1. Because Southport is so close to Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, many TV shows and movies have been filmed there. You can see Southport in episodes of Dawson’s Creek, and in the movies I Know What You Did Last Summer and A Walk to Remember (and many more).

2. Fort Johnston, North Carolina’s first fort, was established in Southport in 1754.

3. Southport is considered the Fourth of July Capitol of North Carolina. The town was one of the firsts in the state to celebrate the holiday and now hosts the official North Carolina Independence Day Celebration.

4. Originally named Smithville, the town name was changed to Southport in 1887 as part of a promotional effort to create a major Southern port. It didn’t work.

5. Probably most importantly: Southport is the setting for my novel Incubus.

Your turn! Share five random tidbits about the setting of your work-in-progress/favorite place/hometown.

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, YA Highway wants us to all write a limerick about our favorite books and/or works in progress.

Holy commas! This one was hard. Apparently I have lost my touch since my stellar Freshman-Year-English-Class limerick. Of course, my determination to write one for both a WIP and my favorite book didn’t make the task any easier.

Are you ready? (I don’t think you really are.) Here we go…

Crime & Punishment:

He thought he could kill without guilt
Now the house of cards that he built
is starting to fall.
Now only a call
girl can help him to fix the tilt.

Jack the Reaper

There once was a girl named Jack
whose family was kind of wack.
They’d get orders to kill
and they’d have to fulfill,
’cause reapers aren’t cut any slack.

There you have it; my mad limerick skillz at work. Want to join in the fun? Head over to YA Highway and share a limerick of your own.

“Two For Tuesday” is a blog meme that I just made up last night when I was trying to fall asleep.

What is it? Post two of anything: book reviews, pictures, quotes, poems, songs, videos, rants, shout outs, whatever floats your boat. Just connect them somehow. That’s it.

Today, I have two pictures that inspire me. The first has to do with my writing, the second definitely doesn’t.

You might remember that I recently started rewriting Incubus completely from scratch. It is proving harder to write than anything else I have ever tackled (including earlier drafts of the same book). I have added some elements that make it a much deeper, more emotional novel than it was before. When I find myself struggling with the writing (which is near constantly these days), I just think about the bird necklace, and it helps me push on.

In Incubus, both Kyle and Jayne have a necklace much like this one. The necklaces hold a special place in each girl’s heart, and both girls cling to the necklaces as a sort of symbol for hope.  I won’t go into detail as to why, but now you know why the necklace is motivating to me. It is woven into the story and helps me remember the importance of the story I am trying to tell.

After I worked the necklace element into the story, I realized that–holy cow!–I have a very similar necklace of my own. I had forgotten all about it (though I imagine deep down I remembered, or I wouldn’t have described such a similar one in the book). So now, when I am feeling particularly stuck in writing Incubus, I put on my own bird necklace and make myself get back to work.

Okay, moving on…

My second bit of inspiration is this:

I was just asked (um…maybe 4 hours ago) if I would make a princess castle cake for a friend’s daughter’s 6th birthday. Of course!

Now, I will be honest: my cake won’t be this nice (um…this cake comes from a bakery with a minimum price of $250–we just aren’t $250 cake kind of people). My cake will probably have two round layers and turrets made out of ice cream cones. Much simpler.

But this one sure is nice to look at!

Okay. I started writing a different post, but I just can’t get Carrie Ryan’s world and words out of my head, so I scrapped that post in favor of this recommendation.

It is no secret that I loved The Forest of Hands and Teeth, so I was eagerly anticipating its companion novel, The Dead-Tossed Waves.

This book blew me away. I could not put it down. Could. Not. I was reading every spare second of the day. And even when that meant I was neglecting my own writing, I did not care. I just wanted to read more and more and more of Gabry’s story. I finished it two days ago, but I still think about it regularly. Even one of my lessons in church yesterday made me think of Carrie’s zombies (really–it was connected, I promise!).

Now, since The Dead-Tossed Waves is a companion and not a direct sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth, it is not necessary that you read Forest first. However, I think Waves is a much richer book for having read Forest first and I definitely suggest reading them in order.

So, as long as you are at that bookstore picking up one, why not grab the other as well?

————

You mention on your blog that you have not always written YA. What made you try your hand at YA?

I loved YA as I was growing up, and I still have most of my collection.  I reread some of my favorites from time to time.  It finally occurred to me that if I liked this genre so much, I should try to write it.

