This is a little preview from Incubus. It is the first kissing scene I ever wrote, and while it is brief, I really like it still. I hope you enjoy reading Jayne’s first kiss as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Her heart jumped as she felt Blake’s hand brush lightly along her jaw line. Gently, cupping her cheek in his palm, he turned her face up to meet his. She felt herself melt into him as his lips lightly brushed hers. With the kiss, her fears and doubts left her. Feeling more confident, she laced her fingers through his hair and pulled her body closer to his. Her other hand felt its way to the side of his neck, where it rested against the warmth of his pulse.

It is still rough, and will be tweaked in edits, but Teaser Tuesday is not about perfection. Today, you get a little glimpse of something organic–the first draft of my writing. And in reading a first draft, you get to see where I struggle as a writer–notice the two (yeah, not one, but TWO) instances of passive writing in that little bitty paragraph? It is something I struggle with in first drafts. And edit a LOT in second (and third…) drafts.

Luckily, as I was writing Jack the Reaper, I learned a nice little trick to help with the passive voice problem: first person present tense. It is difficult to be passive when the action is immediate and urgent. Jack was my first foray into the world of FPPT, and I love it. It is a great first drafting tool.

Not every story I come up with is conducive to FPPT. Some need to have a third person point of view, and some are better off told in a close past tense. But FPPT is a great way to get the urgency across in a first draft, no matter what the point of view and tense of the final product will be.

Wait. Doesn’t writing an entire novel in a POV and tense make for a huge job when edits roll around? Well, yes. But so does having a full novel of passive voice to fix. Let’s face it: edits are a lot of work. I just choose what work I will be focusing on.

And now I choose to do film buying work (yanno, the work I am actually being paid to be doing as I blog).

*cough, cough*

I thought it would be a good idea to take a few minutes away from dying (what? being sick turns me into a drama queen–deal with it) to blog about something I have been thinking about a lot lately: hammers.

And screwdrivers (the tool, people–I don’t drink). And wrenches. And saws. And really any other tool under the sun. All the tools I have listed so far are great tools for a construction worker or a DIYer. Not so much for me, unless I am looking for tools that could possibly send me to the hospital. I let Bubba deal with things that have to potential of helping me hurt myself.

My tools are different than those of a construction worker. The mighty tools I wield are words.

As writers, we need to be conscious of word choice, and how poor word choice can completely change the meaning of what we are saying. Words are all we have to tell our stories, show our meanings, paint our pictures. Each and every word used is important. Each and every word should be chosen with great care.

Think before you write. Choose your words carefully.

I will now resume the dying.

*cough, cough*

So, as I think, I will share my excitement over my shiny new work in progress. SO excited. I won’t say much, but here is what I can share:

*Boarding School* ** *Ninja*

Excitement.

It is a good thing Bubba and I are moving to New York soon, because, in honor of my new book, I must eat at this amazing, amazing restaurant!!

Okay, back to the topic at hand.

I have decided. And the winner is:

I talked of my love for this book in yesterday’s post. What sets this one above the rest and makes it the favorite book of my childhood is not the creative story, the writing, or the illustrations. It is the memories. The memory of reading Oddkins with my mom and sister is a powerful one for me, and that memory gives this book the edge.

What is your favorite book from your childhood?

So, I had started writing a different post today (which will now be posted tomorrow), but after reading Jamie Harrington and Elana Johnson‘s blogs today, I decided it was time for me to address this as well. This is a topic that has been on my mind for quite some time.

I have heard (okay, probably read) people talk before about Young Adult authors being responsible for what their audience is reading. “We are the adults,” they say, “we need to use our writing to teach the readers about life and the world.” Jamie wonders if by having her characters engage in bad behavior, is she promoting bad behavior or telling it like it is? Elana, on the other hand, believes young adult authors have a solemn responsibility to show readers the consequences of bad behavior. So where do I stand on this?

As a young adult author, I believe I have these responsibilities:

• Tell a great story.
• Write real, believable characters.
• Stay true to my characters and plot.
• Entertain.

