Lucky 7 Meme

I have been furiously working on my WIP and slack in my blogging as of late.  So, you can imagine my surprise when the lovely and supportive S.E. Lane from Writing Belle left me a flattering comment about being tagged.  According to her, "This is a different kind of meme which requires you to go to page 77 of your current Manuscript, go to line 7, and copy 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs. Then you're supposed to tag 7 more bloggers!"  Well, I can sort of do that.  I suppose if I formatted my current WIP as a more book like format rather than the standard Word document default I would have a page 77.  I can definitely choose 7 other bloggers (and then some) upon which to bestow this honor.  


What I fear is becoming hopelessly addicted to sharing parts of my WIP and hearing what you all have to say.  That, or, finding myself so caught up in everyone's wonderful blogs, searching for my 7 victims (er...honorees) that I never finish this post and no one ever shares in the talent that I so enjoy reading.  This being said, it's with no further ado that I present to you 7 lines from "Gracie's Gift" my current WIP.  In this scene, Miles (the love interest) comes to check on Kaitlin (the MC) who has been home for the week.  (I can't say why yet.  Oh, and yes there are hints of dialect, but it's not heavy.  That pattern is in the whole manuscript--depending on the characters.)

"Miles, what I’m gonna do?  They won't let me stay here and even if they did, I can't afford it.  Can't go to New York with Brandon and Sharon.  My life is here."

 "First of all, you can do anythin' you want.  Second, you have no life."

"Shut up!  If you're trying to cheer me up, you need to work on your skills."

"Oh, I got skills."  Miles set my plate on the coffee table, grabbed me by the wrist and stood me up.  He spun me around again.  I was too defeated to resist him.  "Dang, girl!  You are a hot mess!" 

I've been working on this piece since summer of 2010.  I had to stop to finish my Master's and to get divorced.  Dust has settled, I am happier than ever and writing like a fiend.  I hope to finish the first draft no later than the end of June.  Stick around...maybe I will share more sometime.  

In the meantime, here are some other amazing bloggers you can check out:

Les Floyd from Lesism- who has recently re-explored his short story skills beautifully.

Molly O'Keefe from Drunk Writer Talk- who has inspired me to give this next one a go and see if I can finish a first draft over the summer this year.  I have already been researching and will be working an outline before then.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Thanks Molly for the honest expression about the process of head down writing.

Author Pete Hautman- who, in case you haven't read his work, is freaking hilarious.  Plus, his new book, The Obsidian Blade, is releasing on my birthday!  I can think of no better reason to honor him other than for being funny and for having a kick ass release date!  (The fact that he has won awards might have nothing to do with my selection.  Nor the fact that my students love to read his work--cause those things are not as important.)

Widow Dyer- who has overcome sickly computers to rise up again and continue on her quest of "aspiring" (however, she is writing like a machine which sounds like much more than aspiring if you ask me).  Check her out ans she what she has cooking in her writer life!

R. Mac Wheeler- who ranted recently to his fellow Indie authors about the quality of the work they are producing.  His point was made clearly without singling out any one particular author.  I found this compelling as a newbie for so many reasons that I just don't have time for now.  But, also, because I had an Indie send me a book for free and ask me to review it...good or bad...I'm torn.  This is a blog post in the making.  While I finish reading the book I was sent, read what R. Mac has to say and let him know what you think.  

AJ Humpage from All Write Fiction Advice- whose recent post on the difference between imagery and feeling as well as seeing the words and how they fit in the scene really struck a chord with me.  I tend to be a method writer and get extremely into my work.  Then , when I read aloud for my writer's group, I can not help but have different tones to my voice as I read the different characters.  Each word is considered carefully as I revise and edit.  Check out what she has to say and her tips on feeling the depth of the words.

Morgan Shamy-is somewhat new to me.  I've clicked follow on her blog, but somehow rarely manage to catch a post.  (I really need to reach out to all of these wonderful resources more often.)  Her recent post about Beta Reading caught my eye though.  As I connect more to other authors and experience greater depth with my writing group, I am learning more and more about what it means to be a Beta reader or to use a Beta reader.  Morgan poses great questions and advice about beta reading that I hadn't yet solidified in my head.  Check her out.

So, there are my 7 Memes for this round of shout outs and awards.  I hope I have connected you with some people that will help you grow as a writer just as they have for me.  What do you think about their ideas?  What do you look for in a good blog?  

