Quimby

As I was brainstorming 'Q' topics for the day, I kept thinking of 'Q' words:  Queen, Quincy, Quack, Quimby...who the heck is Quimby?

And then my brain was like:  I think it's Mr. Quimby.

Oh right, Mr. Quimby.  But where/what/when is he from?

Thank you google.

Mr. Quimby is Ramona's dad out of Beverly Cleary's series... I personally liked the mouse and the motorcycle better than Ramona, but it amazed me that he (Mr. Quimby) randomly popped in my head after all these years.  That's staying power.

What books have stayed with you over the years?

Prego-wrimo

Okay so I've decided to start this new project (see last post :) ), and I'm really excited because it's helping distract me from the impending due date...

So basically I'm starting my own Prego-wrimo*... except I don't really have a month.  I've got three weeks... If that.  So I'm going to see how far I can get on this middle grade project before I pop.  It's kind of like playing Perfection, that game where you have to stick the shapes in their places before the timer goes off--I'm kind of excited.

My goal is 35,000 words.  We'll see how far I get.

Yesterday I spent my writing time outlining like crazy and today I have to finish my character sketches, hopefully I'll start writing tomorrow...and figure out how to put one of those little word counter thingys on my blog--if you know what I'm talking about and how to do it, let me know if you have any tips...

*For any non-writers, Nanowrimo is what I stole my Prego-wrimo idea from :)  Basically you have a month to write a novel, it's an annual thing that happens in November. 

M-aking new goals, moving O-n, and N-esting pics

I made the decision to move on.

Temporarily.

I'm not very good at letting go, but I need a change of pace.

I made a new goal, and I'm rather excited about it.  I'm starting a new project, and shelving the old one--for now.  I can't let it go, but I need a break and I need the excitement of something new.  I need to get my writer juices flowing again before I can finish editing my WIP.

Details on my goal are coming  in my next post :)

But for now here's what I've been up to lately, minus the pictures of all the cupboards and closets I've gone through, and I'm sure you don't need a picture of the mopped/vacuum floors...

There was lots of paint, glue, mod-podge etc.  but now it's finally come together.

I love this dresser, Craig's list with some paint slapped on it.  Yay.  

Labor

Okay I know I'm stuck on the pregnant thing...but it's kind of consuming my life right now (as well as my entire mid-section).

Here are some random quotes I've heard lately, some to me and some I'm not sure they meant for me to hear:

Labor is like looking forward to a car wreck.
Did my belly ever get THAT big?
I'm sure you'll go soon, you're just looking so ripe.
My dad was making fun of you.
I placed my bet on Tuesday, do you think you could arrange that?

And my favorite conversation:
Me:  When is this baby going to be born?
My toddler:  Sunday

I'm crossing my fingers for Sunday--I know it's ridiculous that I'm this antsy, my due date is a month away...but if you've ever been pregnant I'm sure you can relate.  (Plus if this whole false labor thing goes on for the next month, I might just go off the deep end.)

K-i-s-s-i-n-g

Basically the best part of any YA book is the romantic subplot.

(I have to admit, even though that's my favorite part--I need more plot then just the love story)

I think it's difficult to write flirty scenes between my MC and her love interest--but it's also the most fun.  And if I go back later and read it and find myself grinning at how cute they are, I know I've done it.

It's the whole kissing thing that's practically impossible for me to write... because lets be honest--I mean you want to know they are kissing, but if you are too vague it comes off weird with no emotion  but at the same time, I don't need to know every detail of the make-out session... so I don't know it's just hard.

Does anyone else have this problem??

I did read a book that had a ton of kissing scenes, the fun part is they aren't exactly what the MC was looking for:

And here's some kissing scene inspiration:

okay and here's some angst:

Okay I'm done, couldn't help but get a little carried away....

Jekyll Jekyll Hyde

This is a letter J shout out to Carrie: 

I am number four

Has anyone seen this movie?

