I love researching. Love. In fact, I love it so much that if I don’t control myself, I would spend all my time researching instead of writing. I love the rush that comes with all the random things I learn while researching a book (I talk a little about that here).

Most of my books (Glass being the notable exception) don’t have any strong historical aspects, but I still like to research the history of the setting. So, when I went about writing Darken, I spent a lot of time researching the history of Charleston-especially its cemeteries. With Incubus, I learned all I could about southeast North Carolina (including what the entrance to North Brunswick High School looks like-it was really important at the time). I like to feel like I really know my settings. I don’t just want to geography and what-not, I want to feel intimately acquainted with the area. I want to be comfortable moving my characters around.

I am not so sure I need to research as much as I do, but I feel like it really helps me out with my writing. When I spend a long time reading about a certain subject, I get jazzed to write about it. Then the words just fall out of my mind and on to the page. And that is a wonderful feeling.

Jessie Sin

Do you find it difficult to be in a situation where your best friend is a writer as well? What are the pros, cons, joys, frustrations? What are the most challenging aspects of the situation? The most rewarding? What are your thoughts on the topic?

Many of my friends are writers; we are all at different paths in the journey to become an author. Some, like me, have some novels under their belts, but haven’t started querying agents yet. Some are agented. Some have just discovered their passion for writing. Some (lucky ones!) are published. And some just write with no plans to pursue publishing.

I personally believe having other writers as friends is extremely important. I love all of my friends and appreciate the advice and input they try to give me, but my writer friends really get what I am doing. They have been where I am and they know what it is like to wonder why you are doing this crazy thing. I can turn to another writer with my holy commas, this book is the worst thing ever, why do I write? Why don’t I just take up a nice hobby like ice fishing? crazies and they understand where I am coming from. And they can talk some sense into me.

The only frustrations I really come across are when and friend and I write in completely different genres. It is a lot harder to give a helpful critique in a genre that you don’t really read. My friends that write YA can do a great job pointing out things in my manuscript (and vice versa), but my friends who write, say, strictly adult fantasy/romance maybe don’t have as good an eye for YA (and vice versa). It frustrates me to want to help a friend and give honest feedback when I am not comfortable enough with a genre to do so.

So, moral of my rambling? If you are a writer, it helps immensely to have some friends who are also writers. Writers are a certain breed of crazy.

I am determined to finally finish answering questions by the end of the week!

All six of these questions come from the fabulous Jessie Sin.

1. What has been your biggest challenge you have faced since deciding you want to become a writer?

Time. I never feel like I have enough of it. I want to spend all my time working on my books, my website, research, reading, everything involved with writing. But there are always things like a job, and church, and a husband, and pets, and eating, and sleeping, and bathing…that seem to take away my precious time.

Maybe Hermione will lend me the time-turner.

2. What are your personal publishing goals?

My main goal is to have a long, stable career in publishing. Anything above that (bestseller status, awards, movie options, whatever) would just be icing on the cake.

I gave a more detailed breakdown of my short-term goals a couple weeks ago.

3. Who is your favorite literary character and why?

Oh, this is a good one. There are so many great characters out there. I think my favorite would have to be Sonia from Crime and Punishment. Her ability to look past the crime and to the person is amazing. She is strong and supportive and just a wonderful character. And I think she might be the original “hooker with a heart of gold”. Don’t quote me on that though; I haven’t read a lot about hookers in classic literature.

4. If you could write a collaboration with anyone, who would it be and why?

I don’t know if I could write a collaboration with anyone. At least at this point. I have found that I need to be alone with my characters and their stories in order to write them down. When I share too much in the early stages, I tend to fizzle out. So I don’t know how successful a collaboration would be, no matter who it is with. Maybe it is the control freak in me.

5. How do you feel about the current Pride & Prejudice craze?

I am really torn on this one. On the one hand, I think people working hard to write a book and get it out there is a great thing. And I don’t have a problem with books based on or strongly influenced by the classics (I have one of my own that draws heavily from Crime & Punishment). BUT, I wish people would pick another book to focus on now. There are so many P&P influenced works out there; some of them sound great, but to be honest, every time I see a new one, it makes me want to read any of them even less.

