Sarah Fine's Book Cover Reveal!

Ahem, well, actually...yesterday was the "official" reveal on Mundie Moms Blog, but today I can share it with you, too, right? RIGHT???

Sooo...HERE IT IS:

Pretty sweet, right? Click on the Mundie Mom link above and you can read a little interview Sarah gave over there. And then you can go check out Sarah's shiny new website, too. And don't forget to check out Sarah's blog, either. She did a little happy dance of her own yesterday. :-)

Happy Memorial Day, Peeps!

~JD 

Throwdown Showdown: Pantsing vs Outlining: The Verdict

All right, on Monday you heard Patty's argument for flying free whilst writing. On Wednesday, Oscar laid his well-thought-out plan.

It's fair to say, based on reader comments, that the audience is split. And dear peeps, JD is split to.

1. You have to do what works for you. If you do something that doesn't work, well DUH, it doesn't work.

2. Some people will excel at one or other other. Or, heck, a combination of both.

3. It's your book, your vision, your dream. Do it the way you want to.

So my vote? And the official ruling? BOTH.

I used to be full-out panster. I outlined my first book for NaNoWriMo last year and it was pretty awesome. But I hated it. So now I do a little of both, and it works GREAT. Might I suggest that some of you try it? You might be surprised were the road less traveled will take you.

So in closing, there is no true winner. The winner is the one YOU choose. And for me? The winner is a combination of both.

Now everyone go have an EPIC Memorial Day Weekend!

~JD 

Throwdown Showdown: Oscar the Outliner

Day two, peeps! And it's time for Oscar, our outliner/plotter, to take a stand and tell us why he thinks outlining is the only way to go.

Well, Hello. *deep, throaty laugh*

I'm Oscar, the know all and end all of outlines. You see, I've been outlining since I was a youngin'. Don't laugh. I'm serious. When I was two, I did an outline (in crayon, of course) of how to build the perfect stuffed animal. My design is still used to this day. Oh, and in case your wondering, I'm an engineer, therefore I know the proper way to build things.

Writing is simple really, like a math equation. It has a formula. EVERY genre has formula. And it is this formula that you must develop your story from.

I'll make a list for why you must have an outline for writing. Lists are good.

1. Outlines are the very foundation of your story. Would you build a house without a foundation? I didn't think so.

2. They are easy.

3. They help you keep track of characters/problems/faults/crimes/romances/peoples/places/things/issues/you name it.

4. They lead you from one scene the next. You'll never get stuck! (Which keeps writer's block at bay). If you know how the story is going to go, how can you get stuck?

5.. The foundation (outline) provides the beginning of the framework for you to build that story. Your framework (which is also part of your outline) is what makes the story hold up.

6. Now, once you've got those basics, then you go deeper, adding angles, curves, depth, power. You really dive into the bones of the story and the characters, knowing that with each additional thing you outline, you are making your story stronger.

7. In the end, you already know your story, your characters, how the road will look during the journey, all the splits in the road the characters will take. You know everything. There will be no surprises. There will be no mistakes because you already accounted for all of them and fixed all those nasty plot holes.

Now you just need to fill in between the lines and put that outline in novel form. Bam! Just like that. And you'll have your masterpiece straight from your formula, to your idea, to your outline, to your book.

So easy. So controlled. So perfect. You should never, ever do without an outline.

* * *

Uh, well...thanks Oscar! You really make a great case here! Check back on Friday and I will declare a winner. Who will it be? The panster...or the plotter?

~JD

Throwdown Showdown: Patty the Panster

DUN...DUN...DUN...

Today folks, those out-of the box Pansters will go toe-to-toe with those finicky Outliners. Let's see who has what it takes to end up on top.

For those of you who are new, this is a blog feature where two opposites give each other their best shots (pun intended). Today we'll discuss one of the POV's and Wednesday we'll do another. Then on Friday, we'll announce a winner! 


Today Pantsers will be up to bat first.

Let's rumble.

Hi! *shy giggle*

I'm Patty and I'm a Panster. Pansting is, well, awesome. You see, 100% of my life is so organized and by-the-book.

