Wednesday WIP #14

IN THE NEWS: Man asks to be deported, can't afford US. Read more HERE.

Well, it's that time again. But not what you think!

Yes, it's WIP Wednesday, but I was thinking more along the lines of "it's that time when Jennifer starts to avoid her work in progress" time.

Why now--of all times--when I'm so close to finishing would I hesitate to write? Because I'm at the black moment part.

Eeep.

Yes, that point in my story when my poor hero and heroine have their hearts ripped out and then handed to them on a silver platter. Tsk, tsk. My heroine is really sweet and hardly deserves-- Well, it's all so terribly sad, really.

Anyhew, the heartache won't last and there WILL be a happily-ever-after, but I still avoid going there. (Even for a little while). Thus, I've been avoiding writing the next chapter... That will all change today and the rest of this week. I've already made a list of goals--which my critique partners are apprised of--so I have every intention of living up to them.

However, I did manage to make some progress last week. I finished a chapter and edited two. So here's what I have to show:

48000 / 50000 words. 96% done!

Yes, not huge. But still moving to the right.
So I'll take it.

Do you avoid the black moment part of your manuscript, too? Or am I the only one who feels sorry her characters? :)

Making an Entrance

MOOD STATUS: "Sleepy". Had a bad night's sleep last night.

I try to read at least one "how to" writing book a year. If I'm lucky, I'll read two.

Right now, I'm in the process of reading Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey, and it has me thinking a lot of about my main character's introduction. More specifically, on how my main character--or hero--makes an entrance into my story.

According to Vogler, how the audience first experiences your hero is an important condition you control as a storyteller. What is he doing the first time we see him, when he makes his entrance? What is he wearing, who is around him, and how do they react to him? What is his attitude, emotion, and goal at the moment?

He goes on to add, "Most important is: what is the character doing at the moment of entrance? The character's first action is a wonderful opportunity to speak volumes about his attitude, emotional state, background, strengths, and problems. The first action should be a model of the hero's characteristic attitude and the future problems or solutions that will result."

One entrance that comes to mind is from Catch a Rising Star by Tracey Bateman. I really loved how the author showed--with humor--her main character in a bunny suit reading stories to children. Her main character was once a prominent actress who gets stuck with a job she hates. Not only that, but she upsets one of the children, adding to the character's belief that she is not good with children. The stage is set now in that first meeting. We have a pretty good grasp of our hero and what makes her tick. Thus, later on when her love interest his introduced--a widower with two children--we understand the conflict and some of the growth the hero must make to accept that relationship.

In one of my favorite Susan Elizabeth Phillip's books, Honey Moon, the hero is young and praying to Walt Disney, God, and even Jesus to help her. She wants the amusement park by her house up and running again. This sets the stage of the story. Resurrecting the amusement park becomes her main goal in the story. As we get to the know the character more, we sympathize and understand why.

In my story Georgie on his Mind, my hero is mad and about to confront her brother for ruining yet another attempt at dating. I hoped to set the stage for my character's plight--or what she believes is her plight: her brother ruining her love life. This is what ultimately drives her and the story. The stage is set. Her brother is overprotective, she has had enough, and she needs to get away from it.

Have you given a lot of thought about how your main character makes his/her entrance in your book? Does your hero's actions hint to what his or her problem will be?

I thought it be fun to hear about your works in progress. :)

What is your hero doing at his/her moment of "entrance"?

Online Dating

IN THE NEWS: "Fla. cops caught playing Wii on the job." Read more HERE.

Hear ye, hear ye!

It has recently come to my attention that my very own seventy-five year old mother is now using an online dating service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, Jennifer. Breathe in. Breathe out.

And I have to say, I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

It's not that I feel she' s doing anything wrong necessarily or doing a disservice to my deceased father or anything, but it just feels... weird. Ya know?

She's meeting some nice men, though. I was very skeptical about that at first. Mainly because it's a FREE online service and also because it's called Plenty of Fish. Those two things didn't instill confidence in me. But she's been showing me the men who have responded to her post and she's been hooking some pretty good catches. (At least they look good on the computer.)