6. Exactly what is it about new/fresh notebooks and pens that make a writer’s toes curl?

Possibility. A blank notebook longs for the touch of a pen; it yearns to be turned into something beautiful. A new notebook screams possibility to an author. You will write your masterpiece in me, it says, all the words you have dreamed but could never write–now is your chance.

Possibility.

I am always surprised at how often teenagers ask me what they should study in college in order to become a writer. Why am I constantly surprised by this?

1. I am not published and I don’t have an agent. Sure, I am a writer, but really, am I the best person to dole out advice?

2. I dropped out of college. Really. I went for two years, at two different colleges, studying biology. Then I stopped. I went to massage school. Then my shoulder quit. Now, I am going back to college to study Russian and English. You really want to ask a college drop-out what you should study at college?

Okay, so now that you know where the surprise comes from, I will try to answer the question. Are you ready?

Study what you are passionate about. Sure, an English degree might seem like the way to go, and for some it probably is, but it by no means a surefire way to become an author. What an English degree will do for you is force you to read a lot and, depending on the program, write a lot. Which, let’s face it, will help you in your quest to become a writer.

But you know what really makes a writer? I mean, really? Writing. No matter what you study in college, keep writing. That is what will make you successful. No matter if you study history, or physics, or economics, or Japanese, or Elvis impersonation, keep writing and you will be okay. Writers write. They have other interests, but at the end of the day what makes them writers is the act of writing.

If you are really passionate about English, then by all means study it (I am). BUT*. If you are passionate about American history, I suggest you focus your studies on that. If you have always been a bit of a science geek, pursue a degree in chemistry. And if you really dig the human body, study anatomy, or medicine, or massage, or something.

Because here’s the deal: if you go to college to study something you are not passionate about – really, truly passionate - you are going to fizzle out. You will give up, quit, get poor grades, drop out. And if you stick with it, even if you do well, you will not be happy. It is impossible to be happy doing something you don’t enjoy for four years.

There is no degree out there that will make a publisher want your book, and there is no course of study that will convince an agent to represent you. You know what will do these things? Great writing. So keep writing, no matter what you decide to study. Keep writing, and keep working, and you will be okay.

*Another bonus to studying something other than English: all that history knowledge is going to come in handy when you decide to write a novel set during the civil war; when your protagonist needs to develop the vaccine that will stop the zombie apocalypse, you will use that chemistry degree; and when the outcome of your courtroom thriller rests on whether or not the human body can actually do that, all your time in the cadaver lab will have paid off.

Jessie Sin asked: What is your biggest struggle you experience when writing a novel?

This one is actually easy to answer: my biggest struggle is slowing down. When I start a new book, I just want to get everything out onto the paper before it slips away. I love the journey of writing a book, but at the same time I just want to be done (yep, right from the start I feel that way-every time). Perhaps this is because my books really begin to take their true form during edits, not during the first draft. I want so badly to be creating the book I envisioned that I just want to get past the first draft and jump right into edits.

Slowing down during drafting is a constant struggle for me-one that I am working on fixing. In fact, December is a “slow down month” for me. I am writing less  (I don’t know if I can get myself to take a month completely off from writing, but I have cut back a bit for the month), and not editing at all (eek!) this month. It is tough, especially since I did not finish Darken during November, so I am partway through a first draft right now. The urge to just sit and write like crazy is intense, but I am forcing myself to chill out a little. I don’t have to be Speed Writer; taking time to enjoy the scenery is a good thing.

With less writing this month, I have a lot more time to read (yay!) and clean the house that was severely neglected during the writing/sickness crazies of November. Our house is looking less like a pit and more like a home every day. I love it. Plus, with extra reading time, I am finally finishing up with Drood (which is awesome!) and am about ready to crack into something new and exciting. Slowing down is definitely a good thing.

Now let’s see if I can hold onto that resolve once January rolls around.

Jessie Sin asks:  Movies and other books are constantly inspiring my stories and characters. Do you have such inspirations? And if so, what are they? (Also, please explain what has been the biggest inspiration for a story you have written or plan to write. – just for curiosity’s sake)

I find inspiration pretty much everywhere I look: movies, music, books, strangers at the store, clients at work, pictures on postcards, old news stories…everywhere. Mostly, I find inspiration in my own imagination. Ideas just pop into my head. I am sure there is always something that triggers an idea, but more often than not I cannot trace where it came from. Individual bits of inspiration are tough to figure out. If you are curious about how some of my individual ideas came about, check out this post where I talk about the inspiration behind some of my books.

