Mid Month Goals

It's Mid October. And look at this! I'm still alive!

It's like being on top of the world!

I'm still breathing!

Huray!!

With that said, now that I'm almost through the Month of Hell, it's time to start looking forward. National Novel Writing Month is November (that handy little #NaNoWriMo tag you see floating around twitter), and thus before I delve into a new novel, there are some things I feel I must do:

Wait for it....wait for it...

1) Finish editing the memoir. Find a cohesive ending that feels complete to me, and that chapter of my life. Take a deep breath, find a stiff drink, and keep my chin up.

2) Finish editing After Elizabeth, which...has been edited about a million times, but when agents say, "This is what I have a problem with," well, I'm going to listen.

3) Think. Do research. See if any voices start speaking to me. Take notes.

4) Start doing writing prompts to get the juices flowing. I recommend Old Friend from Far Away, and The Pocket Muse 2, and The Writer's Block.

5) Time management. Money management.

But really the big stressers are the editing. The memoir gives me anxiety attacks and insomnia. The novel just makes me feel overwhelmed. But once those are done, FULLY done, I'm ready for #NaNoWriMo

What about you guys? Any last minute things you need to tie up before diving in?

The Next Big Thing

I'd like to thank Krista McLaughlin for tagging me in this. First of all, because these meme things are always fun, and secondly, because well...I was running out of things to blog about (while still trying to find a damn picture of me, or my sister, with Harry Potter.)

Just to warn you guys, I think next week may be a rather intense week where I'm going to tackle a lot of subjects that working on my memoir (newly updated!) has brought up. Brace yourselves. I'm already expecting to lose followers. Maybe for those of you who stick around, I'll try to figure out another contest, or something. (This is a HUGE maybe, I'm super broke right now.)

Anyways, as stated, Krista tagged me in the Next Big Thing...so here I go!

What is the working title of your book? 
Which one? There's My Sister's Memories, After Elizabeth, and The Right to Live: A Christian Girl's Struggle through Abortion, Losing Her Mind, and Recovery.

Where did the idea come from? 
My Sister's Memories came when I was moving to Maine after North Carolina. I have a lot of issues with my memory, and was crossing a bridge and thought, "What if you saw everyone you love die?"

After Elizabeth was because I was still recovering from everything that caused me to move, and I really wanted to kill someone...so...I do it fictitiously. 

The Right to Live...well...came from my life, as it's my memoir :/
What genre does your book fall under? 
Two Contemporary Young Adults, and one Memoir (with a side of french fries, please :) )

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie? 
I actually hate this question. I hate when the books have the actors on the front cover before I read the book because then I just see the actor, even if the writer tells me the hair was brown, and the actor is blond. Hollywood does their job (casting, auditions, etc), I do my job and let you pick.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? 
MSM: On her 18th birthday, Sarah's parents are killed in a car accident, leaving Sarah to become guardian of her younger, and now amnesiac sister.

AE: In the aftermath of her best friend's suicide, Claire turns to cigarettes, neon hair, and anger, rather than dealing with her feelings...until Andrew moves in across the street.

TRTL: Um, the little "A Christian Girl's Struggle.." pretty much sums this one up :)
Will your books be self-published or represented by an agency?

Agency. I don't care how long it takes. I wanna see my effin book in a Barnes and Noble, and get banned from libraries and schools.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 
It usually takes me three to four weeks to do the first draft. There's a lot of coffee, energy drinks, and alcohol usually involved. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book? 
The need to kill off characters and use writing as therapy really pushed me to write the stories. Is that healthy?

What else about your book would pique the reader's interests?
There are always cute boys in my stories. Even in my memoirs :)

Oh, and um...I'm supposed to pass this on. So...Here we go:

1) One of my lovely Beta Readers for After Elizabeth, Ms. Suzi over at Literary Engineer.

 

2) A woman I met during one of the blog hops and on Twitter, who seems like she has her stuff together, Ms. Rachel Frost over at The Story of Her Life

3) A wonderful blog follower who always has excellent comments, Ms. Elizabeth Seckman at Use Your Words

4) Another great follower with great comments, Ms. Emily R King over at Get Busy Writing.

5) And because this guy also rocks with comments, and the precessors were females and I feel like we gotta try to balance this out, Mr. Andrew Leon over at StrangePegs

 

Meet and Greet

Welcome to the Meet and Greet for GUTGAA. If you don't know what's going on, you should head on over and check it out! Today, Deana Barnhart asked a few questions, and here I am to answer them!

Where do you write? 

Everywhere. On my phone, on napkins, on my laptop...when the idea strikes me, I hunt for a pen, and whatever can hold ink. From there, I write. Sometimes it's still legible by the time I'm able to type it up! 

