My So-called Teenage Life Blog Hop

Today I am joining this fabulous blog hop hosted by Andrea of Maybe It's Just Me, Christa Desir and Amy Sonnichsen.

We are supposed to post an old entry from our teenage journal, but alas, my old journals (which are embarrassingly hilarious) are all buried in a box in my parents home (a couple of states away). Yeah, I should probably finish moving my stuff out of my parents' house now that I've been married over 11 years.(!!!)

But since I haven't done that, I'm posting a journal entry from pre-married life. I read through these with hubby, and they are also quite embarrassingly hilarious. So sit back, enjoy, and maybe blush once or twice for my former self. :) [Note: The ellipses are all in the original text. No skipping here. I just really liked ellipses.]

2/22/00 -- I went skiing, for the first time this season, yesterday with M-- (bro.). We went to Beaver Creek up in Logan. It was okay . . . except that it got really hot and the snow got kindof slushy. The first time down I did a major face plant. I still have a sore neck. :x Later in the day, M-- took a bad fall and I think he got a mild concussion because he lost his short term memory. It was kindof scary. It started with: "Wow, I can't remember how I crashed. Which lift did we go up last time?" How did I fall? . . . Oh, well which lift did we got up last time? . . . " etc. I decided that we should go home.

You know, so much has happened yet I don't want to go back and relive it all right now. . . . I got a guitar for Christmas.

 9/10/2000 - S-- told me that on both Friday & Saturday he wanted to come over with his engagement ring and propose on the spot. He said he decided he could give up chocolate for me and that even the cooking thing wouldn't bother him, but that he didn't want to lose my friendship over chocolate (that had been one of his concerns). He did say, however, that he couldn't give up hunting. :) Funny boy. If only it were as simple as that. He invited me over and offered to come over, but I told him "no."

I can't tell you how tempting it is. First, I really do care about S-- and I am really attracted to him. The thought of leaving the whole dating scene is very tempting, and then I wouldn't end up as one of those old maids to whom everyone always gives those sympathetic looks. But, unfortunately, I just don't feel good about it. I don't know if it's just silly fears or not, . . . Anyway, so I have to admit that my first proposal wasn't at all like I imagined. It feels nice to know that someone cares about me that much, but it feels awful having to tell him that I don't feel the same way.

4/23/01 -- Oh! One thing I forgot to write is that X-- told me that he had been interested in asking me out right when S-- and I started dating. He told me that he was just getting ready to make his move when the whole S-- thing started. He said he was really jealous and it was like an extra twist to the heart that S--'s real name was [the same as his]. This might sound awful, but I was glad to know that it made him jealous. It's always interesting to hear things from a different perspective.

---
Okay, I'm sure that's more than enough. Oh, the drama! I just want to smack myself sometimes. Ya think it was a concussion? Just because he lost his short term memory?!!! But hey, I got a guitar for Christmas. :)

And gosh, my view of "old maids." I was how old? I think I read too much Anne of Green Gables growing up.

But oh the, "interesting to hear things from a different perspective" bit. Interesting indeed, My Former Self. Interesting indeed. *Shakes head*

Have a great day ya'll!

Interview with Leigh T. Moore and a Giveaway!

So Leigh T. Moore's book, The Truth About Letting Go has been out a couple of weeks and is doing awesome! Read all about it HERE.

So what else is there to do but have a giveaway? Hurray! *throws confetti* One lucky commenter will win a copy of The Truth About Letting Go, just let me know in the comments you're interested, and leave me a way to contact you.

Last day to enter is March. 24, and I'll post the winner on Monday, March 25^th. Best of luck!

In the mean time, since I already interviewed Leigh HERE, I let my 3-year-old do the honors to give you a fresh perspective on this amazing author. :)

Girlie, take it away!

Girlie: What is your favorite color? Mine is pink.

Leigh: I'm imagining us sitting at a little white tea table with a few stuffed animals joining us. I'm very big, and I've got my pink boa and tiara on... 

(sips tea) I like pink, too. When I was little, purple was my favorite color, though. You can be Pinkalicious and I can be Purpleicious. Is that OK?

Girlie: Will you sing me a song? OR Dance with me! I like being a ballerina. How do you like to dance?

Leigh: I don't dance super well. My dancing takes special medicine, otherwise I look like Kookoo the Bird Lady from Freaks.