As for my biggest inspiration-that is easier to pinpoint. My biggest inspiration is not for one book that I have written, or for one I plan to write; it is for (most) all of them. My biggest inspiration has to be the South (as in Southern United States). I love the south-the culture, the dialects, the food, the weather, the rich history, the chivalry, all of it. I would love to live in the south again, but am pretty sure that will not happen-Bubba is not a fan of heat. Or humidity. So I settle for knowing I can visit-and live there through my writing.

All of my written and planned books (except for one, which is set in northwestern Idaho) are set someplace in the south. With each one I get to explore a different place and learn a different bit of history. This is not something I consciously set out to do. It is just what feels right for my writing at this point. What can I say? The south is inspiring. I think I will go whip up some hush puppies and sweet tea now.

Today, we have three more questions from Jessie Sin. First, she asks: What have you learned from your writing?

Wow. That is a big one. I have learned more from my writing than I can fit in a single blog post. In fact, if I were to write a book listing all the things I have learned from my writing, I imagine it would be longer than any of my novels. For brevity’s sake, I will stick to things I have learned about myself and not include those I learning during book research.

With each book I write, I learn more and more about myself. I learn my strengths and weaknesses (new ones with every book, it seems). I have learned to be more patient. I have learned to cage my inner perfectionist and  let myself make mistakes. Most importantly, I have learned to embrace my mistakes. With each one, I learn to be a better writer.

Next up: What do you hope others learn from your writing?

I am going to let you all in on a little secret. Promise not to tell? Show me the secret handshake…

I don’t expect others to learn anything from my writing. I don’t even hope they will. What I hope to do is to entertain readers, not teach them. If they happen to learn something along the way, then great, but unless I start writing instruction manuals, that is not my goal.

And finally, she asks: What is the most rewarding aspect of your writing?

Watching my characters come to life and seeing my story unfold before my eyes. Each book I write starts with just a little glimmer of an idea. Even when I have a book fully plotted out before writing, characters surprise me and the story takes turns I never imagined. Seeing something that started as such a tiny inkling of an idea turn into a fully developed book is incredibly rewarding.

Ask me again later, after I have been published and people have read my books. We will see if the answer is the same then. I have to imagine that having readers who actually like these crazy yarns I spin would be just as, if not more, rewarding than this.

Tune back in tomorrow for more answers!

Jessie Sin asked, What are your thoughts and opinions on ‘ghost writing’?

This is a difficult question to answer, because the answer depends greatly on the circumstances behind each book. So, being the total cheater that I am, I am borrowing from another blog post. What can I say? I promised to answer each question; I never promised complete originality. What? Novelists are supposed to be original? Darn. Oh well.

First, if you want to learn more about ghostwriting, head on over to the new blog Ghostwriting Revealed and read all about it. Sunday’s post addressed eight reasons why people hire ghostwriters. Rather than writing an overly-long, incoherent post, I decided I would just add my thoughts to each of these reasons and write an overly-long, slightly more coherent post.

And the reasons are:

1. The author has a great idea for a book, but doesn’t have time to write it.

I just don’t buy this. Stephen King said, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” This can be applied to ideas as well. People get great ideas all the time. What makes an author special is the time and work put into writing it. If we were all to use time as an excuse, no books would ever be written.

Writing takes time. To me, saying, “I would love to write a book, but I just don’t have the time,” is equal to saying, “I would like to have my name on the front of the book, but I am not willing to work hard enough to make that happen.” Those who really want it carve time away from anything they can in order to have more time to write.

2. The author is famous and an agent and/or publisher has talked this famous person into doing a book. The famous person likes the idea of having his or her name on a book, but he/she has no idea what the book should be about. A writer like me is then brought in to work with the famous person and try to get an idea to gel.

This happens a lot. I would like to see it stop, but I know it will not. After all, publishing is a business, and publishers need to make money. Books with the big tabloid-catching, celebrity names have a tendency to sell. A lot. So, no matter my opinion on it, celebrity books will continue to sell, and many will continue to be ghostwritten.

There are some circumstances where I am okay with this. Some celebrities credit their ghostwriter on the front cover (I am sure you have all seen a book written by “Beautiful McTabloidfixture with Joe Nobody”). At least the celebrity acknowledges that she did not write the book herself.