What is your favorite thing about writing for young adults?

There’s an intensity to that time of life, and an intensity in the way young adults read.  The books I read when I was younger would fill my head; they really felt life-changing.

THE SECRET YEAR is a very emotional book. How did you keep yourself upbeat when you were writing it? (Or, did you have to be bummed out the whole time you were working on it?  )

Even though the main character deals with a fair amount of longing and loss, those are actually cathartic subjects to write about, and they can be cathartic to read about.  To me, there’s something comforting in reading books where the characters cope with tough situations.  Also, the central relationship in the book was so important to the characters involved, and it was so full of their testing and challenging one another, that it was highly interesting to write about.

The hardest part of THE SECRET YEAR for me is knowing that poor Colt has to suffer alone. What was the hardest part for you to write?

His suffering alone is a consequence of certain choices he made, but yes, the penalty is sadly severe.  The ending was by far the hardest part to write, because that is when he faces certain truths he’s been avoiding throughout the book.

All of your characters, down to the pretty minor supporting ones, are so vivid and real. Do you draw from people you know when you write?

No.  But I try to distill everything I see and hear in the world, and let it influence my characters in a general way.

I love the use of journals and letters in THE SECRET YEAR. What is your favorite part about writing multiple points of view in one book?

I think many of us would like to know what other people think of us, would like to know what certain situations look like from the other side of the table.  Colt gets this chance, although he doesn’t always like what he reads.

Julia’s journal entries were a way for me to show how stories change when point of view changes; there is not just one true account of an incident or a relationship.

What is your favorite line from THE SECRET YEAR?

“He’d taken pictures of potatoes for his freshman art project.”

That was one of my favorite lines, too! It seems so random, but the more you get to know the character, it just seems to fit. Moving on to some more general questions now:

We all know how important it is to have others read our work and give us honest feedback. Who are your first readers and how did you find them?

I’ve discussed this at length on my blog, but they are all writers I met through SCBWI or through writer friends.

(note from Rachel: Jennifer’s blog posts about finding her crit partners can be found here, here, and here.

When you are struggling with your writing, how do you motivate yourself to keep going?

The struggle is never about whether I want to be writing, because I always want to write.  It’s about whether I can do the story justice, whether I can reach the level I’m trying to reach.  And so there’s a very strong motivation to keep going.  Mostly, in those situations I need reassurance that I can only do so much in a day, and I don’t have to try for immediate perfection.

When you know you should be writing, but just aren’t, what is your favorite procrastinatory outlet?

There are so many other things I have to do, chores and obligations, that it’s more a question of my getting through them so I can get to the writing.  Writing is more often a reward than something I put off.

What is the best bit of advice you have for aspiring authors?

Read a lot.  Write a lot.

Aside from your own, what are a couple books you love and would recommend we all read?

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, by Peter Cameron, has been my top pick for a while. Some others I like, off the top of my head:

Geography Club, by Brent Hartinger.

Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury.

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman.

Struts and Frets, by Jon Skovron.

I just realized every one of those has a male main character. So here are a couple with female main characters:

Watersmeet, by Ellen Jensen Abbott.

Sweethearts, by Sara Zarr.

Wow. That’s quite a list; I will definitely have to check those out. Finally, it’s time for the Fast Five! What are five random things we might not know about Jennifer Hubbard?

1) I haven’t read the big Russian novels (Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, etc.).

(For Shame! Crime and Punishment is my favorite book!)

2) I vote every year, and I’ve twice served on juries.

3) I’ve lived in five different states.

4) I like Brussels sprouts (and you thought nobody did!).

(True story: Bubba and I both love Brussels sprouts.)

5) I try to watch the Academy Awards every year, even though I see very few movies.

(Confession time: I work in movies, but still see very few and never watch the awards.)

————

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing with us, Jennifer.

If you haven’t read The Secret Year, I suggest you find it and do so. You won’t regret it. Promise.

————

A couple housekeeping things about the giveaway:

1. The contest is open internationally. I haven’t been asked yet, but I am noticing a few of you are popping up from all across the globe, so I thought I would just clarify. Anyone can win!

2. In order to keep shipping costs down, As You Wish and The Forest of Hands and Teeth will be signed via bookplate (this way I didn’t have to send the books cross-county and back and then pay to send them to the winner). Keeping these costs down is what allows me to keep the giveaway international.

