A Liebster Award From Long Ago . . .

A combination of business and forgetfulness kept this half finished post sitting around for ages.  In fact, it's been so long that I now have well over 200 followers on this blog, which I didn't at the time.  Either way, since I received it once long ago, I should actually get around to doing something about it now that I'm actually thinking about it.

Thanks to J.A. Ward for nominating me for the Liebster Award!  My lack of a prompt response doesn't indicate a lack of gratitude.  Life has simply been . . . hectic.

11 facts

answer 11 questions

tag 11 bloggers with fewer than 200 followers

give them 11 new questions

My 11 Facts

1. I'm a Libra, but I don't take astrology seriously, so this fact means very little to me.
2. I don't believe in the supernatural, but I do enjoy stories with supernatural elements in them if they're well done.  I don't have to believe in it to enjoy it!
3. I wanted to be an astronomer, but after a year of college Physics and math through Calculus 3, I decided it wasn't the career for me.  I still LOVE astronomy, but I couldn't do some aspects of it well enough to make a living out of it.  Still, no regrets!  I like the fact that I know that much math, though I am rusty at it now.
4. I feel like eating Smores right now, which isn't cool, because I don't have anything to make them with at the moment.
5. I'm the most upbeat cynic I know.
6. I love oxymorons.
7. I often wish I lived in the Star Trek universe.  It would be cool to hang out on the Enterprise, or even the Defiant.  Hey, it's a tough little ship, though don't tell Worf that.
8. I love the show Babylon 5, and I wish I could see a Vorlon.
9. I wish I had a bookshelf of infinite size.
10. I like to make up random words to express various levels of frustration.  This comes in handy when I lose my cool around the kids.  They end up laughing at the silly things I say, and we all end up laughing.
11. I love popcorn.

Now here are the 11 questions I need to answer.

1. Who is your favorite author and why?

      Neil Gaiman.  I love other authors to death, but I enjoy the variety of Gaiman's works.  I never know quite what I'm going to get from him, but I always know it's going to be good.  Douglas Adams is one of my favorite authors who is no longer with us.

2. If you could hang out with one character from a book or TV show for a day, who would it be?

     Captain Picard.  I'd enjoy spending a day on the Enterprise drinking hot Earl Gray tea and discussing archaeology and philosophy.

3. Edward or Jacob? Or neither? Or..both??

     Neither.  I'm more of a "man from a different planet" kind of girl.

4. What was your favorite book series you have ever read that wasn’t Harry Potter?

     I loved The Hunger Games.  Also others, but that's the one sticking out in my head at the moment.

5. Do you have any pets? If so, what do you have?

     Not now.  I used to have dogs and cats when I was younger, but no longer.

6. What aspect of writing do you find the hardest?

     Revision.  Without a doubt.

7. If you could live anywhere else for a year – all expenses paid – where would you live and why?

     England.  I'd also love to go to a tropical island, but England has an awesome culture that I'd love to soak in firsthand.

8. Who is your favorite band/singer?

     Favorite?  Geez, that's tough.  I love a lot of music.  For this, I'll mention Metallica.  Why? Because my husband and I danced to the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters" at our wedding.  Our first dance as a married couple.  Some people felt the song wasn't a good choice for a wedding, but it's a beautiful song!

9. Name a celebrity crush.

     I've always loved Johnny Depp.  Always will.  He's a fantastic actor, and he's certainly easy on the eyes.  And no, I don't care that he's way older than me.  Age doesn't matter, especially in my imagination.

10. If you could go back and change your name from birth, would you do it? What would you change it to?

     No.  My name may not be the most interesting, but it works for me.

11. Favorite vice or addiction?

     Coffee!  Coffee!  Coffee!

Whew!  Now I'm going to be lazy, and instead of tagging people, I'm going to ask all of you to tell me one interesting thing about yourself in the comments.  Please don't judge me harshly!

The Liebster Blog Award

Laura over at My Baffling Brain has given me the Liebster Award.  Thanks Laura!

"The Liebster Blog Award is an award given from bloggers to bloggers that are small to medium in size or up and coming in the blogsphere. Liebster is German for "favorite." The award is a way to give beginning bloggers some worthy attention, make connections and let readers learn a little more about you."