3. The author has a great platform and lots of credibility. The author might even have great writing skills, but the author doesn’t know how to take what she/he knows and turn it into a book with a unique commercial message. Someone like me is then brought in to help the author develop the “hook.”

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4. The author has a great platform and lots of credibility, but writing is not one of his or her strong suits and he or she knows this. Such authors usually breathe a great big sigh of relief once they learn that it’s really okay to hire someone else to put the words on the page.

I completely support ghostwriting in a circumstance like this. Platform is hard to build, and this author has done the work to do it. The most knowledgeable person in banana slugs might not know thing one about commercial writing. But there needs to be a comprehensive–and commercially appealing–guide to banana slugs in our bookshelves! People have different talents, and while Mr. Banana knows his slugs, he doesn’t know his writing. This is where a ghostwriter is a perfect solution.

Of course, I would like the situation even more, if Mr. Banana hired a collaborator to help him write about his slugs.

5. The author already has one very successful book. Now the author and the publisher want to extend this book into a series. The author feels completely tapped out—as if he or she only had one book to write. Someone like me is then brought in to find the words that belong in the rest of the books in the series.

This is something that should have been discussed with the author’s agent and publisher before the first book was ever picked up. I understand the publisher’s (and probably the author’s) desire to turn to a series and make more profit, but if the story is not there, it’s just not there.

Reading this reason for hiring a ghostwriter makes me cringe the same way I cringe every time I get a notice at work informing us of a sequel in the works. Seriously, sometimes a stand-alone is the way to go. It made a ton of money and a sequel will too? That’s great, but it doesn’t mean the sequel will be any good (take note, Paramount–please).

6. The author thought he/she could write a book, but he/she got 20,000 words into it and then ran out of things to say. Then someone like me is brought in to find the rest of the words.

Well, darn. I guess nobody let the author know ahead of time how much work writing a novel is. Guess what? It is hard. That does not mean it is time to go out and hire someone to write it for you, it means it is time to buckle down and do some work.

7. The author thought he/she could write a book but now the book deadline is just a couple months away (or it already came and went) and the author still has writer’s block. Then someone like me—who rarely suffers from writer’s block—gets hired to make things happen quickly.

This is a tough one. Sometimes life happens, and an author really is unable to meet a deadline. And maybe a ghostwriter is the way to go in this case, but I personally think keeping open (and prompt) communication with the editor is a better idea.

8. The author thought he/she wrote a great book, but the publishing house does not agree. Someone like me is brought in to help the author and the publishing house meet in the middle.

Eeek! This is a scary thought.

However, this is where editorial letters help. Or, in the case of both the author and editor not budging on a certain issue, where the agent comes in to moderate and negotiate. A big part of writing is the editing and rewriting. I see no reason why a ghostwriter needs to be hired for this. The author really should be able to edit, revise, and improve her own book.

Wow, reading all that, it would be easy to think that I just don’t like ghostwriting, which is not exactly the case. In some instances, I think it can be beneficial. James Patterson is very open about his use of ghostwriters. He says he is much more proficient at generating ideas than he is at writing sentence after sentence. So, he hires ghostwriters (how else is he going to fulfill a three year, seventeen book contract?). While it might be disheartening to discover that her favorite author’s books weren’t actually written by her favorite author, there are some good things here.

Mr. Patterson often credits his ghostwriter on the cover of his books as a co-author, and some of his ghostwriters have gone on to get deals of their own. James Patterson is now a brand, not just an author, and successfully writing for the James Patterson brand is a way for a struggling author to get her foot in the door.

I am sure that a lot of my opinions on ghostwriting come from my opinions on my own writing. I love coming up with ideas, and I love putting them on paper. I have no desire to write someone else’s ideas, and would probably write poorly (or fizzle out before finishing the book) if I were to try to write a book that was not my own. Because of that, it blows my mind a little bit to think of someone doing just that.

I know there are people out there who just love writing, and don’t care one whit what they are writing. They enjoy ghostwriting, and are happy to do it. More power to them, and more power to those who hire them.

As for me, I would rather write my own books.

I got a few questions about my process before and during first drafts, so I thought I would address them all together.