3. Since I am using a bookplate, you (the winner…that’s you) can substitute The Dead-Tossed Waves if you already have The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

4. There will be a winner for every 50 followers, not just one winner for all three books. That’s right: three winners (assuming, of course, there are that many followers).

What are your favorite reading and writing links?

I read a lot of blogs. Seriously, my Google Reader is working overtime. Sometimes I think I read too many blogs, but I just can’t bring myself to pull any of them off the reader (I will admit to skimming some of them and only reading the ones that really jump out at me).

Remember last week when we talked about procrastination? Well, I have  learned that reading blogs is a super procrastinatory tool, which is why I am only sharing ONE link with y’all today. Because, come on, I don’t want to be partially responsible for your superb ability to not get anything done.

I thought about not putting any links in this post and just directing you to my sidebar and the YA Highway blog, but I do have one site that just begs to be shared.

YA/MG Author Barry Lyga has a wonderful series of writing advice up on his blog. If you are a writer (or are even contemplating writing a book), these are must reads. His advice is honest and funny and to the point. He covers topics in great detail that many others simply gloss over. I absolutely love reading Barry’s blogs and have learned so much about my own writing by listening to what he has to say. I admit that I have not read any of Barry’s books, but after stumbling across and reading his blog, they have been added to the top of my to-be-read list.

This is a no-good situation for a writer. See, publishing is S.L.O.W. It takes time to write a book, it takes time to revise a book. Once a book is ready, it takes time to query agents and get their responses. It takes time to hear back from publishers once your agent starts submitting your work. And once a book is sold, it takes a lot of time to get it on the shelves.

Things don’t move quickly, and even this is a perfect example. What happens when a writer doesn’t move from step A to B to C to D to E in a nice sequential order? What happens when one moves from A to B to C (C, in this sequence is finding an agent, just so we are still on the same page), only to experience failure?

Writers need to be persistent little buggers. This is a business that is largely subjective and setbacks and failures along the way are par for the course. I fear that too many people have so subscribed to the fast-food ideal of life–expecting everything to come quickly–and will give up when the path is no longer easy.

Friends: we cannot do this! Remember that not everything in life comes as quickly and easily as pushing a meal through a window. We need to take the time to nurture our craft, to write the best books we can, and to fight to see them on the shelves. If a book fails? We need to spend time working on the next one. And the next, and the next.

This business takes time and persistence. Don’t let yourself get discouraged and give up because things aren’t moving as quickly or as smoothly as you hoped. Keep working, keep pushing, and eventually you will make it!

I have lived in Montana long enough to know this isn’t the end of Winter. We will have more snow, and more blustery wind, and more really-freaking-cold days, but 50º is 50º and I am excited. Hey, if we can’t get excited about the little things in life, then what are we living for?

In celebration* of Montana’s pseudo-spring, I am launching a fun, fabulous giveaway! I have one two three signed books to giveaway. And since we are celebrating the wonderful 50º weather, I am going to base my giveaway on fifties.

So, see that fun little Google Friend Connect widget over in the sidebar? (————>) Once I have 50 smiling faces over there, I will put one book in the giveaway pool. If I get 50 more, a second book will be added. And, if I get 50 more than that, the third book will be added to the pool. What are the fabulous books I speak of? I thought you would never ask. They are:

I loved all three of these books! They are completely different from each other, but each is wonderful in its own way. I can’t wait to share them with you, so make sure you are following for a chance to win!

Oh, what’s that you say? You need a deadline for the contest? Okay, I suppose I can do that. Since the best part of spring is my birthday** (obviously), I will end the contest then (or thereabouts). So, assuming we have at least 50 followers by April 27th, there will be much book-giveaway-ery to celebrate the 26th anniversary of my birth.

Now I am going to stare out the window for a while and wish I could be enjoying this beautiful weather. Good day to you all!

*Okay, so I had planned the giveaway before the great weather. Whatever. I am still using it as a fair-weather celebration.

**I know, I know. We aren’t supposed to get so giddy about our birthdays after we are about 13 or 14, but I refuse to give in to such boring traditions. I want to find joy in the simple things, so I will be ridiculously excited about my birthday!

Either this picture is old, or he hasn't aged one day since I was in high school...