1. Answer the 11 questions.

2. Give 11 facts about yourself.

3. Nominate 11 other lovely bloggers.

4. Post 11 new questions for your new nominees.

Q&A

1. Do you believe in ghosts/aliens/the supernatural?  I enjoy movies about ghosts and the supernatural, though I don't believe in it.  I tend to think that anything that appears supernatural likely has a scientific explanation, and I'd love to know what those explanations are!  As for aliens, I think it's more likely than not that there's extraterrestrial life out there.  The universe is so big, after all.  When I'm asked whether there's life out there, I remember the movie Contact.  "If it is just us . . . seems like an awful waste of space."

2. Why do you blog?  I've always wanted to be a writer, and I kept hearing that writers of today need to have an online presence.  Many people suggested that blogging was a good way to share your work and get your name out there.  So here I am.  I'm glad I decided to take that advice.

3. What's your favorite season?  Summer.  There are lots of opportunities for fun family activities during the summer.

4. What is your favorite book/series?  Harry Potter is my favorite book series.  I love others as well, but Harry Potter will always hold a spell over me.    :-)

5. What do you want for Christmas this year?  I want a new laptop.  My laptop is broken.  It still functions, but the screen hangs halfway off of it, so I've had to get used to typing and seeing my words at an angle.
6. Where is your favorite place to relax?  A coffee shop.  Now that I have two kids, I rarely get a chance to do this.  It's probably been almost 3 years, in fact, but I love the atmosphere.  It's a great place to write, or read, and have a good cup of coffee, and maybe a good snack.
7. The best moment of your life so far?  This is a difficult question.  I'm married and I have two kids, so that accounts for three terrific times that are especially hard to rank.  And just so we're clear, childbirth was anything but spectacular, but when it's all over, you're left with something quite fantastic.  So forgive me if I can't choose.  I'll just leave you with those three and call it good.

8. Do you have any hobbies?  Growing up I built and launched model rockets.  I also enjoy amateur astronomy.

9. What is your job? Is it what you envisioned yourself doing as a child?  Right now I am a stay at home mom who writes and blogs.  I always wanted to stay home and write books as a kid (when I wasn't busy being an astronaut and visiting other planets, that is), though I assumed I'd make some money doing that.  However, staying home and taking care of the kids avoids the large cost of daycare, and hopefully I can continue to carve out a place for myself in the world of writing.

10. Do you play any instruments?  I played the clarinet from 5th grade through the end of high school, though I wasn't a virtuoso by any means.  I also played around with a keyboard for several years, though I never took lessons for that one.

11. What's your favorite fairy tale?  There are some good ones.  I like Beauty and the Beast because Belle is cool.  I also like Hansel and Gretel.  It's gruesome, yes, but those kids fought back and the witch got what she deserved.

Now, to go along with the first question on this particular list of questions, I'd like to post this video.  It contains some great information about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, along with some "fascinatingly disturbing" speculations.

Eleven Facts About Myself

1. I'm passionate about space exploration, and I worry that the United States isn't doing enough to promote the importance of it.  It's the sci-fi fanatic in me.
2. I worry about the political divide in this country.  I have my own political position, of course, but I worry when I see people calling someone else horrible names based purely on party affiliation.  We'll never solve our problems if we can't see each other as human beings.
3. I really like pie.  I also really like π.
4. Every time I read specific advice about how to write well, I cringe on the inside as I recall my own violations of that rule.
5. As a kid, I liked to eat lemons.  And while other people would add sugar to make the experience more palatable, I always added a bit of salt to enhance the pucker effect.
6. Around age 12, I ate Altoids all the time.  They were absolutely my favorite mint.  I also started to challenge myself to see how many I could stand to eat at the same time. This is how I learned that eating 20 Altoids at one time makes it hurt to breathe because the chilling effect of the mint is so strong.  I still like Altoids, but I don't do anything crazy like this when I eat them.  Doing that many at one time just means you run out of them too fast.
7. Science is one of my favorite subjects, so I frequently peruse science articles when I'm not busy with 50 million other things.  I'm not as scientifically gifted as I'd like to be, but I make it a point to know as much about the latest science news as I can.
8. Aside from watching science fiction, which is my favorite genre, my second favorite thing to watch is documentaries.  This includes feature film length documentaries, and documentary style shows like Nova, The Universe, and other things of that nature.  What can I say?  I like to learn things.
9. I call myself a cynical idealist.  This may be an oxymoron of sorts, but it makes sense in my head.  I see that the world is riddled with problems, and I have no doubt it will remain that way because there will always be the selfish among us to cause trouble.  Yet, I see societies in science fiction where people have learned to move past self-centered motivations and have learned to do better by one another.  I know such a society could be possible to an extent, though possibility is not synonymous with inevitability.  Let's just say I know we can do better, and I think we can if we try, but I'm not holding my breath either.
10. If we encounter aliens, I want to be in the group that makes first contact. There's no reason why I would be, of course, but I still think it would be really cool.
11. I wish I had the power of telekinesis.  It would be so handy, especially in dealing with my two boys!

