I need to confess something and it is kind of embarrassing. Here I go. I ALWAYS like the ‘wrong guy’ in a book. No, no… please don’t laugh. It’s true… and it’s becoming a problem.
Oh, so you want an example? Here are a few that I think you might recognize.
Edward or Jacob? JACOB
Gale or Peeta? GALE
Nash or Tod? TOD
Stefan or Damon? DAMON
The list goes on and on. Whenever the main character has a choice of two guys, I LOVE the guy she doesn’t pick.
Why is this a problem you ask? Oh, I’m so glad you asked.
In my current work in progress, the main character finds herself in a love triangle. I know whom she is supposed to end up with and it makes sense for her to end up with said guy… Nevertheless… I HATE IT!!!
I don’t want her to end up with him! I want her to be a rebel, go for the ‘wrong guy’, and make it work! I want her to tell everyone one that the heart wants what the heart wants! I want…
Okay, okay, we all need to take a deep, calming breath. It will work out; even if she ends up with the guy, I don’t want her to… How do I know? Cause I’m the writer and I see the bigger picture.
But here is another thought. Do I love the ‘wrong guy’ so much because the main character doesn’t choose him? If she did pick him, would I still like him best or would I find myself liking the other guy?
*sighs* These are the things that keep me up at night. I would love to hear your thoughts on it!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Please Evacuate the Building...
Since I haven’t done a “Wrestling Wednesday” in a while, I decided to do one today!
One of my all time favorite memories happened on September 25, 2006. My BFF, Terrica, came into town for this one, which is always fun. Terrica, Yousef, and I went to the arena for RAW. A good friend of mine hooked us up with a special package and we were able to go ‘backstage’ for a meet-n-greet with some of the wrestlers as well as a small dinner. It also came with front row seats. We got to hang out with Randy Orton and the Spirit Squad.
The thing that stands out the most about this show, though, was when the opening pyros went off. For any of you reading this blog that has never watched wrestling, the first part of the show is kicked off with a massive pyro show, with exploding things and fireworks.
Unfortunately, the arena didn’t have a good ventilation system… and it set the fire alarms off. The lights dimmed and there was a VERY creepy automated voice saying, “Please evacuate the building.” over and over.
This is all happening live, on TV by the way.
You never know what is going to happen at a live event, so we wondered if it was a part of the show… or maybe a new wrestler debuting. When we saw the camera operators and security guards starting to panic… well, we panicked as well.
Luckily, the arena was able to turn on the fans and get all of the smoke from the pyros to clear out. It was definitely scary for a while, lol. But that is how memories are made!
One of my all time favorite memories happened on September 25, 2006. My BFF, Terrica, came into town for this one, which is always fun. Terrica, Yousef, and I went to the arena for RAW. A good friend of mine hooked us up with a special package and we were able to go ‘backstage’ for a meet-n-greet with some of the wrestlers as well as a small dinner. It also came with front row seats. We got to hang out with Randy Orton and the Spirit Squad.
The thing that stands out the most about this show, though, was when the opening pyros went off. For any of you reading this blog that has never watched wrestling, the first part of the show is kicked off with a massive pyro show, with exploding things and fireworks.
Unfortunately, the arena didn’t have a good ventilation system… and it set the fire alarms off. The lights dimmed and there was a VERY creepy automated voice saying, “Please evacuate the building.” over and over.
This is all happening live, on TV by the way.
You never know what is going to happen at a live event, so we wondered if it was a part of the show… or maybe a new wrestler debuting. When we saw the camera operators and security guards starting to panic… well, we panicked as well.
Luckily, the arena was able to turn on the fans and get all of the smoke from the pyros to clear out. It was definitely scary for a while, lol. But that is how memories are made!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Valentine’s Day… also known as the Eve of My Birthday
Yes, dear readers, as the title suggests my birthday is tomorrow. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I LOVE my birthday. I start counting down months before. I get excited. I hypothetically wore a tiara one time… Hehe, I digress.
The one gripe I have with my birthday is that it is the day after Valentine’s Day. As a child, I would always get left over Valentine’s items as ‘birthday gifts’. People forgetting… even though I remind them (Haha). Not being able to have a party outside because it's cold. That sort of thing.
