I don't know if you all know this, but I am one of the hosts of Chick Lit Chat on Twitter!! What is Chick Lit Chat, you ask?? Well, let me explain! :)
A while back, I believe it was my good friend Jen Daiker from Unedited, wanted to start a chat on Twitter to talk about all things Chick Lit. If you are stumped on what that even is, it's a sub genre of women's fiction, traditionally about younger women in an urban setting. The stories are funny and sassy with lots of drama. The genre has evolved over the years, with older characters, moms, small town settings, and the title isn't quite used as much anymore, but there is still a HUGE following. Jen wanted to do something fun to bring together readers and writers to support the genre, and #ChickLitChat was born.
So each week on Thursday night at 8 PM Eastern Standard Time, we all gather on Twitter and chat. You must use the hashtag #chicklitchat to participate. There is always a host and a topic for the week, ranging from our favorite titles, to our favorite types of characters, to writing related topics about plot and dialogue. Every week is something new and every week we have a total blast! I love meeting new people who love the genre as much as I do. It's great for readers because they can meet authors and find out how our minds work! And great for authors, since we love meeting our readers!
So come on over to our chat this week!! Visit the profile for our headquarters- ChickLitChatHQ and give us a follow for reminders and updates to the chat. I'm hosting tonight!! See ya there!!!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The Big Fabulous Summer Giveaway!
It's been a loooooong time since I've done a fun contest! And with summer coming, I feel the need to celebrate and get ready for it!!! How about you?? I am so ready for a relaxing summer with lots of fun!
As a kid, I loved summer. I mean, seriously, who didn't? I think my favorite part was having nothing to do. Everyday was Saturday. My family camped seasonally at a family campground, and every weekend that's where we went as soon as my dad got home from work. I had lots of friends there and we always had so much fun. So many amazing memories of sunny summer days swimming in the lake, and warm summer nights with cute boys. ;)
So I want to celebrate summer and it's fun and freedom. No matter how old I am, I will always bask in the joy of warmer temps and lazy days!
The contest starts today and will run until June 15th! LOTS of time to enter and keep earning more entries! I'll announce the winners on my blog on Monday, June 17th! :)
And I know you're wondering...what about the prizes!!! Here is a list of what I have come up with so far! I will be adding more as time goes on. There will be lots of prizes, so many people will win! AND entrants will be able to win multiple prizes!! I plan on getting together some kind of grand prize too. I'll have to see what awesome things I can come up with! :) So, without further ado, here is the list:
- $5 GC to Amazon or B&N, winner's choice.
- $10 GC to Amazon or B&N, winner's choice.
- Digital copies of my Karma books- A Bitch Named Karma and Karma Kameleon (in whichever format the winner chooses).
- Digital copy of my book Paradise Cove.
- Digital copy of my book Soap Dreams.
- Bath and Body Works Pocket Bacs Hand Sanitizer! Five winners, scent selected at random- Margarita, Pink Lemonade, Flip Flop Fruit, Wildberry, and Island Nectar. (US only.)
- Nail buffers and Cake Batter lip balm! Two winners! (Each will win one buffer and one lip balm. US only.)
- More coming soon!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
***Some prizes are only available for continental US residents, as noted. I sincerely apologize for this. The shipping out of the States is just too much for me to swing :( If the winner for a shippable prize is outside the continental US, I will draw a new winner for that prize and offer the original winner a digital prize.
***All winners will be announced on my blog and notified by email. If the winner fails to reply within a week's time, a new winner will be drawn.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Boy things and Girl things?
I hate when people label things as only for boys or girls.
As a parent, I have always had the attitude that there are not boy things and girl things. I have always encouraged my girl to play with trucks, play sports, enjoy shows about trains, as well as play with dolls, play dress up, and take dance classes. I think the world views this as okay. People have no problem encouraging girls to be well-rounded. But boys, not so much. And this makes no sense to me.
My son has always been naturally drawn to things with wheels. He loves playing with cars, loves watching car races, loves riding his bike. But as the second child with an older sister, he has always been around traditional girly things. We've never discouraged him from playing with his sister's toy kitchen or her My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop figures. When it came time to start signing him up for extra curriculars, soccer was his first. He has always seemed very coordinated and likes running around outside and doing sports type things. It seemed like a natural fit. And so far, it has been. He no longer does soccer, but started tee ball this year. His sister dances and does theater camp, and he has never shown interest, but if he does, I wouldn't deny him.
