My Five 2011 Resolutions

I'll keep this simple since I almost never follow them (or remember them by February) anyway. These I should be able to do:

1. Finish my Rules for Revenge novel that I'm writing.
2. Start writing and complete my novel, The Have Nots.
3. Not cut my hair (except for trims).
4. Read at least 100 books in 2011.
5. Have the adoption of another child in the works by the end of 2011 (I have no control over this, but I'm really hoping).

The Good News and The Bad News in Your Story

Some of the best writing advice I've ever heard was on a podcast done by Pilar Alessandra called On the Page. It's a podcast for screenwriters, but many of the shows pertain to writers in general.

(I'm paraphrasing, but) She said that good stories have good news and bad news to keep them moving and interesting. I don't know if you've watched the zombie show, The Walking Dead, but this is the perfect example. The show is a constant stream of good things, then bad things happening. You're always on the edge of your seat.

In one scene the cop appears safe from zombies as he grabs a bag of weapons. The next second, he's surrounded by zombies who all want one thing...him. Then he spots an Army tank and we think he's safe. He crawls underneath only to have zombies coming at him from both sides. We think he's a goner as he's about to kill himself. As he looks up from under the tank, he sees the hatch to get into the tank. He quickly crawls up and huddles next to a dead guy. He's safe. But not for long. The "dead" guy next to him suddenly comes alive and grabs for him. He quickly shoots him and is safe at last. At least until the next "bad news."

This trick is a great way to keep your readers turning pages and interested in what happens next.

How Many Little Moments Do We Miss?

I was up at 3:00am like I have been every night for the last week and a half. Feeding a baby in the middle of the night is a nice interruption of sleep. (And I only say that because she only gets up once. If she got up three or four times a night like some of our kids, I'd be writing a different post).

I held the baby in one arm, with the bottle in her mouth. In the other hand, like every night, I held my iPhone. I usually take this time to check emails, Facebook and play Friends With Words (and addicting Scrabble-like game). I was in the middle of making a semi-awesome play, when I glanced down and saw the baby looking up at me. Her big dark eyes just stared at me. While I was staring at my phone.

Being only six weeks old, she sleeps  most of the day. The fact that she was staring at me like that, two nights before we're to give this beautiful foster baby up, made me think. How many other nights did she stare at me, wide-eyed, while my eyes were glued to my phone instead of her?

I tucked my phone under my leg and stared back at her. I sang a Men at Work song to her that was on the radio (you never know, that could possibly be the only time she'll ever have a Men at Work sung to her in her life).

I told her how much we've loved her and having her in our home. I know she didn't understand, but I explained how much we're going to miss her, and how badly we wish we could keep her. I instructed her to have a good life and to be the best person she could possibly be. In response, she stared a little more, then spit the bottle out and went to sleep.

And to think I would have missed all that if I hadn't put my phone down.

Friday Five: Random Things I've Said to My 4 Year Old Son This Morning

1. "Get your finger out of your nostril....that nostril, too."

2. "It's bow and arrow, not oh and barrow.'"

3. "Saying you blew hot air out of your butt is the same as farting. Now stop it."

4. "For the hundredth time, stop walking on the back of the couch!"

5. "No, you can not use glue to give the baby a mohawk."

And this is all before lunch.

Songs That Create a Story For You

Last night after getting my four year old to bed, feeding the five week old and getting her down, I crashed on the couch for a few minutes of alone time (while the hubby showered). Earlier yesterday I'd heard Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts on the radio for the first time. I found her voice pure and haunting. I downloaded it right away, but didn't get to listen to it again until last night.

As I laid there enjoying the first quiet minutes of my day, I listened to the song and thought about a future story idea I've been taking notes on. I didn't have much to go on except the basic premise...no specific characters, or well thought out plot. While listening to this song though, I suddenly envisioned the main character, and why she does what the plot is centered around.

I love it when something comes together like that. Now this is my theme song for that story, and when I have time to work in it some more, I know I'll be playing it a lot.

Have you had a song hit you from out of the blue that helped you creat a character or story idea?

Things That Won't Work When Parenting a Child

1. Screaming at him to stop yelling.

2. Trying to look serious when telling him to stop making fart noises and singing about poop. But you can't stop laughing.

3. Telling him he can watch Spongebob, then hoping he forgets when you turn on Hoarders instead. You will most definitely hear, "But you said..." (I don't know where he learned that from).

4. Reminding him not to kiss the baby's face because he just looks germy. Then you smother her with kisses. ("But you said...:)

5.   Telling your child he can't do something because he's not old enough. Then telling him to stop doing something because he's too old.

My Tuesday Ten

It's been a stressful few days, so I thought instead of dwelling on things that aren't going right, I'll be thankful for the things that are:

1. We thought the baby we're fostering was leaving yesterday, but she will be with us for a little while longer.

2. We finally trapped our hamster after two months of him being MIA.

3. My son loves drawing, cutting out his creations, rolling them up and sealing them with tape, then putting them into an old baby formula can he decorated.

4. After a snow storm last night, my wonderful husband snow plowed the driveway, and did the neighbors too. Then he went out on the terrible roads and got us some coffee:)

5. We got one of the biggest, most beautiful Christmas trees we've ever had. Now that we have a big living room, it doesn't even look like it takes up that much space. I hope this one doesn't tip over.

6. We have awesome parents who are always there for us whenever we need them.

7. Yesterday I had a great conversation with my dad when I thought we were about the lose the baby. He calms me down and makes me feel better. All while listening to me rant.

8. The baby is on an amazing schedule and sleeps four hours at a time. Because of this I'm not a zombie during the day.

9. I met a foster parent yesterday that I haven't met before, and we really hit it off. It's nice to have other foster parents to vent to once in a while. I also met another couple of brand new foster parents who don't live far from us. Hopefully we'll be getting together with them.

10. Even though I haven't had time to write, my mind is going constantly with ideas for characters, plot, scenes and dialogue on my wip.

Spotlight On...Before I Fall author Lauren Oliver

1) What was the hardest part about writing Before I Fall? The easiest?