You will notice that nowhere in this list is the term “teach readers morals and good judgement.” That is not my job. My job as a writer is to entertain the reader, nothing more. Morals and good judgement should be taught by the parents. Unfortunately, the sad fact is there are parents out there who do not teach their children these things. But that doesn’t mean the bill falls on authors.

If an author puts a scene in her book of characters participating in underage drinking at a party, it does not mean the author is trying to promote underage drinking. The author is merely putting a real element of life into her book (and hopefully it propels the story, so it isn’t just gratuitous). Yes, there are consequences of underage drinking, and maybe the author will show these. Maybe not. It should be shown only if it helps move the story forward.

Young Adults are smart, perceptive people. They will know if they are being preached to. I believe it is only appropriate to put lessons and consequences in a novel if they directly help move the story along. Are these lessons being learned by a character? Then great, they are an important part of character development. But if we as writers put lessons into our books to try to teach our readers morals, we are doing them and ourselves a disservice. Teenagers hate to be preached to, and they know when you are doing it. Chances are, they will put a preachy book down and not pick it up again.

I write novels, not lesson manuals. I am not writing to teach a moral code.

Today a fourteen-year-old girl asked me for writing advice. I won’t go into specifics of what she asked, but I am going to share my answer with you, because I believe this is applicable to more people than just the one girl.

A few useful writing tips:

1. Writing a novel is really hard work. There is a reason why there are so many more people who say they are going to write a novel than there are people who actually write one. On top of your first draft, you will have to do countless rounds of rewrites, revisions, and edits. There is more to writing a book than just having a great idea; you need to be able to execute the idea in a compelling and well written way.

2. Practice the craft of writing at all times. This means every time you text, email, IM, or post questions and answers on Yahoo! Answers, do so with proper spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. You cannot expect your writing to get better if the every day writing is sloppy.

3. Become friends with the dictionary. Get a small one and carry it with you. When you read or hear a word you do not know, look it up. If you are writing something and you don’t know how to spell a certain word, look it up. The smaller dictionaries are abridged, so there will be words you can’t find in one. If you come across a word that is not in your travel dictionary, write it down and look it up in an unabridged dictionary as soon as possible.

4. Read. A lot. Read widely in the genre you write in as well as in other genres. When you come across something an author does that you really like, make a note of it. Conversely, when you come across an author doing something you don’t like, make a note of it. Learn from the books you read.

5. Write, write, write. The best way to improve your writing is to practice it. Write short stories, novels, poems, journal entries, blogs, whatever you can think to write. Remember the old saying, “practice makes perfect?” I would like to rephrase it as “perfect practice makes perfect.” All the practice in the world won’t help you become better if you are using poor spelling, etc.

6. Study grammar and learn how to use it. Strunk and White’s ELEMENTS OF STYLE is still a great go-to book for learning. Read it. Practice what you learn. I would recommend reading it once a year or so, just to brush up. Keep it close by for reference.

7. All those rules of grammar you are learning? Know that you can occasionally break them. Sometimes, for effect, narration needs to be done NOT “by the book.” Dialogue is often grammatically incorrect. However, in order to break grammar rules effectively and without looking sloppy, you will have to have a strong working knowledge of grammar.

8. As Ally Carter says, “don’t get it right, get it written.” First drafts stink. They have bad word choice, plot holes, choppy dialogue, and many other problems. But you know what? They are supposed to. Don’t spend your time fretting about making your first draft perfect; just get it written. Go back later and fix all the mistakes you made, flesh out parts that don’t make sense, and cut parts that are unnecessary. If you don’t know something and need to research it, just make it up for the first draft. Research anything you need after the draft is done and incorporate it in revisions. It is easy to get bogged down in research and not actually get any writing done; don’t let this happen.

9. Writers write. So set aside time for writing and then actually write during it! Don’t spend that time looking up agents and publishers, cruising the blogosphere, posting your ideas on forums looking for feedback, or anything else that takes away from your writing time. All those things can be done at other times. Writing time is for writing.

