Dear Diary

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I thought I’d share a little bit about my real life as of late for those of you who are interested.

I just went on vacation with my ever-lovely friend Elyse.  A short trip into southern Wisconsin (with a minor accidental crossing into Illinois … stupid detour!) to stay at an old hardware store renovated into a neat little loft.  We made it our home for a few days, and we worked.  Elyse focused on blogging and reading while I did some writing, a little bit of blogging and reading, and a lot of research into my query letter and hook.  Having Elyse there was like having my own personal writing therapist.  SO. GOOD.  In the end, here’s my hook: “Summer romance, small-town secrets– and the darker side of philosophy.”

dear diarydear diary2

We also visited The House on the Rock while we were in Wisconsin.  Sensory overload– but of the best kind possible.  It’s essentially a three-part museum of weird collections: music machines, dollhouses, a few carousels.  An infinity room.  It was like pure fodder for two writers.  Awesome– and a little creepy at times.  So glad we went!

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Ben, the editor I’ve been working with, finished the line edits to my novel!  So after I got back from Wisconsin, I took my manuscript to task, made loads of changes (mostly pretty small things– conservation of words, taking out lots of italics.  I go overboard on italics!).  Then, armed with my revised query letter and revised manuscript, I queried a series of literary agents yesterday.  (I don’t even really like to say so in case querying completely bombs– though one editor [a gal I met at the Big Sur workshop] asked to read the full manuscript already!)

Desiree’s wedding is less than a month away, and I’m so nervous I’m going to be an ugly bridesmaid.  This is causing a fair amount of stress in my life, which I detailed to my new psychiatrist last week before vacation.  It’s weird to have a new psychiatrist, but it’s necessary since my hero Dr. Suck Won Kim retired last September.  The new doctor seems quite brilliant though, and together we are devising a slight change to my medication regime to allow me to sleep better.  (Has anyone had any success with Trazodone?  I’m terribly sensitive to it– the first time I tried it, I slept through four alarms and into the afternoon, oops!)  The new doctor thinks if I dissolve half a pill in four oz. of water, then drink just one oz. that might be my right dosage.  Definitely willing to try!

How I'm hoping my hair looks for the wedding

How I’m hoping my hair looks for the wedding

Now that I’ve queried several agents, it’s time to play the waiting game: YUCK.  Therefore, I’m going to start a new project right away.  Yes, that’s right– you heard it here first.  I’m diving into writing a new novel first draft before grad school starts in January.  Am I insane?

On the roommate front, I met a new girl named Chelsea who is moving into the apartment in September!  She came over to the apartment to check it out and so that we could meet.  It went well, and on her way out the door, she glanced at a bookshelf, and said, “Is that The Last Unicorn?  I love that book!”  It was meant to be.

Hmmm, what else, what else?  Northwestern College successfully made its transition to University of Northwestern!

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That’s all for today, folks!

 

 

My YouTube Obsession

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Random 5 Friday is a weekly meme over at A Rural Journal.

Today … details about my YouTube obsession!

1. The VlogBrothers (Hank and John Green) are my favorites.  I’m a total Nerdfighter and watch every one of their videos, which are posted Tuesdays and Fridays.  I proudly donated to Project for Awesome as a member of Nerdfighteria.  On a strange but related note, I don’t watch but love to listen to the John Plays FIFA videos on HankGames, just so that I can soak up everything John Green has to say about (pretty much) any issue.  Somewhere in the midst of learning John’s fascinating views on fan fiction, what minors should/shouldn’t be allowed to do, academic grades, writing and literature, etc., I ended up kinda falling in love with the Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers.

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2. Miranda Sings makes me laugh almost every single video.  Colleen Ballinger is the comedian behind the Miranda Sings characters, an awkward homeschooler with a horrible singing voice– but who thinks she’s incredible.  My favorite part of each video are the “Fan and Hate Mail of the Day” bits.  The hate mail is particularly enjoyable, especially because most people don’t know it’s an act.  I hope I didn’t spoil it for you!

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3. Craig “Wheezy Waiter” Benzine is one of the most creative people out there.  If you watch even a week’s worth of his videos, you’ll already start to be a part of about 100 inside jokes.  I wore my “Explosion Wednesday” t-shirt when Wheezy’s band Driftless Pony Club came to Minneapolis, and I definitely shouted, “I love you, Craig!” from the audience.  Cuz I’m creepy like that, I guess.

WW

4. The WHATTHEBUCKSHOW is another favorite.  Michael Buckley reports on celebrity gossip in a fast-talking-no-holds-barred-hilariously-endearing way.  He even replied to one of my comments, which, out of context, is going to make ZERO sense to you.

Buck

5. Nor can I get enough of Arturo Trejo, Alex Day, Kory DeSoto, and Mitchell Davis.

Bonus–

6. I think I might be a loser. 🙂

 

 

Writing: Counting the Cost

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A few months ago, I attended a local writing conference for authors in the children’s and YA genres.  One of the classes I attended was centered around the road to publication, and I was actually quite pleased to see just how much I already knew about this (long) journey, of which I’m still so far from the finish line.

The thing that stuck with me the most from the class was the way that the instructor would pause after each step (which essentially amounted to rejection after rejection after rejection!) and say, “And now you need to decide: am I really in this for the long haul?  Am I going to stick with this?”  At one of the later stages of rejection, she said, “You have to accept the fact that you might never get published.  Do you still want to keep going?”

From time to time, friends and acquaintances will tell me that they’d like to write a book.  And since I’m a writer, they’d like to hear what advice I might have.

