OUT OF IT

I woke up this morning in a state of panic. I realized that the A-Z challenge is just 3 weeks away and I have not even written one post in preparation for it. I am usually very organized and I always have something to blog about but lately I have come up blank. Though, there is still some time left for me to get ready.

I don't know how so many of you manage to be part of a large online community, find time to visit every one's blog and find time to write. I take my hat of to you guys. You are truly awesome.

My amount of followers has only recently increased so I am a newbie at blogging time management. So I am sorry if I don't get to every one's blog regularly. I am working out a schedule so I should find a solution soon.

I have recently bought myself a large white board on which to work out my plots and strategies for revision. Right now I am working on trying to show more than tell, but it is not easy.

I don't know if it is just me but this post even reads a bit heavy. I don't know what is going on with me. Writing suddenly seems so difficult.

FIRST BLOGGER AWARD!

I have received my first blogger award. I am still in shock. I am totally having an academy awards moment here.

Ok, I am calming down. With my awesome award comes rules that I have to stick to so...

Rule 1 - Thank the person who awarded it to you.

Thank you Heather from THE WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART (http://hmgardner.blogspot.com/). You are one awesome lady and I would not have survived in the blogger world if not for you. You helped me through very tough times and your writing is something to aspire to. Thank you.


Rule 2 - Share 7 facts about yourself.

1. I am the youngest of 4 children.

2. I love cupcakes!

3. I have a Bachelors Degree in Agriculture.

4. I believed that vampires actually existed up and till I was 16 years old.

5. I tend to wear a lot of black clothes.

6. I once helped a sheep give birth.

7. I always look at the dessert menu first before I eat at a restaurant.


Rule 3 - Choose _____ bloggers to pass this award on to.

I choose #6.


Rule 4 - Notify said recipients of the #3 rule.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. Renee Silvana (http://reneesilvana.blogspot.com/).

2. Nancy (http://introverted-writer.blogspot.com/).

3. Carla (http://carla-jansen.blogspot.com/).

4. J.C. Martin (http://jc-martin.com/fighterwriter/).

5. Katharine Owens (http://katharineowens.blogspot.com/).

6. Wolfie (http://writer-person.blogspot.com/).

Thank you again Heather, you are one awesome lady and thank you to everybody that reads my blog. I am always grateful for your support and interest.

DIVINE INTERVENTION

I wanted to take part in this awesome blogfest CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (http://kaykays-corner.blogspot.com/2011/02/yay-for-game-plans-aka-catch-me-if-you.html), which is where you post 550 words of your current work in progress and see if you can hook people, to see if you can manage to leave them wanting more (it is currently still open if you want to participate). But my link did not want to load and I think it is Divine intervention.

My entry posted bellow anyway.

I am one of those people who believe that things happen for a reason and I tend to believe in signs. Like my link not wanting to load was a way of stopping myself from making an ass of myself. Why do I say that you ask? Well I have been getting a lot of criticism with regards to my writing which has me thinking that I am not actually as talented as I thought. I posted my 99th page on page99test.com and 12 people commented thus far and the verdict was (drum role please)...8 said they will not turn the page and 4 said they would. 50% said they would not buy this book and the rest were undecided. Plus I got some pages back from my current critique partner and the changes were monumental. Technically my writing is not strong. There are a lot of grammatical errors and apparently I am a bad story teller too. I tend to tell far more than I show, which as you know is bad. But I am not depressed about it or anything.

So, because I am so hard headed, I decided to post my 550 words of my novel Immortal: New Beginning anyway. Keep in mind it is undergoing severe editing as we speak. Enjoy!

