I'm not dead? Whoa.

I popped on to check something and am amazed this blog is still getting views. Hi guys! I've been going on Tumblr but my interest in it is dropping. It's so full of hate. And nearly impossible to reply to comments. I'm thinking of either coming back to this blog or starting another blog on a different site.

As a quick little update for whoever you awesome people are, I have been struggling a lot with my writing. Something was wrong. My passion had died. The flame about to become smoke. So I stopped my current project and decided to return to where it all started--my very first novel. Of course its different. It has a new plot, remade characters, fresh takes and a lot cut out from the plot. Its not being coddled. It's not my baby. I'm not afraid to tear it to pieces and try again.

The biggest change is the POV. I've found out as of late that I am MUCH better at writing third person. Its coming very naturally. And the best part is I'm having a blast. My passion has been restored and I'm sitting here eager to write. How awesome is that? I'm thrilled. For some strange reason or another this novel will not leave me alone. Maybe that means something.

Whatever the reason is I'm going with it. I'm going to take this story that was once written in a pile of notebooks to the best thing I have ever written. If you want to support me and get updates. Leave a comment. Even just saying hi would mean a lot to me.

Thanks for stopping by whoever you lovely people are. See you soon hopefully.

How can this be so easy?!? (Tumbler link inside.)

Never in my life (I've only been writing novels for seven years now. So by "life" I mean seven years.) has writing a synopsis been this easy. Last night I forced myself to sit down and focus on my synopsis. I'm not sure if its the fact I found a few agents who may fit really well with my novel or the fact this novel just makes more sense than my others, or what. But I'm finding it very easy to write out my novel synopsis this time around. Which is great. Hell, I'm not complaining. I'm loving it.

The problem is I'm almost at three pages! The first page is great. It's been looked at, edited and I'm feeling very good about it. The second page is still being worked on. My fiance has looked it over. I edited and am now writing a section he thought was a bit rushed, which I agree (I wrote it in a few minutes after all.) I am worried that I am almost at three pages since the section I have re-written has grown in size. Which is good and bad. I'm very happy with how easy this whole process has been. Maybe it's because I've improved and I haven't really realized just how much I have improved my writing skills and knowledge. That's why research is always important, (Whether its on, query letters, synopsis, ect.)

In other news I may not be writing on this blog any longer.

Yes. I made a Tumbler.

http://confessionsofawritingaddict.tumblr.com/

So check that out. I'll be writing there daily.

Thank you reading.

Change in direction

I've been thinking a lot about starting up a Tumbler blog for a while now. At first I didn't like the idea and it seemed like a site that would have no use to me. But I keep finding myself looking at other Tumbler blogs and I'm liking it more and more. So I may make one in the near future to replace this blog for a while. I won't delete this blog as it will be easier to post big posts here rather one there. I think I'll keep it simple, re-posting writing related things and quotes that inspire me. It'll be more of a fun place to gather inspiration rather then post big posts like here.

In other news I have started doing research on some agents that I think would be interested in my novel. I found one today that is very interested in the type of novels I write and I think mine would be a great match for her. She also seems caring and very interested in getting to know her clients which I want in an agent. Hopefully she'll be interested in my novel.

I won't know until I finish this darn synopsis. Which I should be working on now. So I better go do that before I become lost online again.

Thanks for reading!

So much to be done.

Hello! It's been a while. I'm glad to see people still visit my blog. I haven't been away for that long. But it's still nice to find it alive with people still visiting. Thank you. This will be a short post, a quick update. The contest isn't happening this year for some reason. I'm not going to question it. Yes, I wanted it to be my back up but I think without I will work twice as hard on my synopsis. The query letter is finished. I may add in a few more things before I send any out but I am pleased with how it sounds. It's been edited as well.

I have only two remaining things on my to-do list before I will start sending out query letters. The first one is finishing a long and and short synopsis. I have the first few sentences done. I just need to sit down and write it. After dealing with the query letter I won't have to worry being stuck on the synopsis. The next thing on my list is creating chapter names.

After all my work has been edited I'll start sending out query letters. I already have a list of agents I want to email. But I won't until I've done some research on them and make sure they would be the best fit for me and my novel.

During all this I've been finding myself having the itch to write my next novel. But I am keeping myself from doing so because if I do I may never get this stuff done. I'm hoping by the end of the month to be finished so I can start sending out query letters.


So that's it for now. Thank you for reading.

Let's break down this wall!