I'm not surprised. For seventy five, my mom happens to look fantastic, is very pretty, and is as healthy as a horse. You go, Mom!

PS. I learned something interesting about men and women from this site:

1) most widowed women will NOT go on these online dating services right away. Even my mom waited TEN years after my father passed away to even THINK about doing something like this.

2) On the other hand, most widowed men go on these online dating services about a year after their spouse has died.

Which goes to show you, men don't do well on their own. LOL!

I had a few friends in their thirties who were not married and had tried the online dating thing. It didn't work out for them. But then again, they didn't do it for very long. We'll see how this works out for my mom. :)

Have you ever tried an online dating service like eharmony or Plenty of Fish?
Would you?

Wednesday WIP #13

MOOD STATUS: "Upbeat". (Despite the cloudy day) :)

Ooops. I guess I've been slacking off on the old WIP Wednesday.

But I have been making progress! Truly and for sure!

For instance, I not only have a finished synopsis, but an edited synopsis as well. That's right, folks. I'm feeling pretty confident with it, too. Of course, my story isn't done, but at least I know how it turns out now.

Pssst. There's a happy ending.

Anyhew...

I've been making a little progress on actually finishing the story as well. In fact, I added 1,000 words to a new chapter, but then I lost words when I went back and re-read the prior two chapters. (Oooh, I hate when that happens.)

So basically my progress bar looks kind of bleak. (But moving to the right!)

46756 / 50000 words. 94% done!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, I got the first half of my advance from Avalon Books the other day. Yay!! I'm thinking of spending part of it on a new website. Not sure, but I'll keep you posted. :)

How's your progress coming along?

It's So Easy Eating Green...

IN THE NEWS: "Pair trying to catch fish net $87,000 in cash." Read more here.


<-- This looks bad but it's a food addiction of mine--Salsa Verde.

I spoke about my favorite food-- Salsa Verde --in January. Well, I'm afraid I haven't kicked the habit. I still eat this stuff as if it were chocolate wrapped in chocolate. But I recently ran into a problem. I haven't see Pace brand Salsa Verde is MONTHS!

Was this stuff taken off the market? (Don't tell me if it was)

It's okay. I've taken up making my own anyway. I found out there's a Latino market right in my very own town. Lucky me! Yep, and it only costs me $1.50 to get a pound of tomatillos and 2 jalapeno peppers.

What's a tomatillo, you ask? (See below) They look like green tomatoes but have a papery husk.

Anyhew, I've made this salsa three times last week. I couldn't keep it on hand for longer than a day. It's so good with tortilla chips. And I especially like it over chili.

Here's the recipe:

Salsa Verde

1 pound of tomatillos
2 jalapenos with the seeds removed cut into strips
1 cup of coarsely chopped onions
1 cup of loosely packed cilantro
1 lime for juice
Salt to taste
2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Heat a non stick fry pan with a little PAM or vegetable oil and saute everything but lime juice and cilantro. When tomatillos soften and onions begin to brown, remove and place in food processor or blender. Add cilantro and lime juice. Blend until chopped but still has body. Season with salt. Then devour.

I LOVE it!

Are you a salsa fan?

WOF Conference recap

MOOD STATUS: "Happy". Had a fantastic weekend with the mom, with friends at the conference, and then home with the family.

Hey! I'm back!

Can I tell you how much fun I had at the Women of Faith conference?
Whoops. I guess I just did.

But I really did have THE best time. I laughed, I cried--and was totally BLOWN AWAY by the awesome voice of Mandisa! Do you remember her from American Idol? I honestly don't think I gave her talent enough credit on the show, because not only does she have a powerful voice but a beautiful soft range voice as well. She rocked the house!

The one speaker I truly wanted to hear was Lisa Harper. (I did a review for her book, A Perfect Mess last month). She's so funny and doesn't hide the fact that's she's 46 and not married (although still looking). She was the first speaker and really got the crowd pumped by coming out to Beyonce's "Single Ladies". That cracked me up!