Wake up a 5:30.
Wake and feed the offspring.
Feed and take care of the dogs.
Get dressed. Throw in a load of laundry. Eat breakfast.
Yell at the offspring for still being in bed.
Yell at the dogs for fighting over a single toy.
Be out the door by 7:00.
Take the kid to school and be at work by 7:30.
Daily grind. Mapped, planned, every second accounted for by the boss.
Leave at 4:00.
Depending on the day, pick up the offspring and take her to swimming, gymnastics, to see her pony, a friends, to the mall, blah, blah blah.
Be home no later than 5:00 to let the dogs out before they make a mess of my house.
Then run some more errands (like picking up the offspring from one of a million places).
Around 7:30-8ish I might finally end up back at home to: Finish laundry. Feeds dogs. Feed offspring. Do dishes. And because I'm a neat freak, clean the house as I go.
By around 9:00 I'm pooped and fall into bed.
Get up at 5:30 and start all over.
Oh, and if you're wondering, the weekends are the same way, only with different "things" to do. And somewhere in there I do have a husband...although most of the time I'm not sure where he fits in.

So, while I love me some organization and planning in my life, I need a break sometime.

ENTER...WRITING.

It's that moment when I can sit down at the computer and just let the creativeness flow. I'm not restricted by schedules or outlines or characters sketches. I'm not restricted at all. I can do what I want, when I want, and no one can tell me different. I'm not held back by a plot, I'm not stuck in a chapter because something needs to happen at the end of it.

I fly. I SOAR.

 It's my moment, my time, to do whatever the hell I want. It is my freedom, what saves me from going ape-crap crazy because of my crazy normal life. It's what frees me, being able to write 2K and not really care where the story is going.  Who cares if I change the character's name five times? Or the arc of the story? Or the fact that there is no ending...yet. I don't know what I'm doing until I DO it. There's plenty of time to figure that out later. The story unfolds as I write it. The characters, the theme, the plot, IT takes ME on a journey. Not the other way around.

I'm telling a story here, people. I don't need anything but my creative mind and my fingers to do so. Restrictions in creativeness are for babies. Outlines are my biggest fear. If I didn't have this time, my time, I would choke on reality.

Sure, what I end up with isn't perfect. But it can be fixed. Everything can be fixed. What matters is that I had the time of my life writing it. The time when I was finally free.

* * *

Make sure you stop by on Wednesday when Oscar the Outliner steps up to the plate.

~JD

When you hit a wall, do you climb it, or walk away?

There it is folks------>

The wall.

This is your moment.

Your defining moment.

Do you struggle, scrape, and risk life and limb to climb over it?

Or do you just walk away?

This wall can be many things. A troubled marriage. Even a happy marriage. A problem at work. A problem at home. A problem with the kids. A broken car. A broken life. Or what I'm sure most of you are thinking: your writing and goals.

So what is your wall?

And what do you do?

And most importantly, if you take the challenge, what are you hoping will be on the other side?

~JD 

First Loves Blogfest

Ah, those wonderful moments of First Loves. Or, sometimes those awkward moments. ;-)

Thank you Alex Cavanaugh for hosting this wonderful blogfest. Click on his name to go to his blog page to see all the wonderful people signed up for this bad boy!

So here they are, my four first loves: song/band, book, movie, and person.

Song AND Band. 
I was an eighties kid! (And NKOTB STILL ROCKS!)




MOVIE


I watched mainly horror movies when I was growing up. (Don't ask). But I found my FIRST true love of a movie when this came out when I was sixteen:

BOOK

So, I know this might sound strange because I'm a writer, but I didn't read my first book (fiction that wasn't a school assignment) until about 4 years ago. And when I did, WHOA, I was unstoppable! This series has been by far my favorite--and it was one of the first ones I read: 

PERSON

His name was Nick. We were in elementary school. I was, uh, intense/crazy/mean back then. He pretended not to like me, so I pinned him down everyday on the bus and kissed him. Poor kid. He switched schools in the 4th grade. His best friend told me it was because of me. *sigh* Haven't seen him since. He did mail his Publisher's Clearinghouse "winner" form to me in like the 6th grade, with his head glued onto Ed McMahons, telling me he was going to be millionaire. Hope he got some therapy.

And that's it! Now go and check out the rest of the entries.

~JD 

Emily's White Debut Novel Drops! Plus...Her Author Interview

WELCOME EMILY WHITE, author of Elemental (available now!) She took some time to tells us about being a writer AND and mother!

