Tag: books

My Weekly Update – Blog Hop’s a Plenty

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle5 Comments

I am participating in some fun blog hops over the next two weeks.  Join me!

October 15, 2012 – The Nineties Blogfest!

Dave invites us to post about our favorites things from the nineties.  Choose a favorite song, show, episode, movies, dance, etc for each year. I’ve been working on this post already and have some surprises.

October 17, 2012 – Did I Notice Your Book Blogfest

The Ninja and Knight have joined forced to host this great blogfest to support/promote other writers. I will be posting about a book I noticed recently.  I don’t do book reviews, so I am going to tell you about what happen to me when I read this book.  Can’t wait to share it with you.

October 26 – 29, 2012 – Spooktoberfest

 

Jackie and Dani have prompted me to write a 300 word Flash Fiction piece using the following words:  cobweb(s), cauldron(s),  jack-o-lantern(s), ghost(s), razor(s).  The story can be scary, comical, romantic, whatever I choose. Just be creative!  They will pick a winner on October 31, 2012.

October 29, 2012 – Monstrous Monday Bloghop

What kind of Monster?  Tim invites us to write about a monster we like/love/hate.  Well, I am going to tell you about a monster I hate.  And, this is going to be tricky because I am going to attempt to post a clip of this monster without me actually having to look at it myself because he/it creeps me out.

*Click on the badges for more information and to sign up. 

Post to Ponder
If It Makes You Happy – This post was so imaginative and I am happy I am not the only one who talks to her characters.
Scott Morrow’s Boost Blog Traffic Blog posted a great post by Chris Lappin 12 Blogging Mistakes That Make You Look Like a World Class Idiot. 
Kevin Hanrahan wrote How do our Troops Live Deployed? It got me into doing research on my new WIP.  A few of my characters are Marines.
New Followers
The Better Man Project – I linked his about page because it is pretty cool.  You need to check it out. 
Elicia M. Seawell
 
Next Week’s Schedule
Monday – Blogfest
Wednesday – Blogfest
Friday – Write Practice
Sunday – My Weekly Update

My Weekly Update – Books and Beginnings

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle10 Comments

Books

I read a book last week. I know what you saying. “Sydney, you are a writer, your supposed to be reading books.” Let me clarify. I read a real book, last week.  No. That’s not the right word. I read a physical book last week.

It had paper, a soft cover on the front and the back and I never had to recharge it.  I read it in bed and didn’t have to worry about breaking my nose.  Am I the only one this has happened to?  (Imagine lying in bed holding your iPad/Kindle over your head and you loose your grip and from that distance it landing smack dab on your face) I can’t be the only one and it hurts.  I read in the tub and didn’t have to worry about dropping my life in the bathtub and loosing all my information.  And, I read on the train and didn’t have to worry about the shady guy eyeing my most prized possession and think, that could easily belong to me.  (Just kidding, there are no shady people on the Hong Kong train).

Regardless, it was quite a thrill.  I didn’t tap it, flick it or swipe it and accidentally turn to many pages.  I read a page and manually turned to the next page. I used an old receipt as a bookmark and there was no question whether I was in the right place.  I spilled some coffee on it and still kept on ready.  It was so much fun.

I haven’t read a real book in about 6 months.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPad with it’s iBook and Kindle app.  But, really there is nothing like reading a real book.

What do you prefer?  Your Kindle or the real deal.

Beginnings

Spring is considered the season of new beginnings, but it appears the end of summer is inspiring me and others to begin new stuff as well.

I began to edit my June novel and at this point it is a lot of work.  But, I found these articles very helpful in getting my head organized to tackle this new writing task.

How to Use Brainstorming to Edit from Ava at Writability
What is It Like to Read a First Draft? from Becca at Inspiration for Creation
 

Roxie’s Blog is beginning a series on effective editing on September 14th. She will feature a weekly post on her editing process.  I can’t wait.  Her post are informative and always funny.

Sevestian Winters began a new blog: The Homeless Gazillionaire.  It you haven’t read it, I would suggest you do.  It is fascinating and sad and inspiring and heartbreaking and life altering all at the same time.

AM has returned to My Weekly Update.  I am sure he is thrilled.  But, this is legitimate. His site had a new beginning last week; a new look and a new focus and I think it is pretty cool.  I also wanted to help him introduce a new feature;  Wired Writers Wednesday, for all those coffee drinking writers out there.  I was inspired to take this lovely photo:

 

 

New Follower – they began following me this week (it works).
Baz McAlister
Tyson Carter at Head in a Vice – Movie Review Site
Meghan Elisabeth at Book Nerd
Patrick Latter at Canadian Hiking Photography
Miranda Hardy – Future New York Times Bestseller! – I love that. 
 