Girlie: Let's play magic wands! Mine turns people into stones. What does yours do?

Leigh: Stones! Goodness.

 

Me: Yup, it's true! I've totally been turned into a stone like 4 times just in the past week. Crazy.

 

Leigh: Did I mention I really like this tea? And that's a lovely dress you're wearing. Umm... what if my wand turns people into fairies? That's fun, huh? 

Me: If I don't hear from you in a while, I'll confiscate Girlie's wand. See if I can figure out the reverse spell! ;)

Girlie: If I'm the princess, what does that make you?

Leigh: I guess I'd have to be either one of those little birds that help you get dressed or a mouse... I'm glad I'm not the step-mom or anything. They're always bad. 

Girlie: I like to cut things up and play with glue. What do you like to do?

Leigh: You know what's fun to do with glue? Put squiggly shapes on construction paper and then dump a bunch of glitter on it and shake it around. It's real, real messy. Ask your mom to show you how to do this... LOL! :D

 

Me: Um, thanks a LOT!

Girlie: I can write the letter K. What can you write?

Leigh: Now that I'm big, I can write most of my letters. But you know which one I still can't write? Cursive Q. That's hard for me. Oh, and cursive Z. You'll probably do those really well. I still have to make those in print.

Me: Okay, I have to intervene, because this is my blog after all. Last question:

 

What would Ashley's personalized license plate be? Colt's? Jordan's? 8 letters for each. Go!

Leigh: You know I HATE this!!!

 

Me: Bwah ha ha! I am evil incarnate. :)

 

Leigh: I'm not good w/personalized plates. Urgh... umm... do they have to be 8 letters?

 

Me: Okay, okay, you have UP TO 8 letters.

 

Leigh: OK, here goes...

Ashley would be  REBLREBL (I'm thinking "Rebel Rebel"--like the David Bowie song... does this look like Robble Robble?)

Jordan would be HAVEF8TH (That's not very good. I know.)

Colt would be L8TRDUDE (OK, his would be cooler than that, but I actually knew a guy who's plate was that... LOL!)

Me: Awesome plates! REBLREBL totally came across right. :) Now aren't you all wishing you could sit down to a tea party with Leigh, wearing a pink boa and a tiara? I know I am!!

 

Thanks for visiting with us, Leigh! And the rest of ya'll, don't forget to mention in the comments if you want a chance to win Leigh's latest.

We are Gladiators!

I got a little crazy this weekend and did a mud run with one of my CP's---Tessa, from over at Ink & Angst.

We couldn't help comparing the whole thing to writing. The obstacles you face that sometimes seem impossible. (Finding time. Filling plot holes. Revising. Revising again. Revising AGAIN).

But then you manage it, even though you were sure you couldn't . . .

But sometimes you hit an obstacle that you just can't overcome (totally did NOT make it up that rope) . . .

So you have to find a different way around. And it's not what you planned, but it's OKAY. It works. Until finally you come into that home stretch.

And you may be a little covered in mud, and different for your experience . . . wiser. But you did it! You wrote a book! And it's doggone something to be proud of.

So what did ya'll do this weekend? :D

Twitterpated, Part 4

So I know you've all been dying for more about my mistakes on Twitter. I'm realizing I may have to do this one mistake at a time, because apparently I'm a bit long winded. But hopefully this will help any newbies to Twitter have a smoother time of it. Maybe it won't take you A YEAR (!!!) to figure it out.

My Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake #1:  When I set up my account, I followed only a select few tweeps. My reasoning was that I didn't want to hear a bunch of random comments from people I didn't know.

Umm . . . so that's pretty much what Twitter is. But there are the good kind of stranger-tweeters and the bad kind. I think you will learn pretty quickly which is which.

So here are my suggestions about who to follow (speaking as one writer to another)

1. Agents: Summer Heacock (aka @fizzygrrl) has made this easy for you. I present Agents-to-Follow Cheatsheet 1 and Cheatsheet 2. You might even want to create a list of just agents so you can see what they are tweeting at a glance.

2. Editors: A couple of my favorites include: @the_SDB, @StacyAbramsEdit, @CarolineAbbey, @MKCastellani, @EgmontUSA, and I could go on. My focus is MG, but find the editors that work on the stuff you write. GalleyCat gives a long list of tweeting editors here.

