Thursday, December 31, 2009

Once in a blue moon

The decade is almost over--holy crap! So a very Happy New Year to you all. Incidentally, did you know that tonight is a blue moon? Second full moon of the month. It happens every...two and a half years, maybe? But this is the first New Years Eve blue moon since 1990. The next will be 2028. I'm planning to watch that one, to. :) So tonight, at the crack of midnight, I'm going to be out on my porch, watching. There's no way in hell I'm missing this.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Insert witty quote here--me

I'm posting the synopsis of my novel up for review. Nothing else to say, really.

Remy and Charlotte Palmer are fourteen, twins, and best friends. They also have abilities that regular people can only dream of. And they're the only ones who know...so they think.
Then they get a call from James Hudson, a special junior agent from Vox. He tells them that his "organization" won't harm them-they'll just have to be under observation for a while. They decline, and James gets nasty-he doesn't care if he takes them dead or alive.
So what can the twins do? Simple answer-leave. It turns out, though, James and his best friend Lucan aren't afraid to follow them.

Any thoughts?

Monday, December 28, 2009

Putting the "Prod" in Productivity--Write or Die

Review: Write or Die.
So, it's not a book review. But this is my blog. My rules. And besides, I'm pretty sure that nobodies reading this, anyways, so...here goes.
Write or Die is genius.
Basic idea? Choose a wordcount, pick a time limit, and away you go! Great for increasing productivity, curing writer's block (which, by the way, I do not believe in, but whatever), ect.
And P.S.? Createspace emailed me this morning. Five days until I'll be holding the proof copy of my novel!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

I'll be back--Terminator

No, I am back. I just took a little holiday hiatus (Merry Christmas, by the way!). I was planning to post yesterday, but instead I went to a family dinner.
But that doesn't matter. What matters is, I'm back now.
So, I'd like to dedicate today's post to the wonderful, generous, all-around fabulous people at Createspace (www.createspace.com). For the ones of us who had the insanity--er, I mean, dedication*--to win NaNoWriMo, they handed over a free code, good for a free proof copy of your fifty thousand word novel. I finished editing last night, and the minute my mother gets home (I'm under eighteen, therefore not allowed to order one on my own) I will be ordering one. And I've seen some pictures of other peoples copies--they look fantastic.
And also? You can still order a copy of your novel for realitivly cheap. Just BTW.
*Not that those who didn't win didn't have the dedication.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Don't judge a book by it's cover.

I'm in the mood to do a book review. So, here goes.
Poseur, by Rachel Maude.
And yes, a lot of you are going to look at it, snicker, and put it down again, but even if the topic isn't exactly your forte, the writing will surprise you. I picked it up at the bookstore looking for a "comfort read"; you know, a book you read when you're thinking, "my writing sucks, my friends suck, everything sucks, life sucks and then you die"? Well, prepare to be shocked: the book was amazing.
The metaphors were precise, the characters were funny and compelling, and the overall writing style was open and, well, good. Plus the drawings have to be the best sketches I've seen in a long time. And it won points with me for not making me want to pull out my red pen and do some editing.
Final rating: Four and a half stars out of five (because no book is perfect!).

Friday, December 11, 2009

It's always helpful to learn from your mistakes because then your mistakes seem worthwhile. -Garry Marshall

Here I was, at my computer, all ready to type up a blog post. What should I post about this time? I pondered. Perhaps a book review? Or an examination of NaNoWriMo for those of those who decided not to Google it yesterday? And then I log on, and the first thing I notice? I missed an apostrophe in the word, "writers". Yes, I do feel ashamed, thanks for asking. So, I'm just going over here to hide my blushing face in a corner and get pelted by tomatos by all the grammar Nazi's out there (You know who you are!). And tomorrow I'll retreat, wash all the tomato juice out of my hair, and have a fresh, squeaky-clean blog post. 'Kay?

Thursday, December 10, 2009

The first draft of any thing is shit. -Ernest Hemingway

As this is my first official blog post, I figured that I would start talking about things that happen right smack in the middle of the writing process. Namely, the Hell that is editing. I just finished NaNoWriMo (which you should all check out! Seriously! Google it!), and yes, I got my fifty thousand words, as well as about two thousand, six hundred extra. And now, I'm attempting to sort through all the mistakes and form it into a somewhat decent second draft.
It took me three days to sort through all the spelling mistakes.
So, the tip of the day is this: Never, ever assume that your first draft is going to be a literary masterpiece. Unless you're some kind of super computer, at least a third of it will need to be edited.
Also, I apologize if this was random and/or made no sense at all. I'm tired, I had basketball tryouts today and I stayed up late last night.
P.S. Are there any Gleeks out there who saw the season finale last night? Any comments?

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Fall seven times, stand up eight. -Japanese Proverb

How about fall three times, stand up four?
Yup. This is my forth blog. Well, my forth attempt at a blog. The other three kind of fell flat. Then, I realized something. Celebrities and parties, which I had been blogging about, aren't exactly my forte. But reading and writing? I care about that way more than Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears.
So here I am. Ready to talk about books, and story writing, and novel editing, and to go off on coffee fueled rants. And I swear that I will stick to this blog for more than a week.