Okay, here's where I'm going to diverge from the rules a little bit.  I'm supposed to pass the award on to 11 other people.  Hunting down that many blogs is a lot of work, and more importantly, it takes a lot of time.  Now, I'll do something else instead that I hope comes across as mildly creative and fun.  I'll offer this award up to anyone who wants to answer my 11 questions.  Or, you can feel free to answer one or two of them in the comments if you feel so inclined.

Now, here's the actual fun part.  These are not personal questions.  They are instead trivia questions garnered from science fiction movies/TV shows/books that I enjoy.  Trivia can be great fun, and I hope at least a couple of you make an effort to participate.  If you want to accept the award, do your best to answer them, and feel free to investigate the ones you don't know.  I assure you, it could be great fun hunting down some of these answers.

1. (From Star Trek TNG) How many lights are there?
2. What does the title Fahrenheit 451 signify?
3. In what sci-fi show might you expect to see a Browncoat?
4. What weapon might a Klingon use in battle?
5. What is the name of the ice planet in The Empire Strikes Back?
6. Name the movie this quote comes from.  "What does God need with a starship?"
7. What is the Kobayashi Maru?
8. How large is a womp rat, and where would you expect to find one?
9. Name the movie this quote comes from.  "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."
10. How fast does a DeLorean have to go to travel in time?
11. Now here's an easy one for the geeks out there.  Name one reason why Joss Whedon is awesome.

I know that last one isn't really a question, nor is it trivia, but I say it's valid.

Good News and U Got the Look

First of all, yay!  I won 2nd place in Mina's Resurrection Blogfest!  Now I get to sport this fashionable badge on my blog, plus I got an Amazon giftcard.  The giftcard balance disappeared quickly as I eagerly jumped on the opportunity to go book shopping.  I think shopping for books has to be one of my all time favorite things, if only because it leads up to me sitting down with a good book to read and a hot cup of coffee.  A big thank you to Mina for hosting the blogfest, and a quick thank you also to everyone who voted.  With so many terrific entries to choose from, your task as voters couldn't have been easy.  

Also, congratulations to Tamara of One Magic Bean Buyer for her 1st place win, and to Kristina Perez for her 3rd place finish.  Your entries were great.  The other finalists should also be proud of their work.  There's a ton of talent in this blogosphere of ours, no doubt about it.

Next, I was recently tagged for the "U Got the Look" Meme by Jennifer at A Creative Exercise.  Thanks!

This meme didn't come with a badge or anything like that, but I figured I'd post a picture of an eye to stare at you while you read the rest of this post.  Why?  I thought it would be fun, perhaps even a little creepy.  Either way, it works for me.

Image courtesy of graur codrin
/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This meme asks that you go to your current WIP, hunt down the word LOOK, and post the surrounding paragraphs.  Then tag 5 people.

As I perused for the word, which didn't take long at all, it struck me that "look" is a strange word.  It just sounds, and looks, weird if you . . . well . . . look at it too long.  Dang.  No wonder it's such a pervasive word!  It's so darn easy to use!