Since the book tells the story of a girl who is reliving the last day of her life seven times, the hardest part was probably trying to make roughly the same set of circumstances interesting and new every time. I was very, very worried my readers would get bored. The easiest was probably evoking the suburban high school world, since Before I Fall takes place in a town very similar to the one where I grew up.


2) What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel (or writing in general)?

I think the most challenging thing about writing a novel is sticking with it every day, even when your characters are misbehaving, you hate every word you put on the page, and you have no idea what’s supposed to happen next.


3) What do you do when you’re in the middle of a book and you’re sick of it? How do you keep from stopping to work on your new shiny idea?

Ha—see above! That’s the hardest thing about writing. Nowadays I make sure to outline my projects, so that when I’m stuck I can consult with the outline; that usually helps with the “oh-my-goodness-I-have-no-idea-what-to-write-next” feeling, which I find leads to paralysis. Other than that, I try to cultivate good working habits. I write the same amount every day, and cultivating that discipline really helps me get over those humps.

4) What are your current writing projects?

My new book, DELIRIUM, comes out in February 2011, and I am currently editing its sequel, PANDEMONIUM. I also have my first middle-grade, LIESL AND PO, coming out in Fall 2011.

5) What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Being a good friend, and starting my literary development company, Paper Lantern Lit (www.paperlanternlit.com).

6) What is your favorite quality about yourself? Your least favorite?

Hmmm. My favorite quality is probably either my loyalty or my generosity. My least favorite…I can be very critical, both of myself and others.

7) Favorite TV show?

Glee, although I honestly watch about three hours of TV a month.

8) Who is your favorite author and why?

I can’t list a favorite, but up there are Ian McEwan, Jeffrey Eugenides, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Roald Dahl.

9) What’s the last book you read?

What The Dog Saw, by Malcolm Gladwell.


10) What is your favorite/most helpful book on writing?

Defitinely Stephen King’s “On Writing.” It’s phenomenally helpful.


11) Do you have a Facebook or web page for fans?

I sure do! It’s http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/ Please visit me!

http://www.paperlanternlit.com/

1. To kindle, animate, or stimulate (interest, activity, spirit, etc.) 2. To ignite passion 3. To light the way for promising writers

Natalie Goldberg

As a fan of Writing Down the Bones, I love this video because I think it's a wonderful piece of encouragement for all writers of all backgrounds.

Six Saturday Secrets

1. I walked around three stores and the library today with the second toe on my left foot sticking through a hole in my sock. It felt weird.

2. Whenever I use a public restroom and there are people in there, I have to plug my ears to pee. Otherwise I think they're just listening to me and waiting for me to go.

3. I have a girl-crush on Taylor Swift.

4. When I was a teenager, more than anything in the world, I wanted to be a cop.

5. I ate most of Joey's Reeses Peanut Butter cups he got for Halloween. When he asked where they were, I told him daddy ate them.

6. I hate Star Wars because I can't follow it.

The Top 5 Benefits of Being Sick in the Face

1. I don't have to cook dinner or clean up because, ::cough, cough:: I'm sick (insert weak voice here).
2. I get to hang out in pjs all day long.
3. I get to watch bad tv or read all day because no one wants to be around me. (Except for my four year old who keeps trying to kiss me).
4. I can crawl in bed at 8:30 and read for hours under the guise that I'm resting.
5. My husband keeps asking if he can get me anything. (And I always try to come up with something.)

Do You Spank Your Kids?

I've had two different people ask me this in the past week, and I was curious what other parents did. Growing up my brother and I were spanked, quiet often as I remember (but I'm sure I deserved it). We got hit with anything from a hand, a wooden spoon, a switch (thin stick), and a ping-pong paddle. (By the way, it's never a good idea to put a hard cover book in your pants before getting hit by your mom's hand. That only results in her sending your dad in.)

Before I became a parent I never had a doubt that I would spank my kids. I figured I turned out reasonably okay, so what was the harm? But I changed my mind once we had kids. As a foster parent, we're not allowed to spank foster kids, so that settled that. But once we adopted our now four year old son and we could (legally) spank him if we wanted, I just couldn't do it.

I don't think I could bring myself to ever hurt him physically, no matter how angry he made me...especially when I'm angry. That feels worse, like I'd be taking it out on him. I look at him and he's so little and innocent (though not always so innocent!), and I just couldn't imagine hurting him like that.

I'm not saying it's wrong for others to spank. Obviously everyone has their own opinions on the subject. Like I said, I grew up getting spanked and turned out okay. It's just not for us. We've been using the 1-2-3 method and I've never gotten past number 1. The result would be time-out, but that hasn't happened in months. I think we're very lucky because our son is a really good boy and listens well. I don't know how much of that is his personality, and how much is our parenting, but that doesn't mean we'll be so lucky next kid.

How do you deal with punishment, or feel about spanking?

Do You Base Your Characters on Real People?

Most of the time I make my characters up out of thin air. But when I get stuck I like to think of people I know. What's even better is to mix and match odd quirks from different people and put them into one character.

Do you use real people when making characters?

How Green Are You?

I'd like to think I'm green. But I don't really think I am. I bought all the recycable bags for groceries, but leave them in the car (or at home, or wherever they are) every single time.

I try to keep the heat low in the winter, but I have a husband who likes to walk around the house in shorts then say he's freezing and crank the heat up.

I intend to take three minute showers, but once my four year old bursts in the bathroom then leaves the door open, I'm too cold to get out so I stay in a little longer.

Considering I clean houses, I can't really bike to work.

I would gladly eat less or no meat, if it weren't for the disappointed look in his eyes my husband gets whenever I suggest a no-meat meal.

I'm not good at all about recycling batteries or ink cartridges. I'm not even sure what to do with them.

I DO, however, drink lots of water from my aluminum Yankees water bottle.

So, maybe I'm a little green....like guacamole or algae.

Spotlight On...Author Eileen Loveman

Eileen Loveman is a freelance writer, author of four books, stand up comedian, radio show host, key note speaker and weekly columnist under her byline STORIES FROM THE LAKE. From her backyard of Lake Ontario, Eileen offers her unique perspective of life on the lake, sharing thoughts about family, raising children and anything else that floats her way.