We’ll start with Jessie Sin, who asks:  What is your prep process before you begin a novel? (Scene-by-scene plotting, character backstories, ensuring you have a month’s supply of popcorn, etc.) If there have been more than one process, did one seem more efficient for you? And if so which one?

Well, the month’s supply of popcorn is a given. But our house is always well stocked with it, and the Whirley Pop stays on the stove at all times, so that is not something I have to plan for much.

I have done prep a little bit different each time I have written a book. I have done the full snowflake method, which involves pretty intense character biographies, multiple synopses, and detailed scene-by-scene spreadsheets; I have gone into the first draft with only the basic information in my head and just flown by the seat of my pants (they call this kind of writer a pantser, but that makes me think of middle school where kids think pulling down their friends’ pants in gym class is high comedy); and I have done something in between the two extremes.

What I have found works best for me is the middle-ground preparation. I make sure I know my characters well, and I make sure I know what happens at the beginning, middle, and end of the book. I plot out the basics, giving myself a plot summary that is several pages long. Then, I listen to my characters and what story and need to tell, and I get to work.

Just sitting down and writing without any idea where the story is going is thrilling and I love doing it, but it is not the most efficient way for me to write a book. Sometimes, when I have a character who is begging to be written, but I don’t yet know his story, I will sit and free write. Then, when the story starts to formulate, I will step back and plan in out before continuing. I save a lot of overwriting that needs to be cut out during revisions this way.

European Swallow asks: What habits help you the most to trudge through a first draft?

I put my butt in my seat. Every. Single. Day. (Except, of course, Sundays, when I do not work.) I treat my writing like a job and make sure I work at it every day. Some days I great and I reach my word-count goal quickly and just keep plowing through. Other days are much harder; there are days where putting words on paper is like building a bridge with banana pudding, but I still make myself sit and try. I am in my book every day, putting words down no matter how difficult it is.

The other thing that helps me get through first drafts is a bit of advice from the talented Ally Carter: Don’t get it right, get it written. I am a perfectionist by nature, so it is hard for me to write things that are not great. It took me a long time to be able to just let go and get the story told. But I have learned one thing: First drafts are messy. The prose is sloppy and the dialogue is often forced. That is okay. The point of a first draft is not perfection; the point of the first draft is to tell the story. Which brings us to our next question.

How many monkeys. .  . asks: Do you frequently rewrite during the first draft, or save it for round 2?

Once upon a time, I started writing a book. I got five chapters in and then had an epiphany on how to make it better. I went back and rewrote those five chapters and added a prologue. The story was essentially the same, but the writing was better. I wrote one more chapter. Then I had another epiphany on how to make it better. I went back, scrapped the prologue (which really was unnecessary), wrote a new chapter one, and then rewrote the other six chapters (making the old chapter one the new chapter two). The story was the same, though richer, and the writing was even better.

You know what happened to that book? It is still sitting on my hard drive, seven chapters long, waiting to be finished someday.

The next book I started, I promised myself to just get the first draft written. I refused to let myself rewrite or edit during the process (which was incredibly difficult-see above where I call myself a perfectionist). I finished the first draft of that novel in a month. The next one I wrote was finished in about a month and a half; I didn’t let myself edit during the first draft of that one either.

It is easy to get stuck in a cycle of editing and rewriting. There is always some idea popping into my head about how to make a book better when I am writing it. If I were to take the time during the first draft to explore every one of these ideas, I would end up with a few really great chapters, but no book. Since I have learned this, I do things a little differently.

When I write a book, I push myself to get through draft one without editing. Every time I have an epiphany about the book, I make a note of it. Once I am done with the book, I go back and read all my notes. More often than not, a note I made early on is negated by one I made later. I decide which one is more true to my story and cross off the other note. Had I been editing every time I had a great idea, I would be doing a lot more work that would never see the light of day.

So, long answer short: I do not rewrite during the first draft. I save that for round two.

Alright. That is it for first draft questions. Come back tomorrow for some more answers!

I have a few more answers for you all today. These ones took a little more thought on my part, but really the answers are not long enough to warrant a post each, so they are all getting jumbled together!

If A Train Leaves . . . asked:  Hey, which translation of Crime and Punishment is your most preferred, and why?

Of the translations I have read, the one by Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear is by far my favorite. It seems to me to be the translation that holds the original voice that Dostoevsky was going for the best (of course, I could be completely wrong about this, and will have to reevaluate once I read the book in the original Russian).