Anyway, this is from the story I'm editing/rewriting right now.  I haven't edited this particular scene yet, but it seemed like an exciting one to share, so here it is.

Lassandra was focused on the intensity of his golden eyes.  She wondered if this man was real, and what his eyes looked like in real life.  This shade, more gold than the rarest coin, hardly seemed possible in nature.  And she felt certain that the fire bursts of red inside his irises were a figment of Dreamer #18765’s delusion.  The flames licked at the dark circumference of his pupils, igniting in her an insatiable curiosity about just how far he could take her.

As if in response to her silent question, he wrapped his fist in the thin garment and tore it away like it was made of tissue.  The fragments twisted and fluttered like smoldering tendrils.  Gravity failed as they floated, obscuring the movements of the man’s hands, though Lassandra still felt them as they traveled along the soft skin of her stomach.  She trembled beneath his fingers.

The Dreamer’s delicate hand moved through the cloud of red to touch his face.  Lassandra waited eagerly, drinking in the sensations as she felt the stubble on his face, and his hot breath on the palm.

Then the man grasped her wrist, and she held her breath.  Time slowed to a near stop.  This happened often enough during the dreaming, typically during the most intense moments.  It served only to heighten her anticipation, making the payoff that much sweeter.

Only this time, the pause continued long past its normal duration.  Lassandra remained there, frozen, for several long moments before a worried thought wormed its way through the excitement.  Is this a glitch?  If something’s wrong with the system, how long will it take them to get me out?

So, now it's time to tag some people.  Watch out!  I'm coming to get you!

1. C.M. Brown
2. David Powers King
3. Sylvia at Playful Creative
4. Kyra Lennon at Write Here, Write Now
5. Mina Lobo at Some Dark Romantic

The 5 of you can post from anything you're writing right now, or, if you don't want to do that, you can rant about how easy it is to overuse the infernal word look.  

I know it's a busy month for everyone, so don't feel too pressured to do this if you don't feel like it.  I understand, and I won't send aliens to your home to abduct you if you don't.  I'm not that mean.

Image courtesy of digitalart
 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Super Sweet Blogging Award!

Laura over at My Baffling Brain just passed on the Super Sweet Blogging Award.  How sweet is that?

Anyway, the rules are simple.  I have to answer a few basic questions, all about sweets, then pass it on to other deserving bloggers.  Let's get started!

Cookies or Cake?  It depends.  As a casual snack with a cup of coffee or tea, then a cookie does the trick. If I'm having dessert after a meal, then cake all the way.

Chocolate or Vanilla?  Tough question.  Once again, it depends on the situation.  I love chocolate ice cream, or chocolate on top of my vanilla ice cream.  I love chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!  I also enjoy vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.  And when I bake or make waffles for breakfast, I like to add vanilla extract for extra flavor.  So, I guess I love both!

What is your favorite sweet treat?  So many sweet treats are great, but I'm a sucker for a good freshly baked cinnamon roll with gooey icing.  Yum!

When do you crave sweet things most?  I love to have sweets with a good cup of coffee.  It has to be with an evening cup though.  I can't do sweet things too early in the day.

If you had a sweet nickname what would it be?  I feel silly for admitting to this, but I know I can trust you guys with this info.  I'd love to be called Red Hot, though I'm sure my husband would insist only he could use that nickname.  The name is inspired by those little cinnamon flavored candies.  I'm short (so the miniature part works), I have red hair, and my sense of humor can be spicy at times.  I may not be as visually stunning as some, but I do my best to be memorable.

Okay.  Now to nominate a few of my fellow bloggers for this fun award!  I know November is a busy time for many of you, but maybe the sweet picture can help motivate you!

1. Chelsea Kelly @ Sailing the Kiddie Pool
2. Jenn @ Scribbles From Jenn
3. Krista McLaughlin
4. Yolanda Renee @ Defending the Pen
5. Mina Lobo @ Some Dark Romantic

Until next time, my friends!

Spooktoberfest Runner Up!

Happy Halloween!

Now, this is just a quick post.  I have another post I'm working on that's also Halloween-related, but I wanted to stop in to say something before I move on to what I was doing.