Next Weeks Schedule
Monday – What’s Your Chocolate Bloghop
Tuesday – Tattoo Tuesday
Friday – Sydney Quotes the Movies – The Bourne Legacy
Sunday – My Weekly Update

Am I Ruined for Life?

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle39 Comments

It is that time of the month, where I feel safe to reveal some of my insecurities for the world to see.  It is Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day!

My main concern for the month is that my first novel-writing experience has ruined me for the rest of my writing career.

In June, I finished a month-long writing challenge called JuNoWriMo.  With a goal of 50,000 words, I was able to write over 75,000 words.  I did what the challenge asked me to do; Just Write.  I really enjoyed writing this way.  It was my first novel.  But, it was a novel I had been thinking about for over 2 years.  I knew exactly how it was supposed to start and end.  I knew the main character inside and out.  I knew the setting backward and forward.   I knew the lesson my MC was supposed to learn by the end and she got there after going through several conflicts.  The issues in the beginning came to complete and sometimes funny conclusions at the end.  Dare I say it, the process was easy.

Don’t get me wrong, I woke up early to write. I stayed up late to write. I didn’t go out much and a couple of days I didn’t bath (Am I sharing too much?). But, in the grand scheme of things, I felt that the month went very smoothly.

I created a daily journal about my writing experience and there were only a couple of days that I would classify as me having a “moment”. Other than that, it was so much fun.

My concern is what if the next time it is not so easy.  No way it could be. I have another story idea, which I just thought about this month.  It is with two MC, but besides the broad story, I know nothing about them.  It is in familiar settings, but it will still take some research.  And, I have an idea of where it should start, but no idea of where it will end.

I am concerned that the process isn’t going to be so easy and will I be up for it.  I have given myself a month to outline and plan and then jumping right back into the writing fray with Camp Nanowrimo in August.

I would love it if my first experience was my writing process, but, I don’t think that is realistic.

Did my first novel-writing experience ruin me for life? 

JuNoWriMo Participant Interview James Eggebeen

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle1 Comment

It is the end of Week 2 of Junowrimo and I would like to introduce you to Junowrimo Winner James Eggebeen.

Tell me a little about what you are writing for Junowrimo.
I am writing the second book in my Fantasy Series. The first one Foundling Wizard is about a young Wizard whomeets a young Sorceress on his way to Amedon where he hopes to be trained. They find out that they are destined to work together to defeat the Evil Priests, who kill young Wizards, and take their power.
The second book is Wizards Education. Now they are on their way to Amedon when they get derailed by not only by the Priests, but a rogueWizard. The Wizard wants to keep them out of the hands of the Priests, but also wants to keep them away from Amedon, so he can take control of the Wizards Council. They have to face challenges that test their commitment to magic and to each other in order to survive.
 The web site for this series of books is www.loritwizard.com.
Is this your first time doing this type of challenge?
Yes, this is my first time doing one of these. I thought it would be nice to meet a few other authors and stay motivated to keep writing.
How has it meet your expectations so far?
It’s far exceeded my expectations. I’ve made a bunch of new friends, and even re-connected with one of my old writing group partners from way back when. (waving hi to Eden Maee) I love doing the sprints. The excitement and mutual support is great. I never would have made the progress I did without the sprints, and oh yes, the competition (waving hi to Angi Black).
What was your writing schedule like this past week; time of day, # of words per day?
I usually get up at 3:00 to 4:00 AM. I drive for an hour to get to the office and then take some time to write before my work day starts. I have daily overseas calls, so I start pretty early, but I usually manage to get in an hour or two before work starts.
It takes me an hour or so to get home at night. This gives me time to think about what I want to write. Once I get home, I usually write for at least another hour or so. With the sprints, it was more like two.
This schedule lets me really think through the scenes I’m going to write, before I finally sit down. I review all of the action and dialogue in my head while I’m driving. Then it’s just sitting down and writing out what’s in my head already.
Did you do any planning for Junowrimo? If so what type of planning and how are your plans working out so far?
When I found out about this (two days before it started), I stopped writing and planned out a lot of the remainder of the novel. I was already 30,000 words into it, but I had not detailed out the whole thing. I knew that I would need some solid plot and scene design, so I went ahead and created all the scene templates before it started.
My scene template is a file where each scene lives (I am a big Scrivener fan; don’t get me started on that!).
Each scene template has the following form:
Title:
Point of View:
What changes in the scene?
What is the conflict?
Why will the reader continue reading?
I lay these out three scenes to a chapter and template twenty four chapters.
I thought I had enough material when we started, but I ran out of outline by the end of the first week. I had to take some time to outline more, and then I ran dry again. The last few days, I had an epiphany. We read linearly but don’t have to write that way, so I plotted out the ending and wrote some of that, now I have to go back and fill in the middle.
I think that’s going to work out real well. Now that I know where it all ends up, I can drive the plot there. Of course, there’s a lot more work in revision than writing. I just love that part. You get to go back and drop in all the foreshadowing and hide Easter eggs all over the place for the reader to discover later. It’s a lot of fun.
You are the first to complete the 50,000 word count for JuNoWriMo 2012. Any advice for those of us still in the trenches?
Don’t worry about the word count. The words will come. Think about what you want to write, imagine it all in your head, and then make it come alive. That’s the secret to getting a lot written.
JuNoWriMo is about setting up good habits in how you approach your work. Get into the habit of writing on a regular basis. Turn off the TV and shut down your web browser for a while each day, and before you know it you’ll have written more books than you would ever have believed possible. 
Thank you James.  Congratulations on completing the challenge!