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” 
― Maya Angelou

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” 
― Robert Frost

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” 
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” 
― Anton Chekhov

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” 
― Ernest Hemingway

“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of. ” 
― Joss Whedon

“Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.” 
― Meg Cabot

“You always get more respect when you don't have a happy ending.” 
― Julia Quinn

“To remind me, pain is the best teacher” 
― Holly Black, White Cat



There. These inspired me. I hope they will inspire you too. I know somewhere these quotes, these authors have inspired someone. I could fill hundreds of posts on this blog with quotes that have inspired me. But I'll spare you that. I wanted to write about how stuck I am on my query letter but I felt I shouldn't start a blog with whining so instead I found these quotes in the hopes who ever reads them finds themselves motivated. I feel a bit better now.

I am stuck. Like there is a wall surrounding me. I'm afraid to step away from it. But I'm trying. The contest opens in two days. That isn't a lot of time to get things together. Of course it doesn't close until the 27th but I don't want to wait until the last minute. I have a good start. I just need to sit down and clear my mind from everything but this novel. So far its helped a bit. I have some new ideas that I just wrote up tonight. I just hope they sound okay when my fiance looks it over tomorrow.

I keep finding myself wanting to plan out my next novel. But I have managed to pull myself back. I write down the ideas and leave it at that so I can try and focus on my query letter and synopsis. I know I can do it. I guess I'm just afraid to spill all my thoughts down and it winding up sounding stupid. I love the story, don't get me wrong it's just so hard to cut away the meat of the novel and take it from 75k to 300 words. It isn't fun. It isn't supposed to be. But it has to sound good. I know in my heart this novel is good. Much better than anything else I've written. I just need to remember that when I sit down and write my query letter.

I'm sure I'll be fine. That I'll get it written and hopefully catch an agent's eye. That's be nice. For now I'm going take a break from this blog to focus on writing my query letter. I may update randomly but for now I have to stop using this an excuse so I can write.


Thank you for reading.

Onto the next project.

I just finished the second bout of editing and am very pleased with my novel. There is this moment where you look through your work and feel there is literary nothing else you can do at this point. That's when you know your done editing. So right now I'm finished. I will have my fiance read over the edited edition just in case I missed something again. I don't want to over edit it but I do want to make sure all the little and obvious mistakes are taken care of so when I send out query letters the samples will be clean and neat.

The next step is done. While I was upstairs making coffee something popped into my head for my next project and I think I now know which idea I will be writing. I guess I will be sticking to the Urban fantasy YA for a while as my next idea is also a Urban Fantasy. This one of course has a lot more magic and even more monsters. I'm very excited to get started on the research. This novel I'm basing here, in my state of Oregon since the characters will be on the run in a city, Portland fits the image I have in my head. I was thinking about having it in Seattle but decided Portland was better because its smaller. The area is perfect and since I've been there hundreds of times, it will be very easy to write about.

I'm going downtown with some friends later this month for a meeting for a panel that our friend is holding at one of the conventions we go to and I think when we're out I'll bring along my camera and take some pictures for inspiration.

But before I can really start writing my fifth novel I have a few things to do. There is a contest opening on the 14th and I want to enter From Afar into it so I need to get a 300 word synopsis finished, my long synopsis finished and my query letter done before I can move onto the next novel. I hate writing these but I have to. Hopefully all this hard work pays off this time around.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time enjoy a sneak peek at what I'm working on next.

I remember the day it happened clearly. It started pouring. The rain rattled against the windows. Then the first boom of thunder rang out. When the second wave of thunder hit the whole house shook. That was when the sky became dark. Father grabbed onto me and led me downstairs. He shut the basement door and mom him push the old couch against it. As a child I never realized why they had been so worried. Didn't they tell me that thunder wasn't something to be afraid of? It took me a few years to realize it wasn't the thunder that scared them. In fact it wasn't thunder at all. It was ground tearing open.

New year resolutions

The new year is almost here. For me it's hopefully a new start. This year didn't go that great. There has been a lot of heartbreak and way too many colds. So this time around I want to better myself. I've always thought making resolutions was stupid. But as I got older and kept finding myself stuck in this hole that is slowly growing smaller, I've realized 2014 I will make two, only two resolutions that I will put all my focus onto.

1. Writing

I want a career in writing. That's my dream. I have a good feeling about my novel. I still need to edit, revise, add in two scenes. I also need to write the query letter (and come up with a hook.) as well as a short and long synopsis. I'm going to do more research, spend more hours on improving my skills and try my hardest to get my novel published. That is my main goal for next year.

2. Better myself

Lose weight, improve my writing and sewing, be a better friend, get over my anxiety, learn how to spell anxiety without using auto correct. Okay, maybe that last one isn't one of them. This goal is pretty basic. I think everyone wants these type of things for themselves. Even if they can't achieve them all, at least you've tried.

I also want to improve this blog and meet new people.


This up-coming year may or may not be a good one. But as long as I try my hardest, I think I'll do okay. What are some of your resolutions?