Snippets

I’ve been doing a lot more in-depth thinking about my writing lately-maybe too much, if that’s possible.  In the process I try to allow my ideas more time to marinate without the fear that I will forget them completely.  Should ideas be written down?  Sometimes I telegraph plot points with bullet point-type sentences, but I don’t write outlines.  One word is about as deep as it gets.  I’m not sure if this is the best method of writing; keeping the ideas crammed in my head until they go onto the paper.  It’s worked so far, but it also accounts for some strange dreams.

Groundhog Day

I've been struggling to write anything lately, although when I tell people I have "writer's block" I'm usually 50,000 words into a story.  Anyway, it was around this time (according to Microsoft Word, it was February 6th) that I began to write my first novel.  It's amazing to look back on a year's worth of work and see five completed novels, and a sixth one well underway.  My books are scattered across various states and, according to the reports, downloaded in various countries.  I am so thankful for family and friends in Wisconsin, Tennessee, and New Mexico, to name a few, for taking a chance on me.  I love you for reading and enjoying and appreciating me as an author.  I've said it before many times, but I had no clue when I started to write the first book that it would ever turn into anything at all.  I just wanted to write and finish a book, with the only criteria being the 50,000 word goal.  I always wind up surpassing my goal, which I am sure is both good and bad.  I learned in college that a five-page-paper means no more than five pages, and I have to imagine a publisher would feel the same way.  If I ever get a contract, I'll try to work on my plotting.  The oddity and discrepancy, at any rate, comes from the differing writing styles--my two stand-alone books feature one of the main characters in every scene, whereas the Windswept saga turns that on its ear, including multi-generational scenes that usually revolve around the main characters even if they are not featured.  That's a lot of exposition, I know, so I am tinkering with it as I go.

 The accompanying photo is of Groundhog Day snow.  When that sort of thing happens, a groundhog looking for its shadow becomes immaterial.

 

Ice, Ice Baby

I have been through entirely too many ice storms, but there is something fascinating about the formation of crystals on a solid surface.  I find myself intrigued by how it sticks to grass—it attaches to each blade separately until a lawn resembles a sculpture, each piece visible and delicate in its intricacy.
There’s something fascinating about when the sun comes out and it all goes away.  It drips from the trees and it seems as though the world is melting.  I know these thoughts are random, but they are my own.

Melancholy

Today I have been wondering about the purpose of life.   Aside from the assistance I provide my parents—which is earned, as I owe them for giving me life and raising me—I don’t have a purpose.  Very few people depend on me.  I have a very small circle of friends.  I have two college degrees and no job prospects.  I have spent such a long time waiting for my life to begin that I have almost given hope of it ever happening.  I don’t know that I’m a particularly materialistic person—it doesn’t come naturally to someone poor—but I can barely afford anything I want.  I can barely afford to live.  What is one’s purpose when they are unmarried, without children, a network of any kind?  Do you just drift through life like a leaf on the wind, hoping to land somewhere hospitable?  That’s what I’d like to do—land somewhere worth being.

Book Five

Yikes, it took a while to finish this one.  Call it a labor of love.

http://www.amazon.com/Mended-Tommie-Conrad/dp/1481295268/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358178510&sr=8-1&keywords=tommie+mended

http://www.amazon.com/Mended-ebook/dp/B00AVE3K2K/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

The Write Stuff

Okay, I’ve been a total slacker on this blog—lame, I know, but it happens.  Anyway, my fifth book is out in the world being read, and I’m making great progress on book number six.  I know I always claim I’m going to take a break after each subsequent book, and I always break that promise.  This time, however, it’s (probably) the truth.  I’m going to take some time for myself, to see where my inspiration lies and get a bearing on what my future holds.  And while none of us ever knows for sure what tomorrow holds, I wouldn’t mind having an indication.

Currently listening to “Love Resurrection” by Alison Moyet

2012 in Review: Music Edition

If you know me, you know music plays a HUGE role in my life.  It’s the soundtrack to my writing.  It’s my escape when I need time to myself.  It’s the background noise when I’m cleaning house or doing laundry.  With that in mind, I decided to compile a listing of some of the singles that got played on repeat around here over the past year.  Some of them undoubtedly were released in 2011, but I’m thinking about when they stuck their claws in my consciousness.  In no particular order…

1)      One More Night, Maroon 5; this could be my favorite song by them thus far, which is saying something, because I’ve liked nearly every single they’ve released

2)      Give Your Heart a Break, Demi Lovato; I thought this was teeny-bopper music at first, and then it wouldn’t leave my mind

3)      Skyfall, Adele; she’s been the soundtrack for the past two years, but thanks to kismet she is forever a part of the James Bond pantheon.  Hearing it on the big screen was incredible

4)      Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), Kelly Clarkson; I’m glad Kelly is in my life, and I hope she will be around for many years to come

5)      Home, Philip Phillips; enough said

6)      Safe, Miranda Lambert; probably too long a track to merit a single release, but her fourth album is worth the purchase for this song

7)      Creepin’, Eric Church; I wasn’t prepared to like him that much, but he’s growing better with age.  Some killer imagery in this song

8)      Til My Last Day, Justin Moore; earnest songs, voice full of gravel, heart of gold.  Everyone needs a little more twang in their life

9)      Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Luke Bryan; another singer who is growing on me over time. He seems to improve on each single

10)   Beer Money, Kip Moore; I don’t drink beer, but I appreciate the sentiment

11)   Pontoon, Little Bit Town; just pure summer fun

12)   Don’t Leave Her (If you can’t let her go)/She’s Got This Thing About Her/I’m Gonna Change That, Chris Young; his entire Neon album is amazing

13)   Anything by Jason Aldean; seriously, the top male voice in modern country music

14)   Too Close, Alex Clare; great sound, and proof that good pop music is still possible

15)   Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain), Gary Allan; one of the best singers/songwriters in any genre, period.  Some people write songs for a living, while others actually live them.  This song is uplifting in the best way possible, and has become my personal anthem for the New Year