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays.  It's just a wicked fun atmosphere of scary things, vivid imagination, and a great excuse to eat candy!  Even as an adult, I don't think I'll ever tire of the fun.  I get an excuse to go trick-or-treating all over again now that I have kids, and it's always interesting to see all the neat costumes people come up with.

In the last year, though, I found something else to love about this holiday.  The blogfests!  Bloggers just love to celebrate with awesome themed posts and contests, and it's been awesome.

I think Spooktoberfest was some of the best fun I had with Halloween blogging this year.  Thanks to Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests for hosting it!  Writing my entry was especially fun (in a demented sort of way), and I was delighted to learn today that my entry "Carving" was selected as one of Jackie's runners-up. Woohoo for me!  With all the not-so-good luck I've been contending with, it's good to have such a great Halloween surprise!

The talented winners and other runners-up deserve acknowledgement, so I'll also mention them here.  Von L. Cid @ The Growing Writer was selected as Dani's winner for his chilling story "Randomness."  Seriously, I had this story in my head when I took my kids trick-or-treating last night.  Scary!  Jackie chose Mina Lobo @ Some Dark Romantic as her winner for the fun and clever story "Crocked."  It's seriously funny stuff!

Dani's runners up were One Magic Bean Buyer for "Veil Hill" and Tiffany Reads for "The Dare."  Jackie also awarded Von L. Cid with a runner-up position.  What can I say?  "Randomness" tapped into something terrifying!

Congratulations to everyone!  Keep up the amazing writing!

I'll be back later today with my Wednesday post.

I'm a Liebster and I Know It

The awesome Yolanda Renee from Defending the Pen kindly passed the Liebster Award my way.  She's been a great follower and has left lots of positive comments that always help to make my day.

Rules:

-Answer the presenter's 11 questions
-Choose 11 lucky recipients
-Formulate 11 questions for them to answer
-Plaster the award on your blog

1. What monster would you choose for a Halloween costume?  If it were feasible, I would be a Dalek.  Unfortunately, those costumes are expensive and uncomfortable.  Not to mention impractical for getting anywhere. Nevertheless, it would be awesome to say that "Yeah, I was a Dalek for Halloween one year."

2. What superhero would you choose to be?  I'm partial to Superman.  I mean, he's an alien, he can fly, he can run super fast, and bullets bounce off him. Plus being able to see through things would be insanely useful.  I'd also like to be The Doctor.  He's also an alien, and he's saved the universe several dozen times over.  That's enough to count as a superhero, right?

3. What is your favorite genre, reading, and or writing?  I think my regular readers will know the answer to this question right off the bat.  Science fiction is my favorite to read and write.  I love the openness.  You can build any world, and the kinds of characters you can  create within those worlds are limited only by imagination.  With so many possibilities available, I don't understand how anyone doesn't love science fiction.

4. What character is most like you in any of your favorite books, read or reading or writing?  When I stopped to think about this, I discovered something quite disturbing.  Though I am not suicidal (you can trust me on this), I found I have a lot in common with my MC Nella from my flash fiction piece "A Complicated Suicide."  After all, I am also a writer, I have a bit of a snarky attitude sometimes (ask anyone who knows me), and I have epic bad luck.  You can also trust me on this.  When I first meet people, they don't believe me that I have an abnormal abundance of bad luck in my life.  Were I ever to create a hologram of myself as an elaborate suicide note, I have a feeling it would go terribly wrong. That's just the way it goes.  If you could call Nella anything, it would be a caricature of some of my most irritating traits.

5. What is your most memorable Halloween memory?  I have a lot of great memories from Halloween, but I think the most memorable one comes from a recurring dream I used to have as a kid.  I had this dream sporadically, but I always used to have it more frequently around Halloween.  I guess that was my child mind already priming itself for late October scares.  I've already written about the dream in detail, so click HERE to read more about it.

6. What is your most memorable high school memory?  This isn't a specific memory, but it's something that counts to me.  In high school I drove a 1979 Lincoln Continental, and I can jokingly say it was about the size of a small continent.  I looked funny driving it since I could barely see above the steering wheel.  Several of my friends were younger than me, so I ended up being the chauffeur for many of them.  And believe me, you could fit a whole gang of people in that roomy backseat.  Many of my best memories from high school revolve around cruising in that car.  It's nickname was "The Boat."

