A Pretty Red Bow

First off, a big happy birthday to my husband and my oldest son! Yes, they share a birthday, and I am now officially the mother of TWO teenagers. Eep. This one's for you, big guy...

I'm about to do something I've never ever done before...write a sequel. It's kind of scary and oh so exciting at the same time. In preparation, I've had to really flesh out my series synopsis, including engaging in some serious conversations with my publisher about my story. It's been fun to brainstorm together and quite satisfying to see my world come alive.

I've written pages and pages of backstory--things that lead up to book #1 that the reader will never know, but now I have clear goals and motivation for every character and the choices they make. The best part is seeing how nicely every hint and action and detail will come together at the end of the series tied up in a pretty red bow. I can't wait!

How do you plan your stories? Are you a plotter or pantser or combination of both? Do you focus on one book at a time, or do you plan out the whole series if it's going to be more than one?

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood

Last week a couple of my kids were in our local childrens theater production of Winnie the Pooh. My oldest (14 yo) was Pooh and my third child (10 yo) was in the ensemble as Pooh's tummy and a bee.

I loved this play. It was short, simple, funny yet heartwarming, and really took me back to my childhood. I actually teared up watching Pooh and Christopher Robin on that stage where their biggest problem was finding time to play together.

As someone who writes science fiction / dystopian / futuristic books for teens, my stories tend to be on the serious side where the entire world is in jeopardy. I like to go big. Of course this also serves as a backdrop to smaller conflicts my characters face, but for the most part it alludes to heavier issues. As I scan my bookshelf, I can't find any novels that have simple plots with not so serious problems to solve. Even the light happy romances have characters with a troubled past or other issues.

Is this a reflection of my tastes in books? What teens have to face today? I know tension is what keeps those pages turning and every book must have conflict, but why can't that conflict be something simpler like helping Eeyore find his tale? What do you think?

I'm Back

Did you miss me? Ha! You probably didn't even notice I was gone, did you? I took a bloggy break to focus on writing this summer but get this--I think I was more productive when I was blogging. Go figure. So I'm back with a new bloggy schedule...

Monday Mama: In which I share what's been going on in my other life....as in my wife and mama life. Never fear, these posts will have a writerly twist and will NOT be about shoving cute pics of my kids down your throat. Much.

Wednesday Writer: In which I share tips, thoughts, questions, insecurities, etc. all to do with that thing that makes us insane happy...writing.

Friday Fanatic: In which I share what I love be it books, movies, music or brand of laundry detergent. If I'm a fan, I'll divulge. Again, with a writerly twist.

I may or may not be posting EVERY Mon-Wed-Fri (how do you do it, Alex???) but when I do post, it'll be on these topics. Cover reveals, blog tours, blog hops, etc. are sure to pop in a long the way, too. Wish me luck!

Since it's Friday...

This week I discovered these:

My whole family is devouring them and at 35 calories a wedge, I don't feel guilty about spreading it all over my whole wheat bagel for breakfast with my lox. Yum! For a diet food...it's surprisingly delish!

This makes me think of a lot comments I've heard about YA fiction. How it's dumbed down, all fluff, cliched, for weak writers/readers, etc. Do you remember all the guff Twilight got from people who didn't even read it?

Don't judge until you've tasted. Because you might end up saying for a YA novel...it's surprisingly awesome! And I'm willing to bet the more you read, the 'surprising' just might fall away leaving you with just plain awesome.

Have you ever judged a book you've never read? If so, why? The genre? Author? Page count? Cover?

Friday Night Alibi Blog Tour

You are in for a treat today! I've got Cassie Mae vlogging here as part of the blog tour for her NA novel, FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI. And she's talking Book Boyfriends! Check it out:

Isn't she hilarious? Thanks for stopping by, Cassie. And may I add that Chase from Friday Night Alibi is one of MY book boyfriends, thank you very much. Want to check him out for yourself? You can purchase Friday Night Alibi from these retailers.

Tell me YOUR favorite book boyfriend / girlfriend in the comments!

And don't forget to enter her $50 Amazon giftcard giveaway as well. So many chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cassie Mae is a nerd to the core from Utah, who likes to write about other nerds who find love. She’s the author of the Amazon Bestseller REASONS I FELL FOR THE FUNNY FAT FRIEND, and is the debut author for the Random House FLIRT line with her New Adult novels FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI and SWITCHED. She also has a three book deal with Swoon Romance Publishing, including her book HOW TO DATE A NERD. She spends time with her angel children and perfect husband who fan her and feed her grapes while she clacks away on the keyboard. Then she wakes up from that dream world and manages to get a few words on the computer while the house explodes around her. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with the youth in her community as a volleyball and basketball coach, or searching the house desperately for chocolate.

I.W.S.G.

Stopping by real quick in the middle of my bloggy break to wave at all the Insecure Writer's Support Group peeps. *waves*

In lieu of a proper post this month, I thought I'd send you to another post from a couple weeks back from Libba Bray. It's one of the best blogposts I've ever read. You'll laugh your butt off and realize that yes, even the best of us writers struggle sometimes. Be brave, be strong, and keep writing!

Wait, here comes the drop...