7 Things Writers Can't Help Doing

Writers have unique minds. Our thought process isn't always normal, but it's perfect for creating wonderful stories. Characters speak to us, scenes come alive for us, and our imaginations take us (and readers) to extraordinary places...

Here are just a few things Writers Can't Help...

1. Imagining backstories of random strangers
2. Thinking, "This would make a great twist" when something goes wrong
3. Staring off into space because you're replaying a scene and thought of a better ending then laughing out loud from it
4. Writing down a dream idea in the middle of the night and having no idea what it means in the morning
5. Coming up with several different ways to kill someone and get away with it
6. Acting out scenes and dialog
7. Giving characters flaws of friends

Funny, right? But on a more serious note: the worst thing writers can't help doing is doubting ourselves. I've been doubting myself lately after a few bad experiences have piled up, and sometimes, it's hard to find the courage to keep going with it. But the stories still persist. And having you guys to talk to, I can fill my cup back up and write on.

Thanks!

What about you? Anything you can't help doing?

And now for the SHOUT OUT of the Week:

Christine Rains!

Christine is a wonderful friend, full of good advice and encouragement, and she writes some awesome speculative fiction. I'm so lucky to have her as one of my critique partners! If you haven't tried her 13th Floor series or the Totem series, or Of Blood and Sorrow with sequel coming soon, you haven't experienced some super-super-natural worlds. I highly recommend all of Christine's works. She's fabulous writer who brings paranormal, folklore, and legends to life with superb dramatic, romantic twists!

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. Married to her best friend and fellow geek, her family lives in Indiana with a son who is too smart for his parents' own good and loves to pretend he has a portal gun. Christine has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. She loves going on adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel.

Visit her: Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

And the winners of my Beastly Fun Summer Giveaway are below - Thanks for playing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#WritersLife Survey 16 - Spring Cleaning

Ugh, no. not actual spring cleaning. But cleaning out my (imaginary) question jar for a Pot Pourri of Survey questions!

I will be discussing actual icky spring cleaning on the other blog I co-host with Elizabeth Seckman. We are the REALLY REAL HOUSEWIVES. I'll be complaining about housework and giving some advice on how to avoid spending too much time on it Monday!

Until then, enjoy this lovely smelling Survey! Results will go into my next IWSG post on April 4.

randOm tueSday

Then & Now

Some of you may know that I substitute teach, mostly high school math (my specialty). If you didn't, now you do! It's funny how some things never change. Most teens continue to have attitudes and lack of motivation, and there are still clicks. But maturity and responsibility evolve in most of them eventually (here we are!) My favorite saying that has stuck around forever is "Like" - Like, you know. Like, no way! He was like...

Anyway, this post was inspired by the fashion that walks around and how things have changed.

THEN                                                  NOW
skin tight jeans                                  elasticized
                                                          skin tight
                                                          jeans
leggings, under skirts                        leggings,
                                                          in all their
                                                          glory
walkman                                           ipod
headphones                                     earbuds (headphones coming back!)
payphone                                         smart phone
passing notes                                   texting
talking on phone                               texting
going steady                                     texting
breaking up                                       texting

we had reality tv:                            now there's:
Cops & pageants                            too much reality
VCR                                                 DVR, TiVo
boob tube                                         you tube

I could go on and on...got any to add?

RandOM tHuRSdaY - anXious!

Hunger Games tomorrow!!!
Anyone going to the midnight show tonight? Not me! I avoid crowds. I will go with my boys next week during Spring Break, unless their friends ask them first. Then I will drag my hub!

Anyone have big plans for Spring Break? We are staying home and getting stuff done. Nice not to be going anywhere. We will also plan our Summer vacation.

And as we enter Spring Break season, is anyone else hot? It's been almost 90 here! Come on! Is Spring going to be by-passed and overtaken by Summer? I hope not! But I wouldn't be surprised.

I also hope to get serious work done on one of my other WIPs. While the big one is at CPs and queries are out, I can't sit still! I've got the bug to move on. But which one? The MG Fantasy or the YA Paranormal? Hmmm.

And lastly, do you speak tweet? Been reading about it lately. I'd like to get a quick survey:

1. Do you have a twitter account? 
2. If so, how often to you check it?
3. How often do you actually tweet?
4. Care to share how many you follow? how many followers you have?
5. Do you like it? Why or Why not? 

And here are some twitter-isms from my point of view:

"Twitter is like shopping at Marshall's, you have to sift thru a lot of junk to find the best deal."

