcoming YA books are you dying to read?

Please help me out by commenting!!!