If I'm in a project and trying to keep my word count going, I usually write in my bedroom, with my iPod on shuffle. But my bedroom changes about every three months because I move so much.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

Well currently, I'm in the library. So to my left I see this:

But usually, it's a dirty tea cup, maybe some water. Some pens. Maybe crayons or makers. Or, you know, Baxter.

Favorite time to write?

At night. First thing in the morning I'm a bit of a monster, and can't function for a couple of hours. I have sleeping problems anyway, and my best ideas seem to come at 2am...which explains a lot of the nightmares and random dreams...

Drink of choice while writing?

Pepsi and ::cough:: rum. 

Or an energy drink. Or water. I think tea helps a lot. Especially because I just won a free year's supply! :)

When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

MUSIC. I cannot function without music. (This library atmosphere is currently killing me, which is why I'm blogging, and not writing...)

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

My last manuscript was After Elizabeth, about a girl recovering from her best friend's suicide. I got the inspiration because I was (and am) still very bitter with everything that happened last year, and I felt like killing someone. When all was said and done, one of the last things I told those people was, "You're dead to me," and they continued what they did anyway, so it was like they killed themselves to me. So rather than murder, I had a character kill herself. I'm a lot like Claire...still recovering from the death of my best friends.

What's your most valuable writing tip?

Finish.

If you're writing your first manuscript, finish it. I don't care if you decide to kill all of your characters, get them abducted by aliens, whatever. Just finish the manuscript. Why? Because once you finish one, you'll be able to finish another, and it'll be better. And your next will be better than that. 

Suddenly, that 60,000 word goal isn't so daunting.

Happy Monday!
(Also, this was a pre-scheduled post. If anyone comments, I'll check your post out, but sadly, I live by my work schedule and when I can get to the library currently. Sorry I can't hop around too much!)

Hangers

Over at Falling for Fiction, they're hosting round two of the Hookers and Hangers blog hop!

If you missed segment one, it was the hookers of chapters, those glamorous sentences that keep you from putting that book down and tell you you can pull through one more chapter. If you get the chance, go around to the other author blogs. They will not disappoint you!

Today, we're focusing on the hangers, the last sentence of the chapter where you sit there and think, "OMG!" and keep reading though it's 2am and you have to be up at 5am for work.

Hangers from After Elizabeth (YA Contemporary)  in no particular order:

In the place of sorrow, I found fury. Pure, unadulterated, uncontrollable, fury.


"I run alone," she states, re-hardening, and bolts.


Even though I'm going to get expelled. 


If I don't exist to Claire Davis, maybe I'm not real.


It was the beginning of the end. We never should have gone.


But, I find myself thinking, at least she's my neighbor.


Ready for this to be over, I checked my watch. We still had four minutes left of our ten minute run.


There would be a score to settle very, very soon.


Who is this girl?

And the last one I'll put up for this:

Then there are the mother fuckers, like Chad Higgins, who recognize the rope, and push people like Elizabeth off.

This was an awesome blog hop! Thanks Falling for Fiction! I hope you guys got to scope out the other entries, too!

Also, check out Monday's post for a contest happening here at The Submission Process!

Hookers

Over at Falling for Fiction they're hosting the Hookers and Hangers blog hop!

It's a two-part blog hop, so today, I will be posting the first sentences (Hookers!) of a few chapters from After Elizabeth. Tune in on the 18th for some ending (Hanger!) sentences.

In no particular order:

Don't!


I'm sweating my balls off as I sit shot gun in a U-haul.

When Elizabeth came back to school on Wednesday, she couldn’t make it through an entire class without crying. 


The walls are pink? Really, Mom? Really?


Claire’s car comes to a slamming stop, and I’m jolted forward so hard the locked seatbelt is like a punch to the chest.

When Sunday was said and done, Baxter was dead, and my ankle was officially sprained. 

And one more, that's a little more heartbreaking:

It was winter the first time Elizabeth tried to kill herself. 

 I'm excited to see the rest of the hookers for you guys!

Lag

So, I think I have people issues. Maybe I'm meant to grow up and become like Emily Dickenson. I should hole myself up in my house, have a secret shopper, and never go outside. I'm not meant to interact with people, they annoy me, most times I just roll my eyes and don't want to talk to them.

Except...maybe...I should still go outside and go hiking, longboarding with Baxter, you know, the usual. Just with no one else. Me, and my pup.

I think he'd be okay with that

Or maybe, just live in a writer's colony. I can deal with people who read, and who write, because they're reclusive like me. These people, they're my lifeblood.

Bottom line, I was supposed to be paying $15/month for internet through my neighbor. (Note: Neighbor, not roommate! Small victories!) Well, she told me to pay her by the 14th. (I'll pause while you check your calendars for today's date.....Yes, it is the 8th. Even still, not the 14th! It wasn't even the 1st of the month when this stuff went down.) 

