by Sarah | May 21, 2012 | The Muse, Writing, writing tips
[flickr id=”5079013878″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]I remember the days after I finished my first novel.
Not just the days – the months.
I thought that was it. I loved those characters so much, how could I possibly have another story in me? Their story was beautiful and deep and not even finished – how could I ever move on?
That novel suffered through years of my tears, queries and rejections. It now sits in the back of my files, neglected and left behind. There are days I remember it, days I contemplate its resurgence from the mothballs of my external drive. I still love those characters in the way you love an old familiar friend. I still truly believe their story deserves to be told. I also now fully believe that I didn’t tell it well that first time. It’s certainly not a horrendous collection of words – but it doesn’t shine. It requires far too much time and attention for me to ponder revisiting it right now.
About three years ago I had a whisper of a story idea. In rapid-fire free-writing I cranked out well over 500k words of a story (or 3 or 4) surrounding new characters. Yes, three years ago. This is the story that I am now querying out. The story that I just absolutely love my main characters with a shamefully blinding addiction some days (I wish I were as clever and quick-witted as my heroine).
Last year I started another series based around another couple of characters. Another two characters (no, make that four – or five – or…well, the series has a LOT of characters I love) that I can adore. A story that I can sink my teeth into, that requires multiple facets and stories to cross the depth of all of these people.
Once I reached the point a year ago where I had started on rewrites for both of these pieces I once again wondered where I would find more. How could I find more characters? I certainly don’t want to recycle characters.
Fast forward to today.
I’m in final edits and the query stage for Changing Tracks. Then I have The Tribe still in mid-draft.
And what else?
Well…I have a horror (horror? Me?) flash fiction that I’ve submitted to an e-zine.
I have an Urban Fantasy that’s got about three pages of world-building notes. Characters named. Story line being plotted.
Of course there’s a short story that I started, but have put on hold. I want to wait on it for personal reasons. It’s a fun little smexy romp that will hopefully get attention before the end of the year.
I just started another HWR short – make that short-for-me – story. I’m deep in the second chapter and the new characters are becoming really interesting. They have their damage, but their stories are so rich.
Oh, yes…can’t forget the new story idea that came to me this morning. Still in its infancy. So very young, but so very exciting. I haven’t met the characters yet – but I’m sure they will be tortured.
Maybe one day I’ll create a character that I don’t torture. That just…is. Maybe.
But as I look at my growing story folders and all of the possibilities I’m startled. I wonder – what happened to the days when I thought I’d never create another story?
What about you? Do you find yourself in plotting overload? In a wasteland of ideas with no clue what to start building next because every idea is so exciting? What do you do with all of your story ideas? How do you keep track of them?
Are you a spread sheet diva (or divo)? Or do you have notes scattered everywhere? Paper or electronic?
Do your ideas come in a flood like mine have this time? Or a slow trickle that lets you keep up?
by Sarah | May 18, 2012 | Contest, Giveaway
GIVEAWAY CLOSED.
I’m not a drinker.
On any normal day you won’t find a wine or a beer in my hand. When the neighbors celebrate I may have a drink or two, but I just don’t tend to gravitate to alcohol.
BUT. (You had to know I was going somewhere with that)
I love a good wine.
By good, I mean sweet, fruity and doesn’t taste much like alcohol. My husband on the other hand, likes it dry as the desert. Lip puckering dry.
My 45X45 list had “Attend a wine tasting” on it – and it was the first thing I checked off. Let’s just say I’m new to this wine stuff. I can’t tell you about a bouquet, or how to properly ‘taste’ a wine. I can just tell you what I like.
Vintage Indiana
One thing I didn’t realize when I first started learning how to enjoy wine is that Indiana has more than its fair share of wineries (63 in case you didn’t know).
And on June 2, in Military Park, 26 of them will be there with their delectable wines for you to sample. From 11AM-7PM you can answer all those burning questions, or just delight in yummy samples.
Not just wine to sample, either.
There will be live music (including a former American Idol – I kid you not!), and food! Yay food! Me? I need it – I can’t enjoy any alcohol without food in my belly. This way I can truly enjoy my day.
