Going Away but Not Really

Hey guys I'm leaving to go up to Michigan today, and I won't be back until next Friday!  Don't worry though, I won't be completely gone.  I've got a few posts 'preposted' and I'm bringing *my trusty new iPhone* in its sapphire blue iPhone case, so I'll still be able to see your comments :)

Speaking of iPhones, I still can't get over how awesome they are.

It's small and easy to carry around.  You can access internet from almost anywhere.  You can text, and call and listen to music.  You can blog.  You can read (download Kindle).  If you're a gamer, you can play games.

But the best part is that, being a writer (and a fast texter/typer), I can take notes and get down ideas.  Honestly, I forget things a lot.

Sometimes I have that genius moment and figure out a key point in a plot, but I don't always have access to paper.  One thing I do always have with me is my phone!  So it's really helped keeping my ideas together and down!

In my opinion, there's only four things a person needs.  Food, shelter, love, and an iPhone.  And with those four things you can do pretty much anything :)

Do you have an iPhone?  Do you want an iPhone?  What do you think about them?


Have a wonderful weekend!


--Jess

Oh Dear... The Challenges of Rewriting

I just realized I have to totally rework The Inferiors.

Again.

The first time I had to fix it, luckily I'd only written the first 30K out of what's now 112,000 words.  It was challenging.  Rewriting something you've already written is ridiculously hard!

Fortunately, I only had to rewrite 30,000 words then.

Now?

I've got 112K to sift through.  Hopefully I can keep a lot of it.  There are a few parts I don't want to lose, but the entire thing needs to be shortened.  Reason?

I discovered that the "end" isn't actually a good place to end the story.

In my head, I have a timeline of all three books.  Originally, when I first started writing book 1, I had no idea it was going to be a trilogy.  It was all meant to be one book.  But when I began to hugely exceed the standard YA word count, I had to break it up.

Anyway, my mental timeline includes just about everything in the story, from beginning of book one to the end of book three.  And as I'm going over it, there's no way book 2 can end where it did!  (Trust me, I've read over it like four times and the current ending is lame anyway.)

So, in the end, I guess I'm not rewriting it all.  'Compressing it' is more accurate I guess.

Using Curse Words in Your Story

Let me just tell you that I'm not much of a 'swearing' person.  On occasion I'll curse in my head, or if things are really bad (EXAMPLE: I realize all the edits I made last night weren't saved) a word might accidentally slip.  But usually I'll say it quietly and I'll cut myself off before I finish.

Swearing makes me uncomfortable.  Of course, it bothered me a lot more when I was younger than it does now.  Back then, saying 'crap' was a bad word.  But still, hearing people swear just makes me feel a little on edge.

Verbally, I have issues with swearing.

But for some reason, when it comes to writing, swearing and cursing is no problemo.

I don't know what it is.

Maybe it's because I don't feel like it's me cursing/swearing.  My story line has grown so much from what it was that I hardly have control over what my characters say.  THEY'RE the one's cursing, not me!

When I'm reading other stories, cursing doesn't bother me.  Maybe it's because I know the writer's trying to show me a character.  Not all people swear, so when you've got someone who does, it shows their character.  But if I hear swearing in an audio book, for some reason my opinion changes.

In my current trilogy Rise, I made up my own curse words.  It's a sci-fi/dystopian trilogy, so the made up curse words work (I hope).  But whether I'm using the actual words or made up versions of them, in writing I have no problem using them.

Do you guys use curse words in your work?  Are you uncomfortable using them?  Do you make up your own?  Please share!


Oh, just something random:  yesterday we went bike riding for almost twelve miles through really pretty forest (yes, we have pretty forests in Ohio).  It was so much fun, despite how much it hurt over time.  The one downside to it all was that near the very end, a bird pooped on me.

I honestly wish I was joking.


Happy Monday :)

--Jess

Too Many Things and Definitely Not Enough Time

Hey guys.

Um... sorry I wasn't 'here' on Wednesday.  It's not that I forgot about you, I promise!

Honestly, I thought the summer would make things easier.  And in a way it has.  It's allowed me more time to edit, write, read, skate, paint, play my violin... everything I love to do.