3. Industry Groups: This would include publishing companies, writing magazines, and any group that might give information you're interested in. Twitter can help find the bulk of these.

4. Blog Friends: Gosh, I hope you know who this is for you. ;)

5. People who interest you: Heck, if you think Ryan Gosling is the bomb, follow him. Maybe Honest Toddler is your thing. Go for it!

6. People who follow you: This is the trickiest group. I know that most people who follow me do it to get a follow back. But that doesn't mean I have to give it. Usually, I glance through their tweets and see if they are a real person or just a tweeter of spam, then make the call. I know some people who only follow people they know. But I have met some cool people by taking a chance

7. Family/Friends: So no one in my family tweets, and very few of my real life friends do. And I'm okay with that. I use twitter as a tool in my writing life, and reserve Facebook for my family and friends. But if you do, you might want them on your feed. Your call. Just remember who follows you when you tweet. If you wouldn't want your mom to read a tweet, better not tweet it.

(And actually, that might be a good rule to live by whether your mother is on Twitter or not.)

So there it is. In a nutshell. My suggestion is that you take some risks. Try following some new people. The thing to remember? YOU CAN ALWAYS UNFOLLOW SOMEONE. If you don't like someone's tweets, unfollow them. And if they unfollow you back, so be it.

Twitter is a tool, and you should play around with it until it works for you. And for all you experts, how do you decide who to follow?

Next Twitterpated installment? What to tweet . . . and what not to.

Pitches: A Reader's View

Today I come to you with my WriteOnCon Pitch Fest Blogger Cap.

If you head over to WriteOnCon's blog, you will find all sorts of posts from various agents giving advice on writing a pitch. AND, if you go to the WriteOnCon Forum (open until March 10), you can get your pitch critiqued.

So, about pitches. Sometimes, I think we forget their purpose. We think it's supposed to tell people what happens in our book.

Wait . . . what? Isn't it? I can hear the questions already.

The real purpose of a pitch is to entice readers to read more.

The irony of it all is this: As a person writing a pitch, it's easy to forget that. As a person reading a pitch, that's all you think about.

So let's pretend: You walk into a bookstore unsure of what to buy. So what do you do? You read back cover copy (and maybe a line or two of the beginning) until something grabs you.

First book you grab: The Hero's Guide to Saving your Kindgom

This could be good, you think, so you flip it over:

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change.

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, the princes stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

Obviously, every person will have their own reaction to this pitch here is mine, Twitter style (just because):

• Prince Duncan? LOL! Except now I want some cake. #DuncanHinesForever
• 4 fairytales in 1??? Where do I sign up? I *heart* Fairytales. #ObsessionOfMine
• "Lousy bards" *snort* I do like me some snark. #VillainousBards heehee
• That's why they're all named "Charming"!!! I've wondered for years! Ha!
• What?! Prince Charming rejected? Low blow Snow White. Low Blow.
• Trolls, check. Bandits, check. Dragons, double check. Witches, check. You go Prince Charming . . .er, Duncan! #WhatsNotToLove

And of course, what do I do? I buy the book (yes, I bought this one in real life, not just our pretend adventure).

So how might this help you?

First, realize that pitches are subjective. Not everyone likes the same things. I happen to love fairytales, and this pitch is absolutely aimed at people who like fairytales. If you have an intended audience, make sure they know this is for them.

Second, voice. It didn't take much to set the tone, but "lousy bards" told me this would be a voice I'd appreciate. Work the voice from your book into your pitch.

Third, hook. This particular book plays off the fact that all of the princes in fairytales seem to be named Charming. Absolutely something I have laughed at for years. That is the line that sold me on this book. What is the hook of your book? What about it will make others connect to your story and want to read more?

Writing a pitch is not easy. The pitch I shared is a mere 112 words, and I guarantee those are some labor-intensive words. But try to look at it as a reader:

What in a pitch makes you go, "Ooh! I want to read that book!!"?

Best of luck to all you pitch writers!

Leigh Moore Is at it Again!

If you haven't heard the news, my friend (and member of the uber-cool Hacky Sack Club), Leigh Moore, just released a companion to The Truth About Faking. And if you missed that one, seriously go find it.

But in the meantime, here are the deets:

A companion to The Truth About Faking (not a sequel; the books can be read out of order), The Truth About Letting Go (link) takes readers back to Shadow Falls, or more specifically Shadow Creek, with Ashley Lockett as she learns about real friendship, love, and letting go.

