Happy 2011!!! Eye candy blogfest and a NeToReMo update!!

Happiest New Year to EVERYONE!!!  So, it's 1-1-11 and here's what I'm hearing when I say that out loud, "Won, won, won, won."  You know what this means, of course, don't you?  GREAT things are gonna happen for us all this year!  They are, I tell you.  Just watch!!  :)

Ok - so now down to the bloggy stuff:

Vicki Rocho is hosting a New Year's Day Eye Candy blogfest today!!  Super easy - post a pic that makes you smile.  I, of course, immediately thought of cute boys when I read "eye candy", so here's mine:

Sammy's take on Holiday Fashion

He's SOOOO adorable!!!!  Totally eye-candy worthy ~ :)

So, anyone here for the blogfest - thanks much for stopping by and I hope my pic gives you a smile, too!

My next order of blogness today is my NeToReMo report.  I'm probably one of only two people (my little sis joined in, love her!) that participated in this.  Likely because I made it up... :)  But, if you're interested to see what the idea was, you can find the original post here.

Alas, I didn't get to every book on my list.  This is either due to my propensity toward procrastination.  Or I can blame it on the holidays.  Hmmmm...I'll get back to you on this.

Instead, I made it through 5 books.  And here's the scoop:

1. Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern.  245 pages.  First line, "I so used to love the first day of school."  My (quick) thoughts - this was a fun, relatable, tale about the trials of finding true friendships in high school.  The point?  Nice people rock!  No matter who they are or where they rung in on the social ladder.

2. Going Bovine by Libba Bray.  480 pages.  First line, "The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World."  Thoughts - I kept thinking that this book is to readers today, what Pink Floyd's "The Wall" was to the druggies of the past.  :)  That's not a dig, I promise!  This book's a total trip!  But in a good way.  I've heard it called a new "cult classic" and I could totally agree with that.  To see what I mean, you must read.  (although, maybe not for readers who cringe at frequent use of the "f" word...)

3. Graceling by Kristin Cashore.  471 pages.  First line, "In these dungeons the darkness was complete, but Katsa had a map in her mind."  Thoughts - Ah, Katsa.  Ah, Po.... this one I REALLY enjoyed!  Wouldn't it be awesome to be better than anyone else in the world at one thing in particular?  Well, only if it's useful, of course.  Being the world's best line dancer or tic-tac-toe player wouldn't quite do it for me.  And I'd hope that my two different colored eyes were nice colors...of course, knowing my luck - I'd get stuck with pea green, and pee yellow.  Nice...

4. Fire by Kristin Cashore.  461 pages.  First line, (from chapter 1, not the prologue)  "It did not surprise Fire that the man in the forest shot her."  Thoughts - the idea of a "human monster" can be seen in more ways than one, here.  And I got a little "don't judge a book by its cover" here.  A good read.

5. If I Stay by Gayle Forman.  208 pages.  First line, "Every one thinks it was because of the snow."  Thoughts?  More like moods.  This book evokes so many - the good, the bad, the inbetween.  It's a beautiful book about something simple - a choice.  And it holds things in its pages that I think almost anyone could relate to.

So there you have it - 1,865 pages in one month.  Not too shabby, really!  That's 60 pages a day.  I think 100 pages a day minimum sounds a little better and that's what I'll shoot for next December (feel free to join me).  Did it help?  Did I soak it all in?  Will it make my writing that much better?  Time will tell (and maybe a few beta readers).  I hope so.

Who's my winner for best first line?  I'm gonna have to give that one to Libba Bray and Going Bovine!!!  Woo Hoo Libba!!!  But, was that my favorite book?  Not necessarily.  For favorite read of these 5 - I'm going to have to go with Graceling.  What can I say, I'm a fantasy girl.  But - these were all good reads.

And have you seen this?  The 2011 Reading Challenge.

HAPPY WRITING/READING/LIVING IN 2011!!