It’s not always bad, though. My family always made sure that I was able to have a great birthday party, which often ended up being at Celebration Station or Chuck-E Cheese. I also had a ton of wonderful parties at home. And to this day, we still do something as a family even if its just going out to eat.
I would say that my all-time favorite birthday memory would be when I turned six. My Dad woke me up early, like around 5am. He was a truck driver and would often be go before I even got up. I walked into the living room with blurry eyes.
Sitting on the side table was a bouquet of 6 pink roses. I was thrilled. I had always wanted to get flowers for my birthday. This was mostly because my older sister always got them for hers. Her birthday is in June and her middle name is Rose - so Roses for her birthday was an obvious choice. Anyway, I was so happy that I finally got roses for my birthday!
As the years went on, I realized just how special those roses were. When I was six, I didn’t understand that roses are in high demand around my birthday. I didn’t understand that the prices sky rocket this time of year, either.
When I look back on my birthdays, they are filled with so many good memories. But the roses definitely stand out.
The one gripe I have with my birthday is that it is the day after Valentine’s Day. As a child, I would always get left over Valentine’s items as ‘birthday gifts’. People forgetting… even though I remind them (Haha). Not being able to have a party outside because it's cold. That sort of thing.
It’s not always bad, though. My family always made sure that I was able to have a great birthday party, which often ended up being at Celebration Station or Chuck-E Cheese. I also had a ton of wonderful parties at home. And to this day, we still do something as a family even if its just going out to eat.
I would say that my all-time favorite birthday memory would be when I turned six. My Dad woke me up early, like around 5am. He was a truck driver and would often be go before I even got up. I walked into the living room with blurry eyes.
Sitting on the side table was a bouquet of 6 pink roses. I was thrilled. I had always wanted to get flowers for my birthday. This was mostly because my older sister always got them for hers. Her birthday is in June and her middle name is Rose - so Roses for her birthday was an obvious choice. Anyway, I was so happy that I finally got roses for my birthday!
As the years went on, I realized just how special those roses were. When I was six, I didn’t understand that roses are in high demand around my birthday. I didn’t understand that the prices sky rocket this time of year, either.
When I look back on my birthdays, they are filled with so many good memories. But the roses definitely stand out.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Getting Raw (and for once I don’t mean wrestling!)
As a writer, I am expected to express things in such a way that you, the reader, can visualize exactly what is going on without having to stop and figure it out on your own.
For example, if I said something like: The hotel room I stayed in was nice; you might wonder what my definition of ‘nice’ might be. Was it a big room or small? Was there a window? See? So many questions.
But if I were to say: The hotel room screamed luxury. From the French doors that led out to the balcony, to the king size bed, and all the way down to the hand-stitched pillows on the bed, I knew that I had finally made it to the big time.
See, that was a little better. You know that the character is in awe of the room. You also know there is a balcony with a view. A nice, big bed. And hand sewn pillows. And that they are famous or whatnot.
Anyway, my point is that it is my job to make you see without knowing you are being made to look… if that makes sense.
But I discovered that when it comes to writing emotional things down… I am…not so good.
I decided to sit down a write a ‘letter’ to a friend that I don’t get to see very much. I am able to use this person as an outlet, even though said person will never see the letters.
Want to know what I discovered? I CAN write things that are emotional or have feeling behind them! I also discovered just how raw those emotions could be.
I let my friend, Yousef, read the very first letter. He called it ‘very Kelly Clarkson’, which meant he was able to notice the emotional aspects as well.
Since writing the first ‘letter’, I have wrote a few more. I find that sometimes I just need to sit down and hash everything out. And then I can go on with my normal writing with an open heart.
~ Sometimes, you just have to get raw and be honest with yourself ~
For example, if I said something like: The hotel room I stayed in was nice; you might wonder what my definition of ‘nice’ might be. Was it a big room or small? Was there a window? See? So many questions.
But if I were to say: The hotel room screamed luxury. From the French doors that led out to the balcony, to the king size bed, and all the way down to the hand-stitched pillows on the bed, I knew that I had finally made it to the big time.