But by doing all these other things, I've realized that I actually have a lot less time now!!  Let's see... I have to beta read a book, give feedback on a first chapter, critique a few chapters, make a few last changes to From the Ashes, catch up on reading all of your blogs, make a list of other things to post about... * sighs *

The list goes on and on... like the energizer bunny.  Except I'm not feeling quite so energetic about it all.  Just thinking about it is making me exhausted!

Wednesday was sorta the epitome of my brain overload.  We weren't home for five hours because of skating/my violin lesson (both take up a lot of time, lol).

I have 20 unread emails, way too many facebook notifications and a whole bunch more from twitter.  I'm honestly dreading going through them all.

Oh well.  I gotta do it all sometime!  Might as well start now...

So yeah, I didn't forget about anything!!  I've just been so busy.

Luckily, thanks to my best friend Kate, ideas for book 2 and 3 have been coming to me like magic.  So at least in the writing world, things have been moving rather smoothly.

Don't let the procrastination bug bite you this weekend!

Happy Friday :)

--Jess

Interview with Esther Jones

Happy Monday everyone!!  Today, I'm interviewing Esther Jones because she was one of the two winners of this month's Knights of MicroFiction!

Okay, let the questions begin!!

So Esther, when did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I can't remember how old I was, but I was very young.  I wrote a story about a girl and a horse, and my parents told me it was very good.  I realized I might just have a talent.

What's your current WiP about?  We'd love a short summary!


Peter never considered that the undead he hunted might have a family, or that one of them would hunt him down and exact revenge.  Now a vampire himself, Peter is obsessed with finding the one who turned him--to thank him by taking his head off.

Lance has many regrets in his long life, not the least of which is turning Peter into a vampire.  However, more than anything, he misses his twin brother Raoul who Peter killed.

Christopher wants nothing more than to be just like Lance; first, because he thinks being a vampire is cool, then because he truly admires Lance (to the point of hero worship).  However, Lance is reluctant to turn another human.

Wow, sounds like a very interesting WiP!  I haven't read very many vampire stories, but it sounds like one I might pick up!
Now, what books have most influenced you?


Oh, my goodness.  So many.  I guess I'd have to say Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, anything by Terry Brooks, and the Harry Potter series.

Wow, I love Terry Brooks!  I read Star Wars: The Phantom Menace by him and I loved it.  Always been meaning to read the other two :)
What is the most difficult aspect of writing for you?


Novels.  I can toss off a poem, flash fiction, or short story quite easily, but I've never finished a novel.  I've got several ideas, but fleshing them out into that many words is so difficult for me.  I've always written very concisely, and I hardly ever put enough description into my scenes.

I totally agree.  Poems and flash fictions are the easier of the lot.  Short stories are difficult for me because they always end up wanting to be novels though.
So, what are your goals for this year?


Finish my current WiP (not sure if it's a novel or something shorter).

Awesome!  Good luck!
How long have you been blogging and how has it improved your writing?


I started my writing blog on April 1, 2012.  Before that, I had a photo-a-day-for-a-year blog.  Blogging about my own struggles and triumphs in writing and reading others' blogs has been an invaluable source of encouragement.  I've gone from thinking, "Maybe someday I'll write something and then think about maybe getting published" to actively working on a story with the intent of publishing.

Great job!  That transition from wanting to be published to actually writing is hard, but definitely essential (for obvious reasons, lol :)
What do you do when you're not writing?


I read (of course - lol), I play Lord of the Rings Online, I spend time with my husband, and I watch tv (mostly fantasy & sci-fi shows).

Is there anything else we should know about you?


I am the oldest of 8 children-- I have 1 younger sister, and 6 younger brothers.  I live in the middle of the Canadian prairies, although I grew up in the middle of beautiful British Columbia.  I play piano and guitar, and sometimes I write music.

Wow, that's so cool!  I always wanted to play guitar!


Unfortunately, that's all the time we have left today, so everyone give Esther Jones a round of applause and go congratulate/follow her blog!


Have a great Monday everyone!

--Jess

KoMF Winners!

Okay, guys it's time to announce the winners of this month's KoMF!  Thanks so much to everyone who participated!  Kathy and I really enjoyed reading everyone's entries.

Anyway, the two winners are:

Esther Jones and Nick Wilford!!

Great job guys!  As a prize, you've been awarded an interview on either Kathy's or my blog on... either Monday or Tuesday!  We'll be emailing you shortly about the details :)

So yeah, go congratulate them!

To all the dads in the blogosphere, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!


--Jess