10. Last, but not least (and possibly most important): Have fun with your writing. Write because you are passionate about it. Don’t worry about publication at this point. Write because you love to. Publication is a great thing and a good goal for down the road, but should never be the reason you write.

For my fun news of the day: I got an email last night (via the contact form on my site) from a twelve-year-old girl thanking me for the writing advice. It makes me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside.

And, now:

Personality Toolkit: Optimism

Henry Ford said, “whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” Whether you like his cars or not, you cannot deny the wisdom in this statement (okay, feel free to deny it if you want–I can’t stop you, but I will think you are wrong).

So, in case you missed the memo: writing is hard work. So, let’s say you do all the work and write a novel. Yay! Now it is time to send your baby out into the world for the first time. You put him (yes, Shiny New Manuscript is a boy-’cause it’s my blog and I said so) in his best outfit, shine his shoes, and comb his hair just so. He is shining and eager to please. You send him on his merry way, then wait (impatiently) for him to come back from his play-date.

The world is yours; it is only a matter of time before people are falling at your feet, declaring you the best novelist of all time. Then your baby comes back home. He is tattered, beaten, and covered in red. Is it blood? No. It is the notes of your first readers. Perhaps Shiny New Manuscript was not ready to go out and play yet. Sure, on the surface he was polished and poised. But underneath? Does not play well with others.

What do you do at this point? Is there much wailing and gnashing of teeth? Do you get a spell of the am-I-crazies? Think, maybe, just maybe, Shiny New Manuscript is not publishable? In fact, nothing I write is publishable? Maybe I was fooling to ever think I could be an author? I suck, I suck, I SUCK. And I quit.!

Or, you realize all the red oozing from between the pages of SNM will help make him better. You set to work revising SNM, adding scenes, taking away scenes, clarifying relationships, and tightening prose. You fix the grammatical mistakes–the ones you are appalled you ever made. You spruce SNM up again. Again, you dress him up, shine his shoes, and comb his hair–in a better style this time.

This time, you are sure SNM has graduated from the play-dates in the kiddie-pool. Yep. Shiny New Manuscript is ready for the deep end. Maybe even a leap from the diving board. You send SNM out to agents (after the appropriate query, of course). Again, you wait (impatiently) for a response.

The agents will love SNM. How could they not? You poured your heart and soul into making him everything he can possibly be. Whether you admit it or not, you begin to have visions of agents begging to represent you, editors fighting over SNM, auctions, and Great Big Advance.

Then the email shows up. Sorry, not for me. Again. And again. And AGAIN. With the emails come suggestions. SNM does great with Social Skills, but definitely needs to work on Geography. Or SNM is great in during Story Time, but has issues with Structure. Sob.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. The hard work of writing does not stop once a manuscript is written. For most, nothing about getting published is easy. I would be willing to bet that even those who seem to have just breezed through the whole publication process put in countless hours of work-we just didn’t see it.

So where does optimism factor into all of this? This is, after all, supposed to be a post about just that. Well, how about I clear things up. It comes into play all the time.

Optimism is what powers writers through the day. When critiques come in, optimism is what helps us revise instead of cry. When our manuscripts are rejected by agents or publishers, optimism is what helps us keep writing new material.

And when we finally reach our dreams and are published, it is optimism that gets us there.

There is no room for pessimism in a writer’s life; pessimism will get you nowhere. When the negative thoughts start to sneak into your mind, remember how great you really are and push them aside.

Because, “whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.”

I encourage you to think you can. And be right.

Because we all know whistling just makes it easier.

Guess what, guys? Writing a novel is really hard work. There is a reason why there are so many more people who say they are going to write a novel than there are people who actually write one. Eventually the honeymoon stage wears off and the shiny new manuscript becomes the dusty old pile of work. Tragic right? Not really. I always find the things I work hardest for are the most fulfilling (and I will tell you know: the feeling of finishing a novel is way better than New Project Euphoria anyway).

Like any other work to be done, there are tools to help with writing. I am not talking about computers, typewriters, or pen/pencil and paper, but the tools we have inside us.