The first semester of my junior year in high school, I took an athletic training class. I loved the teacher so much that I took his anatomy class the second semester. And his 2-hour Med Prep class both semesters senior year.

Seriously, I loved Wiley Kendle as a teacher. It has been eight years since I have been in one of his classes, but I still think about him regularly, partly because he has this great, acerbic sense of humor, and partly because he repeatedly gave a bit of advice most high school teachers would not.

Every so often, Mr. Kendall would impress upon our young minds that four-year college is not for everyone. That’s not to say he wasn’t supporting education beyond high school–he absolutely was. He would stress the importance of finding what works best for you, whether that be a trade school, some sort of apprenticeship, or just working for a couple years to figure your life out.

College is stressed so much is high school that many teenagers forget to really experience their adolescence because they are so focused on getting into university and learning some more. But–and this is a shock–not all kids are the same! Which means not all kids will flourish in a university setting after high school.

Of course, the whole time Wiley Kendle was telling me this, I was sitting in the front row (like the little over-achiever I was) thinking, pshhh….whatever, I am totally going to a four-year university. So I did. And you know what? It wasn’t the right place for me at the time. Sure, I had a great time and met a lot of wonderful people and did well, but in retrospect, I can see that I should have listened more carefully to the wise words of Mr. Kendall.

(For the record: I am not opposed to a traditional college education, and am now at a place in my life where university would be a great learning environment for me. When I left high school, however, there were other options that were perhaps better than university.)

So, when people ask me what they should study in college if they want to become a writer, I tell them to study what they are passionate about. But it goes much further than that. Each individual person needs to decide what they are passionate about and then pursue that in any way she can. Maybe that means she doesn’t go to a traditional college, but instead heads off to a cosmetology academy or massage therapy school. Possibly she trades in a diploma for an apprenticeship with a diesel mechanic. Or, maybe she doesn’t yet know at the age of 18 what she wants to do, so she finds any job she can that will help her pay the bills until she does figure it out.

When deciding what to do with your life, evaluate what is important to you and what you love. Maybe university really is the best place for you to go right out of high school. If so, good luck! If not, don’t let others make you feel like you are less than you are because of that choice. Take control of your own life and do what will make you happy.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to go to college. (Disclaimer: there is a problem if you want to leech off your parents for eternity without ever stepping out on your own. Not wanting to go to college is one thing; being lazy is something else entirely.) And when it comes to being a writer, college doesn’t mean a damn thing.

You know what is important though? Life experience. No amount of learning in a classroom will teach you the things  you will learn when you are out in the real world. The experiences we have help to mold us and help define who we are. We learn and grow more through real life than we ever will in a classroom. So, get any education you can. I believe we should never stop learning. But don’t forget to go live a little on the way.

click for larger image

For this week’s Road Trip Wednesday, the lovely ladies at YA Highway want to know:

The ways you procrastinate. You know. If you get around to it.

I have a problem: I am a sneaky procrastinator. I don’t mean that I hide my procrastination from others. I hide it from myself. When I just don’t feel like working on my novel, I will do something like write blog post. ‘Cause my blog is important too, so it’s not really procrastinating, is it? Or I will start researching things I don’t really need to know, but they are related to the book I am working on now, so they might be important some day, right? So that’s not really procrastinating either, is it? Is it?!

See, sneaky procrastinator.

I used to have a whole roundup of websites I would check often (FML, MLIA, FAILblog, PhotoShopDisaters, WhatIWore, and a few others I can’t remember now), and those were great tools for procrastination. But one day I just stopped going to those sites. I haven’t looked at any of them in months now, so they are out when it comes to procrastination.

I am good about actually sitting down to write (probably too good…my poor house–and husband–gets neglected far too often), so pretty much, my only procrastination when it comes down to it is blogging. And sometime obsessively checking my email, but only if I am expecting something (like I am now–why, oh why isn’t it here yet?). Even so, if I find myself procrastinating too much, I just flip the little switch on the front of my netbook and turn my internet access off. Easy-peasy.

Your turn! What is your favorite procrastinatory outlet?

Um, SQUEE!

I am getting this book whether I win it or not, but getting a book you want for free is always a great thing.

Other fabulous prizes include blog interviews, a second free book (of the winner’s choosing), and partial manuscript critiques (or something else for those non-writers out there).

This is a great contest, guys. Head over and enter now.