I also hope you enjoy my 7 lines of manuscript.  Have you ever used dialect or written in a character voice that is so different from your own?  What resources did you use?

ROW80 Check in and thoughts on Writer's Groups

I'm really doing this!  Wow, what a week I have had.  My blog was nominated for a Versatile Blogger Award and one blog post was picked up and given a shout out by another Tweep.  I have felt motivated and successful this week!  Yes, as Julie said on the ROW80 blog, things are trying to get in my way.  I'm doing my best to stay on track though.  One distraction I can do little about is my puppy.  She has decided she loves to run in the mud, come inside for an hour (so I have to towel her down) and then go back outside and do it again.  She must want me to join her because as she does this over and over all day long, she jumps on me and runs in circles around the table when she comes in!  I wish she would understand that all of this, while wildly fun and entertaining, is disrupting my writing flow.  Alas, she is only 7 months old and a dog, so I think I'm out of luck.  Other than that, I have done well.  With no kids this weekend, it was a big writing time for me.  Much of what I wrote was character development with some progress on my WIP.  I'm just shy of my 2,000 words for the two days I was sans kids, but well set up for Wednesday when I'm at it again.

I went to my writer's group (I'm fairly new to this particular group) and witnessed some critique challenges and writing insecurity.  This is not a pretty thing when you are in a group and can make for some tense moments among the group members.  For this reason, I found this Kristen Lamb's article both timely and thought provoking.  (I loved her book, We Are Not Alone.  If you have not checked out either her blog or her book, I strongly recommend both.)  While I do not believe I will leave the writing group (I need the accountability right now), I do think there is some balance that needs to be had as you consider the value of your particular group as well as your personal reason for attending a group.  Proceed with caution and a clear intent.

One article I would like to find is one about submitting your work to various places and how to decide which is the right place for each piece.  One of my goals is to select.revise and submit entries.  Well, today I looked at various sites that have contests and publication opportunities and I am feeling lost.  I have a few short stories, poems and flash fiction pieces that I would like to submit but have no clue which should go where.  What if I send it to one and it's rejected, but if I had only sent it to another one it would have been accepted?  How do you decide?  Where are the best places for beginning writers to submit their work?

Best of luck to all my fellow ROW80ers and #staygroovy

I'm so Excited: The Versatile Blogger Award

Wait, what?  Hey read this e-mail for me.  Am I reading this correctly?  Are you serious?!?  My infant blog has a nomination?!?!  

I truly struggled to understand how this could have happened while I was still learning about how to create my platform while also working on developing my writing skills.  Then I took a look at the blog of Writing Belle, S.E. Lane and was struck with a kindred connection as we both seem entrenched in the YA world. I have to give a great big thanks to Ms. Lane and I highly recommend her blog as you look for some excellent reviews and great YA reads.

Now on to the rules of response when nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award:1 
1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

2. Add an image of the Versatile Blogger Award.
3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.
5. In the same post, include this set of rules.
6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

In the spirit of versatility, here are my nominees:

1.JaseR75 for his blog, Resurrected Writer

2. Chris Naffzinger for his blog, St. Louis Patina

3. Darrah Michelle for her poetry blog, Darrah Michelle

4. Fake Steph for her blog, The Fake Steph Dot Com

5. A.F. White for his blog, St. Louis Scriber

6. Widow Dyer for her blog, Widow Dyer

7. Dawn for her blog, Absolute Forest of Words

8. Alex for her blog, Diaries

9. JC Piech for her blog, Things Which Burst Out of My Brain

10. Michael K. Rose for his blog, Myriad Spheres

11. Paul Maitrejean for his blog, A Writer's Journal

12. AJ Humpage for her blog, All Write - Fiction Advice

13. Gary Taaffe for his blog, Gary Taaffe

14. Bridget Bowers for her blog, Rants 'N' Ramblings

15. V Furnas for her blog, Life 4 Me by Me

In the spirit of randomness, here are seven things about me.

1. I'm only five foot tall.

2. I'm addicted to fruit snacks.

3. I could sit in an empty grassy field for hours and stare at the sky.

4. I love trance and techno music.

5. I want to vacation in Maine and New York City

6. I love Ewan McGregor and all of his movies.

7. I'm scared and excited every time someone reads my writing.

Once you have your nomination, pass on your own nods of Versatility, it is a great honor.