Anita Renfroe was hilarious--and did her famous "Mom Song". Shown below.


And actually her song "Don't Breathe" had me crying from laughter. The video that goes with it really makes it.

Marilyn Meberg--at age 70--was great! And I thought Sheila Walsh and Lisa Whelchel shared compelling stories as well. Most importantly is was wonderful to share this time with friends--or "faith sisters" as I like to call them.

I've been to women/faith retreats before but this was my first Women Of Faith Conference. (Hopefully not my last!) I couldn't believe the stadium was almost sold out. It was really a neat experience. But it's nice to be back home.

Have you ever been to Women of Faith?

This Time I Really Mean It!

IN THE NEWS: "W.Va. man impersonated gov to steal info." Read more here.


Ok. Let's try this again...

I really am all packed up to go the
Women of Faith Conference this weekend.

REALLY!

I have the date right, right?

Only, I'm skipping tonight and spending some quality time with my mom instead. She doesn't live far from the conference area, so I'll spend the night with her and head off to the conference on Saturday morning.

Tell you about it on Monday!


Have a great weekend!

Hearing You Write

MOOD STATUS: "Productive". Got a rough synopsis done and a chapter finished on my wip.
BOOK UPDATE: Georgie on His Mind is scheduled for release October 24... 2010.


Well, my friend's mom is reading my book The Role of a Lifetime now.

Eeep.

She even came up to me the other day and said, "You know, it's funny. But I can actually hear you as I'm reading."

Another eeep.

Of course the first thing I thought was... My hero sounds like a girl? But then I quickly calmed myself down. The woman didn't really say that. She just said she could hear ME in my writing. I didn't ask her if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But I did think it was interesting none the less. :)

We've heard countless discussions on establishing your "voice" as a writer, but I never thought about it going so far as actually hearing that voice!

It's funny but I don't think I speak how I write at all. I'm much more chatty as a writer ( case in point is my BLOG) than I am live and in person. I'm actually quite quiet. (Unless I have more than one margarita or more than three cups of coffee. Those two things usually gets my mouth moving--to the point where you want to gag me.) But I suppose a little bit of your personality and how you talk can't help but come across in your actual writing.

Have you ever had a comment like that from people who know your personality?
Do people hear you when they read your work?

Muse Online Writer's Conference

IN THE NEWS: "Boy fakes kidnapping to hide bad grades." Read more here.


Registration for the Muse Online Writer's Conference has been extended to September 20th!

This year's conference will be held October 12 - 18, 2009

Here are some agents who will be participating:
*Come and chat with literary agent Chip MacGregor. Mr. MacGregor is the founder of the MacGregor Literary Agency. He will also be doing a one hour pitch session.

*Rachelle Gardner is an agent with WordServe Literary Group representing both fiction and nonfiction, and specializing in the Christian market. Come chat with her and pose your agent/author questions.

Here are some workshops that will be going on:
Brainstorming/Q & A about Synopsis Writing Tips for Fiction Submissions with Anita McClellan

Write as Tight as Granny's New Girdle with Margot Finke

Online Marketing for Authors: Build a Platform and Sell More Books with Stephanie Chandler

How to Write Power Sentences with June Diehl

Decorate Your Work with Sprigs of Humor with Ron Berry

First Pages and the YA market with Kim Baccellia


The best part? This conference comes to you from the comfort of your own home. LOL!

I'm registered.

Are you?

Uh, NO Conference Time

MENTAL STATUS: "Embarrassed". See below.

Well, I didn't go to the Women of Faith Conference. Wah.

What happened? I'll tell you.

I got all packed, filled the car with gas, made dinner ahead of time for my family, and printed out all my directions.
Then I got an e-mail from one of the friends I'm meeting there about being excited about next weekend, too.

I was like... next weekend? Uh-oh. So I went to the web site and sure enough, the conference is September 18 and 19th.

D'oh!

Folks, I'm officially a dope. (I guess I was just overly excited to go) :) So...this weekend I painted the doors to my bedroom closet and worked on my book instead.

