Checking in for GUTGAA!! :)

Long time, no...blog.  :)  How's everyone doing??  So, so good, I hope!  I know it's been a while since I've checked in ~ no excuses.  It just kind of worked out that way.  But, my friend Deana Barnhart has such a fabulous event going on for the next 6 weeks that I just HAD to join in! (and, I've missed you all terribly, of course!)

If you haven't heard of it already - you need to get involved with GUTGAA, stat!

Gearing up to get an Agent - if you don't have one, of course, is going on now.  For all of my writer friends out there still querying and wishing/hoping/praying to work with an agent-extraordinaire - you simply have to get involved in this event.  You can access the master sign-up link HERE.

And to kick-off, Deana has asked participants to post a little meet-and-greet info.  Here's mine:

Questions for the Meet and Greet

-Where do you write?

Wherever I happen to be when I just need to get the words down.  I'm working on making my new home office space my writing haven...we'll see. :)

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

Desk reference set - dictionary, grammar, thesaurus...

-Favorite time to write?

Every time I'm doing it - especially when I'm on a roll!

-Drink of choice while writing?

Boring - but, I try to drink a lot of water...

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

When I'm in my writing zone - I can tune just about anything out, but it's nice to have my favorite music playing in the background.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

A while back, we had a crazy wind storm where I live that knocked down hundreds and hundreds of trees.  A lot of tall, old trees were uprooted at one of our local cemeteries.  Don't ask me why, but my daughter and I went driving through it one day and took pictures.  Some of the tree roots had grown under headstones and uprooted the grave markers as well.  That's just what brought us to the cemetery.  While there, I told my daughter about a local ghost and we stopped by her grave to pay our respects.  The seeds of a story idea were planted and my current wip "The Graves", was born.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?

Try to hammer out your first draft before you go back and edit anything.  Getting the WHOLE story out is usually the most difficult thing (for me, anyhow) and also the greatest accomplishment for a writer.  Give yourself the full story to edit to death, first.

 

Deana also asked for a short bio - I guess I'm the girl who's been writing stories for as long as I've known how to write.  YA/MG contemporary fantasy are my stories of choice, lately.  When I'm not writing ~ I'm a working stiff (aren't we all?), mother to a gorgeous teen girl, Alex, to the only boy I could have (his name is Sam, he's small and furry, and his ears are his best feature), and wife to a guy who does a killer chicken impression.  In addition to writing, I LOVE to travel!!  I wish I could do it more.  I also love to bake, spend time with family, watch clever t.v. shows, and read great books.

 

And, that's it!  Hope to see you all on the GUTGAA train.  Thanks, much, to Deana for organizing such a great event, thanks to the participating agents, and also to Deana's buddies helping her out with the judging.  And to those participating in the agent pitches ~ best of luck!! :)