The thing that surprised me? This isn’t just for the adults! They have set up a whole KidZone for the tykes so the whole family can enjoy the day without the need for a sitter!!
So how can you get in on this great day? It’s simple:
1. Head on over to a Marsh Supermarket – where the advance tickets are going for just $22
2. If you want to wait, at the door tickets are $25. Bonus? Designated Driver tickets are only $10, and Kids 6-20 are only $5 (under 5 is free!!)
3. Go for FREE – Enter my giveaway right here…where you can win 2 tickets!!
That’s right, I said FREE because thanks to Indiana Family of Farmers, I’ve got 2 tickets to giveaway!
Entering is so very easy. You can get three entry points:
1. Comment here telling me whether you’re a fruity or you like to pucker (sweet wine or dry?) {Mandatory}
2. Tweet about the giveaway and leave a comment w/ the tweet URL
3. Share this page on Facebook and leave a comment w/ saying you did!
Details: The giveaway will end on Tuesday, May 22nd at 11PMEST. I will pick & contact the winner on Wednesday the 23rd. The winner will have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
Psssst….want more chances to enter? Go over to my good friend Katie’s blog and enter her contest, or head on over to the effervescent Michelle’s blog & enter HER contest. Oh look, Crystal’s blog has more chances to enter, too. Head on over to Angie’s for a fresh set of chances. Keep checking back here over the next few days, I’ll keep linking up to blogs running contests!
This is an amazing deal, and I’d ask you to share some social media love w/ the event and its sponsors…
- Vintage Indiana: @vintageindiana & #VintageIN ~ Facebook: Vintage Indiana Winefest
- Indiana’s Family of Farmers: @FamilyofFarmers ~ Facebook: Family of Farmers
- Indiana Wine Grape Council: @indianawinebabe & @indianawines
- Marsh Supermarkets: @MarshGrocery
- Clark Appliance: @ClarkAppliance
- WFMS/WJJK: @WFMS & @ClassicHits1045
- WISH/WNDY: @WISH_TV
- Indiana’s Turkey Farmers: Gotta give them real love
- Indiana’s Dairy Farmers: @INDairy
- NUVO: @NUVO_net
Disclosure: As an IFOF Ambassador, I received two tickets to attend Vintage Indiana and two tickets for this giveaway. This is a sponsored post, but all the opinions within it are mine, and I stand by them.
by Sarah | May 17, 2012 | All About Denver, Cystic Fibrosis, Special Needs
[flickr id=”7215498312″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]It has been barely a year since the diagnosis. It has been almost a year and a half since we started the journey – all because of another round of pneumonia.
Since the diagnosis illness has kept its clammy hands away.
For the first time since the diagnosis, Denver is sick.
It started as what appeared like an allergy but quickly devolved. A mild fever, and an ugly cough. More coughing. Then more.
In a wonderful coincidence there was already an appointment scheduled. So yesterday he went. At the hospital all day running standard yearly tests. Waiting, still coughing, still sniffling, until he could see the doctor.
Within two minutes of her walking in the room she heard the cough. The look on her face said it all – it was ugly.
There is crackling in his lungs (the mucous) and it’s visible on the x-ray.
For now he is home on heavy doses of steroids and antibiotics. The instructions we are used to for the little one now apply to him. “Call if there’s any change” and “Come back in a month” have been said. Unlike her he can take full on pills (HUGE pills, blech), and most of his care is in his own hands. I mean, what teen wants their mom snuggling and coddling them?
There is nothing to panic about. He intends to go out and go through his “Ordeal” for the Order of the Arrow in Scouts despite his illness with his drugs in hand. Just like the diagnosis he’s not letting it slow him down (Did I mention he kicked butt in Track & Field this year? No? Well…he DID).
Still there’s that part of me that always panics. Deep down where I keep it hidden I wonder how/if this will affect the strength of his lungs. If it will change the depth of his illness (currently he’s ‘atypical’ and we like to keep it that way). His lung functions yesterday were horribly bad, so how will he get through his “Ordeal” this weekend…and forcing myself to not be ‘that mom’…especially given the name and motto of this blog (living life beyond our labels gets really damn hard sometimes).