Have you done any dumb things lately?

Conference Time!

IN THE NEWS: US woman falls off cliff when beau proposes marriage. Read more HERE.


Yes, it's conference time. No, not writing conference time, though.


I'm packing up to go the
Women of Faith Conference this weekend.


Here's a little of what it's all about:


"Make plans now to be part of Women of Faith's 2009 event, A Grand New Day. This exciting 2-day event is a mix of laughter, music, and stories that will touch your heart. Bring your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors—any woman you know who needs a new perspective . . . a new enthusiasm . . . A Grand New Day.


“The Lord's love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning . . .” Lamentations 3:22-23 NCV


Join Steven Curtis Chapman, "American Idol" finalist Mandisa, Nicole C. Mullen, Sandi Patty, Lisa Harper, Lisa Whelchel (from TV's "The Facts of Life"), Sheila Walsh, Patsy Clairmont, Marilyn Meberg, Luci Swindoll, and more!

Over the course of the two-day event you'll hear fabulous music, watch stirring drama, listen to hilarious and heart-tugging stories, and join thousands of women in worship. Events are scheduled across the country. Don't wait! Register for A Grand New Day today!"



I'm excited! I so need this right now.



What are your plans this weekend?

Odd Observations

MOOD STATUS: "Pleasantly surprised". Re-reading the manuscript I stopped working on in the beginning of summer and low and behold, I still like it.


You ever just have one of those odd days when everything takes tens times longer than it normally should?

You haven't? Oh. Well, I HAVE. That was my day yesterday, which was odd in itself.
But here are a few other odd things that happened yesterday:

1) I went to the pharmacy to get a card. I happened to notice they're selling DNA Paternity test kits now over the counter.
Um... Is that a hot seller? (Please don't tell me if it is.) Eeww...

2) After I got wrung up at the pharmacy, the cashier--who had to have been AT LEAST ten to fifteen years YOUNGER than me--says, "Enjoy your day, hon."

Okay, one, it was raining, so I don't know how much he expected me to enjoy, but, two, hon?!
Some young kid is calling me hon? Don't you think that's odd?

and

3) My crown came off. AGAIN. I think this is the third time in six weeks. Grr...

Dang you, delicious Tootsie Pop lollipops! You are an evil candy!

Well, I'm not going anywhere today.
Hopefully, I'll be safe.


See any odd things lately?
Any odd things happen to you recently?

In a State of Awesomeness

IN THE NEWS: Hiker tumbles down rocks after marriage proposal. Read more HERE.

Oh, my gosh. Wait. Do you hear it?
Yes, you shouldn't hear anything. That's because it's dead silent in my house--and I'm LOVIN' life!!

Can I just tell you how much I got done around my house yesterday? Well, let me tell you anyway.
A lot. My house is clean--sparkling, really. There's food in the fridge and the notes for my manuscript I've been working on are finally all in order.

I can actually begin to write today. :)

But before I leave you to tinker on the old story, please view this You Tube video.

It's old, I know--from maybe a year ago--and everybody and there sister and has seen it, but I recently watched it again the other day to show my hubby and I actually laughed harder this time around.

So watch it again--especially if you have a book coming out soon.

First Day of School!

MOOD STATUS: "EXCITED!!!" The kiddo is finally off to baby jail--er, I mean, school. LOL!

I've been kidding with the girly that jail is starting today (AKA school), but she just laughed my comment off. She actually loves school. So...I'm off to her school myself for orientation and to meet the new teacher.
See ya tomorrow!

Something Old, Something New...

IN THE NEWS: Union says firefighters forced to bathe elephant. Read more HERE.


Well, I'm up for a challenge--whether I want to be or not--thanks to my blogger bud, Glynis Smy. I must discover 6 hidden treasures in my blog archives. To be honest, I didn't really discover any treasures. All I discovered was that I've been rambling on this blog for a loooooong time. :)
But that's another blog post entirely...