1) What was the hardest part about writing this book? The easiest?

"Stories From The Lake" is a compilation of columns I've written over the years for the Democrat and Chronicle and smaller newspapers in Wayne County, so it was relatively easy to put the book together - but the hardest part was picking the columns to put in the book. I decided to put them in categories such as 'kids' 'family' 'spiritual' and 'funny'. Towards the end of the book I put them in order of holidays, starting with Halloween.



2) What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel (or writing in general)?

I always have more than one book in my head, more than one story or poem - so its difficult to keep the characters from bumping into each other.
3) What do you do when you’re in the middle of a book and you’re sick of it? How do you keep from stopping to work on your new shiny idea?

I give in - I DO stop. Stephen King has walked away from several projects, only to pick them up later, dust them off, and make them better.
4) What are your current writing projects?

Plastic 7, Doolittle Chronicles, A Christmas Wreath, and The Purple Suitcase.

5) What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

My children are my crowning achievement - but I am happy I have written books that will be part of my legacy.

6) What is your favorite quality about yourself? Your least favorite?

My favorite? That I have a sense of humor. My least - I can be very sensitive, usually when I am very tired.
7) Favorite TV show?

Lost, even though its off the air. It was the best storyline ever.
8) Who is your favorite author and why?

I have two - is that ok? Stephen King, and not for the gore, but for his story telling ability. I consider "The Talisman" (co written with Peter Staub) to be his best work. My other is Richard Russo - he has such a wonderful way of describing everyday people and making them so real you can recognize them in everyone.
9) What’s the last book you read?

Russo's "Bridge of Sighs."

10) What is your favorite/most helpful book on writing?

"Writing Down the Bones" although I can't remember who wrote it.
(Natalie Goldberg)
11) Do you have a Facebook or web page for fans?
 
FB Fans of Eileen Loveman or www.eileenloveman.blogspot. com

My Top 5 Kitchen Disasters

1. Last week I started a pot holder on fire while trying to scramble an egg.
2. Three months ago I started the toaster cord on fire when it was on the stove, and I lit the pilot to boil water.
3. I only learned how to make Mac and Cheese in the past few years, since I have a four year old. I tried it once and added all the ingrediants at once and ruined it.
4. I gave myself food poisoning from undercooked chicken. Twice.
5. Last night I made over two dozen peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and burned every single one. Actually, only the bottoms were burned. The tops were still raw.

I could go on, but, hey, the title only says 5! Have any of your own kitchen disasters?

Fall Writing Prompt

What is your favorite fall memory? How old were you when it happened?

My favorite fall memory would have to be a recent one with my husband and son. Last fall we went to Letchworth State Park and took a ton of photos.  We'd drive a little, get out of the car and take pictures, then drive some more and do it again. We ran around, hiked and visited the gift shop. It was a perfect day!

I'm Either Psychic or I Have Special Powers. For Real.

I have this weird thing that happens to me all the time. And I've been paying close attention to it the last few years. I'll be talking to someone about something, and make an off-hand comment about how I'd like something (table, something for the house, etc.), and usually not too long after that, I end up getting it somehow.

Here are a few examples of this happening in the past week:

1. One of our cleaning customers went into great detail telling me about his microwave convection oven. To be honest, I'd never even heard of it. I had no idea the dozens of microwaves I clean every week also act as ovens. I told  him that it sounded cool and I wish we could get one since we're remodeling our kitchen. He even printed out a bunch of them for me to show me prices (which were too much for us!). Two days later while my husband was helping my brother move some stuff at his shop, my brother gave us a beautiful microwave convection oven. A stainless steel one. For free.

2.  Last night I saw a commercial for Moon Dough on TV and told my son and husband it looked cool,  and maybe Santa would bring some (for Joey, not me). Today while I was walking around Walmart looking for a kid's birthday present, a guy with a tie and name tag (he didn't work at Walmart) walks up to me and asks if I've heard of Moon Dough. I told him yes, and he hands me two free samples for Joey.

3. Then, still at Walmart, I was looking at Lego tshirts for a birthday gift. Joey was driving me crazy because he wanted one. I told him no, they were too much money and maybe he'd get one for Christmas. I walk away and go into a different section and an older lady employee comes up to me and says, "I don't know if you're interested for your son, but I just put out a bunch of Lego tshirts for $1.00." (I bought him a Lego Batman).

4. A few weeks ago I was walking around our house looking for a piece of furniture I could use as a nightstand next to my side of the bed. I kept wandering from the basement, to the playroom, up to the attic and back to the bedroom. I couldn't find anything, so I gave up and went outside. Just as I walked out the front door, a neighbor a few houses down from us was carrying a white nightstand to the curb. I couldn't beleive it. I made my husband go and get it and it's in great shape! I looks antique (though it was painted) and has a big door in front with lots of storage. It's next to my bed.

5. Probably the coolest thing ever was when we found this house. That's my favorite story:)

This weird stuff happens to me all the time.

Spotlight On...Author Jessica Brody (The Karma Club)

I first came across Jessica Brody on accident. I was Googling Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! book, looking for writers who have used it to write novels (it was written for screenplays). I was delighted to find Jessica's guest blog on the subject on Blake's web site. After reading her blog, I went straight to the library and checked out her first YA novel, The Karma Club. I read it within a few days and loved it! Tonight I just went and got The Fidelity Files, and look forward to the follow-up, Love Under Cover.



1) What was the hardest part about writing The Karma Club? The easiest?


Believe it or not, the hardest part of the story was actually coming up with the various revenge schemes that the girls do when they “take Karma into their own hands.” I thought it would be the easiest thing in the world but it was actually very challenging. I guess revenge is not really my strong suit.

The easiest part of the story was the beginning—the storyline for setting up the Karma Club—which is ultimately the story of a very nasty break up. Apparently I have no trouble coming up with painful break up stories. Hmmm…

2) What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel (or writing in general)?

