Happy Holidays From Me to You!

Happy Holidays everyone! No matter what you're faith system I hope you have a joyful holiday season! I know we are.

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree! 

I've had so much fun this season wrapping gifts for everyone. Usually I hate gift wrapping, but this year it was different. Maybe just  buying my own wrapping paper made the difference, but who knows. This is also the first Christmas for Husband and Me. I'm so excited.

I can't wait for everyone to unwrap their gifts this year. The best gift Husband and I got for one another was our new baby bird!

 She's been with us for two weeks and is super adorable. She's about 12 weeks old and "peeps" along to the radio all the time. Getting her was an adventure. Husband and I drove almost two hours away to pick her up from the only parrotlet breeder in our state. We adventured out to the country side and went to a smaller sized house with over 25 birds, 3 cats, and 2 small dogs. They know how to raise baby birds though.

Beaker is such a clown. She loves to swing on her swing and nest into my hair and go to sleep.

She likes hanging out on Husband's shoulder while he studies and plays his video game.

Best gift ever.

So Husband, Baby Beaker and I wish you a happy holiday season!

Writer's Conference Notes (Finally!!!)

Hey there readers. I know I know, I've been all MIA. Why? Intense work week. Good for my bank account but not as good for my blogging life.

So, I decided that I would do what I said (months ago) and tell you about the SCBWI conference I went to. I tried to take some pictures with my iPhone and be all awesome in my blogging, but the pictures turned out horribly.

However, here is a picture of my schedule of the days events and whatnot...

Overall the regional conference was pretty awesome. It was held at a high school near my apartment and people from our region came and hung out for the day. The fact that it was at a high school is important. Why? You may ask... Well because I am a young adult. 24. Not old. I look a lot younger. AND I was the youngest attende of the conference, by at least 10 years. Most of the people there were my parent's age or older. I'm pretty sure they all looked at me and were like, does she go to this school? No, ohhh... she's here for the conference. Yes, I got lots of weird looks.

At first it was really intimating. But then, when I went to hide and freak out in the bathroom, I realized something. I was lightyears ahead of these people. Sure, some of them were more experienced than me in lots of ways, but here I was, 40-10 years younger than them, and I was rocking it out along side them. I was a peer (or sorts) and I was badass.

And then it got even better. I went to my little workshops on how to get out of the slush pile and what literary agents look for and yes I learned a lot (which I will share with you here in a minute) but I also knew the answers to lots of questions that other people were asking. Why? Because I'm getting a MASTERS in creative writing. I get exposed to all sorts of information at school on this stuff. So bam! I was younger AND knew all kinds of info that others didn't. I felt like a little rockstar. Talk about getting some reassurance.

Here's what I learned from Lisa Yee (published author) and Alexandra Cooper (editor at Simon and Schuster)

1. What really gave Lisa Yee a big push was going to a SCBWI conference and meeting people there. She said she felt like she "meet her tribe" there. (I know the feeling, but I get that more at school...)
2. Lisa said, "Don't think, just write" (Something I need to do more often) and that she wrote her frist novel like it was an e-mail. It took the pressure off. 
3. You really do need an agent if you want to get published
4. Cooper said to find something that works and is working (something kind of popular ((not vampires!)) ) and then put a twist on it
5. When your work doesn't get picked up by an editor it's not always your fault: the editor can only take on so many books at a time a may have signed something similar to yours already (and by similar it could just be genre or time of year that the book is going to be published aka picture book about chickens would come out around Easter and they might already have an Easter book)
6. Tips: A) Do your homework: See what's getting attention and see what there's too much of and B) Aim your pitches for people who have done similar books... meaning check out the acknowledgments at the end of books, figure out who in the publishing world published a book similar to yours and then shoot for them

Did I find the conference helpful and awesome? Yes I did.

Would I go to another one? Hell yes.

It was scary and amazing all at the same time. I found my place and realized that I'm not like a lot of these second career/ hobby writers. I know the genre, I study it. I know things and I know what I want. I have put myself in different environments to get what I want. And yes, I will get a book published. It's just a matter of time. 

Writing Advice

I am going to start this post out with a big long quote... I'm preparing you but you should still read it. It's a bit of awesome advice.

"It's like making a movie: All sorts of accidental things will happen after you've set up the cameras. So you get lucky. Something will happen at the edge of the set and perhaps you start to go with that; you get some footage of that. You come into it accidentally. You set the story in motion and as you're watching this thing begin, all these opportunities will show up. So, in order to exploit one thing or another, you may have to do research. You may have to find out more about Chinese immigrants, or you may have to find out about Halley's Comet, or whatever, where you didn't realize that you were going to have Chinese or Halley's Comet in the story. So you do research on that, and it implies more, and the deeper you get into the story, the more it implies, the more suggestions it makes in the plot. Toward the end, the ending becomes inevitable." 