7. What is your favorite holiday and why?  I love New Years because of the idea that you can start fresh.  We make resolutions that we fully intend to keep, and even our past failures cannot be held against us on that magical night. Sure, those resolutions frequently go out the window faster than we'd like to admit, but for one night of the year, everything seems possible.

8. What is your most personal current wish (one that you can share)? I only wish that I can make my writing work well enough for me that I can help support my family and be able to share a part of myself with the world.  I feel like I have so many stories to tell, and I want to be able to do that.

9. If you could choose any man or woman, dead or alive, who would you choose to get our country back on track and why?  First of all, I am now of the firm opinion that politics suck.  Living in Iowa, I've been inundated with nonstop political ads since 2010.  I'm also of the opinion that the two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, are flying in opposite directions so fast it seems those of us in the middle can't find anyone to represent us.  While I agree with some policies of each party, they also both have points that are deal breakers for me.  The candidates that best represent my views, unfortunately, have zero chance of winning.  However, since this particular question doesn't need to be based in reality, I'll pick my fun answer.  I nominate Morgan Freeman from Deep Impact to be president.  In that movie, he was strong, authoritative, and a great leader in a time of crisis.  He also has that voice.  Even when he tells you the world is about to end, it doesn't sound as bad as it could because of the way he says it.

10. What do you enjoy or hate about blogging, explain, maybe give a point or two for the rest of us bloggers.  The part I dislike most about blogging is when I have to write a post, but I'm feeling utterly uninspired.  It certainly happens that way more often than I'd like.  The fortunate thing about having a schedule is that it forces you to work through those roadblocks, no matter how much you don't want to.  I've tried to use that same determination to work through similar hiccups in my WIPs.

11. What is your favorite day of the week and why?  Friday.  Though the responsibilities of the week haven't yet ended (and I guess as a mother of two, my responsibilities never actually stop), there is still 100% of the weekend to look forward to.  There's something exciting about that.


Okay.  I have a confession to make.  I'm supposed to tag 11 people, and in the past, I've always tried to follow through with this.  However, today my oldest son is sick.  With all the vomiting going on here, I'm on my fourth load of laundry for the day.  So, I'll say this.  I always feel that I inadvertently skip over deserving bloggers when I pass awards on, so feel free to take the award if you want it.

I've still written 11 new questions for anyone who decides to pick up the award. Or if you'd simply like to answer a question or two in the comments section, feel free.  I'd love to hear from you!

1.  When you were a kid, what's the most bizarre thing you wanted to grow up to be?

2.  Who is your favorite character?  It can be a character you've written, or it can be any character from a book, movie, or TV show.

3.  Do you prefer sweatshirts or t-shirts?

4.  What's your favorite season?

5.  What's your favorite holiday food?

6.  What's your favorite beverage?

7.  Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks?  Or maybe a mixture of both? Mmmm.  Chocolate covered pretzels.  Wait!  I'm not supposed to answer these questions, am I?  Ooops!

8. Who's your favorite actor or actress?

9.  What book or movie taught you important lessons about life, and how have those lessons helped you?

10.  How would you describe your sense of humor?  Dry, twisted, nerdy, etc.?

11.  What are you paranoid about?

Okay.  That's enough from me for now.  I have another load of laundry to start.  I hate it when my kids are sick.  :(

Reader Appreciation Award

I have been tagged for the Reader Appreciation Award.  I owe a big thanks to Johana Vera of  Bookworm's Multiverse for passing this one on to me.  Her blog is great, but I had to follow her the second I saw the awesome name she'd chosen for her blog.  I mean, seriously, how could a blog name be any better than that?

• Identify and show appreciation to the blogger who nominated you.
• Add the reward logo to your blog.
• Tell your readers seven things about yourself.
• Nominate 5-10 of your favorite bloggers for this award.
• Inform your nominees you nominated them.