…Confessions!

1. I do Fast Five… posts when I can’t focus long enough to blog about a single thing. I have a list of blog ideas waiting for when I get my focus back.

2. I don’t think baby sonograms are cute. I actually think they are more creepy than anything. And the fancy-pants 3D sonograms? Even creepier.

3. I think grand, fancy weddings are beautiful and fun, but I also think it is stupid to spend that much money on one day. Same with the fancy wedding dresses. Spending a ton of money on a dress you will wear for maybe six hours of your life? Stupid.

4. I have studied the human body a lot, and I know how improper nutrition affects us. I understand wholly why exercise is important. Yet I still eat poorly and don’t exercise nearly as much as I should.

5. To save the best confession for last: I am officially announcing a fun and fabulous blog giveaway next week. It will involve three signed books. And possibly more fun goodness, depending on my mood. Anyone who is following through Google Friend Connect (see sidebar ––––>) by the time the announcement goes up, will automatically get another shot at the drawing. I wasn’t going to announce this ahead of time (’cause, really, my 9 followers should get extra props for not having to be bribed ), but this is confession time, so why not?

Your turn! Leave a confession in the comments. Come on, you know you want to!

This is a trend I can get behind

The topic of YA Lit Chat on Twitter a couple weeks ago was trend in YA. I participated in a small chunk of the chat, but left early once I realized:

Why am I spending time talking about trends instead of writing?

Anyone who reads can recognize certain trends rolling through books, YA or otherwise. You may notice a rash of steampunk suddenly, or be overwhelmed by the number of Jane Austen odes on the bookstore shelves. One doesn’t need to be an avid reader to know vampires are big.

It is tempting to want to write a certain kind of story after seeing similar ones become so popular. There is that initial rush of oh! people love werewolves right now…if I write werewolves, I will be IN!

Yeah…it doesn’t work like that, for many reasons.

First off: publishing is slow. Glaciers make the publishing industries look like bullet trains. By the time one writes a book, finds representation, finds a publisher, goes through rounds of edits, waits for the design team to do their thing, blah, blah, blah….and the book finally makes it to the shelves, the trend ship has long sailed. Your book releases and you suddenly find yourself in a world where nobody cares about werewolves anymore. Your poor little book hunkers down on the shelf, making a permanent home for itself, while books about midget superheroes and functional families are being sold like hotcakes.

Secondly: market saturation. If there are 167 sasquatch novels on the shelves, why would you want to add #168? Wouldn’t you rather add something new, something fresh? Something original? I know I would. I also know that agents and publishers always have their eyes open for fresh new writing. What editor out there is going to want to pick up a book that is remarkably similar to one they already have on their list?

Number Three: Passion shows through in writing. When I read a book I can tell if a writer was passionate about her characters, her story, her work. When a writer is passionate about her book, that radiates off the pages and makes the book so much better. When a writer starts writing something just because they think it is the next big thing! that passion is just not there. And as a reader, I can sense that.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. While I don’t think anyone should try to write to trends, I also don’t think anyone should shy away from what they want to write because it is a trend. Strong new voices shine through every day, and you should never be scared to write what you want. Write the book you love, and work as hard as you can to make it great.

Okay, okay…I am almost done. One final thought on trends: in 1997, teenage girls did not know they wanted a movie about a sinking ship. But they did. They wanted it over and over again.

That is all.

If you are an American, chances are you have heard the name Vanderbilt. As in, “no, I can’t buy you a brand new Maserati! Who do you think I am, a Vanderbilt?” The Vanderbilts were rich. But they weren’t just rich like the doctor down the street who buys all his teenagers brand new cars because he hasn’t made the connection between young age and accident rates yet. They were iconically rich. Like, they are considered one of the seven wealthiest families in history (world, not just American) rich.

In the 1800s, Cornelius Vanderbilt build railway and shipping empires. Good timing to get into shipping and railroads. He grew up in a modest home, and even after her had acquired his vast fortune, he continued to live in modest homes. His descendants were not so modest, however, and many of them used their inheritances to built opulent mansions.

In the 1880s, George Washington Vanderbilt, youngest son of William Henry Vanderbilt and grandson of Cornelius, made many visits to the Ashville, NC area (one of the more beautiful areas I have been to). He decided he liked the area so much that he would build a summer estate there–one he called his “little mountain escape”. Except, um, it wasn’t little by any stretch of the imagination.