The easiest part of every book I write is the beginning. I LOOOOVE set ups. I love setting up new worlds and characters and giving them all sorts of fun challenges and embarking them on great adventures. The hardest (and my least favorite part) is the middle (act 2 for all you screenwriters) when I actually have to deal with all these fun challenges and great adventures. I end up not only hating my characters and my story, I hate myself for setting up so many impossible storylines. Then by Act 3, all is forgiven and I’m back to loving everyone again.

3) What do you do when you’re in the middle of a book and you’re sick of it? How do you keep from stopping to work on your new shiny idea?

Ropes and handcuffs. To keep me from leaving my chair. No, but seriously, it’s VERY hard. You always get the BEST ideas for new books when you’re in the middle of the one you’re currently writing. It’s a cruel trick of nature.
When I was writing on spec, I was much less successful at keeping myself moving into greener pastures when the going got tough. But now that I’m on deadline and have someone to answer to (besides myself), it’s a lot harder to do. Especially when I’m under contract to finish at certain time. I think the idea of legal action is enough to keep anyone’s focus on track. Although, sometimes, you just need to get it out of your system. So if inspiration strikes for a new story, I’ll often spend a few hours outlining and brainstorming so I have it down and can satisfy the itch and then get back to work.

4) What are your current writing projects?

Right now I just finished my fifth book (third in the young adult genre) that’s called 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER. I’m super excited about it (now that I’m no longer in act 2). My editor has it now and I’ll be revising and doing edits over the next few months. In the meantime, I’m outlining two new young adult series that I can’t really talk about yet. But I think (hope) they’re going to be awesome!

5) What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Although I probably should say “selling my first novel” but I’ll actually skip that one, mark it off as “too cliché” and pick something else. Instead I’m going to go with finishing my second novel. Because honestly that was WAY harder.

Most writers write their first novels on spec. So really you have no idea what will happen to it. It may or may not be read, published, sold in bookstores, reviewed, whatever. So you have an inherent freedom in writing it. The second one (one that is already sold before it’s written) is a totally different experience. Now you KNOW it’ll be read, published, sold, reviewed, whatever. And it scares you to death. It was my first time working with a REAL deadline and it sucked. To be frank. I still have nightmares about that experience. I must have rewrote the beginning of that book 20 times. And I must have cried over it at least twice that amount. It was very trying. But I eventually got through it and I’m very proud of that. The book was called LOVE UNDER COVER. It was a sequel to my first adult novel, THE FIDELITY FILES. The reviewers seemed to like it so I guess I can say it was a success but I have no perspective whatsoever. I still cringe when I think about it!
The process, thankfully, has gotten much easier. Now, I only cry 2 or 3 times per manuscript.
6) What is your favorite quality about yourself? Your least favorite?

Woah. Tough one. I guess I would say my favorite quality is my sense of humor. I can always rely on it in sticky situations. And during blog interviews. My least favorite quality is my restlessness. I can never sit still. And it usually ends badly…with chewed off fingernails and disfigured pen caps.

7) Favorite TV show?
Ooh…hard! I have so many! Okay, I’ll narrow it down to three. But keep in mind, these are only the top three of the moment. Ask me again in two weeks and it might (and probably will) change:
     1) Dexter

     2) True Blood

     3) Modern Family


8) Who is your favorite author and why?

ANOTHER toughie! How can I name just one?

I’ll have to say Helen Fielding because Bridget Jones’s Diary is the reason I started writing.

9) What’s the last book you read?
A fabulous young adult title called HER AND ME AND YOU by Lauren Strasnick…who is a new friend of mine. It just released from Simon and Schuster this month. The book is chilling and wonderful. I finished it in practically one sitting. A very rare feat for someone as restless as me!

10) What is your favorite/most helpful book on writing?
Obviously, SAVE THE CAT! by Blake Snyder. I can’t shut up about how much it’s helped me in my career. If you don’t believe me, check out my website’s “For Writer’s” Page (www.jessicabrody.com/writers.html) and if you STILL don’t believe me, you can check out the guest blog I did for Blake Snyder’s website here: http://www.blakesnyder.com/2010/09/17/the-last-novel-writing-book-you’ll-ever-need/

11) Do you have a Facebook or web page for fans?
Definitely! I’ve got all that fun stuff.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Brody/24409326149
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jessicabrody
Website: http://www.jessicabrody.com/
And I update them all regularly (read: obsessively)

Spotlight On...Model & Author Cheryl Diamond

Being a writer of young adult books, I read a ton of YA novels. I also like to read a lot of YA non-fiction to keep up on what goes on with teenagers today.

I was lucky enough to find Cheryl Diamond's Model, A Memoir at my library. I read it in two days and bought the book when I was finished so I could read it again.

I can't tell you enough how much I loved this book. Cheryl moved to NYC at sixteen, lived on her own and worked her butt off to break into the world of modeling. She is beautiful, strong, determined, funny and someone you'll want to hang out with.

Cheryl takes you with her on auditions, jobs and everything in between. Your heart will race toward the end when she recounts a particularly horrible experience, and you'll feel like you're witnessing it right alongside her.

Cheryl was gracious enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions.


1) What was the hardest part about writing this book? The easiest?

The hardest part was the fact that I had absolutely no experience writing books when I decided to write Model at seventeen. The first chapter took me about six months to be satisfied with since I was learning as I went. I'm actually glad that I never took a writing course, I don't follow a lot of the accepted 'writing rules' that I heard about later. An agent told me that I should never begin a sentence with a gerund. After looking up what 'gerund' meant I promptly ignored this advice.

The easiest part was that being a model in New York provided me with a wealth of anecdotes and material. People in the fashion industry are nuts. Bless them.

2) What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel (or writing in general)?

The focus and time required. It took me three years to write my book, during which time I gave up on any semblance of a real social life, or time off. It's a very solitary process. Also, the whole time I had no guarantee that it would actually sell, which leads to a lot of examining your life choices at 2AM.

3) What do you do when you’re in the middle of a book and you’re sick of it? How do you keep from stopping to work on your new shiny idea?

