Yesterday I was all about breaking the blogging rules, and you know what… so were you guys. Dude, why are we all putting this kind of pressure on ourselves to be the perfect bloggers? I am so proud of us for saying to hell with the rules. But that got me to thinking about my …
The thing about blogging, and then not blogging for a while is that, when you want to come back to the blog, you feel like you need to explain why you haven’t been updating. You see the thing is, sometimes I think I know too much. Back when I started this blog… there weren’t really …
I’m not very good at making friends. Well, that isn’t exactly true, I am okay at making them–I’m just not very good at keeping them. You see, friendships take work. You have to call people, send thank you cards, bring them meal when they’re sick–you know be a friend. And, since I suck, I hardly …
Something kind of cool is going on this month. I’ve been picked as a Malibu Mom. Basically, Chevrolet is giving me a Malibu to drive around for a month and I have to go on secret missions. We were asked to make a video biography of ourselves. Maybe you remember me freaking out about it …
Okay, blog-kateers, you may not know this, but I don’t really like talking about myself. Well, that isn’t entirely true, I actually kind of love talking about myself when it’s like how *I* need to not eat that candy bar, or how *I* should probably start going to bed earlier–you know what I mean. I …
Natalie Whipple is one of those super cool people in the writing world that I love to read about. She has a super cool blog, and amazing drawing skills to boot. She’s like nine different kinds of fabulous, and the other day she posted a video where people ran on water. (I couldn’t find the …
We interrupt this blog where I discuss wonderful important things like writing, the color of my hair, and you know–things that really matter, to bring you an important service announcement: Last Night’s Vampire Diaries so was so freakin’ hot that it brings hot vampaliciousness to a whole new level of WOW. Wait, are you pretending …
That’s right, I just used a twitter hashtag in the title of my post. Let’s just move past that, shall we? I am going to spend the rest of the week getting my book into shape so I can send it off to beta readers. But, I need two things from you… (What, you thought …
I’m sort of pre-occupied with editing right now, so amazingly inspiring blog posts of awesome aren’t really coming to me this week. But, here are a few things I’ve been up to: Storysaurus was hard at work this weekend for Cheryl’s manuscript. I’m not going to lie though… I’m a little scared that her storysaurus …
Okay, so all week I’ve been talking about your online author platform and how to make it not suck with some easy steps…. but I am about to burst your bubble. So, prepare yourself. Are you prepared? No… I’ll give you a second. Okay, I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again. Heck every …
Last week I did an interview over at Elana Johnson’s blog, and one of her questions was how often have I wanted to give up. I was pretty honest and admitted that there have been more than one or two times along y little writerly journey that I’ve really just wanted to say screw it …
When I was a teenager I had the coolest best friend. We’ve since drifted apart, but she was seriously one of the neatest people I’ve ever met, and I’m the person I am today because of our friendship. I drove this Ford Bronco II that was adorable, but not exactly the greatest car on the …
I was talking to a friend about writing stories the other day. You see, I’m working on something right now and it just didn’t feel like it had enough oomph. I knew there was something missing, I just couldn’t put my finger on it–then we got to talking about the layers of a story. Well, …
Let me just say that Snow White is one of my all time favorite movies. It holds serious sentimental value for me, because it was the first movie I ever saw in the theater, and it was a special outing with my mom I’ll never forget. So, yesterday when Snow White was on the Disney …
Today, I’m going to do something special*… I’m going to let you in on how I put together a blog post. This isn’t the way I always do it, but this is what usually works for me. This is what gets comments and retweets on twitter. And, if we’re being completely honest, isn’t that what …
I read a lot of books, but I read a WHOLE lot of young adult books, and I’ve noticed a few repeats here and there. Here’s the thing… there are a lot of words in books, and there are a lot of different emotions, actions, looks, and such. So, I am cool with the repeats. …
Well, Well… I told you guys that you could ask me anything, and you did not disappoint! Now I have piles and miles (See, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to say miles and miles or piles and piles so I just decided to do a combo thing–did it work? Yeah, I don’t really think …
Okay, I have a four year old. You guys know this, right? She’s a girly girl and that means she’s a huge fan of all things Barbie. She also has a little stuffed puppy she carries everywhere. It’s cute, and totally endearing. His name is Puppy Luppy, and we call him Lups for short. So, …
I love when bloggers leave an open ended blogging day so I can ask them anything I want, so I thought it might be fun to give it a try. Leave your questions in the comments below. I’ll answer them as best I can in some form or another. I can’t wait to hear what …
