Book Signing Pics!

I had a great time last week at a book signing at the King's English in SLC. Here are a few photos from the event.

Here I am with Brodi Ashton, author of Everbound, book two in the Everneath series. She gave a hilarious presentation on world building AND revealed the title of book number three, but it's a secret. Hehe.

The spread at this signing was unbelievable. Dessert bar, sandwiches, veggies, drinks, and check out Brodi's Shop-n-Go. How awesome is that?

Here I am with Cynthia Hand, author of Boundless, the final installment in the Unearthly series. She shared with us her inspiration behind the settings in her books. Super cool.

But my favorite part about going to signings is getting to hang out with writer friends. We had such a blast that night. I think my sides are still hurting from laughing so hard.

Have you been to any book signings lately? What author would you absolutely love to meet?

I'll leave you with a song by The Airborne Toxic Event. Did you know Mikel Jollett, the lead singer, is a writer? Maybe one day I can rock the music world too...okay, maybe that's not All I Ever Wanted. :)

Re-Introduce Myself Blog Hop

Today I'm participating in the Please Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself Blog Hop. You can find details here.

Basically, it's an opportunity to re-introduce myself to readers both old and new...share something interesting about myself. See that picture on the right, there >>>that's me. Hi.

In an attempt to keep this brief, I will say I love movies (not TV shows), books (not non-fiction), avocados (not bread pudding), Cricket (not Etienne, okay...just not as much as I love Cricket), music (not country) and ice cream (oh please, there are no 'nots' in this category). Of course I have exceptions to all of those 'nots'--I'm not a monster. (Ha! See what I did there?) These are just general guidelines of what make up me, I suppose.

What do you (or do you not) love?

And since I usually end my posts with a song, I thought I'd treat you to one of my favorite clips (it's short!) of not liking something but maybe kind of liking it. Bonus points if you can finish this line from Easy A in the comments: There is a higher power that will judge you for your indecency...

Nothing Is Impossible

Something exciting happened for me a week ago. Something I've been working really, really hard towards for a very long time--though I won't go into it here. But through all the excitement and relief, tears and congratulations, the thing that touched me most was when my husband turned to my children and, while pointing at me, said, "Do you see that, kids? This is what happens when you put your mind to something and work hard for it. You can do anything you can dream, and your mom is proof of that." Awww.

I want to leave you with one of my favorite songs, in hopes that you too are inspired to reach for your dreams. Because maybe I'm just a little girl, but I'm a little girl with great big plans.

What are your biggest dreams?

My Personality

I've never taken a personality test before, but recent posts from Donna on the topic piqued my curiosity. I took the Kiersey Personality Sorter and turns out I'm an INFJ, or Idealist Counselor. Yeah. I didn't know what that meant either. Turns out Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Emily Bronte were in this category, and that we INFJ's are pretty scarce in society.

You can find detailed results here, but basically I like my solitude, am intuitive, and I like to help others with their problems or nurture their potential. I don't like superficial interactions, am concerned with how others feel, and have a talent for poetic language. Ha! And the best jobs for my personality: clergy, social worker, teacher, or novelist. Seeing how I have a teaching degree and, well--write, I think I'm doing pretty good.

How about you...have you ever taken a personality test? Like to be alone or around others? Do you work at a job you love?

Bonus: it turns out my personality is prone to psychic ability. I feel it in my bones :)

Write What You Know?

It makes sense. I mean, it'd be easy for me to write about a thirty-something-year-old stay-at-home mom in the Rocky Mountains who homeschools and well...writes. But who wants to read about that? Seriously.

I really don't think that's what this common piece of advice means, though. Trust me, J.K. Rowling hasn't flown on a dragon, and Orson Scott Card hasn't battled alien life forms. At least not to my knowledge. 

But haven't we all loved, lost, cried, dreamed, fought? Not to the point of having to kill a fellow teenager in an arena on live TV--but we can build on our own experiences to enrich the lives of our characters and how they will react to what's thrown at them.

And isn't all fiction fiction? It's not real. Yet when we utilize things we've seen and bring in a taste of what we know, it feels real. I may not know what it feels like to kiss the prince, but I sure remember how nervous I was with my first kiss...and I can use that for sure.

Write about what you feel and experience, what interests you and what you imagine. Because this is what you know. :)

Confession: the MC in my current WIP drinks coffee and I don't, lol. For you coffee drinkers out there, what's a good coffee for a 17-year-old girl to order regularly at a local coffee shop? Because no one understands me quite like you do.

Writer Friends

I had an amazing week last week.

I hosted a book discussion at my house for BONDED by Michelle Davidson Argyle, and Michelle even came (and blogged about it!). How cool is that?

I had dinner with her and my CP, Kathryn (who mentioned me in her blog this week, too).

And then on a last minute crazy whim, I bought a plane ticket late Thursday afternoon to California and flew there a few hours later to spend the weekend with another CP, Emily. So. Much. Fun.

Katie, Emily, & Michelle. My you're looking thin these days, Em.

It took me a year and a half after starting to write before I even met another writer let alone become friends with one. Fast forward to today, and not a day goes by that I don't talk on the phone with, email, text, social media-ize or read other writers' blogs. OR, apparently, fly to their hometown and eat all their food. :) And though I am super-tight with my critique group and a few other writers, I've never met most of those I consider my writer friends.

What started out for me as a fulfilling yet lonely hobby has become a huge network of the biggest support group any writer could wish for, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Do you have writer friends? Have you ever met them in person? Any surprises from your weekend?

This song's dedicated to Taryn and Robin who I didn't get to see last week but really wish I did, because we own the sky...

Best Fake Book Cover Ever

Here's a fake cover for the book I'm revising, These Empty Spaces (my Nano). I'm not entirely sold on the title but I'm rolling with it for now. But I love the cover. It's one of the many reasons I love having a husband with design skillz. :)

This makes me wonder, how much does a book's cover affect your reading choices? We all know that old mantra...never judge a book by its cover, but I know I do, more often than I'd like to admit. For you e-reader peeps out there, does the cover have any sway on you?

And because I need all the positive vibes I can get at the start of this crazy year, I want to say: you and me together, we could do anything, baby.

Bring It On, 2013!

I'm back from spending the holidays in Hawaii with the fam to consistent subzero temperatures at home...but that's okay. I'm refreshed and ready for the new year and everything it will bring.

I sure wish it was this kind of ice we came home to. :)

I've been reflecting on all I've accomplished last year and what I hope to this year. I even found this post with my 2012 writing goals. Here's how I did:

1. Read 50 books--Yep. Got that one in just in time.

2. Query 2 books--Yes. And the second one landed me an agent, so yay!

3. Draft 1 book--Done. In fact, I ended up drafting 2! :)

4. Study/read writing craft books 1 hr. a week--Um...no. I only read 4 craft books in all. BUT I attended 3 writers conferences, critiqued tons of manuscripts, and spent an embarrassing amount of time online honing my craft, so I don't feel so bad about this one.

Not too shabby, I think. My writing goals this year are simple:

1. Revise my Nano book.

2. Draft 1 book.

That's it. No specific reading goals (except to try and not feel so guilty when I take time out to read). I already signed up for the Storymakers conference in May...so excited for that! Since I'll probably be going on submission some time this year, I'd LOVE to get a book deal, but since I can't really control that, I'm gonna focus on writing and enjoying it.

What are some of your goals for 2013? I hope your dreams come true--Bruddah Iz style...