So I saw a preview for this a few months back, and to be honest I thought it looked kinda lame--like Twilight for guys or something.  I haven't seen it yet, so it could be good, I don't know.

And then I ran across somewhere that it was actually a book and I thought what the hey...I have nothing to read right now, so I requested it.

And I liked it.  It was a fun read and unrealistic enough to not stress me out, but relate-able enough to suck me in.  So moral of the story, don't judge a book by it's movie :) or the movie trailer I guess.



 
 

How cool is that?

I know.  I know.  The whole a-z challenge has made my posts so random, but it's really fun.  So anyway...

I do singing time at church with kids ages 3-11.  This is my last Sunday (or at least that's the rumor,  I was supposed to be done a couple of weeks ago...long story).  So I had to come up with something cool to do, I googled up an idea (here) for teaching a mother's day song and I'm rather happy with my visual aide.

So here it is... my crying mother:

The better the kids sing the more she cries.  I'm rather excited because she has a pretty good range... and I might just happen to get the older gets a little wet.  It's way better than the little squirt gun I was going to use. :)  

I simplified what the other person did, mine cost me about $0.25.  I printed off the pic of June Cleaver, slapped it on some scrap book paper I had and then laminated it.  The little squirter thing I had in a kitchen drawer with other random medicinal things.  Who knows why I kept it, but it worked out perfectly.  

Can't wait for tomorrow.

Five bucks can Get you...

A muumuu.

I gave in.  I'm a pajama pants kind of person.

But it was five dollars.

This is pretty much what I look like, just insert my head where homer's is...I wish I could live in the thing, but I feel goofy enough wearing it at home, alone.  Hopefully I will ween myself off of it after I give birth...but its not looking good.  The thing is so freaking comfortable.

They should have probably carded me when I bought it, I'm pretty sure if you're under 85 you shouldn't be allowed to wear one.

p.s. this is so counting for letters 'F' and 'G'...

E is for Epidural! Yay!

Everyone keeps telling me epidural horror stories... I think it's because I already can't wait to get my epidural.  

Last time around, my water had broken but my contractions never showed up, so they started giving me pitocin.

Ay ay ay... it was bad. Seriously, I wanted to kiss the feet of the anesthesiologist.  The epidural was the best thing about being in labor, oh yeah then the whole I have a baby now thing :) .   It's a good thing they don't sell epidurals on the street or I might be a drug addict.  (okay not really, I don't even like taking Tylenol)  

I know there are so many hard core people who give birth with no pain killers... but I don't really want to be one of them.  Sometimes you don't have a choice, and if that happens I'll suck it up.  But for now I think I'll just shove my fingers in my ears and start humming the next time someone tells me how awful their epidural was...because labor sucks, and I'm cool with not feeling extreme amounts of pain.     

D... Don't Double the Sugar

Okay so this is why I hate cooking...

I made brownies yesterday with my kiddo.  I've been super tired and for some reason I grabbed the 1/2 cup instead of the 1/3 cup.

So I ended up putting 2 and 1/2 cups of sugar in the brownies instead of  1 and 2/3 cups... uh yeah.
I realized this after I had finished whipping the batter together.  My husband suggested to just add more of everything else.  I probably should have listened.  

Pretty much after eating two brownies my blood sugar was crazy...and then CRASH. I sat on the couch like a total zombie who kinda wanted to vomit... that's how much sugar was in those brownies.

I hate cooking because at least 1 out of 4 recipes I make totally crash and burn.  Yes, it's probably because of  lack of attention.  I like charring things a lot.  But still you put in all this work and for what??  Something that makes you totally want to puke.

I guess that's the problem, you screw up once and there is no forgiveness.  At least with writing I have a DELETE key and I know how to use it.

C-rap what's for dinner?

Since I'm a day off in my blogging challenge... this fits nicely--because I've had loads of ideas and have neglected to post them.

So here is my (Oh) Crap what's for dinner?