"Twitter turns us into four year olds, 'Hey, look what I did! Look at me!'"

"Twitter is facebook on speed."

Rule maker, Rule breaker

So today is Random Thursday, didn't you know?

I thought I would check in on how you are doing with your Resolutions for 2012. Anyone still on track? I didn't set any firm goals, except to be published some time this year, and that goal is well under way. I've been editing like mad! And the book I'm reading is really helpful! Since I'll be done and review it next week, I'll let it be a surprise.

But the longstanding, unwritten resolutions that I and just about everyone else make every year, are being neglected. I've fallen off the wagon, not that I ever really got on it.

Exercise more and eat better!

(i.e. lose weight)

Why is this so hard? I am gaining weight every year, as statistics tell me is normal. I hate conforming to statistics!

I set simple rules with rewards, yet I can't get myself to do them. Here they are (with my top excuses):

1. Eat a fruit or vegetable before any sweets or snacks (fruits & veggies are not fun to eat and usually have to be prepared, snacks are so tempting and easy!)
2. Don't eat snacks after kids go to bed (that's a killer!)
3. Only read and comment on blogs while treadmilling and/or after (I can't get sweaty I have to go somewhere, I just ate, I'll just read a couple now, so many other things to do!)

See? Those aren't hard! And the newer resolution of blogging less is also addressed up there (yes, I overblog)

Does anyone else have trouble with this? I need some advice from skinny, happy people who stick to their diet and workout guns, or more likely some commiseration from fellow whiners. Boo hoo.

Pep talk to self: "Suck it up, Tara! Stop making excuses! You want to keel over before you're published? You can't afford a new wardrobe! Get moving!"

ranDOM thursDAY

You guys are the best! Have I said that lately? Probably. Well I'm saying it again anyway! I've had significantly less down days since joining blogfests and making bloggy friends! And thanks again to Rachael for putting together the campaign where I'm meeting so many fabulous writers!

Next I want to say special thanks to Beckah for the Blog on Fire award and Dana for tagging me =) (and now Mish for Versatizing me again!) I think everyone has heard enough about me lately so I will skip the fun facts and go right to passing these on to newer bloggers I've found. (give us 7-10 fun facts about you when you pass it on, if you like! you know what to do =)

Blogs I'm tagging!
Rance at the Action P(r)ose
Christine Murray
Sharon at Random Thoughts
Laila at the Untroubled Kingdom of Laila Knight
Jess at Write.Skate. Dream.

Blogs on Fire!
Julie at Gypsy in my Soul
Liz Fichera
Peggy Eddleman
Alex J. Cavannaugh
Maeve at lolliPop's Cottage

But here is what I will tell you:
I am flabbergasted!
Marcy, Charity and Huntress, my friends who started the online crit blog, Unicorn Bell have invited me to help moderate it. Daunting! I will see if I can serve up some worthwhile posts! This site is for anyone who wants to put up a bit of their writing and have others give helpful advice, no bad reviews. And it's a two way deal. Anyone who wants comments on their stuff is expected to comment on others. Stop by, you may want to join!

rrrrrandoM ThURSDAY!!

I <3 U Guys! I've gotten the Liebster award two more times and now I'm on FIRE! times 2 as well!

I must thank!

For telling me I'm on FIRE!
Amy of Ramblings of Amy!

Abby at Something to write about!

And loving blog friends!
Kathy from Imagine Today
Heather at Waiting is the hardest Part (who just passed 200 followers, so instead of giving her the little Liebster, I made her a big girl badge =)

Now here is a Writercize poem dedicated to you wonderful followers and commenters. You all make me smile a lot!

When stories ignite
A writer must write
                 Words flew from my pen
                 Again and again
                                      Then I was through
                                      Now what to do?
Get to know more
A blog to explore
                  And more I found out
                  What writing's about
                                       I met sweet new friends
                                      Whose love knows no ends
And when I am blue
Their words make me new
                   Kiss worries good-bye
                   Support from all sides!
                                                            Thank You!

**And don't forget to come to my blogaversary party!**

RanDoM ThUrsDay!

A poem and a quick prompt contest.


The poem is for Haiku Wednesdays at You Know...That Blog and the theme this week is Distance. I took a favorite scene from a classic movie and fit it into Haiku form. Recognize it?

Like what? Like, uh, track!

Whaddaya mean, like running?

No, not just running.

It's something that needs

endurance and stamina.

Long distance running.

Cross country running.

Danny thinks for a minute.