In his book On Writing (a physical tool I personally think all writers should keep close at hand), Stephen King talks about the writer’s toolbox. He talks about putting things like grammar and vocabulary-the tools you will use the most–in the top drawer of your toolbox. He goes on to talk about the tools to put in other drawers. I would recount them all here, but I don’t have the time. Plus, since everyone should read On Writing anyway, I will just let you get it from the source.

The more I thought about the toolbox, the more I thought about the character traits needed to be an author. Now, I am not saying all authors have the same personality or likes and dislikes. Authors cover the full range of the human spectrum. I do believe all authors have certain traits in common, though–traits that have helped them get where they are today. Traits that have helped them get through all the hard work and heartache of writing (and-someday-publishing) a novel. Or two. Or twenty.

So, over this week, I am going to do a series of posts (I know, how unusually well-planned of me) about the writer’s personality toolbox. Each day I will talk about a personality trait I think a writer needs to have to do the work, jump the hurdles, and get the coveted title of Author.

Kaleb is just a young pup-20 years old is *really* young to have a novel published (yes, I know about Christopher Paolini, SE Hinton, and the like, but still). So, with the release of Bran Hambric, I find myself looking back on my life and imagining how it could be different (I say as if I am ancient at the ripe old age of 25). Here’s a quick breakdown.

• I decided I wanted to be an author when I was seven.
• Writing was quickly sidelined for:
  1. BMX racing
  2. Drill Team (the baton twirling, high kicking kind)
  3. More AP classes than anyone should ever take in high school
  4. College in Idaho and Hawai’i
  5. Massage Therapy school
  6. yanno, life and stuff
• Throughout all this, I was writing, but not seriously.
• Shortly after a got married just over a year ago, I decided I *still* want to be an author.
• I began to pour myself into writing, learning the business, and networking.

And that, my friends, is where I stand today. How would things be different had I been pursuing the dream that whole time? I dunno. Would I be published today? I dunno. Would I like to trade places with Kaleb? Go back in time and at 20 years old release what some are calling “the most anticipated young adult novel of the year”?

Not a chance.

Whoa, wait…back up. Didn’t I just say I have wanted to be a writer since I was just a little scapper? Well, yes, yes I did. But all those things that got in the way and pushed my writing to the side? I wouldn’t trade those things for the world. I am who I am today because of those things. And I like who I am.

So, me and my old (ha!) self will continue on this path I have laid out. I won’t look back and wonder what if; I will only look forward and work for what I want.

I am excited to see what is in store for me. I am excited for tomorrow; I am excited for twenty years from now. Bring it on.

My first book was written by hand-though, since I was seven, that hardly counts. Since then all my long-form fiction has been written directly on a computer. It is convenient, but what does it do to my writing?

When writing by hand, I find my self thinking more before I put words on paper. My prose is better in the first draft than it is when I just let myself go with the computer. Also, I have a tendency to go back and edit what I have written before I write more (which is not a problem except for when, you know, I edit the first half of a novel six times, but never write the second half). I don’t do this when I write by hand-all the pen scribbles irritate me. I get the whole first draft done before I edit.

Of course, all of this is in theory. The only book I have actually written by hand was the one when I was seven. Everything else was done on a computer. But when the plot for Jack the Reaper consumed me, I got the urge to do things longhand again. So, bring on the hand cramps-Jack will be done the old way.

The longhand experiment is going well so far. Wish me luck with the rest!

(Shout out to Jessica P. for the Jo March reference. In her words: “You go, Jo March!”)

About a year ago, it struck me: writing is a hobby? No, writing is much more than that. Writing is a passion, something I love, something I want to spend my life doing.

With this epiphany came the realization that it was time to get serious. I buckled down and wrote my little heart out. I have been focused on writing, re-writing, and editing since.

So, welcome to my shiny new website, where you can learn more about me and follow my path to publication. I will be posting on the blah-g almost daily, ’cause, well, I love blogging just as much as I like writing.

Stay tuned to learn more about my writing, my life, and whatever other random bits I decide to write about!

Also, forgive the website mess as I finish getting all the pages ready.