My son used to say he didn't want to watch certain shows because they were "girl shows." They weren't. They were older kid shows geared toward tweens, like Good Luck Charlie and Shake It Up. I think he said that because they were shows his sister watches. Because he has no problem what so ever with Dora the Explorer, Doc McStuffins, and Sophia the First.
I'm sure people are wondering what I'd do if my son ran up to me with a tutu in hand and wanted to wear it. He's never done it, but I'd like to think I'd be open-minded enough to let him wear it. It's just a tutu. He's five.
As a parent, I have always had the attitude that there are not boy things and girl things. I have always encouraged my girl to play with trucks, play sports, enjoy shows about trains, as well as play with dolls, play dress up, and take dance classes. I think the world views this as okay. People have no problem encouraging girls to be well-rounded. But boys, not so much. And this makes no sense to me.
My son has always been naturally drawn to things with wheels. He loves playing with cars, loves watching car races, loves riding his bike. But as the second child with an older sister, he has always been around traditional girly things. We've never discouraged him from playing with his sister's toy kitchen or her My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop figures. When it came time to start signing him up for extra curriculars, soccer was his first. He has always seemed very coordinated and likes running around outside and doing sports type things. It seemed like a natural fit. And so far, it has been. He no longer does soccer, but started tee ball this year. His sister dances and does theater camp, and he has never shown interest, but if he does, I wouldn't deny him.
My son used to say he didn't want to watch certain shows because they were "girl shows." They weren't. They were older kid shows geared toward tweens, like Good Luck Charlie and Shake It Up. I think he said that because they were shows his sister watches. Because he has no problem what so ever with Dora the Explorer, Doc McStuffins, and Sophia the First.
I'm sure people are wondering what I'd do if my son ran up to me with a tutu in hand and wanted to wear it. He's never done it, but I'd like to think I'd be open-minded enough to let him wear it. It's just a tutu. He's five.
Friday, May 3, 2013
If you ever want to sell on proposal....
When I started writing, I had no clue how to do it. I just wrote. There was a story in my head and it came out through my finger tips. But then I started learning there were rules. Basic rules about storytelling and characters. I read a couple books and found invaluable information. And I had to relearn all the grammar stuff I had forgotten. Boy was that tough!
I joined a writers group maybe a year or so after I started writing. The people were awesome and they really helped me figure out this writing thing. They helped me fix the things that needed fixing. They were great for bouncing ideas off of. And then we had a new member join our group. She was working on her novel, a mystery, and though she only had a few chapters written, she had the whole thing planned out. Every scene. At the time, that seemed so incredibly boring to me. I remember thinking it felt like all the creativity had been taken out of the process. I couldn't understand why someone would write like that.
Fast forward a few years....
I'd been through the publishing process a bunch of times. I'd written a few more novels. I'd met tons of people in the writing community. Many were pansers- people who write by the seat of their pants, like I did. And the rest were plotters, who plan their books, either in an extremely detailed manor or just a simple outline. I was a panser. And then one day a friend posted about her new book and how she was becoming a reformed panser. After selling several books to her publisher, they now only wanted a proposal before offering her a contract. She now HAD to write an entire synopsis for her future book before writing it.
That really hit home with me. I knew I wanted to someday sell to a big publisher. And if this is how big publishers did it, maybe I needed to take a serious look into changing my process too. So I decided to give it a try. A test. I decided my next book would be plotted out beforehand. I spent a couple weeks writing what was originally supposed to be a semi-detailed outline. But I ended up writing a very detailed outline, scene by scene. It was about 25 pages long, single spaced. When I finished, I started crafting the book. It took me only 35 days to write 82 thousand words. And not once was I bored or felt a lack of creatively. There was never a lull, asking myself "What's gonna happen next?" There were less plot holes. Since I had the book all planned out, it gave me the ease of just writing it and not having to stop and think about where the book was going. I already knew.
I am now a reformed panser! And proud of it!!
I know everyone has their process and everyone must do what works best for them. But I am honestly shocked by how at home I am with the new process I have adopted. My dream is to sell on proposal. I would LOVE to sell a book based on my ideas instead of spending months writing something that no one wants to buy. Fingers crossed that I get there!
So...panser or plotter? Any reformed pansers like me??? Were you shocked with the ease of the process once you started it?