I just think about all the people who were sure a model could never write a book by herself and then I feel instantly energized and full of righteous indignation. Also, it would be more work to start a whole new book than to knuckle under and finish the first.

4) What are your current writing projects?

I'm working on a novel about the modeling industry and also considering writing for magazines.


5) What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Surviving New York. (Look a gerund!)


6) What is your favorite quality about yourself? Your least favorite?

My favorite is my absolute determination, once I decide to do something I will find a way to make it happen. My least favorite is actually quite similar, I push myself way too hard. It's no joke. I have made myself sick by ignoring exhaustion and anything else in the way. It may be a side effect of my upbringing and having been in seriously competitive sports. Or possibly just becasue I'm a Leo.

7) Favorite TV show?

The Office.

8) Who is your favorite author and why?

I like P.J. O'Rourke's Parliament of Whores, because he speaks the truth without being depressed by it. We're only going to live for a finite number of years, so we might as well be able to laugh about life.

9) What’s the last book you read?

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. I actually re-read it, it's another of my favorites. He's such an operator.

10) What is your favorite/most helpful book on writing?

I never read any books on writing. Is that arrogant? Or confident? It's a fine line:)

11) Do you have a Facebook or web page for fans?

Yes I do, I'm thoroughly modern! www.facebook.com/cheryldiamondbooks or my
website: http://www.cherylmodel.com/



Thank you, Cheryl!

Buy the book!

Check out Cheryl on Good Morning America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNq-awOViYs

Something New is a Brewin'

So far this year I've read thirty-four books, almost all YA. I come across new authors in so many ways. Through Facebook I've become friends with tons of YA authors, I've gotten great recommendations on blogs, and sometimes I just stumble upon them like I did Jessica Brody. I was Googling Save the Cat! working for novels and found a terrific interview with Jessica Brody.  I ended up getting her book that same day and fell in love with it. I can't wait to read her others.

Once I find an author I like, I check out their website to see what I can learn about them. Like a lot of writers, I'm interested in how they work, what they struggle with and, basically, anything else they have to say about writing.

I was thinking today about questions I'd ask authors if I had the chance. I wrote them down and emailed them to two of my favorites: Jessica Brody and Kody Keplinger. They both got right back to me and agreed to answer them. Yay!

The more I continue to read, the more questions I want to come up with to ask my favorite authors. I can't wait to read their responses.

One Life. Go Live It.

I'm sitting here watching UP with my son, and it came to the part where the old guy was looking through his old photo album of pictures of  him and his late wife. At the end of the album she had written, "We've enjoyed our adventure. Now go make another one." (I'm totally paraphrasing here. It's the only part of the movie I've seen).

It got me to thinking about life and how short it really is. If you sit back and let it go by without doing much to enjoy (or improve) it, it's your loss. You're not going to get another life. This is it.

I can't count the amount of time the words, "Some day I want to..." come out of my mouth. It's usually followed by something like, learn to knit, cook, be more patient, get up early etc. If I don't do one (or any) of these things now, they may never get done.

I don't know where I'm getting the determination to plow through the first draft of my new novel, but I'm not going to question it. I've never finished anything other than a short film before (though I have about half a million story ideas I've started and haven't finished). The fact that I'm moving ahead so quickly is what's keeping me confident that I'll finish it.

My biggest fear (besides losing the ones I love) is being on my deathbed and being regretful. That terrifies me. I don't think there's anything sadder than thinking, "I wish I'd done this, or spent more time with so and so."

My mom died when she was only fifty. She said there were a lot of things she didn't get to do. That broke my heart. We all know life can end much, much sooner than we plan on. You can die at 102 while going for your daily walk, or you can get hit by a driver who's not paying attention, while you sing songs with your baby in the backseat. We just don't know.

So I'm going to do it. I'm going to learn to knit. I'm going to try my hardest to learn to cook (if you've eaten my cooking before you'll know why I say try my hardest) . I'm going to work on getting up earlier so I can write then, and spend more quality time with my son during the day (without my head in the clouds, writing in my head). I'm going to make a list of things I want to accomplish and start working my way through it.

What are you going to do?

Things I've Learned About My Writing Self

• I am in a much happier mood when I am writing consistantly. Last week I reached 10k on my WIP.  That was nothing short of a miracle for me. Even when my husband kept me up most of the night with his coughing from being sick, the next day he commented on what a great mood I was in considering my lack of sleep.

• Ear plugs! I've been using ear plugs for the past few months to help me sleep better. They're fantastic and I actually sleep deeply now (thanks to a low dose of melatonin, too). But the other day my husband was nice enough to take our four year old into the "movie theater" (basement) as my son calls it and play Guitar Hero with him. For some reason I like to sit at our dining room table to write, instead of my office two floors up. But the dining room is right above the movie theater. So I popped in my ear plugs and pumped our over four thousand words yesterday. When I have complete and utter silence, I crank it out.

• Outlines are my friend. I don't do extremely detailed ones, but I filled out ten scene cards so I have an idea of where I'm going. I'm not at all strict about sticking to the cards, but it gives me a little boost in the right direction. And if  anything changes as I write, well, I wrote the scene cards in pencil for a reason:)

• My fourth and final thing I've learned over the last week is to power through my story. I've always been the writer who goes over and over a sentence trying to make it perfect. I could have an hour to myself to write and I'd only get one paragraph done. It was a perfect paragraph, but still... . With my new wip I've been writing without going back over what I've written. This also means I don't want any feedback on it until I finish my first draft and go through at least one rewrite. I know it's mostly crap right now, but it's the really good kind of crap that has an actual plot! 

What Inspired You to Write Your Genre?

A year ago I was struggling to figure out what it was I wanted to write. I had worked on various genres of screenplays previously, and had a half-finished adult novel sitting in a drawer.

One day I saw Taylor Swift on Oprah. I had never seen her speak (I'd only seen pictures of her) or heard her music before. There was something about her that made me want to hang out with her. She seemed like a nice girl, and like she'd make a fun girlfriend.

It got me to thinking about being a teenager, and I started re-reading some of my old Judy Blume books, like Forever. After that I picked up Ellen Hopkins' Crank and Glass and basically never looked back.

