A Quick and Random Post

Hi again! I'm not usually a Sunday poster, but I wanted to say that having the kids' birthday at a "party place" was soooo worth it! I worried all week for nothing! They took care of everything and it was great! :)

Also, if you haven't read The Maze Runner yet, you can read the beginning for free on Amazon HERE, and decide if it grabs you the way it grabbed me. If anyone didn't catch my non-review on it, you can find it directly below this post, and if you MUST read a real review, check out Jessica's or Mary's, but truly, going into the book without any idea of the plot was a lot of fun for me.

Last thing... does anyone else love reading reviews of books AFTER they've read the book?? Maybe I just do it because I don't have anyone in face-to-face life to talk books with :) Anyway, happy Sunday everyone!

Book Talk: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Today I'm excited to talk about the book I won in The Literary Girls contest (thank you Mary!). The Maze Runner by James Dashner. 

So I'd never read anything by Mr. Dashner before (after reading his blog and envisioning him eating Doritos in his undies, calling him Mr. Dashner is awesome). The Maze Runner is brilliant, but more than that, it's gripping and different and incredibly thought-provoking. The characters, especially Thomas, got into my head so completely that I couldn't relax, worried to death about what was going on and what was going to happen.

Being a writer, I wanted to learn from this story, to take notice of the scenes that filled me with emotion, to pay attention to the expert way the author melded description and action and feeling, but Mr. Dashner wrote such a compelling story that I was helpless against it. I WAS Thomas, and there was nothing I could do but keep reading in the hopes of finding the relief I so desperately wanted. By a third of the way into the book I gave myself up to the enjoyment of the story. I hope I absorbed something in this thick skull of mine.

No plot descriptions from me, as usual. There are probably several dozen very good reviews of the book out there with plot summaries and all, but truthfully, I recommend reading it from page one. No back blurb, no reviews, just open the book and read. That's how I did it, and afterward I read the back and am so glad--so grateful-- that I hadn't had all that information to start out with. All I can say is, the concept is too huge for a paragraph to do it justice. Be warned that it's the first in a planned trilogy, so there is a cliff-hanger ending, but if you like action and adventure with phenomenal characterization, or you just want an excellent book to read, toss it in your TBR pile. And if this book is in your TBR pile, move it to the top. 

Here's an aside: When I was getting the links for this post, I read a bit on James Dashner's blog and found out that yesterday he was in Los Angeles on a book tour, at a smallish bookshop that I go to ALL THE TIME called Mrs. Nelson's. Seriously, the place is fifteen minutes from my house. I would have loved hearing him talk, and would definitely have spared an hour or three of my day to be there. *SIGH* Ohhh welllll. Brightside-enator seems to be broken.

Reasons to Celebrate! And a Heartfelt Award

Before I get to this week's award (two this week! Thank you Wendy and Mary for the Heartfelt Award, and Melane for the Kreativ Blogger!) here are some other reasons I have to be happy:

• My daughter's troop is having a ceremony tonight. Since I lead this troop, today will be the last day I have to deal with all the ceremony hoopla!!!! Hoopla is the nicest word I can think of to use about all the stuff I'm dealing with, and if you've been a scout leader you understand :)
• Saturday is our big, 3-way birthday party for the kids. This is really something to celebrate because we're blessed with three healthy, semi-well-rounded children (one has a fear of water heaters, but that's a common childhood condition). It's also a reason to celebrate because we spoiled ourselves and are having it at a "party place" that promises to take care of EVERYTHING! Lovely :)
• When I got to 100 pages in my wip I switched from Courier to TNR and it went down by a considerable number of pages. This goal of reaching 100 pages is motivating for me, so I kept writing until I reached 100 in TNR. I know, that's very weird of me but I'm happy :) 

Now for awards. This week two wonderful bloggers nominated me for The Heartfelt Award: Wendy at Where Ladybugs Roar, and Mary at Writer's Butt Does Not Apply to Me. Wendy is funny and forthright and enormously talented, and Mary is also funny and sweet, and from her first paragraph in the Nathan Contest, is a talented writer as well. Thank you Wendy and Mary, you both deserve this award right back :)

Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when you're relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family and friends? You know the feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea, or a hot toddy? That is what the Heartfelt Award is all about, feeling warm inside. Rules:Put the logo on your blog/post. Nominate up to to 9 blogs which make you feel comfy or warm inside. Be sure to link your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

My Nominations (Updated!):

1.  Natalie at The Sound of the Rain: She is sincere and sweet and up to her eyebrows in college assignments.

2.  Angie at Notes from the Writing Chair: The posts on her blog are always thoughtful and heartfelt, and so are her comments on mine.