Yeah, that could be cool.

And the quick prompt contest is from sharkly agent, Janet Reid. Appropriate during Shark Week! Here are the 5 words to write a quick 100 word story.
echo

fever

jelly

roll

t-bone

“Fever check!” T-bone said and smacked his buddy in the forehead on his way out.

The glow in the sky told him he’d better have a good excuse for being out all night again.

He cruised home on his Harley and never saw the branch in the road. As he sailed into a spectacular roll down the hill, the last words he said to the gal in the bar echoed in his head, Gotta live like you’ll die tomorrow.

T-bone smiled with no regrets as his guts oozed like jelly onto the pavement.

(a song came to mind after I wrote this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjoRsEVHol0 )

RanDoM sAtUrdAy - free diddly dee

hmmm, I wonder about myself sometimes...

Anyway, I wanted to pass on info about some generous giveaways.

• Do you like YA? Then check out Theresa's book giveaway. She went to see a group book tour and won a tank top! (ends July 15)
• Deb has some books that are very moving about dealing with mental illness. (also ends July 15)
• Had to add one more! Jenny at the Modest Peacock is giving away a cute item in hopes of soon reaching 50 followers. (runs until August 1)

Even if you don't want to enter, you should check out their blogs =)

And I will be on vacation next week. I am finishing my poems for the Poetry Schmoetry Blogfest that I will post, but I will have to catch up with you all when I get back. (and send a "post card" ha ha) Wish me luck through security!

Random Tuesday - quick prompt

Sarcastic, insightful agent, Janet Reid, has put up her first contest of the summer. I found it just in time. In 100 words or less, we had to use these prompts to write a clever story. Here are the words and my entry =)

willing

parrot

intuitionist

dope

silette

“Eddie, come here!”

“Eddie, here!” Tonya parroted.

“Stop that, Tonya!”

“Top that, Tona!”

Avery sighed, willing the toddler to be quiet. Eddie pulled up beside his big sister. She displayed the old cyclops camera she found in Granny’s attic. Little Tonya had found Granny “asleep.”

“It says ‘Silette,’” Avery read.

“Stillette?”

“I wonder if it works.” Eddie looked it over.

“It works!” Tonya grabbed and it fell open, exposing the film inside.

“Tonya, you dope! Now we’ll never know what was on it.”

The mimicking intuitionist grinned with an evil gleam in her eye as she repeated, “Never know.”

I'm still putting together my next Disney segment. Hope to have it ready for tomorrow. 8=)

I felt lame with that entry, reading it over I can see it might be confusing. So I'm adding a writercize from Alana that I've been wanting to do. Being an organized person, I had to do this prompt: take a category and make an alphabetical list for it. For summer, my category is Travel. Here is my list,

Adventure / Break / Cruise / Discover / Escape / Family / Go / Hotel / Island / Journey / Keys / Long / Map / New / Occasion / Parks / Quest / Restaurants / Search / Tours / Unknown / Views / Walk / Xplore / Yen / Zoos

I bet you have some better ones, right? =)

raNdom thursDay

Funny you should mention haiku!

I found two bloggers asking for them yesterday. I read some great ones from the contest Ellie entered (she was a runner up, by the way!) and she led me to a weekly Haiku Wednesday, yesterday's theme was "the future." The other site is Writercize where Alana dishes out daily writing exercises for anyone that wants a challenge =). So here is my simple haiku, forecasting a busy immediate future.

Summer is calling

Camps, baseball, vacation, pool

Squeeze in time to write

It's fun in the sun

Movies, parks, birthday parties

Mosquitoes at night

Bicycles, sprinklers

Fireworks and barbecues

Families unite

Hey, I just noticed those last lines rhyme. I didn't plan that, Haikus are not supposed to rhyme. But separately I guess they can...only 2 days left of school =)

Random Thursday - honorable mention & a logline

Honorable mention is better than no mention!

My submission to Rachelle Gardner's Bad News Poetry contest received honorable mention (ie she made up an award for me =)

In other writing news, I recently joined a great new critique blog/forum, Unicorn Bell It looks promising and helpful, I just hope it doesn't get too big because it is a great idea that I'm sure will grow a large following quickly!

We just started and are in "meet & greet" phase. This first assignment is to put up a blurb summary (logline) about our WIP. This was harder than I thought. Here is mine:

Pop Travel
(techno thriller)

In 2080, pop travel, laser teleportation, has a deadly flaw discovered by reclusive PI, J. L. Cooper who teams up with undercover agent Geri Harper to confront its Creator and expose it.