So yea, during the week of rain (another one), I noticed my wifi wasn't working. Well it was...on my phone, but not my computer. People suggested maybe the rain was interfering so I waited about three days, and left a note on their door, which they didn't respond to.

Then she came home, and I confronted her. Her response? "Oh, we changed the password because we thought you were avoiding us."

Hmm...So...you don't come approach me directly? 

She then continued to say, "We don't want to supply to anyone in the complex."

Days later I find this is a lie, and she's still providing to another neighbor, and I'm irate. So now I'm pirating from someone down the street, but it's spotty and unreliable. Posts will be minimal until I figure out a solution. I'm sorry, and thanks for your patience. In the meantime, loathing of this neighbor has gone full force. She and her little friends recently set off fireworks RIGHT next to Baxter, who then RAN (with a look of panic and horror) toward the apartment. Here, she said, "If he was leashed, this wouldn't be a problem."

Right, because we all love ear splitting bangs going off RIGHT NEXT TO US. 

After that, it literally took ten minutes of coaxing Baxter to go outside. He was mortified. I wanted to punch her in the face. 

Anyways, enough ranting. On the writing front, After Elizabeth has gone through another edit, as well as The Right to Live. Both are now on submission, so that's exciting. I'll keep you posted if anything good happens :)

At Long Last: Girls Just Want To Have Fun

Sorry I'm late, there's been a lot of stuff going on. But without further slacking off, here is my blog for the Girls Just Want to have Fun Blog Hop! The rules are your heroine gets interviewed by another female counterpart. I'm supposed to post a picture of them, but I'm opting out of that, sorry. Instead, I'll repost a picture of real life Claire, who my character is named for. Yay!

I'm on the left. She's on the right :)

So today's interview will be done by Sarah, MC from My Sister's Memories. She'll be asking Claire Downs, from After Elizabeth questions.



Sarah: "So you're smoking?"

Claire, who lets out a steady stream: "No, I'm on the patch."

Sarah, uncomfortably: "Are you even old enough--"

Claire shoots a mean look, Sarah stops.

Sarah: "Alright then. So this question is brought to you by Jaycee DeLorenzo. How would you describe your hero?"

Claire, after a moment of shooting daggers through her eyes: "I don't know. Spiderman? Superman? No, no The Power Rangers. Yea. The Power Rangers."

Sarah: "Why?"

Claire: "Fuck if I know. They had different colors, I guess."

Sarah: "Like your hair? It's blue today Do you dye it regularly?"

Claire: "Only when I'm bored."

Sarah: "Alright, next question. What attracts you to a guy?"

Claire, inhaling a long puff: "Do you expect me to like, say I like long walks on the beach, and a guy who brings a fucking puppy home?"

Sarah: "Umm...."

Claire: "Seriously. That's a bullshit question."

Sarah, avoiding confrontation because Claire looks like she'll lunge over the table and strangle her: "Next question! Favorite thing to do--"

Claire, cutting me off: "Is this shit over yet?" She proceeds to die out her cigarette on the table.

Sarah: "I guess it can be. Thanks for your time...."

Claire: "Fuck off."

Yea, I'd say that's a pretty accurate representation of Claire :) What do you think?

Also, we were asked to post a theme-ish song, so I think this one covers Claire pretty well:

Sorry again that it's late, but I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Meeting Claire

I met Claire Downs, the main character of After Elizabeth, in North Carolina, just before I went crazy (possibly while I was going crazy).

I've always been fascinated with smokers, especially because there are so many song lyrics about them. (On my iTunes, I actually have a cigarette playlist made up.) It's strange because I grew up loathing when my parents smoked, riding like a dog with my head out the window of the car, or leaving the room when they lit up in my presence. It's gotten to the point, when I visit Michigan, my mother knows better than to try to smoke with me in the car or in her house. Personally, I don't smoke...but I do have three unopened packs of cigarettes in the dashboard of my car in case I ever decide to take up the habit.

Yep, had these since North Carolina.
Smoking is gross.

Either way, one day I was sitting there, thinking about how strange it would be to see a girl in a neon pink sports bra running and smoking a cigarette. I started writing about Claire before she even had a name. Instead of being a girl as I wrote, I was a boy checking out a decently hot chick. I remember sitting on the couch and reading aloud to the people I considered friends (like I said, I went crazy), and they agreed that this girl sounded hardcore. I saved the document, and went to sleep with a massive erection. Wait, in real life I'm a girl...and I like boys. Okay, whew.

In the morning, when I checked my computer, the document was gone, and the page worth of stuff I'd written disappeared with it. But the memory of this girl never left me. I didn't care if what I'd written was saved. I just knew she existed, and I loved her, though now, she may never resurface.

