tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17143971322034359772023-11-16T05:34:18.461-08:00Maggie's Writing BlogMaggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-32292701540808715802013-04-24T07:55:00.002-07:002013-04-24T07:55:29.166-07:00Writer Odyssey Wednesday InterviewHey guys!<br />
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The wonderful Amy Trueblood has interviewed me for her Writer Odyssey Wednesday series. If you'd like to see what I have to say about the Misfits, my book, and how my CPs save my life on a regular basis, check it out <a href="http://chasingthecrazies.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/w-o-w-writer-odyssey-wednesday-with-maggie-hall/">here</a>!<br />
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<br />Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-7164638393081494792012-12-17T11:54:00.000-08:002014-03-26T15:45:38.437-07:00Very Exciting News<div style="text-align: justify;">
I really don't know what to say in a post like this, so I'm just going to say it:</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>MY BOOK SOLD! </b></span></div>
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My book is going to be a book. And not just that--<b>it's going to be a trilogy!</b></div>
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That's right! <b>My YA romantic thriller trilogy, working title THE ELITE, </b><b>is coming from the amazing Putnam/Penguin in late 2014!! </b></div>
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I know. I still can't quite believe it. I am the luckiest girl in the world!</div>
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About two weeks ago, on a Thursday, my fabulous agent Claudia sent THE ELITE out on sub. The following Wednesday, when I saw Claudia calling, I assumed I'd maybe attached a synopsis wrong or something. So when she said, "We have our first offer!" I didn't scream or cry or dance with joy or anything like that. I just said, very eloquently, "... ...What?"</div>
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And then she gave me all the details and I was kind of writing them down, but really I was just going:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdDgq3t7nB0FF-KWm5JJXGKesQVXkAxuoKHo-HblBhCoY7cjCnwM4FaEBijS3pjrRGgIJx-tNuqQOHBHsea0lFaqMco4GHwVnuHlTRbpmAns6pYHoVI55821EhFywWuRE9ewEQAImCD8/s1600/HermioneGIF.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdDgq3t7nB0FF-KWm5JJXGKesQVXkAxuoKHo-HblBhCoY7cjCnwM4FaEBijS3pjrRGgIJx-tNuqQOHBHsea0lFaqMco4GHwVnuHlTRbpmAns6pYHoVI55821EhFywWuRE9ewEQAImCD8/s320/HermioneGIF.gif" height="133" width="320" /></a></div>
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I was still doing that a few days later when we got another offer, and a couple days after that,<b> </b>I accepted a 3-book deal from Putnam/Penguin, with <b>the absolutely amazing Arianne Lewin</b> as my editor! (<i>My editor!</i> Whoa. And she is so great, you guys. I am so excited to work with her!!)</div>
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I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been excited about the book and sent encouragement and talked me down from the crazy through this whole process. There were definitely times I was sure this wouldn't happen. There were times I thought my book was just too different. (Fun fact: one scene I love but worried was just too weird is Editor Ari's favorite scene!) And through it all, it was the love from you guys for my story and my characters that kept me going. </div>
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And now, <b>the world gets to know my characters!</b> Avery, Jack, and Stellan are going out into the world! And that, more than anything, is what makes me freak out all over again whenever I think about it. So even though it hasn't quite sunken in yet, I have pretty much looked like this the past few days:</div>
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Thank you guys again for all your support and for believing in my book and for everything! I love you all!</div>
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EDIT: Ahhhh! I'm on Goodreads!! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17134589-the-elite</div>
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(PS--After Christmas I will be doing a giveaway to celebrate! Check back soon for more info!) <3</div>
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Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-37408723824120672452012-11-26T12:04:00.000-08:002013-04-18T20:26:05.726-07:00Thankful<div style="text-align: justify;">
I know it's a few days after Thanksgiving, but today is my birthday, and it always makes me a little reflective. This year, I've been thinking about what I'm thankful for. There's way too much to list, and I don't want to make this post a million pages long, so just in terms of writing, <b>I'm thankful for</b>:</div>
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-My writing friends (all of them, but especially the lovely <a href="http://dailydahlia.wordpress.com/">Dahlia</a>, <a href="http://writersblog-gina.blogspot.com/">Gina</a>, <a href="http://mariekenijkamp.com/">Marieke</a>, and <a href="http://ericachapman.com/">Erica</a>!) They read anything I write, they obsess over my characters with me, and they talk me down from the ledge when I'm feeling off. I truly could not do this with out them. I love you guys!</div>
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-My agent, Claudia Ballard. She has been amazingly patient and encouraging and awesome, and her brilliant suggestions have made my MS so much better than it ever could have been without her. I'm so lucky she wanted to work with me!</div>
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-The <a href="http://www.yamisfits.com/">YA Misfits</a>. They are writing friends (see above) but they've also given me the chance to be part of something great. If you haven't seen the site yet, check it out!</div>
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-My husband. Not only is he supportive of my writing, he takes the time to talk through plot points with me, to read new scenes, and to give me a glass of wine when he knows that's what I really need. (And no, you can't have him. He's all mine!)</div>
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<b>What (or who) are you thankful for this Thanksgiving season?</b></div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-42897050565666339182012-10-01T06:35:00.002-07:002012-10-01T06:40:59.120-07:00Get Your Pitch On: UNCOVERED<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Dtn88hJAtjVzQNmaydWWgb5OqF5bbdoez_C9N4rXC8kUAA9hyHsXR9zKLFP6dbL14JkiZs0DBulsd6Rbmb1kUr7DKfQZkSNxMwPsS3IRctioR8XhQG782YGP1n4klOy6iyaPLDEOBU/s1600/getyourpitchon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Dtn88hJAtjVzQNmaydWWgb5OqF5bbdoez_C9N4rXC8kUAA9hyHsXR9zKLFP6dbL14JkiZs0DBulsd6Rbmb1kUr7DKfQZkSNxMwPsS3IRctioR8XhQG782YGP1n4klOy6iyaPLDEOBU/s320/getyourpitchon.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hi everyone! Today we have a pitch for Get Your Pitch On. Please feel free to critique in the comments.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Name: Lindsey Frydman</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Email: <a href="mailto:LindseyMFrydman@gmail.com"><span class="s2">LindseyMFrydman@gmail.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Country of residence: US</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Title: UNCOVERED</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Genre: YA Sci-Fi Romance</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Word-count: 62,000</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Pitch: When Hallie meets Colton, a guy with more frightening secrets than being an alien, she finds herself hunted by the Megaera. This<span class="s3"> deranged alien mafia group says she’s a Hamartia, a half human race who isn’t allowed to exist because they’re a threat. The Megaera thinks she could be an asset. </span>Hallie must decide whom to trust if she wants to avoid being a prisoner or worse—dead.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Hi Lindsey! Happy to have you here on my blog and in the contest! </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">UNCOVERED sounds like a very cool concept. Deranged alien mafia? Whoa. I'd love to see how that played out!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">What I'd love to see in this pitch is even MORE of what makes this story unique. </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">"Half human race who isn't allowed to exist..." is a good specific sentence, and as I mentioned, "deranged alien mafia" sounds awesome. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">But then we have some sentences that, to me, sound a little too general. "More frightening secrets," "an asset," "must decide who to trust"--I feel like I could fit those sentences into pitches for quite a lot of books. To make this pitch even stronger, I would hone in more on the details we'll only find in THIS book. What exactly do the Megaera want with Hallie? Who is she deciding to trust or not? Colton? I'd love to see him come up again, since the genre is listed as Sci-Fi Romance. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">And my other question would be: does Hallie have a 'positive goal?' Avoiding something certainly sounds important in this case, but is she working <i>toward</i> anything at the same time? Positive goals (working toward something) are generally more active, and therefore more interesting in a pitch than negative goals (avoiding something). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">I know how hard it is to get details in such a short pitch, but it's also the place you need them the most! The more you can pack the limited space you do have with specifics rather than generalities, the faster a reader will snatch it up!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Best of luck!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Agree with me? Don't agree with me? Let us know in constructive critique in the comments!</b> <span style="font-family: inherit;">And once you're done here, </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">you can hop around to all the other participating blogs (see the other blogs </span><a href="http://downunderwonderings.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/want-to-host-get-your-pitch-on-workshop.html" style="color: #992288; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">here</a>) and leave feedback there, too!<span style="line-height: 20px;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">For each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry into the drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host <a href="http://downunderwonderings.blogspot.com/2012/09/want-to-host-get-your-pitch-on-workshop.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sharon Johnston</a> and workshop hosts <a href="http://lchardesty.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Larissa Hardesty</a>, <a href="http://steph-diaz.blogspot.com.au/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Stephanie Diaz</a>, <a href="http://cscullywriter.wordpress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Catherine Scully</a>, <a href="http://www.paradoxgrl.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Jodie Andrefski</a>, <a href="http://authorscornerpaulakouman.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Paula Sangare</a>, <a href="http://inkinthebook.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Talynn</a> and <a href="http://jkadams.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kaitlin Adams</a>, and </span><span class="s1"><a href="http://sarahnicolas.com/">Sarah Nicolas </a></span>with three query critiques. <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques.</span></span></div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-24199411924388910702012-09-24T09:17:00.000-07:002012-09-24T10:34:22.245-07:00Get Your Pitch On!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Dtn88hJAtjVzQNmaydWWgb5OqF5bbdoez_C9N4rXC8kUAA9hyHsXR9zKLFP6dbL14JkiZs0DBulsd6Rbmb1kUr7DKfQZkSNxMwPsS3IRctioR8XhQG782YGP1n4klOy6iyaPLDEOBU/s1600/getyourpitchon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Dtn88hJAtjVzQNmaydWWgb5OqF5bbdoez_C9N4rXC8kUAA9hyHsXR9zKLFP6dbL14JkiZs0DBulsd6Rbmb1kUr7DKfQZkSNxMwPsS3IRctioR8XhQG782YGP1n4klOy6iyaPLDEOBU/s320/getyourpitchon.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello querying writers! Exciting news--there's a great new contest starting TODAY!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">For Get Your Pitch On, Commissioning and Managing Editor of Hardie Grant Egmont, </span><a href="https://twitter.com/pintadoguy" style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Marisa Pintado</a><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">, will be taking pitches both on <a href="http://downunderwonderings.blogspot.com.au/">Down Under Wonderings</a> and on the group blog </span><a href="http://yatopia.blogspot.com.au/" style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">YAtopia</a><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"> on October 15th. </span><br style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;" /><br style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;" /><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">Marisa is looking for </span><strong style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">YA in any genre</strong><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"> and is accepting submissions from</span><strong style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"> anywhere in the world</strong><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">. This is your chance to skip the slush pile and put your pitch right under the nose of a fantastic editor. There's even better news - there is no limit on how many requests Marisa will make from the contest. </span><br style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;" /><br /><b><u><span style="font-size: large;">THE CONTEST</span></u></b><br style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;" /><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">Here are the rules:</span></span></span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your manuscript must be complete, polished and ready to query - this means no first drafts or almost-finished manuscripts.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It must be YA.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your entry detail needs to include a 50 - 70 word pitch.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can enter more than once if you have more than one complete, polished, ready to query manuscript.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Entries MUST follow the formatting guidelines in the example below: </span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Name: Sharon Johnston</span><br /><span style="line-height: 16px;">Email: smjohnston [ @ ] </span><a href="http://live.com.au/" style="color: purple; line-height: 16px;" target="_blank">live.com.au</a><br style="line-height: 16px;" /><span style="line-height: 16px;">Country of residence: Australia</span><br /><span style="line-height: 16px;">Title: SLEEPER</span><br style="line-height: 16px;" /><span style="line-height: 16px;">Genre: Speculative Fiction</span><br style="line-height: 16px;" /><span style="line-height: 16px;">Word-count: 58,000</span><br style="line-height: 16px;" /><br style="line-height: 16px;" /><span style="line-height: 16px;">Pitch: Seventeen-year-old Mishca Richardson is a sleeper soldier with a weak heart. She has no idea that a life saving heart transplant has accidentally triggered her programming. In the search for answers, she discovers the truth and that her creator, Wirth, has classified her remaining “sisters” from her experiment group as defective, scheduling them for termination. Mishca sets out to save them before they’re eliminated.</span></span><br style="line-height: 16px;" /><br /><br style="line-height: 16px;" /><span style="line-height: 16px;"><b></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>THE WORKSHOPS</u></b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">You might be wondering how this blog fits in. I (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">and a whole bunch of other blogs you can find </span></span><a href="http://downunderwonderings.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/want-to-host-get-your-pitch-on-workshop.html" style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">) am</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"> helping workshop your pitches to get them in the best shape they can be before October 15!</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"> Each entry submitted will get a pitch critique from a participating blog, plus have their pitch posted for other participants to comment on. </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">These workshops start on October 1</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">, but you can send your pitches </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">now</b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"> to secure your spot with a host blog.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">There is no date deadline for the workshops. Each blog has allocated a set number of pitches that they can host and once those spots are full then no more submissions will be taken. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span lang="EN-AU">Important Rule:</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"> If you want to participate in a workshop, you must be prepared to comment on at least one other pitch. For each critique you leave in the comments, you get an entry into the drawing to win one of eight 10-page critiques from our contest host <a href="http://downunderwonderings.blogspot.com/2012/09/want-to-host-get-your-pitch-on-workshop.html" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Sharon Johnston</a> and workshop hosts <a href="http://lchardesty.blogspot.com/" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Larissa Hardesty</a>, <a href="http://steph-diaz.blogspot.com.au/" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Stephanie Diaz</a>, <a href="http://cscullywriter.wordpress.com/" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Catherine Scully</a>, <a href="http://www.paradoxgrl.blogspot.com/" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Jodie Andrefski</a>, <a href="http://authorscornerpaulakouman.blogspot.com/" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Paula Sangare</a>, <a href="http://inkinthebook.blogspot.com/" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Talynn</a> and <a href="http://jkadams.blogspot.com/" style="color: purple;" target="_blank">Kaitlin Adams</a>. Please use the exact same name for all of your critiques. The opportunity ends 10/14/2012.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span lang="EN-AU"><b>How to submit: </b>E</span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">mail your draft pitch to <a href="mailto:pitchonws@gmail.com" style="color: purple;"><span style="color: #0068cf;">pitchonws@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">, and don't forget to put <b>PitchOn WS </b>and the <b>name of your manuscript</b> in the subject line of your email. Pitches must follow the formatting above.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Draft pitches will be evenly distributed between host blogs. </span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="line-height: 16px;">What are you waiting for? Start sending your pitches! </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">And also – make sure to use the </span><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">#PitchOn hashtag on Twitter</b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"> to follow all the news now and be part of the excitement during the contest.</span></span>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-72150211740315979302012-09-13T10:25:00.001-07:002012-09-13T10:25:14.170-07:00YA Misfits Giveaway WINNER!Thank you all SO much for entering my YAMF Launch Giveaway! I was happy to see that so many of you had heard of Save the Cat, and hopefully the winner will get some good use out of it.<br />