1. First, tell us about your book! 


Well first, let me give you the line:

Just because seventeen-year-old Ella can burn someone to the ground with her mind doesn’t mean she should.
But she wants to.

Eh? Eh???

Hehehe! Elemental is a sci-fi set in a far away galaxy with lots of explosions, some kissing, a lot of sacrifice, and fairies. Teleporting fairies.


2. The million dollar question…with small children and husband, how do you find time to write?

I really don't know. I think it's by the grace of God alone. LOL! I get up early in the morning to get the blogging stuff all done so I have the entirety of their two hour nap to get some writing in. That's about all the time I get because once they're up it's a whirlwind of mommy time and getting chores done and making dinner. Although, I'll admit that there are some days *cough*weeks*cough* that I don't exactly do all my chores. No one really notices dust, do they??

And nighttime is for the hubs. I've tried writing at night, but it doesn't work out so well. :)


3. What does a “normal” day look like for you?

6:00am--get up and answer bloggety comments from the day before

7:00am--if I haven't written and scheduled a blog post, I write one for the day (on m/w/f), otherwise it's pure cuddle time with the boys

8:00am--Make and eat breakfast (this is also story time for the boys--currently working through the Narnia series)

9:00am--social networking (i.e. check blogs, facebook, twitter)

10:00am--dishes and/or working with one of my crit partners on one of our many projects

11:00am--Make and eat lunch

12:00-2:00--Writing time

2:00--Usually tea time at my house

3:00--if it's nice outside, I take the boys outside to play. If not, we read stories or play games

4:00-5:00--play time with the boys can extend into this time, but it's usually no later than five that I start making dinner

6:30-10:00--Hubs time

Hehehe! Boy that was pretty detailed! But I like my schedules and my days typically look like this (unless I go out with my sisters or mom or need to grocery shopping, etc.)



4. Does your family/children support your writing? Any specific good stories to show us how?

I don't think my children have any idea what's going on! My eldest (who is four) does have a little play laptop of his own and whenever he has it on, he says he's working. It's so cute! My husband, on the other hand, has been talking me up at his job. Everybody there is apparently pretty excited (these are all truckers, mind you) and they all have one of my bookmarks. LOL!



5. Does your family help with your writing? Give you ideas? Because let’s face it, young children come up with some great stories/ideas/etc! My own daughter has helped me in this regard once…or twice.

I've come up with some ideas from both my immediate and extended family. In fact, there's a cat in Elemental with the most hilarious name I've ever heard! It's actually a real cat that my sister's niece named. Are you ready for it?? Fluffy Nuts! It's so wrong, but brilliant.

My husband does help me with the tech stuff. He's big into sci-fi, too, so he's always letting me know when something sounds cheesy or just not techy enough.


6. Do you think scheduling/writing/taking care of your brood will get easier as your kids get older?

I sure hope so!! My eldest starts kindergarten next Fall, so though I am inwardly weeping at the thought of that, I'm also a little eager to see if I'll have more time to write. For one, I won't have to split up arguments! That should give me at LEAST two extra hours. :)


7. Editing, for me, takes the longest and this tends to be the toughest thing for my family to deal with (me during that time, that is. LoL). What would you say is the part of writing and being a mother you struggle with the most?

Getting into the middle of writing. It takes me a while to get into that nice little state where everything just flows smoothly. When I'm there, I am a BEAR if anyone rips me out of it. I once cried because I'd hit a low point and thought to myself, "Everything I write will be mediocre because the brilliant stuff goes the way of the dodo whenever my kids/hubby pull me out of my thought process." So the rule at my house is, if I'm staring very hard and thoughtfully at my computer, DO NOT speak to me. I don't even need to be typing, just don't speak. Because half the time I like to play it out in my head before I type (hence me losing a lot of stuff when people break the rule).


8. If you could teach your children the most important lesson about the writerly path you’ve chosen, what would it be?

Always do what brings you joy. And then I'd teach them the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness depends on positive things and good feelings. A person feels joy for something even at their lowest point because they know they're doing what they were meant to do.


Thanks so much for stopping by Emily! I'm SO looking forward to reading your book! For those of you readers who are interested, here's some links for ya':
Elemental (the book)
Elemental (fan page)
Emily White's blog

Happy Hump day everyone!

~JD