For more information on James Eggebeen, visit his blog sites at www.jameseggebeen.com & www.loritwizard.com.

JuNoWriMo Participant Interview A.E. Howard

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle7 Comments

Every week I will interview a fellow JuNoWriMo participant to get their take on the challenge while in the trenches.

Week One, I choose one of our talent Host – A. E. Howard (Anna)

Tell me a little about what you are writing for JuNoWriMo.
I’m writing the second book in a young adult fantasy series. The first one, called Flight of Blue is nearly finished and coming out in July. For a synopsis and excerpt of Flight of Blue you can visit my site: http://aehowardwrites.com/books.
This new book is called The Guardians.
Kai Williams has discovered all the Guardians including his parents have been lured inside time bubbles where minutes tick by so slowly, they don’t realize they are trapped. While trying to find a way to free them, Kai is stalked by a mysterious figure called the Dream Walker who attacks Kai while he’s sleeping and is bent on getting an object–a small skeleton key–away from him. Keeping the Dream Walker at bay, Kai goes to his friends for help. Together they find pieces that lead them on a quest for the secret cabinet of the ancient sorceress Belladonna and the powerful object she hid away before her disappearance, an object that will break the time bubbles and release the Guardians. Pursued by Name Monsters who have teamed up to fight them, will Kai and his friends be able to outwit the forces arrayed against them and free the Guardians? And will Kai be victorious in the war being waged for his mind while he dreams?
 Is this your first time doing this type of challenge?
No, I’ve done NaNoWriMo the last two years.
What did you learn from the last challenge that is helping you with Junowrimo?
I learned that you have to write every day. Even if you don’t make word count, you just have to keep writing even when it feels like you’re writing drivel and pulling teeth to do it. Re-reading prose from these competitions I’ve realized two things: 1) it’s probably not as bad as you thought it was when you wrote it. And 2) even if it is, no one’s going to see it, and you can start re-writing it after the month is over. I think you often have to write a lot of bad prose to get to the good stuff.
What was your writing schedule like this past week; time of day, # of words per day? 
I’ve been writing between 9pm and 12am (or so!). I have a 13-month-old son and he goes to bed at 9. It’s hard to get much writing done when he’s awake. I did take Sunday off because it was my wedding anniversary 😉 I’ve been aiming for 3k the nights I sprint lead (Tues, Thurs, Sat), and 500-1k on the days I’m not leading. It keeps my averages up, and lets me finish editing Flight of Blue on the off days.
Did you do any planning for Junowrimo?
I don’t plan. I create worlds and characters, and then I have some sort of starting scene in my head, and sometimes an ending one as well. I start with what I’ve got, and as I follow the character through the scene, I find out more of what happens. On Tues night, just before I crossed the 8k mark, Kai had a confrontation with the Dream Walker and suddenly started to put together some pieces of what he needed to do next. And I got to find out where the story was going. Now I have the major scenes lightly sketched, and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
What is your word count as of June 7th?
9806

After one week, it looks like Anna is off to a great start.  Good luck with the rest of the challenge, Anna!

For more information about A.E. Howard, visit her blog and follow her on Twitter.
Blog – http://aehowardwrites.com

Twitter – http://twitter.com/aehowardwrites

Make sure to pick up Flight of Blue, coming out in July.