I admit since I'm so bad at sticking with things, I was very afraid of throwing myself into the YA world, only to change my mind a few weeks or months later. But it's been over a year now and I'm just as in love with YA now as I was back then.

To narrow it down even more, I've learned that I love writing teen comedy stories. I have a bunch of fleshed out ideas for more serious stuff, but it always ends up depressing me. I can't write something for months on end and be depressed all the time. I love having a mc right now who actually makes me laugh out loud.

What (if anything) inspired  you to write in the genre you write in?

Music That Brings You Back

I heard the Eagles the other day on the radio, and it brought me back to over thirty years ago when I was a kid. Certain songs evoke certain emotions. The Eagles make me feel calm. Bruce Springsteen reminds me of being in my bedroom in the eighties, with my Boss poster (the one of his butt) hanging above my bed. There's a Guns N' Roses songs I still can't listen to because it reminds me of a boyfriend from long ago and still makes me sad.  Same for Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. My mom listened to that over and over when my dad was in Vietnam when I was little. Too sad for me now.

My parents constantly had the radio on when I was little, which is probably why I'm the same way now. We almost always have music playing in the house and in the car.

I remember being seven years old and calling up 92.5 WBBF and requesting "We don't need no education..." by singing it to the dj.

We've gotten Joey into all types of music: classic rock, hip-hop, Top 40, heavy metal, country, etc. He loves it all and will dance to anything. I hope when he gets older and hears a song he heard when he was a kid, he'll remember the fun we had dancing around the house or singing in the car at the top of our lungs.

I'm still making memories with music now with Joey. Whenever I hear Katy Perry, I think of him. Right now she's his favorite. Even if he does call her "that guy that sings with Elmo."

Story From High School

 

While cleaning up my writing room yesterday (now that bat season is over and I can go back up there), I came across this story I wrote in high school. It's embarrassing now, but at the time I was thrilled with the grade I received. Mrs. Petrie was my favorite teacher and the first person to really encourage me to keep writing. Even after this story.

(The assignment was to tell the story that leads up to the moment in the picture. It should also be noted at this time in my life I was fascinated with the police and planned on becoming a cop after high school.)

Pictured here is Ralph and Edna, two lonely people who now live in an old-folks home in Brooklyn, NY. Edna is a retired factory worker and Ralph is a retired cop. In this picture, while playing chess, Ralph is telling Edna one of his many stories of when he was a cop. However, this one particular story he's telling was about one of the worst situations he's ever been in. 


Out of the thirty years Ralph had been an officer of the law, he shot and killed one man. Ralph was driving around in his patrol car late one hot summer night in July, when there was a call on the radio for all units who were in the vicinity of 42nd St, there was a robbery in progress at a liquor store.


After he found out the location of the liquor store, he flicked on his lights and sped to 42nd St. where Al's Liquor Store was located. When he got there, there was only one other police car there. Ralph went around to the back of the liquor store where it was filled with garbage and sneaked through the back door. Up in front he saw the robber with a gun up to the clerk demanding all the money in the cash register.


The cop from the other car came charging through the front door yelling for the guy to drop his gun and put his hands up. Instead, the guy grabbed the saleslady and stuck the gun in her ribs telling the cop to throw down his gun and get against the wall. Ralph was right behind the robber, but the robber didn't know it. 


Ralph went up to the robber, who had the gun up to the lady's ribs, and pointed his gun right up to the guys head and told him to let the lady go or he'd blow his head off. As quick as a flash, the robber stuck the gun to the lady's head and cocked the trigger and was about to pull it when Ralph pulled his trigger instead. His whole head exploded with green slime and his brains splattered against the wall. 


As Ralph told this story, he was once again depressed that his cop days are over, but he's glad he has someone like Edna who will listen.


Now is that a masterpiece or what?  Have you saved your stories from when you were younger?

The Lies We Tell

I posted on Facebook yesterday about an incident at work concerning a cleaning customer who is lying to her husband about us cleaning the house. That got me thinking about the lies we tell (or don't tell) our spouses.

I was shocked at the lady hiring us and keeping it from her husband. In nine years of cleaning houses, we've never come across a situation like this. I couldn't imagine lying to my husband about hiring (and paying!) cleaners.

Now I may stretch the truth a bit by telling my husband I spent $20 on jeans when they were more like $29. But I figure there's a "2" in there so I'm not that far off.

And in a previous marriage I might have been known to buy clothes or shoes, take them out of the bag before going into the house, cutting the tags and ditching the bags, then putting them right into my closet. When I'd wear them a week later he'd ask if it was new and I'd say no. Well, it wasn't brand new. I'd had it for at least a week. (Notice most of my truth-stretching revolves around shopping).

I can't think of anything I'd lie to my husband about. Even if I think he'll be mad about something, I tell him. It's usually better than him finding out later anyway then being even more mad. I might play something down if I think it's going to make him upset (like somebody saying something negative about him, us, etc.), but that's more to protect him.

Do you keep secrets from your spouse or significant other?

Books You Liked But Thought You Wouldn't

I only started reading YA a year ago, but I've read well over fifty books since then. I get a lot of my book recommendations from reading other writers' blogs. There are two series' of books I had no interest in reading, but ended up loving.

Ellen Hopkins' Crank is the first YA book I read.  I didn't think I'd like it since it's written in verse, but the opposite happened. I ended up flying through the novel in less than two days, and went on to the next one, Glass. The third book, Fallout, was just released and I can't wait to read it. Since then I've read Identical, Tricks, and I just got Impulse. If you haven't read any of her books yet, I highly recommend picking one up.

The second set of books I had no intention of reading but ended up loving, are Lisa McMann's Wake series. I'm not normally into fantasy novels, but again, I devoured the three books in this series. I was also lucky enough to meet her at a signing and get my book signed.

What books were you hesitant to read but ended up loving?

Feeling Like a Crap Mom (When You Know You're Not)

I made my son cry twice today. That's two times more than he's cried all week. He's a really good boy and almost never gives us any trouble. We don't normally yell at him because we just don't have to. And we never spank.