Here are da rules:
Take the Challenge picture and place on your blog (check)
Find your favourite six hidden posts in the archives of your own blog and add the links under the picture (check)
Choose one other blogger and send the challenge to them (check)
Link back to the sender of the challenge and New Scribbles (check)

Here are da posts in my archives:

1** "Flawed Characters" : Goofy, but fun. :)

2** "A Day of Firsts": those were the good old days...

3**"Alpha, Beta, or Gamma" I forgot how cute my daughter was!

4** "Thursday Thirteen #2" Remember when I did those?

5** "My Kingdom for a Muscle Relaxant!" Oh, that pesky exercise class.

6**"Pics from my Book Party" Because it was too fun :)

Now it's Jessica from her blog BookingIt that must accept the challenge now.

Anyhew that's it for something OLD.

Now for something NEW.

A Contest!

The Long and the Short of It reviews is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of a new member in our family: a Young Adult / Middle Grade site. Unfortunately, it remains unnamed, and that's where you come in.

During the month of September, send in your suggestions (one per email) to lasrcontests@gmail.com and put "YA NAME CONTEST" in the subject line.

The entries will all be reviewed, the winning name chosen by Judy and Marianne (all identifying marks will be stripped from the name), and the person who submitted the winning name will receive a $20 gift certificate from their choice of Amazon or B&N.

NOTE: In the case of a duplicate winning name, all entries with that name will be put into a random drawing and one winner selected.

However, just by entering our contest, you also have a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon or BN.com because, at the close of the contest, we will have a random drawing from all entrants.

Even better: blog about our contest on your site, send us the permalink to the actual post, and get yet another entry into this second contest!
So, put your thinking caps on and get those great creative YA / MG names to us.

That's all from me, folks.

Have a great weekend!

Lobstah Roll

MOOD STATUS: "Upbeat". My jury duty service is done! (For at least three years)

No, I didn't make a mistake with my post title. I meant to spell lobster as lobstah. And if you lived up in New England for any length of time, I would not need to explain why. :)


I actually made my own lobster rolls the other day. Lobster was $4.99 lb at the supermarket so after I was assured that they would steam them for me and I would not have to deal with them live, I bought some.


PS. That's a cheap as all get out price for lobster, folks!

Anyhew... if you've never had a lobster roll, well, I'm sorry. So here's a great recipe, so you can make it for yourself at home. My little one loved it, too!

Lobster Roll

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped celery (from 1 to 2 celery stalks)
1 pound freshly picked lobster meat, chilled and chopped into chunks, or 5 pounds live lobsters, steamed and meat removed
1/2 c good quality mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 hot dog buns

Directions
In a medium bowl, combine the lobster meat, celery and mayonnaise and gently toss until well mixed. Season with the salt and pepper and chill for at least 30 minutes (or up to overnight) before serving.
Preheat a large heavy skillet over medium flame. Lightly butter both sides of each bun and cook for 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. (The buns may also be toasted under a broiler or grilled.) When toasted, stuff them with the chilled lobster salad and serve immediately with mixed greens on the bun.

YUM!

This USA Today article goes on to say how prices on lobster have dropped.
So now's your time to eat up!

When was the last time you've had lobster?

Fun Food!

IN THE NEWS: "Did Mexico beat it? Fans go for 'Thriller' record." Read more HERE.

Can playing games be any more fun?

Apparently not since some classic board games are now edible!

Monopoly: I was never a huge fan of this one. But adding chocolate playing pieces could definitely entice me into playing a round. This one will be sold at Target.com in November, too.

Scrabble: Scrabble cheese crackers! There combining two of my favorite things here. And there's a game board on the back of the box. How clever!

Operation: No dexterity tests or anxiety-producing buzzers in this one. Just fun fruit snacks.

Hey, I don't know about you but I want to know where the edible Candy Land game is. :)

I personally think that would be a HUGE hit.

I'm not much for regular board games. Probably because I STINK at them. But the game Apples to Apples is growing on me--even though I still haven't won a single game.

What's your favorite board game?