3.  MM at The Sesquipedalian: She may not post often, but when she does it's from the heart, and plus, you will increase your vocabulary score in any standardized test by reading her footnotes.

4.  Karen at Karen Amanda Hooper: Every single post I've read on her blog is clearly from the heart. 

5.  Melane at Chasing the Dream: Her posts are heartfelt and sweet, and she's just finding her way around the blogosphere.

6.  Michelle at Writer Ramblings: A busy blogger (also at Papers, Prose and Poetry) who writes heartfelt posts. 

7.  Anne at Anne R. Allen:  She is so encouraging, so helpful, and always honest. A worthy recipient.

8.  Charity at Thoughts...by Charity Joy Bell: Every post she writes is raw with whatever emotion she's feeling; usually joyful, sometimes pensive, always heartfelt.

I'm stopping at seven instead of doing the full nine nominations because I have to take my kids to school, and also because I'm sure there are more than two bloggers left who I would want to give this award to. If you'd like it for your blog, post a comment and let me know, and I will add you to the list :)

Also, the Kreativ Blogger Award requires some question-answering, for which I have no time at the moment, but I am honored by the nomination Melane at Chasing the Dream; I will definitely accept as soon as I can :)

Random Wednesday: Camping is 'Da Bomb!

The camping part is further down for your enjoyment. Anyway, sorry if this image is blurry, but what do you see when you look at it? Apparently a four-year-old sees a bomb. 

Not to keep you in suspense, it's the sticker on our water heater in the garage. I pass by this thing every day without the slightest thought. In fact, I don't think I could have said for sure whether there even was a sticker on our water heater before yesterday. 


But my son has been telling me about the bomb in our house for weeks. It would come up randomly, like on our way to preschool he'd say, "Mom, a bad guy snuck into our house and gave us a bomb," and I didn't know WHAT to make of this puzzling bit of information. 


Or in the middle of brushing his teeth at bedtime he'd stop and say, "But we don't have to have a bomb in our house. Let's take it outside." Okayyy, I'd think, and I'd say, "Sure buddy, we'll take it outside first thing tomorrow." 


This kind of comment happened all the time, but never exactly when I had a second to get to the bottom of it, and honestly, my kids talk about such random things that I figured he'd seen something on T.V. and become fixated. Then yesterday (realizing it was like the monster-in-the-closet), I asked him to show me exactly where this bomb was. Mommy would get rid of it! Mommy was here to save the day!!! So he took me to the garage and showed me the water heater. Nice. I explained, and Dad showed him pipes, but I believe he remains unconvinced. 

The Camping Part:

Since it's Random Wednesday, and in case anyone wants cutesy camping stories from last weekend's beach camping adventure, here's an excerpt from the family website so I don't have to reinvent the wheel (my comments are in bold):

[Begins with thanking the other family for inviting us, and how inept I expect us to be at camping]. The kids LOVE the ocean, so their fun was guaranteed. Of course, I naturally forgot something kind of crucial: the kids' beach stuff. On a BEACH campout. And in hundred-degree weather. No worries, they jumped into the sea in their clothes! [Our friends had extra towels and sand toys, organized family that they are].

The beach was both sandy and rocky, and the kids had fun gathering and building weird things with the rocks. We roasted hot dogs over the campfire for lunch, then the kids went on playing. The baby did his usual sand-eating ritual [And rolled around in the dirt. You can check out his filthy feet HERE].

For dinner we had take-out Chinese from down the street, [we are not hardcore campers, peeps] then the kids played with their glow necklaces and flashlights, made S'mores and got ready for bed. It felt great sitting by the warm fire, all cozy with friends as the waves pounded a few feet away and the kids slept in tents nearby. I stayed up really late reading a great book, all snuggled in a blanket with a headstrap flashlight (anyone surprised?). [This was actually The Maze Runner and I finished it in one sitting. Riveting, I loved it].