This morning I started his day off on a bad note when I told him he needed a hair cut.  I even offered to let him get a mohawk. He said he "didn't want to go to the hair cut store," and suggested I get mine cut instead. I won that argument.

After his hair cut he asked if he could buy Halloween make-up. I took him to four different stores to find what he wanted. He started to throw a fit as we walked to the last store, and I snapped at him telling him he should be thankful I was carting him around trying to find exactly what he was looking for and not whining.

He immediately burst into tears and said, "You yelled at me." We hugged it out.

Later at home he wanted to put his make-up on, but I had to make us lunch first. He whined and argued with me and I yelled at him again.

Again he burst into tears. I felt like a terrible mother for making him cry twice. Sometimes I forget how sensitive he is. It's so hard not to snap when you do so much for your kids, and they don't seem appreciative. Like when we'd let him play outside all day until nine at night and when it's time to come in, he screams and cries that we never let him do anything. I know that's just part of being a parent.

But it's one of the harder parts.

Unconscious Habits

Not all habits are bad. When my four year old is in the car or concentrating on something, he likes to sing. The songs rarely make sense, but he's in his own little world.

He's also a head banger (and has been since he could lift his head as a baby) and will watch TV while banging his head back on the couch. It relaxes him. But it has to have the right feel. He's been known to test-bang on a couch or bed to see if he likes it.

He'll also bang in his car seat and (face down) when he first gets into bed and in the middle of the night. It's usually accompanied by humming, which is the reason we've never been able to go on a vacation and share a room with him.

For the last few nights we've been getting ready for Glee's new season by watching the last season on DVD. Our son  loves the show and we've been letting him stay up late with us to watch. He'll sit next to me and bang his head back on the couch while the Glee members sing. When he gets tired he'll lay in my lap and close his eyes. But as soon as they start singing again, he pops back up half asleep and bangs until the song is over.

I've noticed I have this terrible habit of biting my nails whenever I'm writing. It's usually when I'm so wrapped up in my story I don't even know I'm doing it. I try sitting on them, but then I just stare out the window thinking about my characters or plot and I realize I'm biting them again. When I grow my nails out and put nailpolish on I don't bite them. It's once I start, I can't stop.

Do you have any habits you do unconsciously?

I'm Not a Routine Girl

Creativity is 

the opposite 

of routine.         
                                    I'll never be a soccer mom, because I can't guarantee I'll get my son to the   soccer games. I keep our family pretty busy with activities, but most of them are spontaneous. We signed our son up to play baseball with our local homeschooling group, and we made one game. Every Monday night I not only completely forgot about it, but when my son said he'd rather play outside, I let him.

We don't eat dinner at the same time every night, I can't stick to a writing routine for the life of me, our four year old doesn't have a set bed time, and if we have parties we wait til the night before to plan our menu.

I like that we're spontaneous and we can pick up and leave to do anything. And I think we keep life interesting by deciding to eat hot fudge sundaes before dinner. And we love our house cleaning business because our schedule is wacky.

My husband doesn't know why I'm this way since I'm so organized in other areas of my life. He's the way he is because he wanted to be total opposite of his parents. That's easy.

Our son has 4-5 speech, OT and psych sessions per week. It kills me that I have to be home at certain times every day. I hate it. If it wasn't incredibly selfish of me, I'd cancel all of them (I wouldn't do that b/c I know he needs them).

Maybe some day we'll eat dinner at 6pm every night, our son will play sports (every week!) and go to bed at the same time every night. For now we'll enjoy our hectic, fun life.

Are you a routine person? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants like us?

Writers and A.D.D.

My husband and I were cleaning a house for a psychiatrist or psychologist or one of those ists the other day. We were talking about my writing and I mentioned that I have a hard time finishing my work. I'll get gung-ho about a new shiny idea and think about it day and night. Then I'll start to work on it, think it was stupid or not be able to come up fantastic ideas, and quit. I don't throw it out, I just put it aside and either move onto the next shiny idea or work on my last shiny idea I'd abandoned. I also have a terrible time making decisions. Which is a major problem when it comes to working on plot points. It's so bad that I can't even decided which project to work on, so I don't work on anything for a while. I'm wasting a lot of precious writing time.

Before I even finished talking, she said that she thinks I have ADD. It all made sense when she said that. My dad says he has the same problem with finishing projects and deciding what to work on. I haven't researched it enough to know if there's another answer besides Ritalin, but I hope there is. People telling me to "just pick a project and finish it" doesn't work. If I could do that, believe me, I'd have a ton of novels done by now. I have way more ideas for novels than I have time to write.

Anyone else have this problem? How do you deal with it?

On Death and Sleep

I found out three days ago through a Facebook email that a childhood friend had died. The person who died was a guy I hadn't seen in thirty years (I'm forty). His death unexpectedly hit me harder than anyone's death has (including my grandmothers'--whom I took care of--last year) since my mom died eleven years ago.  I was floored by his death, and not just because he was only thirty-six and had kids.

He was best friends with my brother when we were kids, and I was best friends with his sister. Like a lot of neighborhoods in the 70s, us kids were allowed to run around all day going from house to house and came home when the street lights came on.

I felt terrible having to call my brother and tell him about his friend dying, even though he hadn't talked to him in years. We still always considered the kids on that street our friends even if we hadn't spoken in years. He was crushed and felt terrible that he hadn't called him when I had given him his number, after finding his sisters on Facebook. It was just one of those "I'll call him soon" things.

I haven't slept much in the past three nights and his death was pretty much all I've thought about. I found out my brother's felt the same way. I couldn't figure out why this was hitting us so hard. We finally came to the conclusion that, in our minds, our years living there were perfect. We lived in this neighborhood from when I was three up until I was ten, when my parents suddenly split up and we moved. That time was the best time of our lives. Our parents were together, we had tons of friends and life was all-around great for us. Life changed drasitcally for us after that. But in our minds, those years on Sterling Street were wonderful for us. But when our friend died, it shattered a bit of our perfect world we hold so dearly.

