Fatigue

I collapsed into bed last night after a 16 hour work day on four hours sleep and felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.

Here's an exercise for those who aren't too tired to work their writing muscles:

In one sentence, describe the most tired you have ever been.

Beware: A Tip Is Imminent

So my Friday tip for this week is about three very similar-looking words:

imminent, eminent, and immanent

Here's the low-down and how to remember which is which.

"Imminent" is something that's impending (use that for those mnemonic lovers out there). "The imminent storm will knock out the talk radio station tower." (Depending on which talk radio station, such storm destruction would be eminent as well.)

"Eminent" is something or someone prominent, well-known, famous, conspicuous. "John Williams is eminent among twentieth-century composers and musicians." (Can you tell I'm a fan of his eminence?)

"Immanent" is the rarest of the three and so is not used in everyday speech or writing (unless someone is getting creative in trying to spell one of the other two). It is akin to the word "inherent," as something indwelling or innate, and it also connotes a sense of being limited to one's experience in a Transcendentalist sort of way. "Her immanent beauty had not an ounce of artifice or addendum. It came from the original source of light."

So there it is. The imminent tip of the day, in all its eminence and immanent Merriam-Websterness.

Hero Worship wisely

I'm not an expert on hero worship (unless the hero is Thor, as established recently here on Debbie's blog) so it should be a short post. I want to talk about some authors I admire (NOT a comprehensive or complete list by any means) and also ways that our group has learned to network without getting any restraining orders against us. I've chosen these authors because I really admire their professionalism and their writing.

First the Authors and why I like them:

Brandon Sanderson (author of Mistborn and many other NYT Bestsellers)because he is friendly and loyal and is willing to travel far distances to hang out with his friends or save a small town indy book store. Plus he's pretty good at writing too. (understatement of the year)


Dan Wells...oops! Wrong Dan Wells.





I'm talking about this Dan Wells today.
(author of I Am Not A Serial Killer)
Putting aside the brilliant trilogy he has written (which is the only thing from the horror section of B&N that I've read since I was 14 and forced to read Stephen King with friends while camping), he is very professional and has a charming wife, who believes in his writing. Dan is friendly and genuine. Mainly though he really knows his stuff when it comes to both writing and publishing.



Bree Despain (author of The Dark Divine series)

Bree is an inspiration to me. She is patient and interested in people and she writes intriguing stories with heart and meaning. She has not had an easy road to publishing, but her road and her story inspire many. Bree has some of the most loyal fans ever and mostly because she cares about people.


Second the tips:
1) Respect personal space.
2) Be friendly, like "visiting with a new neighbor" friendly, not crazed stalker "I know what you did last summer" friendly.
3) Listen-Everyone likes to talk about themselves.
4) Food is a good bribe and an ice breaker.

Sliding Into Home

Have you heard that quote about how some people want to die with a perfect body and perfect everything, whereas the person talking wants to slide in with flames and crazy hair and a wild adventure?

(If you know it, please share.)

That is how I am feeling right now.  Every second full up with adventure and crazy.  My hair is certainly flying and I'm skidding into home.

But in a few days Summer will start and boy oh boy I can't wait to be lazy.  I think I'm going to just have fun with my kids and savor the unstructured time.  It'll still be a wild ride with a face first reach into home plate, cause that's how I always roll.

How are you rolling these days? Are you prim and proper (which is cool) or a slider?

Hunger Games Update, Again. :)

Have you all heard about this latest casting for "The Hunger Games"? I just heard it from Graham. (Thanks for keeping me up to date, Buddy).

For those of you who are too lazy to click on the link, they've cast LENNY KRAVITZ as CINNA!

Thoughts?

Happy Tuesday, All. :)

Casting Call

I read a great quote today. It said:

"My life has a superb CAST, but I can't figure out the PLOT."

Some days I agree more than others.

Today is one of those days.

Scene It

I know some of you will sigh and say, "Another post about the Hunger Games series Linda? Not much else going on in your life?" Well, there's actually too much going on in my life so I thought I'd take the easy road this week and share a blog post from EW re: the scene in the Hunger Games movie Jennifer Lawrence is most excited to film.

It caused me to ponder which scene in my WIP I'd most like to see played out on the big screen. I would say the ending scene (not giving away details) or the scene where my main character breaks down in front of the guy she's always loved for the first time and shows the cracks in her reserve.