Random Wednesday - Did you know?

Cell Phones - Hazardous to Your Health?
[I found this article in Prevention (May 2011)]
Could your cell phone give you brain cancer? Now that we've been using them long enough to study their effects, it looks like they could. Apparently the tiny amount of electromagnetic radiation they produce affects your brain after prolonged exposure. What a surprise, another cancer causing, man-made device.
Suggestions to prevent damage:

• hold phone away from your head or better yet, text when you can
• save long conversations for the home phone
• stay off it when you're traveling long distances (reconnecting to other towers gives it a surge)

Here are a few interesting medical breakthroughs in the works [Consumer Reports (June 2011)]

• personalized prescriptions, down to the genes
• blood substitutes - real fake blood! to tide someone over until a good match can be made (that is awesome!)
• robot surgeons, without a doc at the controls! (are we getting closer to AI here?)

And here is the skinny on popular diets [Consumer Reports (June 2011)] (Sorry about the pun!)

1. Jenny Craig - excellent ratings in all categories, support is key
2. Slim-Fast - good and excellent ratings, but without support the dropout rate is not good
3. Weight Watchers - much food high in sodium and weight loss is average
4. the Zone - nutrition is ok, weight loss is marginal
5. Atkins - poor for nutrition but good for weight loss, more for short term

I hate diets! The only way I have ever lost weight was writing down what I ate in a modified Atkins diet. I counted carbs, but fruits and veggies were "free." Now I try to treadmill or walk each night and cut down on the snacks. I'm not trying very hard, maintaining is fine for now.

Random Wednesday - prompts

I haven't done one of these in a while. Thanks to Aheila for her Drabble Day Challenges. Monday's prompt was “paint.” Here's my offering =)

“Hey, are you ok?”

“Sure, I’m fine.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing, why?”

“You’re bleeding.”

“I am? Where?”

“Right there. On your elbow.”

“Huh.”

“What did you do?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? That’s a lot of blood.”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Where were you earlier?”

“Art class.”

***
And over at Confessions from Suit 500 they are having a quick prompt contest for an advance copy of Original Sin by Lisa Deroshers. You have to use these five words in a 100 word or less story:

Personal, Demons, Hellbent, Original, Sin; Bonus Points if you use the phrase "A Devil's Own"

Entries are due by midnight Thursday. Here's mine...

With each step the fragrance thickens. I crane my neck around the corner and suck in the enticing aroma.

There it is. Like original sin, too tempting to avoid. It’s only three feet away. I draw another deep breath and…gag! The demon’s stench invades my nostrils.

I scan the room. There. My arch enemy, hellbent to destroy me, saunters in and sprawls on his pillow, falling into a cream coma.

I silently scamper to my prize, remove it and position the contraption perfectly.

SNAP!

Mrowr!

His inflamed green eyes catch my smiling black ones. This time it’s personal.

My First Award!

I got an award!
Isn't it beautiful!?

It's from Deirdra at A Storybook World. I'm so excited!

March Madness update

You still in it?

Do you care?

I am.

Not really.

I'm more concerned about my baby boy getting his tonsils out tomorrow.

Trying to get another query off tonight, since I may be out of commission for a few days.
Priorities.

So...

"Don't you forget about me!"

Coming up in April...

• New spring header
• Dreaming of Disney, 2nd installment
• Hopefully an interview or two - one professional, one lazy housewife
• Movie and Book reviews (planning to get to both during Spring Break!)

Random Wednesday - the joke's on me...

Had to continue from my bad day Monday.
At least kids all went to school today, but now the youngest might have a fever. I'm afraid to check. I will have to cancel my sub job tomorrow if he has to stay home - they'll have to get a sub for the sub!

And here's two more things: 1. we had a brief hail storm and 2. now there's a bird caught in my garage!

I just shake my head and laugh. Got anything else for me?

I'll add something fun to this post later. Have to go to baseball practice =)

On the plus side, I sent a query today! Yeah!

Here's the addition and follow up.
First, followup: My lucky son walked into the garage and the bird flew out - if you've ever had this happen you know it's never that easy! And as for tomorrow everything is so far so good.

Fun Addition:
I've finally entered Theresa's 500 follower contest. It only runs through Friday (and Saturday is her bday =) She is promoting Elana Johnson's upcoming YA release, Possession. It looks good, too. And now I pose a question to Elana for her video interview and see if I'm a lucky winner!