The Biltmore estate is the largest privately-owned home in the United States. It has 250 rooms in a whopping 175,000 square feet. That is one big house! I don’t know how anyone could ever consider it a “little mountain escape”. The estate has its own winery, village, and church. It is is very own, very expensive little community right there in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

If you ever get the chance to visit Ashville (and I recommend you find that chance), make sure to check out the Biltmore Estate. It is pricey (admission prices help with the upkeep–old houses take a lot), and if you want to go into the main house you will need a reservation because it is busy, but is is amazing. Even if you can’t afford it or you didn’t think to reserve a ticket, it is worth a glance. Even just diving out and looking over the house and grounds from the roadway is pretty breathtaking.

Also, watch the movie The Private Eyes for a little Biltmore goodness and a lot of laughs!

I got to thinking today about how much I read. Some books take me a while to work my way through and others I finish in one reading. Either way, I go through a lot of books. In the past, I have tried to keep track of what I read, but I have never been very good at doing that. So, really this post is only for my benefit.

In this post I am going to list all the books I have read since the start of 2010. Each book I read will be added to the list. Then, at the end of the the year I can have a little party (with myself, of course) and look back on all the books I read. Fun times.

So…

Books read in 2010

*Part of the 2010 Debut Author Challenge

**Actually debuted in 2009, but so close to the end I am counting it in the 2010 Debut Author Challenge

1. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (January)

I really enjoyed this one. The story is compelling and the writing is crisp. I do have to admit though: I didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would, and it didn’t grab me like it did a lot of my friends. Maybe my expectations were too high.

2. After by Amy Efaw (January)

The whole time I was reading this, I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. I still don’t know. But, I do know that I find myself thinking about it quite regularly, so I know it had quite a bit of impact. This probably is not one I will reread, but I am glad I read it once. Also, it has a great cover.

3. Duma Key by Stephen King (February)

Except for On Writing, which I devoured and will read again and again, I have never read much of Uncle Stevie’s stuff. I read Pet Sematary (and, um, the movie still freaks me out) and Thinner when I was in middle school, and a ton of his short stories towards the end of elementary school and into middle school, but that is the extent of my Stephen King reading. Mom gave me this one for Christmas because it is one of her favorites. And, holy canole!!! this book is good. I love it!

4. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (February)

I wanted to read this one when it first came out, but didn’t. The stack of books at home was big enough without adding another. Now it already has two sequels (and a third on the way). I finally picked it up because the YA bookclub in town is reading it for their February book. Why did I wait so long?! Wicked Lovely pulled me in immediately and I didn’t want to put it down ever. I love, love, loved this book and will have to devour the sequels soon. Also, I usually don’t like piercing on guys, but Seth is hot.

*5. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg (February)**

A book about a girl named Penny Lane who is obsessed with the Beatles and creates a non-dating girls club? The Beatles freak and teenage girl in me had to read this one. The story is fun. I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped to (mostly because some of it seemed like Eulberg way trying to sound too teenager), but I enjoyed reading it.

6. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (February)

I had a nightmare about zombie cats after reading this book. No, there are no zombie cats in FHT (non-human animals are immune to the infection), but I am sure the book inspired the dream. This book was intense and scary and beautifully written. I can’t wait for the next one!

*7. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard (March)

This is one of those books that gives you a little slice of someone’s life. Yes, there is an overarching plot, and the main character goes through some changes and learns about himself, but really I just felt like I was along for the ride observing Colt’s life for a while. This was a quick read and I really enjoyed it.

8. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst (March)

This book was quite bizarre, what with the main character trying to teach his dog to speak English and all. The writing style was very unique, and it drew me in. While the overarching plot was pretty sad, it definitely had its funny moments. Also it’s moments where it scared me a little, as I saw a lot of Lexy in myself.

9. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (March)

Holy crow, this book is amazing. I don’t think my heart slowed to below 160 beats per minute the whole time I was reading it. The romantic tension is just as high as the fear. I love The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I think I love this one even more.

10. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (March)

Shiver was on my to-be-read list for a long, long time. I thought the concept was intriguing and was curious to see how Maggie executed it. I really enjoyed this book and think it is wonderfully written. However; I liked it but just didn’t love it. I didn’t get that rush of emotion that I tend to get so easily when I am reading. This might be no fault of Shiver’s though…it might have just been my mood when reading. Either way, I am excited to read the sequel, Linger, when it comes out.