~ Kurt Vonnegut (Nov 1985 issue of Writer's Digest)

I think that this one paragraph is some awesome advice. It speaks to me on so many levels. 

First, it says to me write. No matter what just write. If you just write and keep writing something might sneak into your story; something you didn't even think was important and that thing might unite your entire story. Sure, you will write a bunch of crap and fluff before you get there. But as long as you keep writing it will show up. You just have to watch out for it. Oooh... Like a four-leaf clover. 

Second, it tells me that your second, third, zillionth draft will require as much work and research as your first draft. While that might seem a bit depressing it should be fun. Sure, it'll be more work, but it'll make your story better. 

Third, it tells me that that saying "life if what happens when you're making plans" is applied to writing too. You might have the main plot all figured out, but that's not where the real story always it. 

So just go with it. Trust yourself. Trust your writing. And trust that you have something important to say. The story speaks to you, it might talk to you in another language sometimes and then you have to translate it, but it's always there.

Keep it up.

NaNoWriMo Is Gone and I Didn't Finish A Thing

National Novel Writing Month had come and gone for another year. Did I reach that 50,000 word count mark?

Nope.

Did I come close?

Well... I think that's all in how you look at it.

Did I come close to that word count while working on my novel? No. But I did write a good bit this month - Mostly for my classes and then here some. So this year wasn't a total bust.

I think next year I'll go for it. Or maybe I'll dedicate my own month to writing 50,000 words. November can be a really hard month for lots of people. Also, I think I'll pick my month to be one with 31 days. Hey, every little bit counts.

Why didn't I get much done on my novel. Many reasons, some of them good, some of them not so good.

• Work. My work schedule isn't always nailed down and it isn't always conducive to my creative times in the day. I am not a morning person, so working an eight-and-a-half hour day that starts at 6 am really zaps my energy
• School. Yes, school is supposed to be helping me on this novel not hindering me, but taking two classes is kinda of big work load when you're working close to full time as well. 
• Not living in my parents house. You don't realize it until you're gone, but living with your parents (at least mine) was kind of heavenly. My laundry was done, dinner was made, I had very few domestic worries. Now I do. And sure, I can put off doing the dishes for a night, but not much more than that.
• Lazy... That one speaks for itself
• And family stuff. You read (or maybe not) the posts on my Uncle. Depression kind of zaps the creativity out of me like waking up before the sun and loosing a family member like that brings about those storm clouds for sure.
• Revision. I tend to get really bogged down in revising what I've already done. Which I think is silly. I need to finish the damn thing before I try to make it perfect (and it will never be perfect but you know what I mean.) 

So new plan. Now that I'm not going to be workshopping anything this next semester (but I will be working on a big research project - oh and did I mention it was on Harry Potter? Hell yes it is!) I will finish the novel. The first rough draft, before I go back to campus this summer.

But then again, my plans never really work out too well. I think I just need to take it one day at a time.

Just Checking In

Nothing new is really going on here. Husband is napping and I just had a nice bath with a glass of wine. It was awesome, I listened to all my favorite Christmas songs (not the ones that Pandora thinks I like) and just relaxed. Now I am waiting for the PS3 to update so I can watch more of the last season of Battlestar Galatica.


I did want to check in though. Regular posting and all.


So, I have come the the conclusion that I love my current job as much as anyone can really love their job. This is not because I got "holiday pay" or that the day before Thanksgiving my boss bought us all breakfast and lunch, but it is largely due to the fact that I like the people. For example, this guy I went to high school with works there now and today we had a debate over who in literature throws the best parties. We both decided on Gatsby, but it was fun debating that in the middle of a kitchen.

Let's see, I also thought I would share the awesomeness that is the upcoming Harry Potter Academic Conference that is this July. I'm working on a paper that could totally be submitted (in the hopes of getting accepted) but I wouldn't be able to afford to go to the conference so why bother? It sounds like they are hoping to make it a yearly thing so maybe next year. Anyway, if you are interested in this let me know and I'll pass long the info.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite videos.
I always knew Neil Gaiman was awesome...

The Colbert Report
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Overload and Why Reality TV is Okay

Today was a library day for me. It was super awesome. It feels like it's been years since I've holed up in a study room, gotten strung out on coffee, and knocked out a ton of work. And maybe it has been. Usually when I'm on campus for grad school I mostly hide in my room or sprawl out on the sofa and knock out the work. Maybe it's been since college since I had one of these days.

You may be thinking to yourself: Holy cow, you're crazy! You actually enjoy that?!?

YES I DO!

I love learning and being a student and being a student focusing on something that I actually love - as opposed to class that I have to take to graduate. Grad school and college are two different kettles of fish.