The next day the kids had fruit, coffee cake, potato chips and whatever else they could scavenge for breakfast, then they played with bubble wands while the grown-ups packed up camp. The baby kept asking everyone if he could "splash", and eventually he decided to run into the ocean without us. Thankfully big sister grabbed him, and I carried off his writhing, ferocious body back to camp. He tried again, and by that time he had given everyone the lovely souvenir of bursted eardrums. No one could stop his screeching screams except good ol' Nino, who put him up on his shoulders. They had a nice time exploring trees, much to everyone's relief. [Then we finished packing up and went home. Good times!]

Getting rid of the Writing Hiccups

Before rolling into my post here's a link to inspire those of you working on your first book. Sometimes first books aren't just for learning; check out this week's How I Got my Agent, at Guide to Literary Agents :)

So today the topic is one I keep seeing pop up on blogs (I don't think anyone's immune, but I could be wrong). Emily Cross blogged about this and so did Melane, and probably many more but those are the most recent I can recall. It has many names, all of them vile... some call it being stuck, others say they've gone into a writing slump, or that they've reached a dead-end, or even that they have full-blown writer's block!

Whatever it's name, being stuck when you want to write is frustrating and hard to get rid of. Like hiccups. And like the hiccups, there are tons of theories of how to get past it, but what really works? Besides holding your breath until they go away...

Push past it and write anyway. 

• What does this mean? If you're stuck you're stuck, right? Not necessarily. Maybe you're just stuck in a particular scene, or maybe you've reached a point in your story where you don't know how to get from one action scene to the next. So, write the next emotional-punch scene, skip ahead, write the ending, whatever. You can write in the transitions and fill in gaps later. You may find your story takes a new direction, which is great! Go with it. (This may be hard for chronological writers but it's better than staring at your hands, motionless on the keyboard.)

Go back and revise.

• This may seem like a no-brainer, but try starting at the beginning and re-reading your story. Edit stuff out, add things in, catch things like changes in names or hair color, and maybe you'll get back into story-mode. This doesn't apply if chronic revising is the reason you're stuck in the first place, but if you've only skimmed past your work before, now is the time to take a good look at what you're writing. And this includes going over your plot points (or outline, if that's how you do it). Maybe you'll rethink where your story is going, or even better, find a particular plot point that interests you and you can start writing from there.

Take a break.

• Give yourself some time off. Maybe circle a day on your calendar when you'll try again, or maybe let the writing come back whenever it wants (I'm more of a circle-the-date kinda gal). In the meantime fill your creative reserves and try not to think about your story. Read all those books in your tbr pile, visit museums and gardens, listen to music, try out a new hobby like pottery or painting, or do whatever else it is you do for fun besides writing (there has to be something).

Go places. Notice stuff.

• Take a walk and observe the world. People watch (and take notes on them-- or is that weird?), listen to the sounds as you cross a leafy park (are the leaves loud and crunching? Or damp and quiet? How does it feel/sound/smell). Go to the beach, a train station, wherever, and just observe and absorb.

Write something. Anything.

• Writing is like working a muscle (some say) and the more you do it, the easier and faster things tend to flow. So write in your blog, write a short story just for fun, write some poetry, use writing prompts or do writing exercises out of textbooks or websites. Be careful of one thing though, and that is beginning a new wip. It may seem like a good idea, and sometimes it is, but if you find yourself chronically starting, getting stuck, and then beginning a new wip, you are in serious danger of never reaching your dream. If you've already completed at least one book, then by all means, start and finish stories until you find the right project. If not though, make it to the end of at least one story before you go down this tricky path, so you learn what has to happen for everything to work in a story. I'm just saying.

Read.

• The debate is pretty one-sided on this one. It helps.

As for me, when my third baby came along I got stuck for a whole year, it was insanity. Other than life-altering events though, I will admit that I don't tend to get stuck all that much. I do use a lot of the tools above, kind of like a holistic approach. When inspiration strikes for a particular scene I seize the moment, even if it isn't the very next scene in the story. I people watch and read and visit interesting places and turn my brain on when I'm somewhere unusual. I write everyday, but if I'm on a vacation I force myself to be on the vacation and I go into observation mode. 

Doing all this sounds weird to people who don't write, but it's how I enjoy life and it works for me, so far no hiccups in a long time... so tell me, what do you do when you reach a writing hiccup? Or how do you avoid getting into them in the first place?