"Ms. Johnson, first I have to say that I love the song, "Waiting for the End" so thank you for posting the lyrics. My question is, how did you know the Young Adult genre was your perfect fit?"

And she inspired me to post the lyrics too:

This is not the end
This is not the beginning
Just a voice like a riot
Rocking every revision
But you listen to the tone
And the violent rhythm
Though the words sound steady
Something emptys within em

We say yeah

With fists flying up in the air
Like we’re holding onto something that’s invisible there
Cuz we’re living at the mercy of the pain and the fear
Until we dead it forget it
Let it all disappear

Waiting for the end to come
Wishing I had strenght to stand
This is not what I had planned
It’s out of my control

Flying at the speed of light
Thoughts were spinning in my head
So many things were left unsaid
It’s hard to let you go

I know what it takes to move on
I know how it feels to lie
All I wanna do is trade this life for something new
Holding on to what I haven’t got

Sitting in an empty room
Trying to forget the past
This was never meant to last
I wish it wasn’t so

What was left when that fire was gone
I thought it felt right but that right was wrong
All caught up in the eye of the storm
And trying to figure out what it’s like moving on

And I don’t even know what kind of things I said
My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead
Picking up those pieces now where to begin
The hardest part of ending is starting again

What's your favorite color?

Here is a list of colors and their connotations and some have examples. What's your favorite? Does it match your personality?

Red – strong feelings, love, warmth, intensity

redneck, red-hot, red-handed, paint the town red, seeing red

Blue – calm, sad, unappetizing, low temperature

blue moon, blue Monday, blue blood, the blues, and blue ribbon.

Green – nature, tranquility, lucky, healing, jealousy, good for learning, fertility, new

Green room, green thumb, green with envy, greenhorn

Yellow – hard to look at, frustration, increases metabolism, most attention getting

Purple – royal, wealth, wisdom, spirituality, exotic, artificial

Brown – strength, reliability, isolation, warmth, down to earth, comfort, conventional, sophisticated

Orange – energetic, enthusiasm, warmth, draw attention  

Black – evil, death, slimming

Black Death, blackout, black cat, black list, black market, black tie, black belt.

White – purity, innocence, spacious, cold, sterile

Pink – love, romance, calming

I got this information from: “Color Psychology, How Colors Impact Moods, Feelings, and Behaviors” by Kendra Cherry, About.com Guide

March Madness

Had to do it!
Nathan Bransford's 3rd annual bracket challenge
I like underdogs and upsets!

ps - beware the ides of March

Random Saturday - Looking to Lose Weight?

Me too. Let's see what Consumer Reports has to say about it.

6 pieces of advice to help keep pounds off:

1. Stop drinking calories. Pops, juice, energy drinks = less filling and more sugar. So drink diet. (No one has studied the consumption of artificial sweetners long enough to attach them to cancer, yet.) Milk and limited alcohol consumption supposedly have enough healthy factors to equal out the calories and are slightly more filling. (I already do this one, they should've said coffee too)
2. Eat more protein. Atkins type dieting has been studied and is now approved as a good way to lose weight. To be the most effective, protein intake should be 20-25% of total calories. Replacing some fat and starches with lean proteins can be beneficial. (I try to do this too, been slacking)
3. Eat more fiber. Fiber is awesome! It regulates, helps prevent colon cancer and slows digestion making you feel fuller longer! Plus the foods it comes in have healthy vitamins and minerals. But go slow on the increase - fiber can backfire (if you know what I mean). (Another healthy thing I already partake of)
4. Lead yourself not into temptation. Snacks. Mmmm. Crunchy, salty, flavorful, sweet - I need something good to eat! The best thing to do is not have these things in your house. Buy them on occasion. If you have them, you will eat them. (I try to buy snacks for the kids that I don't like. I have no trouble limiting their intake, I'm a mean mom) 
   
5. Add 2000 steps a day. 20-25 minutes of walking, about a mile, burns about 100 calories. (I walk my dog around the block when I get the mail or go to the bus stop - he needs exercise too)
6. Cut your screen time. Sitting calories = sleeping calories. Even just standing burns twice the calories of sitting. (this has become a problem since I took up writing and blogging - so I started using my ipad on the treadmill =) Time to get up and move around!

So. This article isn't so much about losing weight as keeping off those extra couple of pounds that most people gain each year. Small modifications can increase your health and energy. I do most of these things and I am at a plateau. I need to do more if I want better results.
(From: "Lose Weight, Stay Active," Consumer Reports, 2/11)