Oak Tree city was just like any other city—lots of skyscrapers and no sign of green foliage anywhere. Not to mention millions of people constantly rushing to get somewhere.
It was Friday today and like most people of Oak Tree City, I was walking to work. It was my way of de-stressing before a hard days work.
I didn’t bother looking around to take in the sights or to pay attention to anyone. I didn’t care to know any of these people. I didn’t feel as if I fit in amongst them.
I was approaching the building where I worked when I smelled a heavenly scent that made me stop in my tracks.
I stood on the sidewalk, taking in as much of this wonderful aroma as possible. It smelled sweet like cotton candy but it was also musky. It was quite complex. I had never smelled anything like it.
I closed my eyes and took in the smell. I suddenly felt calm. My mind felt as if it was standing still. I couldn’t think at all.
Wave after wave of powerful emotions over took my body. I felt happy, safe, comforted and a feeling close to being in love.
Then I felt a strong shoulder knock me backwards.
My eyes flew open.
The smell was suddenly gone too and I could finally focus again. I saw the possible culprit. A largely built man wearing a blue pin striped suit.
‘’What the hell? Couldn’t you see me standing here?’’ I shouted.
‘’Who cares lady?’’ the man responded still walking away.
‘’You are an ass!’’
‘’What ever, freak!’’ he responded.
For some reason I always made people uneasy. I looked normal but something about me was just not right.
I realized that I couldn’t really blame the guy for bumping into me. I was the one who stood still on a very busy street.
I didn’t know what came over me though. It was as if the smell had taken control of me somehow.
I ran my hands through my thick curly hair, took a deep breath and crossed the street.
Just as I was about to put my foot on the pavement on the other side, I heard a car come to a screeching stop.
I realized soon enough that the car nearly ran me over.
‘’Get out of the damn street lady!’’ the driver screamed.
‘’Sorry’’ I said, feeling confused.
‘’Don’t be sorry, just get out of the damn way!’’ the driver said.
I still seemed to be affected by the smell because I didn’t see that car coming and the fact that I was almost killed didn’t bother me at the moment.
I rushed onto the sidewalk and hoped that this was not a sign of what the rest of my day was going to be like.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN BLOGFEST ENTRY

I know I am 3 hours early but I am not sure what tommorrow holds or if I will have internet access. So I am sorry for breaking the rules, but this is too cool of an idea to pass up on.

Anyway, moving on to my top 5 gone but not forgotten TV shows:

1. Firefly

2. X-Files (But with Mulder still in it)

3. Stargate (Original series)

4. The Pretender

5. Will & Grace

So that is it from me. Thanks for reading and giving me the opportunity to participate.

overload

Welcome to my new followers! I am thankful for your interest.

Sorry I have not been responding to any comments or blogging the past few days. I didn't have access to the Internet for a few days.

How is everyone doing? I have been crazy busy with work but other than that I am good. My computer is still dead and me and big brother still have to share (pouting).

It has been very hot the past few days. I know that is weird considering that it is still snowing on the other half of the world. But I would welcome the cold after not being able to sleep for a week, thanks to the heat.

My manuscript is still being edited. I have not gotten any pages back but all I know is that he is not impressed. He had suggested many changes already (sigh).

CRASH AND BURN

As my post title suggest, my computer crashed last night and apparently my CPU is fried. This would be the second time that my computer has crashed in two months. Either I am doing something wrong or my current work in progress is so hot that it fried my CPU. Now I have to use my brothers computer, which I hate because he tends to read over my shoulder as I type. It is extremely annoying. I can't write love scenes with him sitting right there. It's awkward!

I have been avoiding blogging intentionally. I had used my time allocated for blogging for my current work in progress. I don't know why but I have been feeling very overwhelmed lately and the only way I could de-stress was writing, so I did plenty of that and it worked. I feel better and I made a lot of progress.

My brother has started to read my novel and he has already mentioned a few (Tons) of things that bother him. My brother is very technical, he edits scientific publications, so the grammar and my use of tenses are the biggest problem for him at the moment. He even said that my first few chapters do nothing to make him want to read further. See! I told you he would not be doing me any favors. In my house honesty is very important.

I will be lying if I say I don't feel gutted but I knew he would be brutal. As an aspiring writer I tend to be very naive and expect praises and compliments for my hard work, when in reality I love my work so much that I can't always see all its faults. So when others give their honest opinions I feel as if my world is ending, but I know criticism is a very vital step. We need criticism. It teaches us how to deal with it and it gives us the necessary information to improve that work we love, so that we can bring it to the state where others can love it too.

QUICK POST

Finally finished editing my 6TH draft. I even finished both synopsis (long and short) and rewrote my query letters.

My big brother has agreed to read my final draft and give his input and no, he will not be doing me any favors. He is very technical and he will literally take my novel apart if it is full of errors. So I am pretty scared for the possible problems he might find. I can easily see myself having a 7TH or even 8Th draft of this book after he is done.

But all in all I made my deadline with 8 days to spare. Yay me! How did I do it? Well I pulled an all nighter last night and I got up early this morning and at 17:30 I was done.