NeToReMo – An Experiment in Writing!!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!! It’s the first day of December and the first day of an experiment in writing for me. Now, once you hear my little plan, you may actually think this is an experiment in reading, but I promise you it’s not. (Of course, if the experiment doesn’t work, I claim the right to retract this statement…)

A while back I posted a list of Inspirational Quotes from Writers (mmmm….s’mores….). There was one by William Faulkner that really struck me: “Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the most. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”

Now, I know we’ve all heard this before – to be a good writer, you must read, read, read! Oh, yeah – and read some more.

Confession time? I’ve never really taken this to heart. Don’t get me wrong! I read. Of course I do! But, have I ever read, say 10 novels in a month? Well….ummm….no. *sees jaws dropping* (I know, I know…but please keep reading. You can throw stuff at me later…)

So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m declaring December NEED TO READ MORE month!! Or NeToReMo!! (Pronounced in my head as “neat-oh ream-oh”, so say that out loud with me, thumbs up and in a slightly high-pitched voice – it’s fun!!)

I soo hope I’m not plagiarizing this term from somewhere…hold on, please. *googling* Nope. Well, there’s someone using this as a name…I clicked on the site and it froze my browser! (so – don’t do this, please) October is National book month, March is national reading month….but, well…I think I’m ok. Crap! Some dispute on whether September or December is Read-a-new-book month…There is a NaJuReMoNoMo thing in January…..BUT MINE’S DIFFERENT!

Anyhow, here’s what I’m going to do. The obvious – read. A lot. A ton! More than I’ve EVER read in one month EVER! And if Faulkner knew anything, I’m also going to absorb it all in. The good, the bad – all of it.

I’m going to abstain from writing my novel. *more jaws dropping* At least until Jan. 1st. I may make special exceptions when something I’ve read touches/inspires me so much that holding in my own ideas about my novel may literally kill me and I just have to get it out. But December is all about the absorption!

Here’s my list of books to tackle:

Going Bovine – Libba Bray
Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan
Fire – Kristin Cashore
If I Stay – Gayle Forman
Princess of the Midnight Ball – Jessica Day George
Into the Wild Nerd Yonder – Julie Halpern
The Reformed Vampire Support Group – Catherine Jinks
The Forest of Hands & Teeth – Carrie Ryan
Lament, and Shiver – Maggie Stiefvater
Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld
Ash – Malinda Lo
Beautiful Creatures – Kami Garcia
The Ever After – Amy Huntley

But, I’m not just going to read these. That’s the easy part. I went to a Writer’s conference a few years back and part of their particular plan to make you a better writer was to have you copy, by hand, a very long passage of words and paragraphs from well respected stories, over and over and over again. Now, I’m not necessarily a proponent of this method, BUT I think it holds some merit. I’m going to challenge myself to write down things that really pop out at me as I read. Great metaphors, snappy dialogue, quirky/unique characterization. I’m going to try to pick out the inciting incidents. Make my choice for the overall best first line! Stuff like that.

Ok. Admittedly. Most of this is nothing new. No advice here you haven’t heard before. But, I’m challenging you anyhow! Anyone who would like to join me in NeToReMo this month, here’s what you’ve gotta do:

1. Read 50,000 words in ONE month!! (What’s that? OH! That’s only challenging if you WRITE 50,000 words in 1 month? My bad….) Let’s up that to: 650,000 words in 1 month. A nice round #
2. No your-own-novel writing! (Unless absolutely necessary…)
3. Jot down the best bits. (as mentioned above: metaphors, similes, dialogue, characterization, description, climax, inciting incidents, etc)
4. Make your picks for the best first line. (There can only be one winner!)
5. Post all about the experience on January 1st. (Oh, and write, write, write on this date. WRITE like you mean it!)

My expectation is that, by the end of the month, I’ll be so full of the written word that I will spew forth some fabulous ones of my own! It will be all about writing, revision and querying at the start of 2011. But, to end my 2010 with a bang, baNG, BANG!! I’m reading my way through the Holidays. Care to join?

*special note on #1 – to get to those 650,000 words, this might be an excellent time to get to all those beta-reads or critique your CP projects. Just a thought… I listed books, but I never said they had to be published ones! :)

Oh, and don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! Ends midnight, Dec. 4th…