Fast forward about six months. My Sister's Memories is on submission, and getting page and manuscript requests (cool! My query letter doesn't suck!). Sadly, each and every one gets rejected (sadface, my writing does). I tell myself that I'm not going to write another novel until My Sister's Memories, Character Defects, Igniting a Firestarter, and my memoir go through a hard round of editing. I only end up editing My Sister's Memories and receive more rejections, some with feedback, and for the first time, I start to hope...maybe...maybe...I have something worthwhile here.

In the meantime, I work my day job and get invited to a middle school to speak. One Wednesday morning, I drive to Fryeburg and talk to kids who ask me about cutting, depression, and coping mechanisms. I am humbled and awestruck with every single student I meet. We take pictures together, I offer candy, and I come back the next week. And the week after that.

They refuse to leave my head. The girl who smokes refuses to leave my head.

My sister and I
Her approval of my writing means a lot to me :)

On May 29, 2012, I sit down at my computer, and see a girl typing with a friend the way Kellie and I used to. I see a girl read a message that says something like, I'm sorry, I can't handle this, the same message I'd received when a good friend tried to kill himself a thousand miles away from me. And then, for the first time since I'd written about a girl smoking a cigarette and running, I saw Claire Downs emerge in the aftermath of her best friend killing herself.

And today (though I'm scheduling this post for tomorrow) on June 19, 2012, I am excited to tell you that After Elizabeth is complete. Even better? Armed with the critiques that I'd received from agents and Callie Kingston, though I wrote quickly, I wrote with showing in mind. When I read the ending to my sister, for the first time she said, "Yea, I can see everything you've just read, it was well written."

For the first time in my writing career, I'm proud of a rough draft, mainly because my sister didn't tell me that it sucked. Although she did tell me she had a beef with my ending. (Psshh, whatever.)

Now I step away for about a week, play, drink, and have fun.

Next week, the real work begins.

Checking In

It's dark, but there were no safety nets
Yes...this is kind of a regular thing here :)

Sorry I've been MIA again. Between work, losing wifi for like four days, getting pulled over by an officer who flirted with me (and turned out to be married, even AFTER he visited me at work. Grr! But hey, I got out of a $250 fine for not having my car registered and having an out of state license, so it's still a win) and writing my ass off, I've been trying to think of blog topics and falling short. I've also been doing significant amounts of "research" (see: playing with neighbors, auditioning for our version of Ninja Warrior, and playing in the road).

Because of all of this (those of you who are writers...or are friends with writers) you should check THIS out.

I find it to be extremely true. Only rum instead of whiskey...but I can change :)

Also, I'm at about 45,000 words...so close to being done with After Elizabeth. Pretty excited. Anyone want to Beta?

Research

Sometimes, research is fun. Like that time Innova Discs sent me a starter kit to research Disc Golf for My Sister's Memories. Or, harassing companies to see if they'll sponsor me for other research, or bugging friends, or even just hanging out and people watching.

The fun kind of research: sibling dynamics :)
*I'm on the right*

But, sometimes, researching your story...it's gut wrenching work.

I started a new project, potentially called After Elizabeth, a couple of days ago (which is why I've been MIA), and in three days managed to write 13,000 words (Woot! Victory dance!). And then I hit a point where I had to do something I've never done before. Write an obituary. For a girl who committed suicide.

This was hard for a couple of reasons:
1) Senior year of college, a friend killed herself. Her body was never found (to my knowledge, but that knowledge may be outdated now). I'd moved in 8th grade, and she and I had stopped talking. But, I like to live in this world where my friends stay alive forever, and are happy all the time, whether I'm near or far. It's not too much to ask, right? So Laura told me that she'd committed suicide, and I went to the porch and chain smoked until I stopped shaking.
2) I have a million other friends who died of things like; cancer, drunk driving accidents, bad driving accidents, etc
3) I've only read obituaries....Never actually written one
4) This obituary was almost written for me in October

Swallowing all of this, I tried to write around the obituary, but in the end, the story prevailed, and needed this written. I googled Suicide Obituaries, and found THIS website. From there, I literally took the step by step instructions and wrote. I called my mom, read the first couple of versions until she told me I needed to have life-accomplishments. This, then, is my first obituary:

Elizabeth Alexandra Travis, 16 years old, passed away unexpectedly on October 1, 2012. Born in Portland, Maine on April 8^th, 1996, she is survived by her mother, Natalie Wright of Portland, her father, Marc Travis of Gilead, and her best friend, Claire Downs of Portland. The bright junior is remembered as a gifted and accomplished cross country runner, a smart student, a loving daughter, caring teammate, and amazing friend. She is preceded in death by her beloved dog, Baxter. Friends and family wishing to donate are asked to send the proceeds to Hope Hotline, or any other suicide prevention foundation.

I think I'm okay with how it turned out. I especially liked that the best friend was added on there (I definitely feel like the parents would have written that given the girl's relationship). Also, I feel like a dick for killing her dog, but that, too, needed to be done.

So, for you writers. What are some of the hard parts of research for you?