Okay, so a big part of a lot of novels I read (and write) is the classic love triangle. It’s so fun because there’s automatic conflict and someone ends up having to make a big important choice. You have three major players in the triangle. Now, I am not saying it’s always the same, but …
Let me just say first that I love books. I love character development, and I love watching characters grow over the course of a story into something they didn’t know they could be. It’s exciting, entertaining, and pretty much the only reason I read a story. I want the girls in my stories to be …
This weekend my husband and I took our daughter to the Casa Manana children’s theater. We have season tickets that my mother-in-law gets us every year. All in all they are awesome. I was wowed by their production of Treasure Island, I cried when Charlotte climbed up to her web for that last time, when …
All this talk about grammar rules yesterday really got me to thinking… When I was younger, I was one of those kids who would make up a game for everyone to play, and then change the rules right in the middle of it just because I didn’t think it was working the way I wanted …
I freakin’ love to shop. It’s ridiculous. I’m not really a fashion show/montage kind of girl or anything, but I could spend like seventy-nine bazillion hours looking at pretty things, putting them in my cart, and even occasionally buying them. When I’m a New York Times best selling author with multiple book/movie deals and unlimited …
Okay, first off–Holy Crap February was short. How am I sitting here writing my monthly wrap up post? So, let’s start with the writing. I’m still hard at work on my gamer girl book, but it’s not finished. So, writing is well, but nothing exciting to announce or anything. Daughter is loving the new preschool. …
So, yesterday I asked you guys to embarrass yourself in the comments, and you did not disappoint. One confession in particular really stuck out for me: I realized that if I dinged someone’s car in the parking lot , I would not leave a note. If someone dinged my car and left a note, I …
So much so that I made an informative graphic: Now that I’ve just come out there and admitted it, I feel much better. I hate socks, and I hate shoes more. If I could just wear flip flops year round I would, but it’s been like snowing in Texas so that’s not really an option …
When I was in second grade, Ms. George taught us how to write a story. She used the storysaurus. He was a dinosaur with spikes on his back. Each spike represented a chapter, and his whole body represented the story’s main plot. I fell instantly in love with storysaurus, and I still use him to …
The thing about writers is, until we figure out that we’re actually supposed to spend our lives living in make believe lands and telling pretend stories–we are a little lost. So, we work some pretty interesting jobs. What’s so great about those experiences, though is that they give us a chance to see and learn …
Thanks to my super fly friend, Rhonda Stapleton, I just learned that today is Umbrella Day. (cue obligatory graphic in celebration of this most random holiday) Now let me be the first (or second, or third, as the case may be) to admit that Umbrella Day is kind of a silly holiday, but honestly it’s …
As promised I am going to do some book reviews around here! I thought about how I’d do this for a long time, because here’s the thing… I know how hard it is to write a book. I know the time, energy and even love (oh yeah I said love–make fun if you must) that …
That’s one of those quotes that you instantly know. I mean, right? I assume you know what movie that comes from, or seriously, we can’t be friends. Actually, pretty much the second I hear it, I have to do a youtube search and watch the part again. But, because I am such a good friend, …
Looks like I’m Over the Top! And, now since it’s Wednesday and that really is the best reason to write about yourself I will play with my blogalicious reward from Rhonda over at Snarktastic Ramblings. As always, there are rules but these are easy and probably somewhat fun!! Rules: Answer the following questions with single …
Okay, so a blog-friend of mine, Courtney Reese has decided I’m worthy of the honest scrap award, and now I have to tell you guys ten things you don’t actually know about me. That’s pretty tough, because I am all open-book tastic. 🙂 But, here goes… 1. I freakin’ love pop music, but I like …
You guys had some great questions, my favorite is the President Obama one.
Okay, so here’s the thing. I’m from Texas. You know, the Lone Star State. Now, it’s important that you know there are some cowboys here, we do have a lot of trucks, and there is the occasional hoedown. But Texas is more than that. Dallas is a freakin’ technological mecca, we have some really great …
Blogging on Sundays. When this month is over and I get to be done with my little bet with myself to blog every day in January, I am so not going to blog on Sundays anymore. I would like blogging on Sundays, except no one ever reads it. Maybe I should start like a feature …
So, I’m sitting around at iHop last night, (yeah, I like to pretend it’s an apple product, makes me feel all cool) and we started talking Young Adult Literature. (That’s YA for those of you in the biz.) The thing about YA is you want to keep it young and fresh without sounding like an …
And when she knew enough about me to write this, I didn’t cry… but I wanted to.
Blog, you know Halle… Well, she wants to answer your questions. So, if there’s something you want to ask a four year old, then here’s your chance! Ask her anything (that doesn’t offend me–I’m her mom I have final say on all q answering.) and next week she will be back to let you in …
The ever awesome Josh Berk made me the coolest little blog intro song, so I needed to figure out how to add it to some pictures or whatever. Well, since I suck at that, I just made this instead. Remember: awesome song = the amazing Josh Berk crappy video editing = me
So, I’ve been working a little on the ‘ol Work in Progress book and it’s way fun. One of my favorite things I did was to make character collages of my three main characters. I totally ganked the idea from Tera Lynn Childs, and I love the way it’s helped me to tell the story. …
Write what you know. How many times have you heard that? I am guessing if you’ve been at this any amount of time… quite a few. What’s that? You write fantasy and you’ve invented a whole new world entirely in your head so how could you possibly write what you know? I am here to …
Let me set the scene for you: It’s a chilly morning at a Target in a high end neighborhood. (Not the place I live, but you know–the place I drive to so my kid can get a fancy education.) The red-shirted cashier turns to the lady in front of me with a fake smile on …
Persistance. Persistence. Although I apparently don’t know how to spell it, this word means something to me. Without persistence, I wouldn’t have a completed manuscript, I wouldn’t have a group of writing friends that I’ve come to count on, I wouldn’t have an agent, I would never get to submit my book to publishers, and …
This is greatness, and I plan to listen… or at least TRY to… I kinda suck at the listening.
I’m not so great with the resolutions. I am the kind of person who just sort of shuts down and does nothing when overwhelmed. Note to self: An awesome resolution would be to try and work on that whole shutting down when you’re overwhelmed thing. Note to self that just wrote that note to self: …
Bonus points if you recognize the quote… So, it’s the end of the decade, correct? Last time we were partyin’ like it was 1999. Um, except we aren’t all stockpiling canned goods and worried that computers would take over the world. But, if the computer overlords look anything like this skin job, then I for …
Okay, some of you have the sad great fortune of knowing me in person. If you do, then you know I don’t really do stress. I pretty much never worry about stuff, and most of the time I’m all whatevs… That sounds all good and well, right? No stress? What’s that like you ask. Total …
Right now I am pretty much the busiest I have ever been. I am working back and forth a little with my agent of awesomeness on my book, my kid is doing the usual thing–dance classes, preschool, playgroups, etc., and oh yeah WE’RE MOVING. We’ve been packing and cleaning out closets, storage bins, etc. It’s …
Revisions are a part of every author’s life. You write a story, and when you’re writing it, you absolutely fall in love with the whole thing. It’s the greatest thing ever written, and then you go back and read through it–whoa. It’s pretty crappy. So, you go through again, and make it suck less. You …
I’m most productive at from about 2-4am. When you say that people look at you like you’re a few jacks full of a short deck. Then they try to cover it real quick with something like, “Oh, I’m a night owl too. Sometimes I stay up until midnight.” Midnight? Really? You think that makes you …
My good friend Jason A. Myers wordled his book this morning, and because I am spending a lot of time on some editing notes for mine today I thought I’d follow suit. So, without further adue, I give you Sketch! Aw, it looks so cute like that. 🙂 Any gueses as to what the name …
This writing thing’s a tough gig. You write a story–polish it until your eyes go crosseyed, and then query it to fabulous agents that you know can champion your book with the best of them. It’s all very exciting and fun-filled. But, then you wait…. …and you wait…. … and just when you thought you …
A couple of days ago a friend of mine read my book that I am currently querying to agents. She said a lot of things about it, but there were a couple of things that really stuck with me, and I want to talk about them a little here. She mentioned that she thinks YA …
I read a great YA book yesterday, Donut Days by Lara Zielin. It was one of those stories that I sat down to read, and didn’t get up until it was finished. I love those sorts of books! I’m not usually one to jump on a book with a religious undertone, but there was something …
So, I’ve tried to go to the gym before–but I felt like everyone was just staring at me. Wondering who I thought I was among all those fit people. But, today Kelli Calabrese met me and laid out a little workout plan for me. Bringing someone who knows what they’re doing to the gym with …
For those of you that don’t know, I am obsessed with twitter. I tweet about random crap all day. It gets me through all the book writing fun. I like meeting new people, and the world of twitter makes me smile. But, I have a book I want published, and I want an agent to …
Last night the sirens blared. My husband and daughter were driving home from the store. Cell phones stopped working, and I couldn’t get ahold of them. I was scared. The winds raged and my power went out. This is a video taken about three houses down from my house (at the same time my husband …
Okay, I’ve had my book in both past and present tense, and I am STILL not sure which one is the way to go… so I have the first few lines written BOTH ways for your viewing pleasure. <br /> <a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1676901/” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1676901/”>Should Sketch McGee be written in past or present tense?</a><span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”>(<a href=”http://www.polldaddy.com” …
So, we’re sitting on the couch watching the MTV movie awards an educational program on PBS, and my daughter says, “Mom if you want to keep me, then you have to make sure nothing bad happens to me ever. Oh no. What is she talking about? So, I ask her, “Halle, what do you mean …
It’s Halle’s birthday today. She turns 4. So, I thought we would take a look at the many hairstyles of Halle over the years… It all started with the bling hat. I should have known I was in for it then… And then the spike look started–who’s hair does that on it’s own? Halle’s… that’s …
So, I am reading a friend’s book, and she has a love triangle in the plot. What’s the first thing I say to her? Oh be careful with that you don’t want to be a twilight clone. Damn you Meyer! She wrote her triangle in such a pivotal way that the rest of us are …
Well, you asked for it, so here it is–Ten reasons I need to keep playing WoW. 10. It’s something to do in my free time. Sometimes you just want something mindless and fun to do, warcraft is exactly that. There isn’t a whole lot of thinking behind mindless daily quests and raids you’ve done before–so …
So, I have been spending a lot of time in the editing process of my super villain book. In short, my main character is a sixteen year old super villain that can alter the future with her drawings, when she’s not busy being a geeky high school student that is. She’s awesome. I love her …
Seriously, I am obsessed with all things Joss Whedon, I played Mario Kart on a Super Nintendo. I once got a job at a video game store because I pre-ordered a copy of Zelda, I know how wtfpwn a raid boss, I can quote movies that most of you haven’t seen, and I’ve had a …
There is a website out there that I am in love with. The blog is helpful, but the website’s main function of tracking queries is one of the hands down best tools for writers on the web. I started out just trying to track my queries with a spreadsheet, got quickly confused, and then found …
I love my brother, let me just get that out of the way. We grew up very close. I am from a tight knit family, and we talk to each other a lot. He just called me to find out when Mom’s flight is landing and decided to cop a little attitude in the middle …
I’ve been getting really into facebook lately, and I recently friended someone from high school that was on the drumline with me. That’s right, I was a bona-fide band geek. I lived for marching season, and it was straight up the most fun ever. I lived for marching season, and honestly… I was pretty cute …
24105 / 65000 words. 37% done! I officially made it past the 20k mark in my book! I feel like that is such a milestone. It’s when the book kind of starts gluing itself together and revealing all it’s juicy secrets to you. You start to fall in love with all the right characters, and …
A friend of mine had an interesting post earlier today about the stories that have influenced her. I started to comment, but then my comment got a little out of hand, so I decided to post it here instead. I read a lot. Hundred books in a year? No problem.Especially now that I can just …
15046 / 65000 words. 23% done! Oh Snap! Look at me! I hit the 15k word mark, and let’s face it, that just makes me a total pimp, right? I have been hard at work with good ‘ol Sketch McGee, and I love the twist the story has taken. Her super power has become more …
I am not very good at resisting temptation. In fact, I suck at it. I don’t want to say I was addicted to the World of Warcraft, because that sounds really sad… but if I told you the number of hours I played each day–well, you’d probably call some sort of video gamers anonymous hotline …
Okay, so in my mind… Sketch is so much cooler when she’s all cartoon character’d out. So I found this on the internet, played around to make it super sketch… and now I have her! I love her! It’s so perfect! I just think this is total Sketch McGee. I have been writing like a …
Man that cake must taste sweet! I can’t believe my daughter is one today, but she is… she REALLY is! I am so proud of her!
There are two really great pre-schools that want me to come and teach their pre-k program full time, and I am wondering if it wouldn’t be a good idea. I mean…. Hal would get interaction with kids, I would get out of the house, and we would have a little extra spending money… I just …
Well, the husband is on vacation. My job is now not to bombard him with stuff he needs to do! hehe think I can do it? I am going to try really hard. I don’t know if I am going to be able to do it though haha! I can think of a zillion things …
woohoo! I got all of Halle’s birthday supplies! I am so excited! She is going to have the best rubber duck birthday party EVER! Oh I hope she has fun! She loves ducks so much I think she will be excited to see all the great ducks! I hope she isn’t disappointed… haha can you …