Sometimes: Tip o' the Day

"Sometimes" and "some times" should be used at different times. Here are some examples of when each is appropriate.

"Sometimes I just want to throw that book across the room."
"Some times are better than others to break that kind of news."
"He is always arrogant but only sometimes brilliant."
(another use) "She is a sometime winner of that award."
"You surprise me sometimes, so give me some times to work around."

Dreamin

I've mentioned in that past that I have some vivid dreams.  (here, here, and here)

Last night I had another, this time in movie format.  I woke up thinking it was pure craziness.  The dream consisted of famous actors, ballgowns, lies, running away, and hidden places were ballgowns of the past lived on. I think at one time the living room turned into a pool. 

Disappointment flooded me when I woke up cause one lady was about to spill the beans on her big secret to her wicked Mother-In-Law.  Dang it!  My conscious mind isn't crazy enough to fill in the gaps.

Oh well.  Whatcha all been dreamin about these days?  Anything crazy?

Yo Mama Jokes; Literary Edition

Every once in a while, we all need a good yo mama insult to throw around, but the writer in me wants something less "thug" and more "authorly." So, for the benefit of all my friends to use at their leisure, here are some yo mama jokes; literary edition.

Yo mama is so fat that the indomitable Leviathan's mass can't parallel the girth of her colossal abdominal region.

Yo mama is so ugly that Medusa's aptitude of metamorphosing plebians to stone shrivels in semblance to her unprepossessing physiognomy.

Yo mama is so stupid that a primate's acumen exceeds the rationalization skills of her medulla oblongata.

You're welcome!

Storymakers and Shoes

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the LDStorymakers conference in downtown Salt Lake. The conference was great, full of good information, and I enjoyed myself immensely.

Here are a few things I noted:

1- Don't avoid the slush pile. Stand out! (Becca Stumpf)

2- You need a web presence if you want to be an author. If you want to write and express your art, that's great, but if you want to be published, you need to play the part. (Sara Megibow)

3- Take yourself seriously. Get business cards, market yourself. (Sara Megibow)

4- The pitch must give a sense of the tone of your work. Is it dark? Is it funny? Then your pitch should be too. (Sara Crowe)

5- Don't have anxiety or be embarrassed about never having been published. Debut authors are people too. (Becca Stumpf)

The agents that came this year are amazing. I have great things to say about every single one. Suffice it to say if you are an aspiring author, you should be sending queries to each of those ladies.

And in other news, these are the fabulous shoes I wore to the conference on Friday. I am very happy with them :)

Slang

I've invented a new slang word I'm using more and more these days- blahther. It should be used when one is feeling blah and bothered at the same time, as in "Oh blather, I still have three hours of work left. I'd rather be sunning myself poolside sipping a frosty beverage."

Feel free to use it as often as applicable, as I am hoping it will someday be added to the slang dictionary. Anybody have some favorite slang they're using lately?

Storymakers Con

So I'm enjoying myself here at the Storymakers Conference in Salt Lake. It always impresses me how much talent coalesces at this conference. Please come say hi if you're attending! I'll give you a free bookmark (which also looks surprisingly like a business card) . . .

Pic-tion-scary

Who thought it was a good idea to put this particular scary faced picture on the guest book for our high school reunion website? Do we look excited to see you? Would you want to log in and leave a friendly comment? Where are the cheerleaders with their fun flips and big bangs?

Before you join this tirade I should probably mention that the girl with the long hair is indeed ah...well...me.
I was shocked (and not in a good way) to see my mug as a welcome mat for the guest sign in page. High School was a great time for me and I had a lot of fun and a lot of friends, but I was not popular or beautiful and obviously I was a little confused at the instant when this particular picture was snapped. Oh well, gotta love the internet and all its horrors.

Still I'm getting a lot of fodder for future stories from this reunion fun. What would you wear to a high school reunion if you HAD to go this year?

May the 4th Be With You!!

Love this video.  Its Legos Star Wars trilogy told in 2:15.  Fun stuff.

And Happy Cinco de Mayo tomorrow.

Let's Go To The Movies

I have a really busy day, so I'm taking the easy road of blogging. King of Awesome, Graham, posted this blog about his favorite movies. So I'm copying him and asking, what's your favorite movie?

My most recent favorite movie is, "Inception." (If you want to read the last time I talked about it, click here.) I'll admit I loved the ending. Any movie that has articles/blogs/websites dedicated to discussing what the end of a movie means is a good movie to me.

What movies do you like and why?