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I know you just want to know who won, so let's get to it! I numbered your comments, put them into random.org, and the winner is................<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">EMILY MEAD!!!</span></div>
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Emily, I am going to tweet you, but if you see this first, go ahead and email me at maggie.bunting (at) gmail (dot) com</div>
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Thanks again for entering, everyone, and I'm so glad to see you on board for YA Misfits!</div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-64532468665116201342012-09-04T05:15:00.000-07:002012-09-04T09:05:19.533-07:00YA Misfits Giveaway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.yamisfits.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTzTwDSJEtRjQiV7ytFFNTbPA57rN1LW9BVGPedKgxsUawJXLGmChVljk_idbPZyczNiHfl4RDyLI96W24PgDPCtz539KqZQRSoMKk4QTg8wh7_xA8wlS7BwuZLIFiZ6E5VcYrwZVMuI/s200/YAMisfitsCoatofArms-1+copy.png" width="200" /></a></div>
So, if you haven't heard, there's a new blog on the block. We're called <a href="http://www.yamisfits.com/">YA Misfits</a>, and we're a group of YA writers from all across the genre spectrum and all across the world!<br />
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To celebrate our launch, we're giving away all kinds of great stuff. On the Misfits blog, you can enter to win a KINDLE (!!!) and the other Misfits are giving away fabulous prizes from books to crits to music and more!</div>
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<b>So what am I giving away? Only one of my favorite writing books of all time, plus a critique to help get you going. </b></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Though <i>Save The Cat</i> is technically a screenwriting book, I think every writer should read it. Something wrong with your pitch? Blake Snyder will give you some hints. Can't figure out why your story is dragging 1/3 of the way through? Check out the famous Beat Sheet. Having problems with an infodump? See the chapter about the Pope in the Pool (seriously!).</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b>One of you lovely readers will win a copy of this book, PLUS (if you need it!) a query critique. </b></span><br />
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Why a query critique? Because see, I actually like queries, and you should too. We all know you need a fantastic query to snag an agent, but did you know it's a great plotting tool, too? No matter what stage of the writing process you're in, a query's a good thing to have. And since my query had somewhere around an 80% request rate, I guess I might have some tips to give!<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b>To enter, all you have to do is comment below by 11:59 pm EST on Monday, September 10. </b></span>(It'd be NICE if you were a follower here and over at <a href="http://www.yamisfits.com/">YA Misfits</a>--and our <a href="http://twitter.com/MaggieEHall">Twitter</a> accounts!--but it's not required.) I'll pick a winner and announce it the next day! International entries are welcome!</div>
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Oh yeah, and if you haven't done so yet, GO CHECK OUT <a href="http://www.yamisfits.com/2012/09/introducing-ya-misfits.html">YA MISFITS</a>! You know you want to.</div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-36797711261708472942012-05-30T10:02:00.000-07:002012-08-25T16:52:20.156-07:00A VlogIn which you learn that I have a bunch of cats, that my desk is in a closet, and that I build furniture.<br />
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And be sure to check out all my lovely CPs-- <a href="http://www.leighannkopans.com/2012/05/critique-partners-20-week-2-whats-best.html">Leigh Ann Kopans</a> has compiled all our vlogs from this week, and they are fab.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qEkY5Ic17uI" width="560"></iframe>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-44717643868100088942012-05-23T09:24:00.000-07:002012-08-20T09:16:03.724-07:00Critique Partners Vlog -- On InspirationThis week in Critique Partners 2.0, we're talking about inspiration. And I'm also talking a little bit about wine, and about the magical properties of my hair. Check out the rest of my lovely and talented CPs over at <a href="http://www.leighannkopans.com/2012/06/critique-partners-20-inspiration-for.html">Leigh Ann Kopans' blog</a>!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kKX4BUwG00g" width="560"></iframe>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-73111907404200356072012-03-26T10:55:00.001-07:002012-03-26T10:55:10.087-07:00Help Me Choose!So last weekend, my family did a family portrait thing. Since I actually did my hair and put on makeup for it, I figured I might as well have Andrew snap a quick picture so I could put up a real avatar (and not one chopped out of an engagement pic from three years ago!). We were headed out to my in-laws' house for St. Patrick's Day, so we only had a few minutes before the pull of Guinness and whiskey took us away from this photo session, but I managed to get at least two with my eyes open! This is the one I chose, but I can't decide whether to use it normal, or use one with some effects. <div>
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Thoughts? </div>
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1. Black and white</div>
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2. Soft light filter</div>
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3. Normal</div>
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4. Overexposed </div>
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I kind of like the ones with effects because they distract a little from...you know. Me. And the fact that I have vampire fangs and that my head looks a little disjointed from my body. :) But I've been staring at myself way too long and don't feel like I'm being objective. Help?</div>
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PS- Hunger Games! I liked it! Did you like it? My favorite part was walking out past a group of teenage boys discussing the differences between the book and the movie. Love it!</div>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-708797951650973652012-03-20T09:56:00.000-07:002012-03-20T10:47:18.902-07:00On Travel Anniversaries and Impossible Dreams<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WavxdHR2wkH-TgMJaf_SDu5MyNKlTOpdSuFPY_cE92dWXm3f1GhRAA0xeqSBa6Us9DHC1PPrgQQCZuz4Hylfdh2Gn0rhs2gISEFWArRQwJZFanRwXHiiD0WClVdAvOUrszjH6qHdI4k/s1600/53400305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WavxdHR2wkH-TgMJaf_SDu5MyNKlTOpdSuFPY_cE92dWXm3f1GhRAA0xeqSBa6Us9DHC1PPrgQQCZuz4Hylfdh2Gn0rhs2gISEFWArRQwJZFanRwXHiiD0WClVdAvOUrszjH6qHdI4k/s320/53400305.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Six years ago today, I packed up a travel backpack and ran away to the other side of the world for about four months, all by myself. Six years ago. It seems like a lifetime ago and like yesterday at the same time. And it (not to get totally overdramatic) (okay, yeah, it's overdramatic, but true!) changed my life.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loch Ness--after I accidentally got my hair dyed platinum blonde. Meant to get it dyed back to my natural color (medium/dark blonde) but apparently that doesn't translate in Hungarian.</td></tr>
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It wasn't even the traveling. I mean, the traveling was great. Amazing. One can never be exactly the same once one has searched for the Loch Ness monster and wandered the streets of Cambodia and learned to do all one's laundry in the sink all in the same couple-month period.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_ShYRSyM-3B01O8BG6SV4oLodJ6ouc3CAXY90T5d2PALBAsMzShFWyo-V7frraJidLokPiyls7llMyJSornY1fLqqvr6G3g4MWF1JYgfRlNQ93mSBQpDRkh40jMdVoRhOocG4bo_cp0/s1600/53400740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_ShYRSyM-3B01O8BG6SV4oLodJ6ouc3CAXY90T5d2PALBAsMzShFWyo-V7frraJidLokPiyls7llMyJSornY1fLqqvr6G3g4MWF1JYgfRlNQ93mSBQpDRkh40jMdVoRhOocG4bo_cp0/s320/53400740.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the street in Cambodia</td></tr>
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It wasn't exactly even the fact that I was traveling alone, though if I hadn't had the trial-by-fire of months of solo travel, I have no doubt I'd be a different person now. (Being alone is fun sometimes! Have you ever gone to a movie alone? You should try it.)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angkor Wat, Cambodia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiger Temple, Thailand </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snorkeling, Thailand</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hagia Sophia, Istanbul</td></tr>