I joined a writers group maybe a year or so after I started writing. The people were awesome and they really helped me figure out this writing thing. They helped me fix the things that needed fixing. They were great for bouncing ideas off of. And then we had a new member join our group. She was working on her novel, a mystery, and though she only had a few chapters written, she had the whole thing planned out. Every scene. At the time, that seemed so incredibly boring to me. I remember thinking it felt like all the creativity had been taken out of the process. I couldn't understand why someone would write like that.
Fast forward a few years....
I'd been through the publishing process a bunch of times. I'd written a few more novels. I'd met tons of people in the writing community. Many were pansers- people who write by the seat of their pants, like I did. And the rest were plotters, who plan their books, either in an extremely detailed manor or just a simple outline. I was a panser. And then one day a friend posted about her new book and how she was becoming a reformed panser. After selling several books to her publisher, they now only wanted a proposal before offering her a contract. She now HAD to write an entire synopsis for her future book before writing it.
That really hit home with me. I knew I wanted to someday sell to a big publisher. And if this is how big publishers did it, maybe I needed to take a serious look into changing my process too. So I decided to give it a try. A test. I decided my next book would be plotted out beforehand. I spent a couple weeks writing what was originally supposed to be a semi-detailed outline. But I ended up writing a very detailed outline, scene by scene. It was about 25 pages long, single spaced. When I finished, I started crafting the book. It took me only 35 days to write 82 thousand words. And not once was I bored or felt a lack of creatively. There was never a lull, asking myself "What's gonna happen next?" There were less plot holes. Since I had the book all planned out, it gave me the ease of just writing it and not having to stop and think about where the book was going. I already knew.
I am now a reformed panser! And proud of it!!
I know everyone has their process and everyone must do what works best for them. But I am honestly shocked by how at home I am with the new process I have adopted. My dream is to sell on proposal. I would LOVE to sell a book based on my ideas instead of spending months writing something that no one wants to buy. Fingers crossed that I get there!
So...panser or plotter? Any reformed pansers like me??? Were you shocked with the ease of the process once you started it?
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Fear and preventing our kids from being terrorized by it.
Yesterday my son's principal sent home a letter explaining the drills they have been teaching the kids. This is preschool, mind you. They are showing the kids what to do when there is a lockout. The principal wanted us to talk to the kids and make sure they understood what was going on, etc... since they would be practicing the drills over the next couple weeks.
So I asked my son, who is 5, about the lockdown drills. He said, "We lock the door and go in the corner and be quiet so people can't see us from the window on the door. They'll think we went outside."
He said it with such nonchalance. It completely broke my heart to see him talking about something like this with such ease. But I guess I should be happy. He is learning to do these things without fear. He probably doesn't understand the reasoning for why they need to do it. They just need to do it. He doesn't seem anxious or scared. I guess that should give me some comfort. If there ever comes a time when he will need to do this, he will know what to do and will do it. I can't say he won't be scared, but he'll be prepared.
I'm sad that our children need to know these types of things. But it also reminds me of the stories my dad used to tell us. When he was a kid they'd had air raid drills. He'd had to get under his desk. So even though 50+ years have passed, and even though the world has changed drastically, we're still having to prepare our children for the worst.
I try not to live my life in fear. I want my children to grow up without worry. I want them to live as normal a life they can. Be happy. Reach for their dreams. But I also try to teach them to be cautious. Be prepared.
So I asked my son, who is 5, about the lockdown drills. He said, "We lock the door and go in the corner and be quiet so people can't see us from the window on the door. They'll think we went outside."
He said it with such nonchalance. It completely broke my heart to see him talking about something like this with such ease. But I guess I should be happy. He is learning to do these things without fear. He probably doesn't understand the reasoning for why they need to do it. They just need to do it. He doesn't seem anxious or scared. I guess that should give me some comfort. If there ever comes a time when he will need to do this, he will know what to do and will do it. I can't say he won't be scared, but he'll be prepared.
I'm sad that our children need to know these types of things. But it also reminds me of the stories my dad used to tell us. When he was a kid they'd had air raid drills. He'd had to get under his desk. So even though 50+ years have passed, and even though the world has changed drastically, we're still having to prepare our children for the worst.