Part of me wonders if he has that internal panic too. Wishes that if he did he would talk to me about it.
But he is a teen. He is stubborn. He keeps things close to the breast.
And he laughs in the face of CF (when laughing doesn’t throw him into a fit of coughing, that is…).
by Sarah | May 15, 2012 | Books, Changing Tracks, Shorts, The Muse, Writing, writing tips
[flickr id=”6818404384″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Thanks to some incredible luck, one beautiful person, and my attempt at a sparkling personality…I have a real editor critiquing my baby right now.
That frees up a lot of time for my muse to alternately panic (OMG will she like it?), and decide to plot up 5,000,000 more books.
Or maybe just two. ~insert the ominous for now here~
On top of the one book I’m in mid-rewrites of, and the other that she dreamed up a few weeks back.
She is insane (but we covered that already).
The problem is, that I now have 3 title-less stories wandering around in the realm of my imagination.
One of those stories has its blurb ready, I have the page built for it even – but no title to gift it with.
Changing Tracks took a long time to come up with – and the train isn’t even a huge part of the story, but the entire series titles revolve around the train. Of course those weren’t the original titles either.
I suck at titles.
Which sucks because I don’t feel like I can get much of anywhere without a title to round out the story.
Now just don’t get me started on the dreaded query…
by Sarah | May 14, 2012 | All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, Random
[flickr id=”7196830566″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”left”]Mother’s Day happens when the kids are still in school. So, through similar sheets of papers from the school I got to see what I look like in the eyes of my little ones.
Molly says so many things that are accurate (thankfully she was not asked my age ~ahem~).
1. My favorite drink is “Casey’s drink” (I get many fountain pops from Casey’s)
2. My favorite TV show is Big Bang. (Why yes, yes it is)
3. For fun I play on the computer. (Who? Me?)
4. Around the house I “wash jeans and chlothes” (I’m afraid she is very very correct on this one. All. The. Time.)
5. My favorite thing is…..the computer. (It is in the top…of “things”.)
6. The best thing is “she is good to do exercise” (not lately b/c I’m injured, but I’m surprised the girls put this in there)
7. No, the best thing is “she hugs me,” or “she kisses me good night”, no, the absolute best thing is “she loves me.” (No, baby…the best thing is that you KNOW that and love me back in your own special way)
8. If she was a mom she would “go on comter, and wash dishes, and cook dinner. I’d be a super nice mom like you!”
9. Last, but not least, she says what makes me special is I’m “pretty”.
All so very sweet and special…seeing what she sees. (For the record she did fill out one of these for Erik too…let’s just say there was a lot of mention of “Family Guy” on it ~giggle~ She’s a perceptive little beast).
[flickr id=”7196832638″ thumbnail=”small” overlay=”true” size=”small” group=”” align=”right”] Kennedy had a couple of similar, but different questions. Unfortunately she was asked my age…
1. My age appeared twice. Once I was listed as “93” the other time “30”. Truthfully, I’m somewhere between…MUCH closer to 30.
2. I like to “mac cake”, and my favorite food it “lettuce”. (A sign I’ve been dieting, perhaps? I like to make cake, but eat lettuce…)
3. To relax I “lay on the bed”, “watch TV” (2 different times)
4. I like to shop “at Casey’s” (I think I go there too much…O.o)
5. What she loves most is that I “love flowers”
6. If she could buy me anything it would be “a pet dog.” (awww)
7. What I do while she’s at school? Why, I “go running”.
8. I’m really good at “working on the computer”
9. My mom is as pretty as “a flower”, sweet as “a butterfly”, smart as “a heart” (??), most of all, special as “a rose”
10. And my favorite…and the most accurate statement is that what makes me so special is that “I love her” (Yes, Kennedy…the fact that you love me, and your sister loves me, is what makes me so special)
*~*~*
I have to say that I loved reading these…seeing how their minds work, and how they see me. one of the best gifts ever.