For years, the standard for Russian to English translations was set by Constance Garnett. I would be willing to bet that if you read Crime and Punishment as required reading in high school, hers was the translation you read. Constance Garnett has a immense catalog of works she has translated, and she really opened the door for Russian to English translation. However, I find that many of the novels she has translated read too much alike. It feels as if the author’s voice has gotten lost and replaced with Ms. Garnett’s. Without knowing beforehand, if I read a piece by Dostoevsky and another by Tolstoy (both translated by Garnett, of course), I would not be able to tell which man wrote which book.

I find that with Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear, the voice of the novel is preserved in the translation. It is difficult to maintain the unique voice of a piece while doing a translation that long, and I am very impressed by their ability to do so.

Jessie Sin has a couple of point-of-view questions, starting with:  When beginning another novel is it difficult to shift to a different character’s perspective after you have spent so much time on another’s?

I don’t really find that I have a problem with this. When I finish a novel, I usually take a break to catch up on all the things I neglected when I was busy writing-cleaning, cooking, spending more time with Bubba, reading books, whatever. This gives me some time to leave the first character behind and get acquainted with the next book before I write it.

Also, when I have a book in me that is just begging to be written, the character’s voice is incredibly strong. It is not difficult to get into a character’s perspective when it has been annoying me and eating away at my mind for so long, no matter what I was just writing.

and continuing with:

What is your preferred POV to write and why?

I don’t really have a preferred POV. I know I would not like writing a novel in second person (though it sure is fun for a blog, isn’t is readers?), because I really don’t enjoy reading second person. As for first and third person points of view, I don’t have a preference.

When I begin a book, I sit down and think about which POV will be best to tell the story. Sometimes that is easy. With Jack the Reaper, I knew as soon as I had the first inkling of a story come to me that it would be written in Jack’s first person point of view. Her voice was too strong to ignore, and it would not come through the same in third person. With other books, it is not so simple.

When I am deciding which POV to use, there are a lot of factors that come into play. I think about what the focus of the novel will be. Is is more important to get the inner thoughts of a single character or do I need to know what is in the minds of multiple characters? Can I write and rely on only what one character sees, or does the book need to explore scenes that the main character can’t possibly be there for? Is the novel more focused on the action and what is happening to the characters or is it more focused on the characters’ emotions and how they respond to what is going on? All of these things (and more) go into decided which POV is best for each book.

I have written in first; I have written in third. Each has things I enjoy and things I struggle with. I really don’t prefer one over the other, but I always know very shortly after I start working on a book if I have chosen the wrong one.

Okay, that is enough for today. Tune in again tomorrow for more answers to your most pressing questions. Same bad time, same bad channel.

Today, you get the easy questions. I have a sinus infection and really only have it in me for about five minutes worth of brain function, so the harder questions will have to wait until tomorrow (when I better feel well enough-I can’t handle many days like this).

And now!….Answers!

First, Mom said: Okay, I figured this out, now I don’t know what to ask. I guess I’ll ask if you found the *cough* item at Target that we were e-mailing about yesterday

Yes, mom. Yes. I got it, and it is safely stored in a box under our guest bed.

Jessie Sin, in one of many questions, asked: What was/is your favorite Muppet?

Oscar the Grouch. I had an Oscar hand puppet when I was a kid. I thought he was the greatest. Hrm. It seems my brain is REALLY not functioning well. Oscar? NOT a muppet. I really don’t think I have a favorite muppet…not really my thing. Unless, of course, you count ALL of Jim Henson’s creations as muppets…then it would be the little worm that says “Allo” in Labyrinth.

If You Could Eat. . . asked: Who would win in a fight between a taco and a grilled cheese sandwich?

A grilled cheese sandwich. But only in a fair fight. With prison rules, the taco would totally win.

And finally, Laptop whined:

I have only one question for you:

HOW COULD YOU??

And with Roger? You disgust me.

Laptop, Laptop, Laptop. You brought this upon yourself. Had you been a little more reliable, maybe we could have stayed together longer. But you screwed up, and now I am happy with Roger**.

Tomorrow, I will get into the more important questions!

*Teaser Tuesday will be pushed aside for awhile for some answers. Sorry readers! It will be back soon.

**Shiny new toy has officially been dubbed Roger.