I try not to live my life in fear. I want my children to grow up without worry. I want them to live as normal a life they can. Be happy. Reach for their dreams. But I also try to teach them to be cautious. Be prepared.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Friends and our need for them
I have a great group of friends. We do so much together and have been there for each other for every single milestone in life to this point. We're all in our 30's, we're all married, we all have kids. There's been ups and downs and we've been there to support each other. And have had a blast. We're always doing fun activities. I know which ladies will be on my arm when I'm 80, still doing the fun things we've always done.
Recently there was some buzz about a Friends the TV show reunion and even a whole reunion season. I was ecstatic. It's one of my all time favorite shows. I just bought the entire series on DVD. I would LOVE to see how the characters I loved are doing ten years later. But all my hopes were dashed with an article stating this was not happening. Which was fine, but I completely disagreed with the reasoning.
The article I read- read it here- states the reunion is not happening because "Friends was about that time in your life when your friends were your family and once you have a family, there's no need."
O....kay.....so what about this awesome bond I have with my girls? And even some of the guys?
I sure as hell need my friends. And I plan on always needing them. I adore my kids, but sometimes I need to be with other adults. I need to let loose with my girls and have fun. We have strong bonds. No one else on earth can identify with me about life like they can. We laugh together, cry together, do silly crazy shit together! My kids and husband aren't going to see NKOTB with me! My girlfriends are! I'm living my life to the fullest and enjoying it and my friends are a huge part of that. My family is the other part. Both are very significant to me.
So fine...there won't be a Friends reunion, but don't use the lame excuse that no one needs friends once they have a spouse and family.
And to get technical, Ross and Monica were brother and sister, and married/ended up with two of the other friends, making them all family. So, 4 of the friends still see each other an awful lot. Well, in my imagination they do. :) So there!
Recently there was some buzz about a Friends the TV show reunion and even a whole reunion season. I was ecstatic. It's one of my all time favorite shows. I just bought the entire series on DVD. I would LOVE to see how the characters I loved are doing ten years later. But all my hopes were dashed with an article stating this was not happening. Which was fine, but I completely disagreed with the reasoning.
The article I read- read it here- states the reunion is not happening because "Friends was about that time in your life when your friends were your family and once you have a family, there's no need."
O....kay.....so what about this awesome bond I have with my girls? And even some of the guys?
I sure as hell need my friends. And I plan on always needing them. I adore my kids, but sometimes I need to be with other adults. I need to let loose with my girls and have fun. We have strong bonds. No one else on earth can identify with me about life like they can. We laugh together, cry together, do silly crazy shit together! My kids and husband aren't going to see NKOTB with me! My girlfriends are! I'm living my life to the fullest and enjoying it and my friends are a huge part of that. My family is the other part. Both are very significant to me.
So fine...there won't be a Friends reunion, but don't use the lame excuse that no one needs friends once they have a spouse and family.
And to get technical, Ross and Monica were brother and sister, and married/ended up with two of the other friends, making them all family. So, 4 of the friends still see each other an awful lot. Well, in my imagination they do. :) So there!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Jump in! Be the conversation starter!
Recently there was conversation at my local chapter's RWA meeting about Twitter. Many felt intimidated because it feels like walking into a room where all the people are already in their own conversations. I guess I can see that and understand it.
I am a big fan of Twitter. (Come on over and check me out if you so desire!! Click here!) I wasn't at first though. It was confusing and I wasn't real sure what I was supposed to be doing. I started following others and reading what they had to say. I followed industry professionals and learned so much from them. I started interacted with the people I followed and even the professionals. I became part of the conversations instead of just reading them.
And then I started posting my own thoughts. I heard someone recently call Twitter a micro blog and that's exactly what it is. Tiny little snippets of your mind. I started my own conversations. People started responding to me.
In the real world, I'm not so great at being bold and starting conversations or even joining ones already in progress. But in the Twitter world I am more comfortable. I'm hoping it will help me in real life to become more like that.
I am a big fan of Twitter. (Come on over and check me out if you so desire!! Click here!) I wasn't at first though. It was confusing and I wasn't real sure what I was supposed to be doing. I started following others and reading what they had to say. I followed industry professionals and learned so much from them. I started interacted with the people I followed and even the professionals. I became part of the conversations instead of just reading them.
And then I started posting my own thoughts. I heard someone recently call Twitter a micro blog and that's exactly what it is. Tiny little snippets of your mind. I started my own conversations. People started responding to me.
In the real world, I'm not so great at being bold and starting conversations or even joining ones already in progress. But in the Twitter world I am more comfortable. I'm hoping it will help me in real life to become more like that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
