Thanks to two great blogger friends, I’m going to share some more stuff about me today! Who’s excited? Yeah! Eva Rieder and Cheryl Fassett, this is all your fault. You were each kind enough to award me the Fabulous Blog Ribbon Award, and thank you so much for that. I’ll be back another day to nominate a few of you to share your fabulousity! Happy summer everyone.
Five Fab Moments in My Life:
- The day my boyfriend knelt down in his sweaty gym clothes with no ring and asked me to marry him.
- The first time my son wrote me a letter and left it on the kitchen counter for me to find.
- The first time my younger son took a nap next to me (the older one could never be bothered to).
- The day I got my first full request, which gave me the tiniest of reassurances that I might not be wasting my time with this writing thing.
- I’m reserving the last fab moment for tomorrow . . . because I believe that tomorrows are the most wonderful thing we have to look forward to.
Five Things I Love:
- Croissants. There can never be enough of them.
- Sunny mornings, the kind that make me want to skip a shower and breakfast and just write.
- Hearing the doggie charm I wear on my necklace clink as I move around the house.
- Cooking with my husband.
- Tucking the kids in and sitting in the quiet of a happy, sleepy house.
Five Things I Hate:
- Discrimination. You won’t hear me preach about my own beliefs here, but I believe in equality. Period.
- Living far from my family. I miss them.
- Lying awake at night thinking about a plot line when I should be sleeping. Really, this is not a good thing.
- Doubt. I detest that squirmy, hot feeling that builds in my stomach when I’m not certain of the path I should take.
- Jersey left turns. If you don’t live in Jersey, you may not know what I mean, but a Jersey Left is pure evil.
The lovely Annie McMahon tagged me with the Eleven Questions meme! I get to tell you some things you didn’t know about me (maybe), some things she wanted to know about me (sort of), and some things I want to know about my writing buddies (definitely). I know you’re just dying to see who I tagged, but you’ll have to read down to find out!
First up, here are eleven random tidbits about me:
- When I broke things as a child, I lied every single time and said my sister did it.
- I eat Nutella straight out of the jar. With my finger.
- I have designed a breast pump, an eyewash station, and flatware for Martha Stewart.
- In junior year of high school, I lost the race for Art Club President. To someone who wasn’t even IN Art Club. Can you tell it still stings?
- When I’m stressed, I clean out a closet or a drawer.
- I’ve never owned a curling iron.
- My first major in college was Pre-Veterinary Medicine.
- I watch chick-TV and pretend I didn’t.
- I eat yogurt with peanut butter cheese sandwich crackers. As in, I dip them in the yogurt . . . and eat them.
- I believe in following your heart and doing the work.
- I could not count to eleven when I made this list.
Next, eleven answers from me:
- How did you get your ideas for your most recent book? My son asked me to please, please write a book for him. I let my mind run, and wrote a story he and his brother would love.
- What makes your books different from others in your genre? I’d like to think I have a strong voice–and every writer’s voice is their unique signature.
- What is your biggest challenge as a writer? Patience.
- What other hobbies or occupations do you have besides writing? I’m a product designer, and have also done some illustration work.
- What’s your favorite book in the genre that you write? Well . . . for historical fiction, I love City of Dreams. My favorite middle grade books are always and forever anything and everything by Roald Dahl.
- What’s your favorite quote or expression? “Only the heart that knows the mighty grief can know the mighty rapture, sorrows come to stretch out spaces in the heart for joy” — Charles Edwin Markham
- Are you a listener or a talker? Talker.
- Name one thing you couldn’t live without. My family.
- What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? Whole fried prawn heads.
- If you were an animal, what would it be? A horse.
- Name three adjectives that best describe you. Creative, Determined, Dedicated.
I bet you never thought you’d know that much about me. I can’t wait to read more about my own writer buddies! Ilana Waters, Tonja Drecker, A.M. Shultz, Jay C. Spencer, you’re up! Your instructions: Write eleven random things about yourself. Answer the eleven questions given. Write eleven new questions. Do a happy dance. Tag someone else.
Now, eleven questions for you!
- Have you always wanted to write?
- How old were you when you “started writing?”
- What was the name and subject of your first writing project?
- What time of day do you write the most?
- Name your favorite reading genres.
- What do you do to relax?
- Name a place you’ve been to that you would visit again.
- Name a place you haven’t been to that you want to visit.
- Salty or sweet?
- TV or movies?
- Finally, the most important question of all: Did you read 50 Shades of Gray?
Earlier in the week I found out that I won my very first writing contest. I am not going to lie–winning feels pretty spectacular. At this point, I’ve written one novel (which you see listed above), and I’m in progress on my second . . . and this is the first very small sign that I may not be wasting my time.
Note, of course I say MAY NOT, because who am I to say what will happen? All I know is that a little validation goes a long way towards believing in the possibility that you will one day produce works worth reading, or words readers will linger over. That day is a ways off, certainly. But I believe it exists.
With less than a thousand pages under my belt, I do not profess much expertise on writing. I can only recommend that you write, and when you see a contest that gives you pause, enter it. There is no winning if you do not enter. And there are many, many contests out there. You can find them on popular writing community websites, and by following publishing people on Twitter. Some of them, like the one I entered on Figment, are quick flash fiction contests that take little time, but are great exercise for the brain.
Again, there is no winning if you do not enter! So DO IT!
Here are some sites/contests to check out:
http://www.scribophile.com – many short contests currently, all free
http://dailyfig.figment.com/category/contests/ – oriented to young writers, but offer great quick prompts
http://www.familycircle.com/family-fun/fiction/fiction-contest-rules-2012/
http://askwendy.wordpress.com/ – wendy lists tons of contests each month
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