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No, it was an epiphany I had six years and a few months ago now, before I left on that trip. I'd graduated from college, and had no idea what to do with my life. I wasn't like a lot of my USC classmates, who knew they were going to law school immediately, or already had a job offer at Deloitte, or were moving to Manhattan Beach with ten friends. I graduated with degrees in psychology and Italian (yeah, what the heck was I going to do with that??), I had a long-term boyfriend back home in Albuquerque but wished I could move to a big city instead of going home, or that I could do something else exciting, though I had no idea what. I was pretty much lost.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvBChErWtmry-OD-PZzfYkWzp0IS6G0a9k9ffXpGeEk7UnwtXt342D4plhyphenhyphen8jo3HWxR80utegrlIGvAe70uFq5WXud2hqzvKRg4ybPbXynSuZanR5QdQ399pqdaB-sjzAE-lmU8HcRMg/s1600/53400355_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvBChErWtmry-OD-PZzfYkWzp0IS6G0a9k9ffXpGeEk7UnwtXt342D4plhyphenhyphen8jo3HWxR80utegrlIGvAe70uFq5WXud2hqzvKRg4ybPbXynSuZanR5QdQ399pqdaB-sjzAE-lmU8HcRMg/s200/53400355_1.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church doors, <br />
Transylvania, Romania</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One day, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table, feeling very sorry for myself and drinking a glass of wine and staring out the window and probably pretending I was the heroine in some dramatic movie. If I could do absolutely anything, I thought, my dream would be to travel for a few months. I'd already traveled a decent amount, but there was so much more of the world I wanted to see, and who knew when I'd have the chance again?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUziy9nt38_BKuWNehbhC97xS2gJt_roFlYKU0U6LXmgnhoCJIDc4BEnd-ncOSU7qOIj9O1bcmLjwk_im7MMGPvLHymE5lhHsMl18_09tQpwaN0P5vzflDr25w2I6Mlvq-pZbq6VrajM/s1600/53400580_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUziy9nt38_BKuWNehbhC97xS2gJt_roFlYKU0U6LXmgnhoCJIDc4BEnd-ncOSU7qOIj9O1bcmLjwk_im7MMGPvLHymE5lhHsMl18_09tQpwaN0P5vzflDr25w2I6Mlvq-pZbq6VrajM/s200/53400580_1.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dunnotar Castle, Scotland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But I didn't have a lot of money. And I had this boyfriend. And everyone around me was being responsible and adult and getting jobs and houses--some were even married already. And who took off and traveled, besides hippies and Brits on Gap Year? I sighed at the impossibility of this crazy thing I'd probably never get to do, and drank some more wine.<br />
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And then, out of somewhere magical and mysterious, it hit me.<br />
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It wasn't like I'd never thought about actually doing it before. I'd looked into plane tickets, I'd read travel message boards, I'd even thought of what I'd bring to wear. But it always ended with me a little more depressed than I had been earlier, and a little bit resentful of the life that would never allow me to do what I really wanted. Until that day. That day, I thought...WHY NOT?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIKLEkqrpdVW4u1r5TWZ_s4mKZTYuAAJVoiSiP84cgEirfoO-TYsibTk9GSYdZ51Zp2lyokHt_9Npylwiii9y3pqPC3Y0Jee16SgEpV0KHno_7AknJXpvLBSuUGkj4f-WGcqeW4r1AtM/s1600/53400840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIKLEkqrpdVW4u1r5TWZ_s4mKZTYuAAJVoiSiP84cgEirfoO-TYsibTk9GSYdZ51Zp2lyokHt_9Npylwiii9y3pqPC3Y0Jee16SgEpV0KHno_7AknJXpvLBSuUGkj4f-WGcqeW4r1AtM/s200/53400840.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooking class, Thailand</td></tr>
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And it wasn't just a thought. It was this feeling, like someone had punched me in the gut and all of a sudden, I saw the world just a little differently than I ever had before. Why not just go? I could think of a million reasons why not, but deep down...there was no <i>real</i> reason why not. At that moment, I realized that I could it. I could do anything I wanted. Sure, it would mean that I'd have to work two jobs and save up for a few months. It would mean that I'd leave the boyfriend (now the husband) behind, since he'd just started a company and didn't want to leave. It would mean I'd be traveling alone. Most of all, it would mean that a lot of people would think I was crazy.<br />
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But I could do it. I could literally do WHATEVER I WANTED. Everything going on in my head was just excuses.<br />
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And so I just...went. It was the best decision I ever made, and the realization that I could do it was one of the best things to ever happen to me. Whatever that is, there are a million excuses not to, but if I really want to, I can write a book, or decide to move to another city for a month on a whim, or apply for a job I never thought I'd get, or quit a job I hate. There are always going to be reasons not to do whatever it is you really want, but my hope for everyone I care about is that, one day, that little *snick* will happen for them, and they'll realize--not just intellectually, but really understand--that there are way more reasons to do it. You only have one life. Or, as my favorite fortune cookie ever says, "Tomorrow may be too late. Live today."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CEXxbESGYw5_sDyiMCBJqiWPCpR8jwfTsf1LwtfzcxiC5TI7nTBmvOs6OkGO3clU1_RdZATf478p1HHN0Dzqjq0HGYjjjtQTV16BtS6qG5wyp6HztAUylLUjJob-Rr47rKy8QietdY0/s1600/kohphagnanboats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CEXxbESGYw5_sDyiMCBJqiWPCpR8jwfTsf1LwtfzcxiC5TI7nTBmvOs6OkGO3clU1_RdZATf478p1HHN0Dzqjq0HGYjjjtQTV16BtS6qG5wyp6HztAUylLUjJob-Rr47rKy8QietdY0/s400/kohphagnanboats.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Koh Phagnon, Thailand</td></tr>
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<br />Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-1972961544772049922012-03-08T17:25:00.000-08:002012-03-08T17:25:28.562-08:00Lucky 7 MemeThanks, <a href="http://zapslobstertank.blogspot.com/">Chessie</a>, for tagging me for a blog meme thing! I've never done one before, but here we go!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltTjgNIpSlWa2-WE0I4bGOu85UGoMQXBKe4BYmCwMIYgeR0OYbeiw1y3ZUdKV4pezzlw3ZOqxMxA8dbjfaBYNDWmWhBav_cupjUS1T0IKNlHwATmhjwlSANgeAym7XnGcOdY3S3PFZfk/s1600/Lucky7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltTjgNIpSlWa2-WE0I4bGOu85UGoMQXBKe4BYmCwMIYgeR0OYbeiw1y3ZUdKV4pezzlw3ZOqxMxA8dbjfaBYNDWmWhBav_cupjUS1T0IKNlHwATmhjwlSANgeAym7XnGcOdY3S3PFZfk/s1600/Lucky7.jpg" /></a></div>
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The rules:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">1. Go to page 77 of your current MS</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">2. Go to line 7</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">3. Copy down the next seven lines as they're written--no cheating!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">4. Tag 7 other writers (I tag: <a href="http://seabrookeleckie.wordpress.com/">Seabrooke</a>, <a href="http://sariwebb.blogspot.com/">Sari</a>, and anyone who reads this post) :)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">5. Let them know</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I had no idea what would be on page 77, but turns out it's SUPER-ACTIONY, which is fun. Here we go!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The clang of heavy footsteps on the stairs turned the pain in my head into wild panic. I crawled as fast as I could to a couch and clung to it, forcing myself dizzily to my feet as the killer reached the bottom of the stairs. He was no more than ten feet away, and he no longer had the knife in his hand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He had a gun. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The room spun like I was on a carnival ride. He stood between me and the front door, blocking my only escape. </span></div>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-73389153490146448942012-02-24T10:28:00.000-08:002012-02-24T10:28:18.176-08:00Photo FridaySo guess what! It turns out I suck at keeping New Years resolutions, even if they're fun! To be fair, I have been taking a lot more pictures, but I haven't really been keeping up with the daily assignments. So these aren't exactly the photos I meant to take, but nevertheless, here's my week in photos.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqWm_XD4zk1JcqoOi8AYzILrg4_YUNBkgwCx0ewPdu-UbbYLvYTTQrVn2fpYcgIyvesgvpd9aYwJ79S7YxQ-vzcQP6acJcFtDViM8YhfT9FBxZWksGGWPj8QzXfXxSa3gOgdJkMZA52Y/s1600/TreeSnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqWm_XD4zk1JcqoOi8AYzILrg4_YUNBkgwCx0ewPdu-UbbYLvYTTQrVn2fpYcgIyvesgvpd9aYwJ79S7YxQ-vzcQP6acJcFtDViM8YhfT9FBxZWksGGWPj8QzXfXxSa3gOgdJkMZA52Y/s320/TreeSnow.jpg" width="172" /></a></div>