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

I found this recipe on Iowa Girl Eats and it was amazing.  Generally I'm not a huge BBQ fan, but I loved these.  It isn't as easy and pita pizzas--because it requires a small amount of planning.  I know many of you might not think cooking up chicken is a big deal, but to me it means more work I don't want to do.  So I threw a big batch of chicken in my crock-pot and used it for a few meals.

Chicken (cooked...do I need to say that?  I hope not)
BBQ sauce
Cheese
Tortillas
Caramelized Onions (if you're feeling energetic)

Slap it all together and throw it on the stove until its all melty and delicious.

voilà

 

Berlin, Irving Berlin

B.

Irving Berlin.

I love old movies, and so many have classic music written by Irving Berlin.  Anyway here's my tribute to Mr. Berlin for giving me writing inspiration.  

p.s.

still a day behind...but I don't really care... 

A is for April Fools...

Um yeah so I signed up to do the whole abc blog thingy this month... and so that was supposed to start yesterday--hahaha... happy April fools... I planned the whole thing, uh... jokes on you or me... or something.

Agendas. (Reading like a writer part II)

Agendas bug me. 

They kill the magic of a story.  I'll give you an example. 

I love Ratatouille.  

It's so well done.  I love the story, the concept, the characters, it's sheer entertainment.    

Now I'll compare that with another film... Walle.

I did NOT love Walle.  You want to know why?  

Yes it's cute.  The little robots, so fun...but you can't enjoy the story without being smacked over the head with the AGENDA.  Yes I believe taking care of the planet is a good thing.  And being fat and lazy, yeah not so good for your health.  But can't I just enjoy a movie every once in a while?

I would love to rehash all the books I've read where the agenda smacked me so hard I had to stop reading, but I'm afraid of the craziness that is the internets... (if you'd like an example of book reviewing gone wrong, check this out and follow the link...) 

It's lame I can't give my opinion on every book I read--I will gladly keep sharing the ones I love, but I don't want anything to come back and bite my hindquarters.

As for Disney movies that I review, I am so open to crazy opinions/comments/anger/etc. 

Has an agenda ever killed a story for you??  

Reading like a Writer

I feel kind of MIA the last couple of weeks, but biology has totally taken over.  I'm like one crazy lady/cleaning ninja--which is good, but really weird for me.  Ah, the joys of nesting.

I didn't give myself time to write, because everything feels like I NEED TO CLEAN/FIX/ORGANIZE THIS NOW!

But when I was utterly exhausted at the end of each day, I did, however, pull out a book.  Which leads me to todays topic:  Reading like a writer.

I think I have crossed that magic line.  And there is no going back.  The last probably four or five books I've read, I've totally picked apart and wished I could have critiqued the book before it went on market--(A little arrogant, I know--maybe it's the nesting thing manifesting itself in yet another way).

These were all books that had rave reviews... and yet I didn't love any of them.

One I was soooo excited to read, I've heard nothing but good things about this book.  But when I started reading, I was like NO! this was such a cool concept and yet...you totally missed the boat.  Maybe my expectations were a little high.

Another one was ruined by the ending, way to short, just stopped, it didn't feel finished.

Another took WAY too long to get the story going, and then the stakes felt weak.

Another book, part of a series felt really watered down and old hat, nothing felt really special like the first books.

So I pulled out a book that I loved and reread it.  It was better the second time around.  To me it has everything I like, the stakes are awesome, love story/interest is great--but not the main plot, the ending is amazing.   I know I've blogged about it before but the book is UNWIND by Neal Shusterman.

I tried to read it to see how he did things, to pick up what I love about the writing, but I got so lost in the story--I couldn't help but fly through it.

Part of me thinks this is a really good step to start reading more critically, the other part of me is like WHAT THE HECK? I just want to enjoy what I'm reading... but then when I do find something I love it makes it that much better.