So here it is:

If you want to write a book because you want to write, then do it.

If you want to write a book because you want to be published, then probably don’t.  

Know this: writing a book is hard– especially writing a good book.  A lot of people pursue not only an undergraduate education in how to write but also a master’s degree.  Are you willing to spend several years (and this might also cost you some relationships, as you’ll need to spend a lot of time on your craft … time that will take you away from friends and family), tons of time researching (even if you’re not writing, for example, an historical novel, you will still need to do research for your book– and you’ll need to put in lots of time researching agents as well), and massive amounts of your energy (and your wallet might even take a hit– classes, workshops, and editing assistance all cost money) on a book that might never get published?

It’s a lot to consider.

Writing is a joy– one of the truest joys I’ve known in my life– and that is why my answer to the above question is YES.  

What’s yours?

writer

 

Here are some related posts I’ve enjoyed on other sites:
7 Reasons Writing a Book Makes You a Badass by Brian Klems
Telling Your Personal Story by Rachelle Gardner

Fightest by Taylor Griggs

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From Crux today …

Jackie Lea Sommers's avatarCrux Literary Journal

When Fightest first went to live with the Rochelles, the quiet almost drove her mad.  For Fightest, sixteen years in the city had made the sirens, traffic, and street fights sound like a lullaby, and when it was replaced by the quiet hum of the window AC unit and the sound of the June bugs careening into the porch light, her pulse skyrocketed.  She would have snuck out if not for the aforementioned air conditioner plugging up the window.

And, of course, for Lou, who was sleeping beside her, though she had her own room next door.

“Please don’t mess things up this time,” Lou had begged from Fightest’s doorway that night. She was standing in the doorway wearing pajamas, a pair of old gym shorts and a tiny tanktop without a bra.

“Put some clothes on,” Fightest hissed.  “What if Mr. Rochelle sees you walking around like a…

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Book-to-Movie Adaptations!

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Today’s topic is

TOP TEN BEST/WORST MOVIE ADAPTATIONS.

However, I’m changing it a little.  Below are my TOP FIVE MOVIE ADAPTATIONS and my TOP FIVE PLEASE-GOD-LET-THEM-BE-AMAZING MOVIE ADAPTATIONS.

MY FAVORITES:

5. Where the Red Fern Grows | Classic!!

4. Anne of Green Gables | Megan Follows is Anne Shirley to me.

3. Prisoner of Azkaban | The first Potter movie to really hit the nail on the head.

2. Deathly Hallows 1 & 2 | Cinematic dreams.  I had so much fun at the midnight showings of these!

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | A well-done adaptation of a favorite book.

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MY PLEASE-GOD-LET-THEM-BE AMAZING ADAPTATIONS:

5. The Magician’s Nephew | To my knowledge, this one has not yet been confirmed.  But I NEED it.

4. The Night Circus | This is going to be a sensory masterpiece.  David Heyman is producing!

3. The Book Thief | Released on my 32nd birthday!!

2. The Fault in Our Stars | Nervous about the casting choices for this, but trying to have faith.

1. Jellicoe Road | This is currently the most important adaptation to me.  It basically ALL hinges on whom they cast for Jonah Griggs.

What are your favorites and soon-to-be-favorites?

A Metaphor for Obsessive-Compulsives

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A new friend came over to my apartment the other week, and we got to talking about Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, and I shared a metaphor with her that I’d like to share with you now.

We put out fires, but what we need to do is shoot the arsonist.

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The problem with attempting to “solve” an OC’s obsession is that, as soon as it’s solved, a new obsession will take its place.  In that way, you’re only putting out fires, not dealing with the root issue, which is an inability to handle uncertainty.  For years and years, I watched my obsessions hop from one thing to the next.  My compulsions– and even my talk therapy sometimes– were shortsightedly stamping out the flames in one corner of my mind while OCD set a new fire in another corner.

How can you possibly manage to keep up that way?  It’s not sustainable.

That’s why I agree with so many of the OCD experts in this country that the best way to fight OCD is with Exposure and Response Prevention therapy.  ERP is so very different from most standard therapies.  In it, obsessive-compulsives are exposed to a trigger that prompts in them deep anxiety; then they are not allowed to respond with an anxiety-easing compulsion.  Instead, they are forced to sit in that discomfort.  Doing this repeatedly actually re-wires the obsessive-compulsive’s brain in a way that they learn to live with uncertainty and their quality of life improves dramatically.

It’s been four years since I turned my attention from the bonfires to the disorder that was setting them.

It’s been a good four years.

Wendy Darling

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WENDY DARLING

You know it would have never worked.

Still, you remember his wild eyes
the night he showed you London
in a way you’d never seen.

The stars meant things to him,
especially the second to the right.

And you wanted him to love you
enough to leave, but you didn’t
love him enough
to stay.

The ground feels cold—
but solid—
beneath your quiet feet.

Wendy and Peter

 

The Truth About Rule-Keeping: It Doesn’t Bring Life.

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Freedom2

 

I was an obsessive-compulsive in bondage to rule-keeping– but freedom came through Christ.  People get this wrong all the time.  Christianity is not about what you do or don’t do– it’s about what Christ did.

Also from Galatians 3, emphasis mine:

And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.”

The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”

And from Galatians 5:

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision* or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ’s hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law.

I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

Rule-keeping is impossible, and so many obsessive-compulsives know that– but can’t seem to quit trying.  Grace is the name of the game now, not laws.

*For those of you unfamiliar with the way the author is using this, he is referring to it as a rule-keeping, religious obligation.