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{woke up to this one morning. of course now, a few days later, i'm wearing a skirt. ah, new mexico weather}</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIGiuV0WCDvEGnml6S7Np10H04s7DzWGnPhy2MGUBDeVWxKBM1BEFkWuLE-v965LDrmKd_AVtXVrsS_1k4h0NEDEXqTLphtjKt2QRCEmAT8t6mJoWPC_ZTeUaUrnPug9QuLR-SWG7zVA/s1600/Bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIGiuV0WCDvEGnml6S7Np10H04s7DzWGnPhy2MGUBDeVWxKBM1BEFkWuLE-v965LDrmKd_AVtXVrsS_1k4h0NEDEXqTLphtjKt2QRCEmAT8t6mJoWPC_ZTeUaUrnPug9QuLR-SWG7zVA/s320/Bread.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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{practiced my food photography, because food photography is my favorite. bread is so pretty!}</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1t9ab5f6y1abRp2Zrfm67kZqsOfcs2o5IL3WBw9C5RXoLaC6bq9T9NhlZhTLrmEV9AT-_3C_EZZU9LEVlUpG6eoB4bZ4kP_Y_bhPoTrG4ZXjLqoPX-AKkalYyt5M-C2ei5nDMl0vlTzc/s1600/BloodOranges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1t9ab5f6y1abRp2Zrfm67kZqsOfcs2o5IL3WBw9C5RXoLaC6bq9T9NhlZhTLrmEV9AT-_3C_EZZU9LEVlUpG6eoB4bZ4kP_Y_bhPoTrG4ZXjLqoPX-AKkalYyt5M-C2ei5nDMl0vlTzc/s320/BloodOranges.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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{got some gorgeous produce--hello, blood oranges! the produce aisle looked like spring!}</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddzxZcD57oCi73nm9ZBOHWWfvuYm802Ixmo6Wrn8YmxReszYr2Aqr_JhMlqMlwCPLkdp89w3uzyPOpR3MDFB9DHUvIbK2Yq8sHnf8A1QsPO0HudS6vB_nQ_Qq-dlH12DlDtfrzRFn4kA/s1600/JohnWeddingInvites.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddzxZcD57oCi73nm9ZBOHWWfvuYm802Ixmo6Wrn8YmxReszYr2Aqr_JhMlqMlwCPLkdp89w3uzyPOpR3MDFB9DHUvIbK2Yq8sHnf8A1QsPO0HudS6vB_nQ_Qq-dlH12DlDtfrzRFn4kA/s320/JohnWeddingInvites.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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{got my little brother's wedding invitation! (and discovered, again, how awful the light in our kitchen is for photos)}</div>
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How was your week?</div>
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<br />Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-35311877130026961982012-01-27T22:19:00.000-08:002012-08-20T09:15:04.722-07:00Photo FridaySo about that New Year's resolution thing. I usually make really un-fun resolutions, and unsurprisingly, they don't usually pan out. (How many times have I resolved to lose ten pounds? It's never happened.)<br />
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This year, I'm making fun resolutions I might actually keep, starting with photography. </div>
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We have a decent camera--not a DSLR, but a point-and-shoot with manual shooting capabilities. We got it when we went to India almost three years ago now, and it takes nice pictures, but neither Andrew or I have any idea how to use the manual features, and that's dumb. </div>
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<br />So this year, I've resolved to learn to take better pictures. To start with, I'm using a couple things I found on <a href="http://pinterest.com/maggie_hall/">Pinterest</a>: A <a href="http://my3boybarians.com/31-days-to-a-better-photo/">31 Days to a Better Photo</a> tutorial, and this list of daily photo assignments:</div>
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I started at the beginning of January, but then I went out of town, then I got sick, so I only ended up doing through day 6. Oops! I'm going to start being better about it, and to motivate myself, I'm going to post some of the pics here, on Fridays, starting today!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPMgyT2eg1lPA-RUVzdjQBYxTBpAbCE9q_z2LVlSwvzsPCYO-eNQwEIiFpRHiN9TlaxAhT2JynrqLVZGHsfSmI7mWMCYekulTulyRO-KCk-qH6T_a6q15lch8BNLPP1ZEu3Df4-2_Mbw/s1600/Week1Photos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPMgyT2eg1lPA-RUVzdjQBYxTBpAbCE9q_z2LVlSwvzsPCYO-eNQwEIiFpRHiN9TlaxAhT2JynrqLVZGHsfSmI7mWMCYekulTulyRO-KCk-qH6T_a6q15lch8BNLPP1ZEu3Df4-2_Mbw/s640/Week1Photos.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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1. Self-portrait. (Wearing a Christmas present from my lovely CP <a href="http://www.leighannkopans.com/">Leigh Ann</a>!)</div>
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2. Clouds. (There weren't any clouds in the sky that day, so I just took pictures of the sky. And this photo is SOOC (Straight Out of Camera)! No photoshopping at all! (Most of these have at least a little color balancing/contrast work.) As much as I can complain about New Mexico, the sky here is beautiful. </div>
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3. Something green. (I took these the first week of January--Christmas decor was still up.)</div>
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4. From a high angle. (A lamp I bought at a thrift store.)</div>
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5. From a low angle. (Kitchen cabinet. Never got the lighting on this one to turn out right, so I went a little crazy in photoshop and tried to make it Instagram-y. Actually it just looks...dark and grainy. Oh well.)</div>
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6. Bonus! cat picture. From left, Whiskey, Scotch, and Bourbon hiding behind a stack of Andrew's shirts.</div>
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So what did I learn this first week?</div>
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-Shooting without flash really is better</div>
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-You usually won't get a great shot the first time. I had to take a lot of pictures to get a good one. (This was easier when I was taking pictures of the kitchen cabinet for #5 than when I was standing in the front yard pointing at my boobs for versions of #1 where I was showing off the shirt.) </div>
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-A bunch of technical stuff I'm not going into here. </div>
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I'd say week 1 of my resolution=success!</div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-33680396051208267392012-01-05T11:46:00.000-08:002012-01-05T11:46:55.619-08:00Thankful<br />
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It's that time again--resolution time! I was trying to decide yesterday what writing-related things to work on in the New Year, when I realized that, before I start berating myself for what I'm not doing, I should be thankful for what I do have. Maybe this post should have come at Thanksgiving, but I can't do anything the normal way, can I? So, pre-resolution, the writing things I'm thankful for. (Warning: cheesiness ahead...)</div>
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*The fact that I have time to write. I have a job that keeps me busy, but also allows a little time off occasionally for writing. I also don't have kids, and I know that leaves me way more free time than a lot of people have, and I'm super grateful for that and am working on using that time wisely.</div>
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*My friends, family, and especially my hubby, who at least pretend that they don't think publishing a book is a crazy goal. I'm sure my hubby gets tired of hearing me agonize over what, exactly, my MC would say to her love interest in chapter 16, but he never complains, and for that I'm lucky.</div>
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*Writing friends. I've made such a great group of writing friends in such a short time, and I'm so thankful for them! Just a few of them:</div>
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-<a href="http://leighannkopans.com/">Leigh Ann</a>-<a href="http://writersblog-gina.blogspot.com/">Gina</a>-<a href="http://zapslobstertank.blogspot.com/">Chessie</a> for accepting me into the club, :) and for always being willing to send me their newest kissing scenes to lift my spirits. For lovely presents, and 100+ emails in a day, and pictures of shirtless boys, and #lineswelove, and a whole bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with writing, and the fact that, despite all the love, we’re willing and able to rip each other’s manuscripts to shreds to make them shine. </div>
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-<a href="http://seabrookeleckie.wordpress.com/">Seabrooke</a>, who gave me a huge boost of confidence when she read the book in 2 days, and then made it a lot better by pointing out a zillion and one things I’d never even considered, and for having a ton of confidence in my book and letting me read her new stuff immediately! And for being multi-talented! Stellan, as drawn by Seabrooke: </div>
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-My real life critique group. Maybe we don’t get as much work done as we could, but when we’re laughing at all the hilarious and (mostly) unintentional innuendo in my book, or convincing another member to make a character “more like Kim Kardashian,” I remember that writing is supposed to be fun, and that’s invaluable. </div>
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-<a href="http://sariwebb.blogspot.com/">Sari</a>, who was the very first person ever to see any of my writing, and whose suggestions and encouragement made my MS an entirely different book from those early drafts. </div>
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-All the other awesome writer buddies I’ve met online (and all the people I'm sure I've forgotten to mention). Writers are the coolest group of people, and one of the things I’m looking forward to most in 2012 is getting to know more writers better. </div>
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Happy 2012, everyone! </div>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-14983880918655470812012-01-02T11:49:00.000-08:002012-01-05T11:49:55.533-08:00Music MondayHaunting, sweet, sad, and great as background music.<br />