See, that was a little better. You know that the character is in awe of the room. You also know there is a balcony with a view. A nice, big bed. And hand sewn pillows. And that they are famous or whatnot.
Anyway, my point is that it is my job to make you see without knowing you are being made to look… if that makes sense.
But I discovered that when it comes to writing emotional things down… I am…not so good.
I decided to sit down a write a ‘letter’ to a friend that I don’t get to see very much. I am able to use this person as an outlet, even though said person will never see the letters.
Want to know what I discovered? I CAN write things that are emotional or have feeling behind them! I also discovered just how raw those emotions could be.
I let my friend, Yousef, read the very first letter. He called it ‘very Kelly Clarkson’, which meant he was able to notice the emotional aspects as well.
Since writing the first ‘letter’, I have wrote a few more. I find that sometimes I just need to sit down and hash everything out. And then I can go on with my normal writing with an open heart.
~ Sometimes, you just have to get raw and be honest with yourself ~
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Interview With Kristine Goodfellow
In
2011, I was lucky enough to attend a writing convention in Dallas called
DFWcon. It was Amazing! I attended classes about my craft. I mingled with agents and editors. But, more importantly, I met fellow writers
and authors. I have kept in touch with
several of these authors and it has been a blessing to watch them grow and see
their successes.
Recently,
a friend from DFWcon had her book published!
Her book has received several amazing reviews. On top of that, she is also a Best Seller on
Amazon's Gothic Romance list!
Because
of her success, I asked her if she would let me interview her, so that everyone
could get to know her and check out her amazing book. Luckily, for me, she said
yes!
So,
without further ado, I would like to welcome Kristine Goodfellow, author of
“Phantom: Edge of the Flame” to my blog.
A little about Kristine...
Kristine
is a 1990 graduate of Cal State and currently lives in Texas wither husband, her
contemptuous cat and a formally-stray, sickly Chihuahua that someone dumped at
her husband’s office building. She’s the
mother of two grown sons who attend school in South Dakota and
Pennsylvania.
Kristine has written nine novels and is working on her tenth.Only Phantom: Edge of the Flameis currently available.Another gothic romance will be released in early 2012.
Visit her blog at
kristinegoodfellow.wordpress.com
Kristine
thanks for doing this interview and welcome to my blog.
Thanks for interviewing me, Sarah. I’m flattered to be on featured on your
blog. I’ve been following your blog for
a while now and I enjoy keeping up to date on you, your writing and of course, your
wrestling obsession. I’m glad we met at
the conference last year.
How
long have you been writing?
I’ve
been writing novels for the last ten years, but I’ve been writing stories since
the third grade. We had an assignment
that was an essay entitled: “I wish I
was…”. I wrote three different versions
and couldn’t decide which one I should turn in for a grade. At that time I understood just how much I
enjoyed writing. Since I never liked
having homework before (math was a form of torture for me), I realized that
writing released a creative side in me that I had not quite discovered—not in
written form anyway. My childhood games
were quite resourceful; I had a vivid imagination for make-believe. In fact, I had a whole kingdom in my backyard
made from overturned lawn furniture and picnic blankets. My poor dog survived having scarves tied
around her head, a few strands of fake pearls hanging from her neck and doll
dresses foisted on her. (She was a
princess.—what can I say?) And that
essay that started it all? I only got an
“S” (Satisfactory) grade because in such excitement over verbal creation, some
things might have suffered—like spelling and grammar. You know the things that nuns take rather
seriously. The only piece of
encouragement I received for that paper was the word “Imaginative” written in
red across the top—right next to the words “Watch your margins!”
What
is the inspiration behind Phantom: Edge of the Flame?
I loved the main character. In the original novel, Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, “Erik” (the phantom) is a
dark, tortured, genius with a disturbing past.