So, I have to come up with seven things to share about myself.  I share a lot on this blog, so finding seven new things to share may not be as easy as it sounds. Nevertheless, I will give it my best!  This time, I'll try to keep this list of facts related to my writing.  This is a writing blog after all!

1. For someone who has a passion for writing science fiction, I have little confidence when it comes to describing the more technological aspects of my stories, such as spaceships.  So many science fiction shows have their iconic ships, and I feel like the ones I put in my stories feel generic in comparison.  Maybe I'm setting my standards too high, and in the end, I care far more about the quality of the story I'm telling.  Still, it would be nice to design something cool and memorable.
2. I think better when I write a story with a pencil and a notebook first. That's how I write my outline and key scenes.  The act of forming the words with my hands does something for my creative side.  Writing can be a very physical act for me in that way.  Writing by hand also has the added benefit of forcing me to look over every word a second time as I type the story out.  This gives me a chance to catch my mistakes.
3. When I write an action scene in a book, I gain insight on how it will work by acting it out.  I always make sure no one is around to see me do it, because I don't want anyone to witness my pathetic attempts at mimicking ninja kicks and knockout punches.  I am not a fighter, but I play one in my living room to an audience of me, myself, and about a  thousand characters that live inside my head.
4. I know I've mentioned this periodically, but I'll still say it here.  When I write a key scene for a book, I often hear a song in my head that I feel fits with the mood or the events taking place.  I feel like I'm making a movie in my head, and I need all the elements that go along with that.  For me, music is one of the most crucial pieces of the puzzle.  If I can find the write piece of music to inspire me, the scene practically writes itself.
5. Lately, when I find myself absolutely stuck on a WIP, I try to find another writing project to focus on for the moment.  It helps me circumvent the gears in my head that can't seem to turn out what I need.  It's better to be creating something than sitting frustrated over something that just isn't working for you.
6. Writing is the way I explore the world.  I write characters who live very different lives than I do, primarily because I want to learn what it's like to live in someone else's shoes.  I've never been a man, but I've tried out the male perspective.  I've never been the athletic type, but I've written athletic characters.  I am not gay, but I've written from the POV of characters who are.  For me, this exploration through my writing adds to the rich tapestry of my life.  I write science fiction, because I can envision diverse, exotic worlds and the impact of futuristic technology on human interactions.
7. I constantly question whether I'm a good writer or not.  I do not, however, question whether I am a writer.  I know that I am a writer.  I've always been a writer.  I only wonder whether I am good enough to achieve my goals, and I need to know how I can continue to improve.

All right.  I need to pass this on to 5-10 people.  In the interest of saving myself time, I've chosen 5.

1. Laura @ Stranger Than Writing
2. Laura @ My Baffling Brain
3. Christine Rains
4. Krista McLaughlin
5. Mina Lobo @ Some Dark Romantic

And that's all I've got for now.

Tag . . .You're It!

I've been double tagged!  That's doubly flattering, because that means two lovely ladies were thinking of me!  Thanks to Krista McLaughlin and Mina Lobo for tagging me for "The Next Big Thing!"  If you haven't checked out either of their blogs, you're missing out!

Since I've talked at length about the project I'm working on now, and also about the manuscript I intend to finish immediately after that (so much work, so little time), I'll talk about the book I intend to work on in 2013.  This book is the first in a 6 book series.  I have the first draft of books 1-3 written, and a detailed outline for number 4 in addition to a number of key scenes.  The only reason I put that project on the back burner is that it seemed too big.  I felt like I needed to do a couple of stand alone things to clear my head and hone my techniques before diving back into that massive project.

So, I'll hopefully pique your interest by answering a few questions about the first book in this series.  If the revisions go well when I get back to them, I'm hoping you'll be able to find it on bookshelves not long after that!  And I'm not trying to sound overly confident, because I'm not.  I'm merely testing out the power of positive thinking.

What is the working title of your book?  The Minor War.

Where did the idea come from?  It's hard to say now.  I know I was originally inspired to write this series when I was 13, though at the time it was barely recognizable compared to what it is now.  Let's face it, when the idea originally came to me, I was nowhere near mature enough to write it.  That didn't stop me from trying though.  The inspiration likely came from the wide variety of sci fi books, films, and television shows I consumed as a kid.  I couldn't get enough, and I always loved the idea of settling new worlds and meeting alien species.