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Poison and Wine, by the Civil Wars<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WfzRlcnq_c0" width="560"></iframe>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-54937631815303425032011-12-09T12:16:00.001-08:002012-08-20T09:14:00.336-07:00Friday Obsessions: Soundtracking, TVD, TJ's Holiday Candy<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My lovely critique partner, <a href="http://www.leighannkopans.com/">Leigh Ann</a>, does a feature on her blog called Friday Obsessions. I always love to see what's caught her eye, so today I'm stealing her idea and letting you in on a few of the things I've been obsessed with this week!</span></i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Soundtracking</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I soundtrack my writing. (I also collage pictures that *feel* like the story, I cast the characters, I find pictures of their clothes. I sometimes even play around on Google Earth and see where they live. Eh hem.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Music, though, is the most important. When I'm stuck on a scene, finding a new soundtrack song can un-stick me. Recently, I've been listening to a whole lot of this one:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No Easy Way, by Digital Daggers</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. The Vampire Diaries</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is not exactly a new obsession, but some other writing friends and I have recently convinced <a href="http://zapslobstertank.blogspot.com/">Chessie</a> to watch TVD. I think every YA writer should watch it. The writing is that good. The characters, the setup and payoff, the PACING! Those writers really have it down. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Andrew recently bought me Season 2 on DVD...I know what I'll be doing this weekend!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[<a href="http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/08/27/vampire-diaries-promo-pics/">via</a>] </span></td></tr>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Trader Joe's Holiday Yumminess</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Dinner Mint Thins so amazing that (though I probably shouldn't admit to this) I dropped the box on the floor yesterday and they all spilled...and I dusted them off and ate them anyway.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TJ's version of a Dark Chocolate Orange that you smack on the table to break apart before you eat the slices.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And especially, Trader Joe's Sipping Chocolate. I've never found anything like this anywhere else. It's hot chocolate...kind of. Hot chocolate in the European sense. More like a melted chocolate bar than like the warm chocolate milk we think of as hot chocolate. It's so rich you can only drink about an ounce of it at a time--maybe it's a good thing it's only available over the holidays. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What have you been obsessed with this week? </span></div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-81417964353666693812011-11-04T19:11:00.000-07:002011-11-04T19:11:51.284-07:00Literary Crushes...oh, hello Jack!My awesome critique partner Leigh Ann has a guest vlog up today on my other awesome CP Gina's blog and it is...(you guessed it) awesome! Check out <a href="http://writersblog-gina.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-literary-crushes-history-guest-vlog.html">Leigh Ann's literary crushes here</a>!<br />
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And I was excited to hear that the love interest in my very own book, The Elite, was one of her literary crushes...meet Jack!<br />
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Yet another awesome CP, <a href="http://zapslobstertank.blogspot.com/">Chessie</a>, *drew* Jack, and can you tell I love him?? (His eyes! His dimple! His tight t-shirt!)</div>
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Turns out Jack is SO good-looking that my main character feels shy around him now. It's like...This guy? This guy likes...ME? Um. </div>
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Mmmm, extra romantic tension. Thanks, Chessie!</div>
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<br />Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-55884730489845432592011-10-24T11:13:00.000-07:002011-10-25T08:57:14.452-07:00Anti-Procrastination Live Blog<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
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There, I said it. And as is the case for lots of writers, the internet is my arch-nemesis when it comes to procrastinating. And I want to do something about it.</div>
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I've been (procrastinating by) watching Stephanie Perkins and Beth Revis live-blog their goals the past few days, and it's hilarious and awesome, not least because I love seeing that Real Writers stare at their computers and take snack breaks and curse their lack of motivation as much as the rest of us.</div>
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And so I thought it would be fun and maybe informative to keep track of my day. How much time do I really waste when I'm trying to write? How boring and mundane is most of my day, really?</div>
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Background: I work from home, and I work for my husband. I am not a full-time writer by any means, but the combo of these two things means that some days I have more time on my hands than someone with a normal 9-5 job, and that if I can get my work for the day done fast, I have some free time. For this I am incredibly grateful and I know that I'm lucky, so I'm constantly trying to figure out how to focus and use my time better.</div>
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Today is a good day to try this, because I don't have a ton of work-work today (did a good deal over the weekend--one of the things that makes working from home a double-edged sword. You can find a lot of free time, but you're also *never* not-working like you would be in a 9-5. Hubby and I are often work-working on say, Sunday nights, or Saturday mornings, or all weekend. But then that means I have some time on Monday to write. It works out.) :)</div>
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So today, I have a small-ish amount of work-work, a few other things, and lots of writing to do. Let's see how much I procrastinate!</div>
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7 am - Up at a normal time. I'm a relative night owl, so am usually grumpy before 6:30 or 7. Breakfast, coffee, morning discussions with husband about how our smallest cat has apparently just discovered that the bathroom counter exists, because the past few days she's been pushing toothbrushes, tweezers, bobby pins, and whatever else we leave out onto the floor at 6 am and then batting them around until we get up. And about how Payton Manning must've played defense and special teams for the Colts too, because this is a monumental collapse.</div>
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7:30-11 am - Work-work, interspersed with giggling at Twitter comments from CPs who get up earlier than me, email to different CPs, little bit of blog-checking, and inappropriate Twitter convos with <a href="http://www.leighannkopans.com/"><span style="color: #666666;">Leigh Ann Kopans</span></a>.</div>
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11 am - Snack. Even though breakfast was not that long ago.</div>
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11:05 - Trying to write. Stare at MS for a minute. Decide to go for a run instead.</div>
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11:15 - Out the door.</div>
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11:16 - Remember how much I hate running. Do it anyway because it's a pretty day outside, but not for very long because I HATE RUNNING.</div>
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11:35 - Back home. It is warm enough out that I was wearing shorts, but still had on a baggy sweatshirt. Only realized once home that when the shorts hike up a little, it looks from the back like I'm running without pants. This explains the honking from truck full of construction workers.</div>
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11:45 - More inappropriate but hilarious Twitter with Leigh Ann, <a href="http://writersblog-gina.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #666666;">Gina</span></a>, and <a href="http://zapslobstertank.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #666666;">Chessie</span></a>, and realize I should actually publish this blog and update it through the day rather than just having it saved. Read some articles online instead, like <a href="http://wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/2011/10/5-elements-of-resonant-closing-line.html"><span style="color: #666666;">this one</span></a> about last lines, because my last line sucks.</div>
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noon - Good lord. I have wasted a lot of time already. Gotten nothing done the past hour besides a feeble attempt at running.</div>
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12:20 - Finally post blog after trying for 10 min to figure out why trying to put a space between paragraphs put a zillion spaces between paragraphs. </div>
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12:22 - Realize that in order to attempt to meet goals, should probably define goals. </div>
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Goals: Get through page 120 on printed MS line-edits and type in the next few chapters before this evening. </div>
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12:40 - Still staring at MS. Shower. Wander around house wondering if I should re-arrange the furniture. </div>
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1:10 - Actually sit down with MS. MS is currently open to a kissing scene. This is dangerous. Am constantly tempted to just work on kissing scenes and not the rest of the MS. Self 1: But people like kissing scenes! Making this kissing scene hotter would totally make the book better. Self 2: If all you ever do is make the kissing scenes hotter, the rest of the book is going to suck and then no one will even get to the kissing scenes. Self 1: Sigh. (Adds a couple new lines anyway.)</div>