11. The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares (March)

I am going to be honest here: I led a pretty privileged life growing up. Sure, my parents were divorced, but it really wasn’t that bad. They both stayed in the same town, didn’t make things messy when they split, and peaceably shared custody of me and my sister. While we were not rich, we were also not poor. We had the things we needed, and I got much of the stuff I wanted. I had chores to do and responsibilities, but I was essentially taken care of. I never felt fear that I would not have the necessities of life. I never had to fight or struggle for food, clothing, or comfort.

I was a good student. My grades were strong. When it came time for college-entrance exams, I only took one. I stayed up late the night before ACTs making cookies and was super tired when I showed up for the test in the morning. I scored a 32, which earned me a full-ride scholarship to college, so I didn’t bother taking the SAT.

Growing up, I was a BMX racer. I trained and practiced a lot, but I only did that to stay on top. I started out on top because it came naturally to me. Same thing with the drill team in high school. We had three days to prep for tryouts and I missed the first day. To be honest, I wasn’t planning on going to the tryouts at all after that, because I didn’t think I even wanted to be on the team, but a friend insisted I just show up. So I did, and it turns out I was good! So I did it. And I practiced to make myself better, but it was always quite easy for me.

I am not telling you all of this to make myself look good or to be narcissistic (though it totally reads that way, doesn’t it?). I am just making a point here that things have always come pretty naturally to me. I have not had to work hard (I mean really work) for really anything I have accomplished. And that scares me.

You see, writing comes naturally to me. Good writing? That is a completely different story. I have to work my tail off, just like any other writer out there, to really make my words sing. I have never put myself into something with such drive as I have my writing. Never before have I struggled so much to see positive results.

So of  course I start thinking ahead to when I query agents, or when a book goes onto submission with publishers. What if all I get are rejections? Will I be able to handle that? What will it feel like to be told the one thing I have had to really, really try for is just not good enough? It is easy to fail at something you haven’t invested yourself into. If you bomb a test you didn’t study for even a little bit, it stings, but really it doesn’t matter. All can be blamed on the lack of effort. If you fail at something you put the whole of yourself into, what can you blame then?

These thoughts and fears have led to some pretty rough times while writing. It becomes harder and harder to just let go and fly through a draft. I find myself putting some words on the paper. Then, when I look back at them I start to worry that they are not good enough or that my audience won’t like them, so I delete them. That makes for some pretty slow progress.

But who is my audience anyway? Me. Right now, I am the only person who needs to be happy with my work. It doesn’t matter if Candace down the street likes my story or if Jordan at work thinks my writing is crisp enough. I am my toughest critic and I am the only person I need to worry about at this point. I need to write what interests me and the story needs to excite me and me alone.

Coming to this realization (again, ’cause really I already knew this) has been totally liberating. I am not worrying about what agents, or editors, or readers will think of the words I put on the page. I am not worried about reviews or rejections. I am not worried; I am just writing.

I am writing for me, and that is powerful.

1. My favorite bands are The Beatles and Aerosmith.  I can rock out to them all day and all night. But, I am not afraid to admit that I also kinda love Britney Spears. Her third album rocks my world on a regular basis. Also, I love me some Taylor Swift, but I don’t think people look down on that the way they do my love of Britney.

2. Soon, very soon, I will be starting a complete rewrite of Incubus. I promised myself I wouldn’t do this, but after a lot of thought, I have decided it is the right thing for the book. So yeah, I totally lied to myself. I will get over it.

3. When I was four, I thought I could be a cat. Apparently, I also thought cats walked around with their noses on the ground. My family made fun of me for the rug-burn on my nose for a long time. Now that I reminded them, I will surely be mocked again. Crap.

4. I am 99.99% sure I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (I am only not 100% sure because I don’t want to go pay someone to tell me what I already know and then try to throw pills at the problem-no thank you!). Basically this means I get depressed in the winter time. I sleep much longer than normal, but not well at all, so getting out of bed is one of the hardest chores I have. Also, it makes it so little things, like dropping my pencil at work, make me want to cry sometimes. It is no fun. It also means that, no matter how much I love Montana or how beautiful I think it is, it kind of sucks living here during the long winters.