A friend of mine, just recommended a series to me--she said after reading so many writing blogs she picked up on things that she wouldn't have noticed before, but that the book was still good and worth reading.  I'm hoping I'll just get lost in the story, we'll see.

Where do you fall?  Do you read like a writer?  Has it made you appreciate books more or less?

Oh crap, what's for dinner?

I'm starting a new feature on the blog, called (yeah, you guessed it):

Oh crap, what's for dinner?

In which I share a quick dinner idea.

Why?

• I hate cooking/coming up with dinner ideas
• I'd rather spend my free time writing/reading v. making up meal plans.
• I'm pregnant...so all I can think about is food and how much I want to eat it, without spending time on my feet making it.

I do not promise that these will be delicious--but they will be fast and right now that's all I really care about--so if you're of the gourmet mind frame, you can just read and laugh. (Not that I don't love eating gourmet food...I just don't want to make it.)

Tonight's dinner plan:
Pita Pizza's
Apples
Salad (the bagged kind...duh)

Ingredients:
Pitas
Pizza sauce (don't get fancy and make it...that defeats the purpose)
Ham
Cheese

1. Turn on Broiler
2. put pitas on baking sheet
3. slather in sauce, cheese, ham
4. Broil until cheese melted

VOILA!

Maybe I should title this...dinner's a toddler can make, because yeah she totally did...minus the sticking it in the oven thing.

PART 4: TTWTPOPW, RR and BS, WP v. WB, WV

Word Verification.

Am I the only nut job who seriously has to type word verifications fifteen times before it publishes your comment??

This drives me semi-insane.

I need to know.

Thanks,
Red

Part 3: TTWTPOPW, RR and BS, WP v. WB, WV

Writer's Pause v. Writer's Block:

I don't think I've ever really experienced writer's block, but more of writers pause--like I'm not sure where to go with my story next.

I'm more easily distracted during these pauses...  I read through all archived posts of every blog on my reader... actually look/update my facebook and check my email compulsively.

So my cure for writer's pause is to get out a notebook.

For some reason it feels less permanent to write in my notebook then opening up my WIP on the computer...that sounds stupid.  It's true.  Maybe it's because I edit and change it when I stick it into my story.  Or maybe it's the fact that I can't check my email while writing in my notebook.  

Anyway next time you get writer's pause--I'd highly recommend it.  Paper is just easier to brainstorm on.

Part 2: TTWTPOPW, RR and BS, WP v. WB, WV

Road Rage/Back Story:

As I was driving to an appointment the other day, I was thinking about road rage, maybe because I was running late to my fasting lab and there was this stupid car in front of me that was having issues staying in their lane.

Anyway I was getting rather irritated until finally I could get away from them.

I usually don't get road rage, my husband does (hey hon--yes I did just tell on you).  I always try to make up some absurd back story for why the person is driving like an idiot--like maybe they're having a bad day--their mom just died of cancer, they have three kids riding in the back and they are all crying because they were really hungry because they had to buy flowers for the funeral or food, and they chose the flowers...(okay, they aren't that elaborate).  Anyway I try and excuse their behavior--to which my husband response in a nutshell is like:  Whose side are you on?

But after I finished my lab, (which involved drinking a bottle of syrup and waiting an hour before I got to use the potty and get my blood drawn)  I wasn't the being the best of drivers.

Talk about blood sugar crash... I only went a block before I realized I wouldn't make it the thirty minutes home.  Anyway I realized how important back story is...for every character in your book.  My exact thought was:  "Maybe that girl weaving in and out of her lane that morning had just had her glucose test done."

I'm not saying you should elaborate and tell us all the characters life long secrets, but you need to know them, they need motivation for their actions, for why they respond to people or situations certain ways.... and maybe for why they are being such crappy drivers that day.

Sometimes it helps to fill out those character questionnaires again after you write your book.  I did this when I was writing the first draft, but I didn't know them as well until after I finished.  Many drafts later I re-did a couple of questionnaires for characters that fell flat and it really helped me get into their heads.