I get chills just thinking of all the depth this character has. However, I could never get over the love (or
in my mind obsession) that he had for a young, beautiful soprano. I never understood how the hideously ugly
genius who’d been hiding in the bowels of the opera house (who surely had seen
plenty of beautiful women!) suddenly became insanely fixated on this young
teenager. I just didn’t see the appeal of
his love interest, Christine. I wanted
something more than the obvious connection of their mutual love of singing and
the even more obvious connection of her being beautiful and him being lovesick. That wasn’t convincing enough for me. I went in search of answers. After reading Susan Kay’s fantastic novel Phantom, (which is the prequel to Gaston
Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera) I still
needed more answers. Not finding any
real answers there either, I decided to pen my own “short story” giving the
Phantom a new love interest more in line with his age, intelligence and
personality--someone who would not only challenge him, but perhaps give him a
taste of actual mature love. That “short
story” became an 81,000-word novel.
Is
the Phantom dark and sexy like the Andrew Lloyd Webber movie starring Gerard
Butler? Or is he more like what is
described in the book?
He
is definitely NOT handsome. Nothing like
the 2004 movie where he’s really hunky except for that little bit of his face
that has some sort of skin-disorder. In
the Schumaker movie, the phantom was still damn-handsome even with that bit of
flaw. I liked the movie in and of itself
as a form of entertainment and I also loved the Broadway production, on which it
was based, but in Phantom: Edge of the
Flame, I stuck with the original version of the phantom—a guy who was
described as living death. Gaston Leroux
depicts him as being extremely ugly, emaciated and well, smelling kinda
weird. What I wanted to do was keep the
original crazy, ugly character and make him sympathetic, and also give him a
love interest. I absolutely love the
idea of a crazy, love-starved genius!
If
someone has not read “The Phantom of the Opera” will they still be able to
follow your book?
Absolutely! I wrote it so the reader did not have to be
familiar with the 2004 movie or the original novel. In fact, I’ve noticed several of the positive
reviews I’ve received have specifically said they were not familiar with the
book or weren’t “Phantom Phans” at all.
I wrote it to be enjoyed as a stand-alone piece. All anyone needs to know is the rudimentary
idea of a disfigured magician/ventriloquist/musical genius “haunting” the opera
house because he has withdrawn from society and has disdain for mankind.
What
advice would you give an unpublished writer?
The
thing that helped me the most is joining online critique groups. My writing seemed to improve ten-fold by
having it critiqued by different writers with varying levels of talent and
experience. All kinds of people with
different ideas for strengthening our craft read my work and offered their
opinions. That’s incredibly useful. Granted, you have to take what you find
helpful and dump the rest, but I learned a lot.
If I could give one piece of advice, I would say get out of your comfort
zone and let other people look at your work--that is people other than your
family and friends. It might be hard at
first, but after the initial shock, you will grow and learn by having your
mistakes called out time and time again.
One of the first critiques I ever received told me that I used
‘filtering’ and that I ‘distanced myself from the reader’. First, I was crushed. Then I became angry. I reread my work and thought it was
awesome. After that, I concluded the guy
was a jerkwad for saying such a negative thing about my precious baby. BUT…after the fourth and fifth person said
the same thing, I realized I was
being the jerkwad. I have since learned
not to use any ‘filtering’ such as “I heard, I saw, I thought…etc.”
What
is the best advice you received as a writer?
Grow
a thick skin. I’m still working on that one.
It’s hard to have someone dislike your work. It’s like someone not liking your kids…but,
it happens. I’ve learned that not every
story is for every person. As my best
friend likes to say, “Honey, not every shoe fits every foot.” That sounds really cute when she says it with
a southern drawl, too. So, when I feel
down because someone didn’t like something I wrote, I hear that expression in my
head and it cheers me up.
Do
you have any books coming out?
Yes. I’ve got another gothic romance set to be
released at the end of March and a horror with romantic elements due out in
early fall of 2012. As soon as I get the
okay, I will write more about those upcoming novels. Right now they’re being edited within an inch
of their spines.
Thanks
for interviewing me, Sarah. I appreciate
the time you took to do this. I can’t
wait until DFWcon this year!
Again, I would like to thank Kristine for allowing me to interview her. I hope you all check out her book!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Welcome 2012!!!!
I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!!!!!
May it be filled with blessings and joy! And I hope the Mayans were wrong with their 'end of the world' prediction lol.
May it be filled with blessings and joy! And I hope the Mayans were wrong with their 'end of the world' prediction lol.