5. I am 25, and my hair has never been longer than this:

18 February 2010

I had to work real hard to grow it that long instead of just cutting it off. Hairstyles like this:

8 September 2007

and this:

9 July 2006

have always been more common for me. And once (though I have been tempted to do it many more times than just one), I did this:

1 January 2007

Your turn! Tell me five random things about you.

I had an epically tough time answering this one. Epically.

I am going to be really straight forward here: I lead a pretty boring life. There I said it. I don’t mean to say that boring in this case is a bad thing. It is just boring. Especially when I start to compare my life to the lives of all the characters I love reading about. Bubba and I have a happy, stress-free (for the most part) marriage. We go to work. We go to church. We play games. We visit friends. There is very little drama, and so far not one person/demon/monster/whatever has tried to kill either of us. Compared to many novels, our lives are quite dull.

So, when I tried to put myself into a character’s shoes, I couldn’t help thinking things like, “she has a pretty cool life, and it would be fun, but then I would have to deal with all that danger. I like my life to be pretty danger-free, so she is out,” and, “it would be great to be her! But, oh yeah, I forgot about that really devastating thing she has to deal with and all the struggles she faces, so I think not.”

Pretty much, I am a wuss and would like to stay comfortable. I can admit that.

But, I feel the need to answer the question somehow, so after much thinking I have decided that it would be pretty cool to be:

Hermione Granger

I know Hermione annoys a lot of people, not the least of all her friends, but I have always had a bit of a soft spot for her. She is smart, motivated, not afraid to be herself, compassionate, brave, awesome.

One of the things I admire most about Hermione is her intelligence. She is really super smart, but not just because she was blessed with some great gift. She works her ass hind-quarters off to achieve what she wants. She studies her brains out. When she can’t learn all that she can in a day, she adds extra hours to get more learning time (a little extreme? Yes).

I see way too many girls, both in books/movies and real life, who think that boys won’t like them if they are too smart so they dumb themselves down. Unacceptable! Hermione makes no excuses for who she is and doesn’t try to be someone else.

Another Hermione trait I love is her fierce loyalty. She never wavers on her support of her friends, even when they are not supporting each other. Even when one of them has hurt her. She is compassionate towards those whom most ignore or abuse (Neville, house elves, Luna, etc.), and she doesn’t consider appearances or how her actions towards those people will affect her social status. Hermione is just herself and never makes any excuses for who she is. There are not many people out there like that.

Yes, Hermione has to face some tough things. She loses people who are close to her and she is often in a lot of danger. She has her heart broken. So, pretty much she has to deal with all those things that I want to steer clear of in favor of my comfortable, boring life. But in the end she ends up with a man she loves (but never ever compromises herself for) and a happy life. And that is pretty awesome.

(For quite some time, Hermione is incredibly uptight. But she eventually learns balance and is able to let loose–and even break some rules–with her friends. I want to be post-uptight Hermione. )

***

I just learned that the lovely Kate Hart would also be Hermione, for many of the same reasons I listed. She also brought up the fact that, in the movies, Hermione is played by Emma Watson, who aside from being beautiful and talented is just a good human being. I love Emma Watson.

Yeah, I stole this off Kate's blog. What of it?

Things I love:

*Books that make my pulse quicken. The ones that grab me by the throat and demand I come along for the ride. I love that feeling when a book really starts to pull me in: that sense of urgency, adrenaline coursing through my body. When I don’t care how tired I will be or how hard work will seem, I just want to stay up all night reading. I love books that have that power over me.

Things I don’t love:

*Finding out a wonderful man and beloved client passed away last night.

1. I love that you are the first car to ever have my name on the title.
2. I love that your fetching bumper feature makes it impossible to mistake another car for my own.
3. I love that you put up with me through all those long road-trips and concert tours.
4. I love that, when you decided you needed a new clutch, you waiting until after I got back home instead of giving up somewhere between North Carolina and Montana.
5. I love that when I lock my keys in you, I can easily climb through the unlockable trunk and let myself back in.
6. I love how patient you were when I used you to teach all my friends to drive a stick shift.
7. I love that you cost about 10 cents to register and insure.
8. I love your great, great, great gas mileage.
9. I love that you never once grumbled when we welded an old oil barrel to your muffler to patch up your exhaust system.
10. Most of all, I love that you were not upset, but rather relieved, when I told you about this: