NO LONGER TEAM GALE OR PEETA

In a previous post, I mentioned a new man in my life and some of you asked about him. I could ramble about how spectacular Prince Perfect is for endless pages, but instead, I'll share a book related story...

Last week was Mockingjay Day. It fell on a rainy Tuesday. Tuesdays I'm stuck in the office all day, so I couldn't rush out as soon as Borders opened and buy my copy. I had to wait until after work. A depressing thought considering that morning people were tweeting and emailing that they had their copy and had started reading.

But then, around 10am, the door to my office opened. Standing there in the doorway, against a backdrop of gray clouds and pouring rain, was Prince Perfect--holding a brand new copy of Mockingjay. I didn't think anything could look more gorgeous than the baby blue book I'd been waiting months for, but Prince P took my breath away. (He does that a lot.)

He said he didn't want the store to sell out while I was at work, and he didn't want me driving around in the rain to buy it. He also wrote a sweet personalized message on the jacket flap.
*insert dreamy sigh here*
What did this thoughtful gesture prove? That Prince P gets me. He listened when I said I was excited about Mockingjay Day. He supports my love of books (and writing). He goes out of his way to show he cares. Those are just a few of the many reasons I'm thankful he's in my life.

The book was was good, but I found myself forgetting whether I was team Gale or Peeta. Because now, I'm team Prince P all the way. I couldn't write a more perfect hero, and believe me, I've tried.

REVEALING RIVER

Day 2 of Jen's, Guess That Character Blogfest.
Thanks, Jen! This was so much fun.

Two more snippets from The Kindrily will give you a good idea of my character, River. Here they are:

#1
I hadn’t noticed the black-haired guy from the parking lot—Jaguar Boy—was sitting beside me until he gave his introduction. He stood up and leaned against my desk before he spoke. I scooted back, trying to get some distance from his uncomfortable closeness, and my chair nearly toppled over. Luckily, Jaguar Boy had the full attention of the class.
“You all know me. I’m River Malone, lead singer of the Rebel Junkies—future professional rock star."

#2
Now that I really looked at him, he did look like a rock star. His jet black hair blended into a subtle fauxhawk. He wore typical rocker clothes; dark jeans and a black t-shirt scribbled with random artwork. A leather band circled each of his wrists and tattoos peeked out from his sleeves and collar. He looked dangerous, but I assume rockers tried to give off that vibe.
When the bell rang announcing the end of class, River leaned over my desk. “Sorry, didn’t catch your name during your intro.”
He did have a nice voice, raspy but confident.
“Uh, Maryah.”
“Okay, Uh Maryah, I’m River.” His lips parted, revealing perfect straight teeth. “See ya.”
“Sure.” I nodded like a dimwit. Hot guys made me nervous.

And there you have it. Spoiled by an absent family member with presents, but lacks a loving presence in his life. Everything has been handed to him (including a brand new Jaguar) but he doesn't appreciate any of it and believes he's entitled to more. Cocky, total bad boy, with a troubled soul. The kind of guy every parents fears their daughter will fall for.

Several people guessed the dark hair, a few mentioned a bad boy, a couple even guessed the tattoos and wrist bands, but nobody guessed the fauxhawk.

Brenda came the closest as far as physically describing him. Roland nailed his personality.

Thanks for playing! I'm sorry if I didn't comment on everyone's entry, but I ran out of time last night. I will try to comment on all of the reveals.

Guess My Character Blogfest

The brilliant and creative
Jen at UNEDITED is hosting the fun and fabulous Guess That Character Blogfest.

I actually remembered to participate in this one. Yay me! (Jen, thanks for the reminder.)

Here we go...

The rules are:

August 19th
Post a snippet of the character you'd like to be identified. Try and make sure there are no descriptions of what they might look like. This blog fest is based purely on voice, action and personality.

August 20th
The Big Reveal!!!! You will post a picture of your character (or representing how you see your character) with a short description of his/her personality and who you thought was the closest person to being correct (if anyone was close).

MY SNIPPET (from The Kindrily):

My first day of school had been pretty lame until River Malone—Jaguar Boy—made a repeat appearance in my last period music class. I sat in the back row to avoid being seen, but River pulled a chair in front of my desk and straddled it so he was facing me. My pulse started pounding between my ears.

Our teacher hadn’t announced his name yet, but he didn’t look pleased. “Mr. Malone, eyes to the front of the room please.”

“In a sec!” River replied without taking his focus off of me. He lowered his voice and leaned so close that I could smell the mint he was sucking on. “Something about you left an imprint on my soul. You’ve been stuck in my head all day.”

I clicked my pen repeatedly as if the noise would make up for my stunned silence.

“Mr. Malone!” Our teacher yelled. The rest of the class turned to watch us.

“I said in a second.” River retorted calmly—the epitome of cool.

The teacher held up a pad of pink paper, shaking it in the air as he spoke. “Your second is up. Turn around right now or you will be taking a trip to the principal’s office.”

River rose out of his seat in one stealth move, then strutted towards the front of the room. He took the pad from the teacher's hand, tore off the top sheet, slammed it against the blackboard, and scribbled on it.

“I do love a good trip,” he said. “I’ll sign my own ticket.” He blew the flabbergasted teacher a kiss and some of the class laughed or clapped as he swaggered back down the aisle to my desk. He took my pen out of my hand, tucked it behind his ear, then winked at me. “I’m going to write a song about you.”

After the classroom door shut behind him, I looked up to see every person in the room staring at me. My plan to go unnoticed had failed beautifully.

So what do you think?
What does River look like?

FLYING HIGH AFTER RWA

For the past couple weeks, I've been flying high--figuratively and literally. (A few of you who know me personally understand that statement. For the rest of you, I know you're here for writing-related stuff, not updates on my personal life.) So...


Writers conferences inspire me. Those of you who have attended one (or more) know what I'm talking about. Meeting other writers, developing new friendships with like-minded people, learning from seminars, hearing success stories, the list goes on and on.

I can't say enough great things about RWA. I don't write genre romance (although, currently I could write one humdinger of a romantic memoir) but I learned SO MUCH about writing and the publishing business from the RWA conference. A few agents said this during conference and it's worth repeating: Even if you don't write romance, RWA is one of the best organizations out there for writers.

I couldn't agree more.
Join.
And plan on attending the national conference in NYC next year.
I assure you, they offer PLENTY of seminars that have nothing to do with romance.

Now that I'm home, I have lots to do. I met agents who are interested in not just my current MS, but the first one I wrote too. So, guess who has been an editing/revising fool? I attended workshops like Donald Maass's, THE FIRE IN FICTION, where I learned things I want to apply to my projects. As tempting as it is to send off my MSs right away, I know agents would rather wait until my stories are the best they can be. I'm not delusional. I am certain no agent is sitting at their computer, waiting on the edge of their seat for my manuscripts. It's better to take my time, make them stronger, and THEN send.

My creative mind has been jump-started, and the ideas wont stop coming. Revising 2 manuscripts while writing a new 3rd story is total mental chaos. (Not to mention a 4th real-life fairytale I've got going on.) For the record, mental chaos makes me extremely happy. I love when my mind is a whirlwind of characters, scenes, dialogue, etc. I welcome it, no matter how overwhelming it may be.

Moral of this blog post:
1.) Join RWA no matter what you write.
2.) Attend great writing conferences. They are priceless.
3.) Take time to revise and strengthen your MS before sending to agents. (Donald Maass gave this advice during his workshop, so follow it!)
4.) No matter how much I try to keep my personal life off this blog, some people/things make me so giddy that they sneak their way in there.

Happy Monday!

THE MEN OF RWA 2010

Many of you are busy and won't watch the entire video (I don't blame you), but be sure to watch for a few seconds around the 5 and a half minute mark. I got some great shots of Donald Maass, Scott Eagan, and Steven Axelrod--along with some other great well-knowns.

For those of you who haven't met me in real life, you are about to see what a true dork I am.

I now present: THE MEN OF RWA 2010


Thanks to everyone who posed, agreed to be interviewed, helped photograph and/or video, let me make an ass of myself, etc. This retardely awesome video wouldn't have been possible without you.

PS: Sorry about the crappy photo quality. I only had my cell phone.