What genre does your book fall under?  Science fiction.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?  That's a tough question for me.  When I write characters, I have a very specific image of them in my mind, and I don't find myself comparing them to actors as I visualize the scene. (Though my books each have their own soundtrack in my mind.  I may indulge in describing that some other time.)  Gretchen would have dark hair and be tall and quick, similar to Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games.  I promise though, the physical parameters for this character came long before I ever heard of that series.  Ellen Page would also have the right look, though she might be a little short for the role.  Then again, what do I know?  As for the other characters, they would be wearing a lot of heavy makeup, so it's been difficult to visualize specific people in those roles.  I know one thing.  I should never pursue a career as a casting director.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?  Gretchen Taylor was never allowed to interact with the Kentari, but when she finds herself in need of help from a young Kentari man, she learns a secret about him that changes the trajectory of her life forever.  (There are so many things going on in this book that this doesn't really represent the entire book, but this sentence at least describes the conflict the main character faces.)

Will your books be self-published or represented by an agency? For this one, I think I'd like to try to find an agent.  I can't say whether I'll succeed or not, but since I've been working on this particular story for so long, I'd like to find it a special home if I can.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?  That's a tougher question than you might think.  If you're asking how long it took to get from idea to completed draft, 9 years.  Most of those 9 years were represented by my struggle to become a better writer. None of my initial drafts made it much past 100 pages because I didn't know what I was doing then.  The story mutated over time as a result of those early efforts.  If you're asking how long it took for this regeneration of the original idea to make it to a completed draft, maybe 9 months.  It's hard to remember exactly, since I was busy with college graduation around that same time.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?  A combination of things.  I've known I wanted to write books since I was in first grade.  My mom liked to write, and my dad was always reading.  Storytelling just became a part of my life.  My teachers started encouraging my writing, and they seemed confident that I could be a novelist someday.  So when the idea for this book series came to me, it never occurred to me that I couldn't do it.  Though it's given me some difficulties over the years, I still know I can do it.  It's only a matter of time and patience.

What else about your book would pique the reader's interests? Let's see: cute aliens, awesome telepathic and telekinetic powers, a world on the brink of civil war, a forbidden friendship that could lead to something more, and a decision whether to do what's right, though doing so would come with a host of personal sacrifices.  I can't elaborate on that last point any further, because that's getting into the next book.

Now I'm supposed to tag a few people for this honor.  Since it's been going around (not to make it sound like the flu, because this is far more pleasant than that) for awhile, it's hard to find people who haven't gotten it yet. Even so, I will do my best.  And if I pick you and you've already done it, feel free to simply take it as a compliment.  Let's be honest.  You all rock!

1. Karen Elizabeth Brown
2. Christine Rains
3. Cherie Reich
4. Michael Offutt
5. Scribbles From Jenn

Okay.  Now, I normally do my Worldly Wednesday post today, but today is turning out to be busy.  However, I won't leave you with nothing.  I'll talk a little about how I selected the title The Minor War.  That deals with words and meanings, so it technically fits in with the day's theme.

Titles are important because they need to capture the essence of you book in a few short words, and sometimes even less than that.  The colony world on which the story takes place is called Terra Minor, so one word of the title immediately makes sense.  Terrorist factions of the Terran population have attacked the Kentari, with whom they share this world.  This causes great tension, but the Terran government doesn't want to go to war with the Kentari. The government struggles to hunt down the terrorists, but the support for terrorism comes from higher up than most people realize.  In this respect, the meaning of the title The Minor War is clear.

On the other hand, the main character Gretchen also deals with the inner struggle I briefly described above.  If she chooses to align herself with any member of the Kentari species, her deeply racist parents would be outraged.  At the same time, the new direction her life has taken appeals to her, and she feels for the first time in a long while that she knows who she wants to be.  In this case, The Minor War references this inner struggle.

Ultimately, I chose this title because it works on multiple levels.  I find it satisfying when a title is able to do that.