Get me

The Truth About Letting Go (link) by Leigh Talbert Moore Ashley wants to smash everything in her once-perfect life. Charlotte wants to walk in Ashley's seemingly charmed shoes. Colt wants to turn Smalltown USA on its ear--with Ashley at his side. Jordan wants to follow his heart... but Ashley is the one sacrifice he never expected to make. Up until now, Ashley Lockett has always followed the rules. She's always done the right thing, played it safe, and then her ideal life is shattered when her dad dies suddenly. Fueled by anger and grief, she vows to do everything opposite of how she lived before. She rejects safety, the rules, faith, and then she meets Jordan. Jordan has big dreams, he's had a crush on Ashley for years, he's a great kisser... but he's also safe. Enter Colt. He is not safe, and he's more than willing to help Ashley fulfill her vow. Get it today on Amazon * Barnes & Noble * iTunes * Kobo Add it on Goodreads.

Excerpt: I feel Colt laugh, and he looks down into my face. That’s when he seems to realize what I’ve been acutely aware of for the last several minutes—our bodies are pressed together. “It’s awesome, yeah?” he says. “Adrenaline rush.” “Yeah,” I breathe. “I guess.” I’m not sure if he’s going to kiss me until he does. His mouth covers mine, and energy mixes with the alcohol flooding my body. Our tongues slide together, and I grip his shirt so I don’t collapse.  Every single bit of this is wrong, and there’s no way I’m stopping it. It’s back, that good feeling. The sadness has been pushed out again, and in its place is this rush, this rush of adrenaline like Colt said.  He pulls back and smiles at me. “We’re going to start dating. Now. You’re my partner in crime.”

About the Author:

Moore

Leigh Talbert Moore is a wife and mom by day, a writer by day, a reader by day, a former journalist and editor, a chocoholic, a caffeine addict, a lover of YA and new adult romance (really any great love story), a beach bum, and occasionally she sleeps. -The Truth About Faking is her debut young adult romance (on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo) -Rouge is her first New Adult romantic suspense novel (on Amazon). Leigh loves hearing from readers; stop by and say hello! Blog * Facebook * Amazon Author page * Goodreads * Twitter * Tumblr

Twitterpated, Part 3

Apparently, my knowledge of Twitter is a secret weapon of some sort, and the evil Twitter gods don't want me to share, because THIS weekend, my computer took a hit. Like, we had to go get a new computer type of hit.

But I WILL NOT BE THWARTED! (Though I may be brief in my revolt).

So first, I just want to say, I hope my learning will help new Twitter users, or anyone contemplating taking the leap into twitterpation. Old Twitter pros: just go leave a comment giving us your best Twitter advice. :)

After a year of using Twitter, I discovered that I went into it with completely wrong expectations. I expected instant insider tips. I expected SECRET knowledge. I expected to FINALLY GET GILLIGAN OFF THAT ISLAND! . . . Oh, wait. Wrong blog post . . .

What I now know is that Twitter is not so much about getting information (though you can), rather, it's about making connections to people. Through Twitter, you have access to people in a way that simply isn't possible with blogs. Instead of well-thought out posts, you get the-thought-of-the-moment. You get a 140-character insight into taste and personality. You get improv instead of a script.

The thing is, when Twitter is one-sided (i.e. you lurk instead of participate), it’s kind of lame. The BEST way to make Twitter a useful tool is to respond to people.

And the beauty of Twitter is that it won’t take you long because you CAN’T send a hefty reply. 140 characters. It’s BRILLIANT, I tell you!!

But even then, if you aren’t up to words, you can still interact quite easily: If you like what someone tweets, Favorite it! If something makes you laugh, send a quick “LOL” in reply. Find a quote that inspires you? Retweet it!

Yes, it's limited, and it’s hard to imagine much coming from such a response, but do you know how cool it is when someone Favorites your tweet?!?

Really cool.

And do you know how much my esteem goes up for someone who responds to me (in any way)?

Yeah, like a lot.

(True, I just admitted my need for outside affirmation, but no judging. We all have it to some degree.) ;)

Okay, not as brief as I planned. So for now, my advice is “Interact.” It makes everything better. In the next series of “Twitterpated” posts, I plan to talk about my mistakes and how to avoid them.

In the meantime, how do you interact on Twitter?