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2:30 - Have somehow managed to stay off internet, and am...11% finished with daily goal. Dammit. That is not very good. </div>
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Hubby comes home for lunch and some more work-work stuff.</div>
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3:30 - Chessie's query! Other people's stuff is SO much more fun to think about than my own.</div>
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3:45 - Housesitting for the in-laws and they have a really, really old cat that we are afraid is going to die while they're gone. Checking on the cat. </div>
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4 - Cat is not dead! In-laws usually feed him special wet food like, 8 times a day. We're sticking with 3, but this is the first time I've given him the wet food today, so I stay and pet him for a while to make up for it. </div>
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4:30 - Must get away from the house. Still only 11% done with goal. Run a few more errands and end up at Barnes and Noble cafe, because I love writing surrounded by books. I miss the Borders cafe. </div>
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4:45 - Should get straight to writing, but am worried about my first page and wondering if I can find another book that starts in the Normal World and gives good hints of coming conflict. Spend ten minutes browsing first pages in the YA section. #research</div>
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4:55 - "Hi." I glance over and a teenage boy with a backpack is standing next to me in the YA section. I give him a little smile and look around to see who he's talking to. Almost laugh out loud when I realize he's talking to me. He starts asking me about Twilight, because his sister has read them, and he wants to know what my favorites are, and he's trying really hard to flirt with me and it is OH SO CUTE and really very brave--good job, kiddo! Trying to be polite and trying not to laugh while subtley waving my wedding ring around before this gets REALLY awkward for everyone and he realizes that I am an old person. It doesn't work, and I finally just have to do the, "Okay, um, bye," thing, and leave, and he looks kind of put out, and I feel sort of bad.</div>
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5:10 - I am FINALLY sitting down and am about to write. Seriously. Just as soon as I look at Chessie's query again.</div>
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...and as soon as I look around some news sites a little. Go to MSN. Something huge and important might have happened in the past couple hours, and I would need to read about it. Must keep up with current events. </div>
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HELLO people, yes Jessica Simpson has been obviously pregnant for some time now. If she had just happened to gain 15 pounds straight to her stomach, do you think she'd be wearing tight tops like this? No. Jeez. I wonder if <a href="http://surisburnbook.tumblr.com/"><span style="color: #001ee6; text-decoration: underline;">Suri Cruise</span></a> has anything to say about this...and she does! </div>
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5:25 - I am going to edit two pages in the next ten minutes. Two pages. Easy enough. </div>
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5:31 - There is a really pretty girl sitting across from me wearing the most awful shoes. Why?! It makes me sad, and distracted. </div>
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5:36 - Crap.</div>
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6:15 - Have done one more page. NOT GOOD. The only thing that made me do that was that I keep staring out the window, and guy sitting in front of the window keeps smiling at me, and I realized that he thinks I'm staring at him. #notcool. Eyes on paper.</div>
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8 - Go home. 30% done. Am SO not meeting today's goal (though, to be fair, I think it was an overly ambitious goal). Looking at Chessie's query has inspired me to work on my query. Spend way too much time looking through Amazon listings at flap copy with phrases like, "a terrifying mystery," "the future of mankind may depend on," and "secret societies, ancient coverups, and savage vengeance." </div>
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9:30 - Hubby home. Too late for dinner-I'm having wine for dinner.</div>
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10:30 - New version of query. At least I've gotten something done today, though who knows how it'll end up looking in the light of tomorrow morning.</div>
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Midnight - I'm tired. Still only about 40% done. Should set a more realistic goal tomorrow. :)<br />
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12:45 - I am now playing that game with myself where I pretend I can still do anything productive even though I'm really tired, and all I end up doing is looking at the internet. (ooh, look! 12-year-olds in Russia discover they were switched at birth!) The next day, I always wish I'd just gone to bed. So...I'm going to bed. Thanks for hanging out with me!</div>
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</span>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-88215523347995820022011-10-10T21:39:00.000-07:002011-10-10T21:39:26.778-07:00Plot Lessons are Everywhere<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsol3rDRF9LXoZVzeOVEuDd3f5lJuolh-w7zKMayshgLwF86YQosuD0JYUdEl3mVxbA7qLeYnUWvm9bXcyY1-cDxX0YikhPSfskKln8dwdemUqBPwObHYOMhYOvoXZT4V1w08FYEgFMNXw/s1600/nikita.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsol3rDRF9LXoZVzeOVEuDd3f5lJuolh-w7zKMayshgLwF86YQosuD0JYUdEl3mVxbA7qLeYnUWvm9bXcyY1-cDxX0YikhPSfskKln8dwdemUqBPwObHYOMhYOvoXZT4V1w08FYEgFMNXw/s400/nikita.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">...like in the TV show <i>Nikita</i>. </span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Have you ever heard the idea that you should first throw small rocks at your characters, then strand them up a tree, and throw bigger and bigger rocks at them? Not to advocate physical violence, but because a character who has it easy is a boring character? Well, this episode did that perfectly.</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nikita had to do something hard, then the writers made it worse. Then they made it way, way worse:</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nikita (the protagonist) and Michael (the other protag/sometime love interest) are on a mission to kill some terrorist dude who killed Michael’s family years ago. This is already going to be very, very difficult, and the whole episode probably could have been about this. </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But then, Division (who Nikita has escaped from and who wants her dead) figures out that Nikita is there, and sends someone to kill her. Complication!</span></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While they are lying in wait for the terrorist dude they have to kill, Nikita goes off to shoot him, but Michael sees Division coming after Nikita. But! Nikita’s earpiece has fallen out so he can’t tell her! Complication! </span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So he has to go stop them himself, even though he works for them! And while he’s down there, terrorist dude’s cronies shoot him like a hundred times, but he’s wearing a bulletproof vest, so they kidnap him! And now Nikita is going to have to go save him! Complications everywhere!</span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #7a7a7a; font-family: angie-sans-1, angie-sans-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">See what they do? Make it hard, then make it way worse. Sorry, characters. :(</span></div>
</span>Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-814814206159679712011-09-29T08:14:00.000-07:002011-10-03T08:14:38.558-07:00Epiphany<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lots of my ideas come to me in the middle of the night. I keep a notebook beside the bed just for occasions like this, and it’s always fun in the morning to see what I scribbled by the light of my cell phone at 3 am. Sometimes, the ideas are brilliant–the solution to a problem I’d been having comes to me in a flash as I try to fall asleep, or I wake up with an idea for a great new scene.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes, though, the idea seemed a lot better while I was half asleep, or worse, it’s nothing more than a bunch of words strung together that mean absolutely nothing. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The other day, I had one that I’m not sure about. It’s either the stupidest thought I’ve ever had, or the most brilliant.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I woke up in the middle of the night sure that I’d solved any problem I’d ever had with my writing. My book was now going to be so much better. All I had to do?</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Make the awesome parts of the book awesomer, and get rid of all the parts that aren’t awesome.</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Right.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On one hand, um, DUH. But on the other hand, this is such good advice. That chapter where my MC is in the library looking at family history books–the chapter I never want to work on because I find it kind of boring? Stop working on it. Just get rid of it. It’s not awesome, and not getting that much awesomer. And if I combine the chapter with the pretty-awesome relationship-building with the pretty-awesome action in the next chapter? Way MORE awesome. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So actually, I think that sleep-idea was brilliant after all. </span></span></div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-27050286721393568242011-09-27T19:39:00.000-07:002011-10-03T19:39:50.980-07:00CheatingYes, I've moved a few posts over from my old (woefully under-blogged-on) Wordpress blog so this one wouldn't look quite so bare. Yes, I'm cheating. :)Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-648219541790372002011-09-15T08:13:00.000-07:002011-10-03T08:13:50.807-07:00Writing is Funny<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfDtTF1uuZBG0saVS0W7Iq02Eg_o-OiobS-Noz8tb90Vq0Bm3SYkbqZ6yFdqoEhvIAzbCdZn3h0yHiOStnmzr-2vc-uu2QnbKdWFqIQsHrDJr_AoTIg-i-a9EKxsn9hpL8nfqAxrNzu8/s1600/PaulWesleyAbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijfDtTF1uuZBG0saVS0W7Iq02Eg_o-OiobS-Noz8tb90Vq0Bm3SYkbqZ6yFdqoEhvIAzbCdZn3h0yHiOStnmzr-2vc-uu2QnbKdWFqIQsHrDJr_AoTIg-i-a9EKxsn9hpL8nfqAxrNzu8/s320/PaulWesleyAbs.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I swear, there is a point to this picture. Kind of.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The other day I cut my thumb while I was making dinner. It wasn’t anything serious, but I still probably should have put on a band-aid so I didn’t bleed all over our salad. Instead, the first thing I did was grab my notebook and make extensive notes about how the blood ran down my thumb, how it stung when I rinsed off the cut, how long it took to stop bleeding…</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Writing is weird. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I noticed this when I was starting to learn to paint, too. Suddenly, trees weren’t green. They were a million different colors. It makes you see the world just a little differently.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The whole world is like that when you’re a writer. The sound of the wind isn’t necessarily “howling,” like you automatically think. It’s a whisper one day, and it might be a scream the next. There are so many nuances that you just…hadn’t noticed before.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And besides this, doesn’t writing just make you do strange things? Like I realized that my last two Google searches were “Paris to Istanbul flight time” and “Paul Wesley shirtless.” (Research, people. Research. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.) </span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And then there’s when I’m writing at Starbucks and the person at the table next to me gives me a funny look. I realize that I have my notebook open to a page entitled, “Possible ways to kill people.” In the context of my book, makes sense. In real life, not so much. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Or sometimes I’ll find myself having conversations with my husband that start off like, “So, Jack needs to have his shirt off in this scene. What logical way can I get him to take his shirt off?” Or to do some research of my own, I have to put on a miniskirt and try to climb on some furniture to determine just how difficult Avery’s escape is going to be in this scene. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Or my favorite: out at happy hour with some friends the other night, I realized that I had “hung out” with my characters far, far more than I had hung out with these real people recently. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What weird writing things have you done recently?</span></span></div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-39068299254196845262011-09-10T08:10:00.000-07:002011-10-03T08:10:29.026-07:00Curing Writer's Block<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7a7a7a; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Writer’s block sucks. But I think—I think!—it’s curable, with a little hard work. (And yes, it’s absolutely easier said than done.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For me, the good news is that writer’s block seems to always have a cause, even if it’s hard to pinpoint at first. For me, it’s usually one of two things: either I’m just overwhelmed, or there is something seriously wrong with my story.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The latter can be especially bad if I don’t know exactly what is wrong, just that something is. This is what happened to me with a recent bad round of writer’s block. The story. Just. Wasn’t. Right. But I didn’t know why.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My solution this time around? Actually allow myself to see what was there. Finally, I realized that I kind of did know what was wrong—I just didn’t want to admit it, because it required a lot of changes [eh hem, less time spent trying to find excuses to have the boys be shirtless, more time solving the main story goal. Easy mistake to make]. Admitting it, though, was the first step. (No, there are not necessarily twelve steps here.) :) Once I admitted to myself that the story really did need that much work, I was able to go forward. And you know what? It didn’t turn out to be as much work as I’d built it up in my head to be.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I’m just feeling overwhelmed is a different—but similar—story. Like with the big changes I mentioned above, sometimes there’s just SO much to do that it seems insurmountable. And that sucks, and it’s easy to get bogged down in feeling sorry for yourself and feeling like the story will never be finished. This tends to be where I fall into the “this is the worst story ever written” pit of despair.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But there is a way out. My steps?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1. Stop panicking.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2. Break down the work into small bits. For instance, “I need to revise and make my main character better” is a really huge goal. “I need to change my MC’s reactions in scenes 4, 7, and 13 to make her more likable” feels much more do-able.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And if all else fails? Drink a lot of wine and just write. :)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What are your cures for writer’s block?</span></div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1714397132203435977.post-84654943189423780432011-09-08T08:08:00.000-07:002011-10-03T08:09:01.328-07:00On Strong YA Heroines<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7a7a7a; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It feels silly calling strong characters a trend, but making your female MC “strong” is one of those things that everyone says they’re looking for in YA these days. Of course—who wants to read about a weak character?—but on further inspection, it’s not as obvious as you’d think. What does it really mean? What is a strong character? And how does it change in YA?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">These are all questions I’ve been asking myself recently as I’ve been revising. My MC is by far the hardest character for me to write. She’s <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">killing</em> me, and what’s killing me more is making her come across as lovely as she is in my head.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In my experience with her, and with quite a few of the YA heroines I’ve read recently, I’ve found that many (though of course not all!) YA girls tend to fall on one of two sides: the blank slate, who’s not much more than a wish fulfillment vehicle that any teen girl could insert herself into because she has so little of her own personality (understandable in some cases, I suppose, but oh-so-boring to read about) OR the uber-tough “Strong” girl. And sometimes it seems like there has been a Guide to Strong YA Heroines distributed, so now, these “strong” girls fall mostly into two categories:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. The sarcastic girl. She always has a witty comeback, and she’ll never show weakness. Her snark can be a lot of fun, but can border on annoying or even bitchy, depending on how far she takes it.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. The kickass girl. This chick is so good at everything it’s scary. If someone annoys her, she’ll probably just punch them, because she’s a Strong Woman and Strong Women don’t put up with that crap. Though she is probably gorgeous, she likely won’t lower herself to the level of liking girly things like dresses and makeup. As capable as she is, her flaw tends to be that she’s emotionally unavailable. In short, if overdone, she is essentially a stereotypical alpha-male character in a girl’s body.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Notice how these two are kind of the same girl, except one fends people off with words, and one with her fists? These are both very defensive characters, like the only way to be strong is to be angry. Is it possible for a YA girl to be open, vulnerable, still trying to figure herself out, adventurous but still nervous—and even (dare I say it) kind of girlie—and still be considered strong because of how she goes through life?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I hope so, or I’m screwed. :)</span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What do you think? Who are some great YA heroines who are relatable and admirable for more than their left hook or their sharp tongue?</span></span></div>
Maggie Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17378337707268580252noreply@blogger.com0