But that's not what this post is about.

No, this is about the after effects of studying for 6 hours non-stop and drinking too much caffeine. Sure, there's that accomplished feeling you get, but then you want to veg out.

This is easy for my husband: He plays video games. Which is fine with me, gives me time to write and read and he gets to decompress. Win win in my book.

But I think decompressing is harder for English people. What do we do for fun? Read. What do we do for work/study? Read. After 6 hours of reading that's the last thing I want to do. I don't care if it's fun reading or not. It's still words. Words that start swimming across the page.

So what do I do to decompress?

I watch horrible TV. Not awesome TV that requires me to think. Total and complete brain candy. And non-English people just don't get it. They don't get the draw of the totally idiotic and stereotypic characters of reality TV. You don't need to pay attention to what's going on to make connections later in the show. There is always the bitch. There is always the "good" girl/guy. The slut. The goof-ball. The backstabber. It's just new faces each time. It's not like you're invested on a deep level.

I would argue that a healthy balanced dose of horrible television is needed in a person's mental diet. Okay, and here you can substitute video game or whatever. But yes, when you study for 1/4 of a day it's allowed to watch 2(ish) hours of complete crap. For the same reasons Weight Watchers allows you to splurge a little bit each week. To keep you sane.

Now, for all of you people who are like: Why don't you go out there and get some exercise?

You obviously haven't studied for 6 hours non-stop. Or are really intense.

Thus I rest my case.  

In Memoriam (Again)...

As I mentioned about a month ago my Uncle (Uncle Perrin) suffered a massive stroke and we had to take him off life support. He finally passed away almost a whole week later. I don't know how familiar you all are with life support, but when they take you off it they take you off everything. Food. Water. But not meds. They still give you pain killers (thank God) and anti-anxiety medicine. So sadly, when people say that something is worse than death... this was one of those times.

And I will mention during that time I was floored by the strength and wisdom of my little cousin, who is almost seventeen and amazing. Literally, amazing.

But this post is about my Uncle. My Dad's older brother. And this is a happy post. All about my favorite memories of him. There are some memories of him annoying the hell out of me, but those are for later.

Uncle Perrin was the guy who, when I was sixteen, decided to teach me how to drive a stick shift by sitting me in the passenger's side of the car and explaining the inner workings of the engine and transmission. I remember sitting there staring at him, watching him use these wild hand gestures to explain how things would click together and thinking "wow, I really can tune people out." He was like that. Uncle Perrin could talk for FOREVER. Another memory of him is talking to him on the phone at my family's farm house. It's kind-a old school out there (far far away from civilization) and we have a phone with a cord. Mind blowing I know. So, during this intense thunderstorm Uncle Perrin calls the farm house. I answer and listen to him for a few minutes  before saying, "Hey can we call you back? There's a really bad thunderstorm and there's a lot of lightening. I think I should get off the phone...." Did he stop talking? No. Did I get slightly electrocuted through the phone? Yes. 

One of my absolute FAVORITE memories is when I graduated from high school. Mom and Dad threw this big(ish) party for me and invited family and family friends. It was so much fun. And there was Uncle Perrin, on the outskirts of the crowd hanging out in his black t-shirt, black shorts, black socks, and black flip-flops. Just doing his thing. Later, it was Uncle Perrin and Dad who cornered me and told me that if I didn't go to the party with my graduating class that they were going to force me in the car and drive me there.

Another memory is when my college roommate and I went to spend MLK weekend (of freshman year) with Uncle Perrin and family. Uncle Perrin took us jogging on the mountain trails (and by us I mean Uncle Perrin and my roomie jogged and I huffed and puffed behind them) and then later took us to the only bar in town where roomie and me drank lemonade out of a bottle and we all played darts.

Lastly, and most importantly, Uncle Perrin gave a toast at my wedding a few months back. He had already suffered a serious stroke six months before and hadn't really been his old self for a while after that. But at my wedding, he got up in front of everyone and raised a glass to me and my husband. Just thinking about it makes me so happy that I tear up a bit.

One last memory is one that's I've written about and posted here before. It's supposed to be a bit of humorous writing but I don't really think it comes off funny at all. It's from when my grandfather died. If you want, you can read it here.

And there are lots of awesome things about Uncle Perrin that I didn't witness but knew about. How after his first round of strokes he was up and walking 3 weeks before the doctors predicted (only a few days after his stroke) that he had an enlarged heart (and was a very kind and loving person so that's symbolically appropriate) and even though he was on disability he was enrolled back in school so he could learn a new skill set to try and get back in the work force and be there for his family.

That's how awesome of a man my Uncle Perrin is. Because my cousin is right, Uncle Perrin isn't gone. Not really. He lives on in our memories.