I was a bit of a wreck going to the calling hours tonight. My husband came, as did my brother and his wife. I was afraid of seeing old neighbors and kids (now adults like me) and having that change my perception of my childhood. It ended up being very sad to see our friend who died and all of the pictures of him and his family.

But it was truly wonderful to see our old friends and neighbors. Most of them remembered us, some didn't. We talked about old times and laughed about stupid things we did. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me tonight. I'm praying hard for his family tonight, and that they can somehow feel peace.

I only wish it was a reunion that had brought us together and not the death of one of us.

RIP Mike. I will always remember you and how much fun we had as kids.

Write On Schedule

I learned something the other day from Darcy Pattison's website, Fiction Notes. She recommends writing one page a day, five days a week. I'm working towards that goal, but for now I've started doing what she used to do: write for fifteen minutes a day. It doesn't sound like much at all, but compared to getting nothing done, it's a lot.

I'm usually home with my four year old all day and our days stay pretty full. We have lots of museum trips, park exploring, games and activities we make up and play dates. In a few days I'll be starting a regular schedule of homeschooling for him. Needless to say, I feel too guilty to sit and write during the day. He's constantly asking me to play with him and I can't say no. Every day I think I'll write when my husband comes home, but it just never happens. My son is glued to me anyway, so trying to sneak off for a while to write almost never works.

Last Thursday I hung a calender in the playroom (where my temporary desk is until bat season is over), and decided to write just fifteen minutes a day. Every day. No matter what.

The biggest reason I wasn't writing much is because I'm determined to finish a chick-lit-type novel I started years ago, but that's not what I'm passionate about. I'm passionate about YA, and I have a few YA novel ideas that I'm dying to get to. So I spend the fifteen minutes every day writing the chick lit novel, then if/when I have any free writing time after that, I get to work on my YA stuff. It's a perfect reward system.

The first day was easy, as was the second. The third day I knew we'd be going to a clam bake and wouldn't be home until late, so I made my family wait to leave the house for the party until I had written for fifteen minutes. It's a great feeling to write that W on the little calendar square. I want to see the calendar fill up with W's and no X's (like the one I have for Sept. 1st becuase I hadn't started yet). By forcing myself to write for fifteen minutes I'm slowly moving along on rewriting. And when I stop at the fifteen minute mark, my brain keeps going on what I'll write the next day.

Do you have a system for writing? How do you reward yourself?

Me & Sarah Dessen

I tried. I really tried. I got through Just Listen, then I tried Lock and Key and This Lullaby. And I just couldn't finish the last two. I like the plots of her stories, I just feel like they start to drag about midway through the book.

I don't have any time during the day to read, so I read novels at bedtime. I know when I'm dreading going to bed because I don't want to read the novel I have next to my bed, I've got a problem. I'm still at the point where I can finish This Lullaby if I wanted, but it's just not keeping my interest. If I wanted to pick up Lock and Key again I'd definitely have to start over because I've forgetten most of it by now.

On another note, I found a great book thanks to someone's blog on here (sorry, I forgot who). Jennifer Brown's Hate List has been keeping me up late at night. I'm halway through it now and hope I finish it soon so I can get some sleep. It can be a little dark and depressing, but it's a very good read. She really draws you in with the main character who is questioning her involvement in the school shooting her boyfriend did. I'd recommend it!

Next I have Lisa Yee's Absolutely Maybe waiting next to my bed. I heard her read an exerpt on a podcast and got it from the library the next day. Looking forward to that one!

My Son the Oddball

When my four year old son was little, he was obsessed with The Wiggles and Sesame Street like most kids. In the past few months he's changed quite a bit.

Instead of cartoons (which he does watch occasionally), he'd rather watch Michael Jackson concerts, documentaries on the Titanic or any show on Discovery or the History Channel.

We go to the library 2-3 times a week for books and videos. Most of his books lately consist of Michael Jackson, oragami, maps of the world, weather-related incidents (tornados, hurricanes, etc.), and the human body. I LOVE this curious little boy I have.  

This morning he woke up and asked if we could open his piggy bank and take out some of his money and go shopping. We took out $11 and he told me what he wanted to spend it on: a Statue of Liberty snowglobe.

I took him to three Goodwill-type stores and he made a beeline for the home items at every one. Forget the toys, this kid wants ceramic houses, snowglobes and statues. He kept telling me he wanted to look at "pretty things." Don't get me wrong, after the pretty things we looked at toys. This is what he bought today:

• a Noah's Ark snowglobe
• a ceramic house
• a souvenir of Paris
• a sucker
• toy soldiers
• a giant dollhouse for his soldiers

He keeps his snowglobe and ceramic house collection on top of a shelf in his toy room. I can't wait to see what this kid gets into next!

I Love a New Idea

Because I switched from screenwriting to novel writing, I already have a million ideas for movies, but not many for novels. And not only did I go to novel writing, but YA novel writing. I've had one idea I've been working on for a while, and I plan to use it for NaNoWriMo this year.
I took my son to a library about 20 minutes away today. During the drive my mind wandered to new YA ideas, of which I have none. While checking out at the library, I noticed a good-looking guy with two little kids. He was checking out ahead of me and flirting with the woman behind the counter, who were in their fifties. They were all blushing and giggling like teenagers. It was fun to watch.

He walked out ahead of me and it turned out he'd parked next to me. He let me put my son in my car first, then loaded his girls into his van. The whole time he kept glancing at me, but I ignored him. He smiled out his driver's window when I backed out.

On the way home I kept thinking, what kind of dad/husband acts like that? Being friendly was one thing, but this guy was out and out flirting with any woman he came across. The long car ride home gave me enough time to think up a YA plot, characters and even character names. When I got home I quickly started jotting notes down...until my son ran into the house saying he had to pee really bad, and proceeded to pee on the floor.

I can't wait to get another minute to sit and take some notes for future use. I love a new idea.

Your Favorite Characters to Write

I like to write funny characters who do embarrassing things. Mostly because then I'm just writing about myself. I do embarrassing things all the time, and I sometimes think like a twelve year old boy (per my husband...Thanks, hon!).

What characters are the most fun for you to write?