I don't believe in resolutions, but I do believe in making goals for the
new year.
My goals for 2012:
* Get an Agent/ Get book published
* Take a fabulous vacation with my family
* Spend more time with my friends
* Be more honest with my loved ones
* Spend my money wiser (lol, this means less shopping)
* Go to more Author signings in my area (I already go to a lot, but my goal
is to find more to attend. I found a local bookstore that hosts signings that I
never knew about, so I am sure I will be there!)
What goals or resolutions did you make for 2012
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
10 Random Things You May Not Know About Me
I got this in an email and thought it was interesting. I hope those of you who read my blog will play along!
You just put 10 random things that people may not know about you. Simple!
1) “Smooth” by Rob Thomas instantly makes me happy. I don’t care how bad a day has been… when I hear the song I smile
2) The word ‘dookie’ (as in poop) grosses me out. My Grandma used to say it all the time and i would gross out. Not sure why it bothers me, but it does.
3) I have a horrible fear of Spiders crawling through my window screen. I won’t even sleep with the window open.
4) When I was six, I wanted everyone to call me “CeCe Bloom” because I loved the movie ‘Beaches’
5) I believe in supporting local authors, artists, etc. I go to book signings when I hear of them and have met several talented people this way. I also go to art shows, craft fairs, and anything else like that.
6) I read “Gone with the Wind” when I was in the 4th grade, “Little Women” in the 5th, and “Scarlett” in the 6th grade. My teachers were impressed lol
7) Although I LOVE traveling… I HATE flying.
I have a rule: Do NOT talk to me until the plane has been safely in the air for five minutes. I literally sit back with my eyes shut until this time. If there is ANY turbulence, then forget about talking to me! It ain’t happening lol!
8) I collect glass dog figurines. My Dad started the collection when he was little. It then was passed onto my cousin. It was passed onto me when I was 12. I have added about 10 figures to it, but they have a special meaning behind it, like my ‘Lady’ from ‘Lady and the Tramp’ figure.
9) I love sending out Christmas Cards. If I have your address, you will get a card from me. My old high school friends always seem to get a kick out of this
10) I have known that I want to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I recently found a ‘book’ I wrote in the 4th grade as an assignment. In it, I stated that when I grew up I was going to be a writer. (I also misspelled my middle name two different ways, both wrong, which my sister laughed about)
There ya go! 10 things about me! I hope you all play along!
You just put 10 random things that people may not know about you. Simple!
1) “Smooth” by Rob Thomas instantly makes me happy. I don’t care how bad a day has been… when I hear the song I smile
2) The word ‘dookie’ (as in poop) grosses me out. My Grandma used to say it all the time and i would gross out. Not sure why it bothers me, but it does.
3) I have a horrible fear of Spiders crawling through my window screen. I won’t even sleep with the window open.
4) When I was six, I wanted everyone to call me “CeCe Bloom” because I loved the movie ‘Beaches’
5) I believe in supporting local authors, artists, etc. I go to book signings when I hear of them and have met several talented people this way. I also go to art shows, craft fairs, and anything else like that.
6) I read “Gone with the Wind” when I was in the 4th grade, “Little Women” in the 5th, and “Scarlett” in the 6th grade. My teachers were impressed lol
7) Although I LOVE traveling… I HATE flying.
I have a rule: Do NOT talk to me until the plane has been safely in the air for five minutes. I literally sit back with my eyes shut until this time. If there is ANY turbulence, then forget about talking to me! It ain’t happening lol!
8) I collect glass dog figurines. My Dad started the collection when he was little. It then was passed onto my cousin. It was passed onto me when I was 12. I have added about 10 figures to it, but they have a special meaning behind it, like my ‘Lady’ from ‘Lady and the Tramp’ figure.
9) I love sending out Christmas Cards. If I have your address, you will get a card from me. My old high school friends always seem to get a kick out of this
10) I have known that I want to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I recently found a ‘book’ I wrote in the 4th grade as an assignment. In it, I stated that when I grew up I was going to be a writer. (I also misspelled my middle name two different ways, both wrong, which my sister laughed about)
There ya go! 10 things about me! I hope you all play along!
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