There's No Business Like Show Business

Hey guys :) So I mentioned I'm doing a show, right? And that its been all steampunkified. Guys, I have been having so much fun. Time to spill, deal?

Here's your clue:

Yup. Wizard of Oz at the Scera Shell. How freaking awesome are those ruby slippers? And check out that steampunked Tin Man. These four are of course fabulous, but the whole cast is amazing and super, super fun. The show opens June 8th, runs through the 23rd, and is $10. Although, if you live in the area and are serious about coming, get in touch and I can see about getting you a deal. Like, for serious. How cool would it be to meet bloggy friends at a show like this? Such a blast. In the show I'm an Ozian, a Winkie (our jackets are so wicked awesome!), and yes, a Munchkin (okay, okay, I'm a shorty). Have I said how much fun I'm having?

Anyway, there's my plug. But I'm not done. I thought it would be fun to take some of the post-rehearsal notes we've gotten from our thuper duper director and see how they might help our writing.

Warm Up. Take writing classes, read, do creative exercises and smaller practice projects. You are much more ready to tackle the real show when you've prepped right.

Project and Enunciate. When you say something, say it. Say it loud and proud. Make decisions in your prose, in your characters, in your story, and own those decisions. Be yourself, be genuine, and don't be preachy, but there's no shame in having a point to make.

Adjust/Be Flexible. Anyone who's done a show knows how important this is. You get blocking or choreography, then its changed the next day. Last minute rehearsal scheduled or canceled, whatever. Point is, keep your brain on and take the curve balls. Your pitch doesn't go so well, get ready for the next one. Your favorite scene just isn't working, change it. A loved character becomes unnecessary, cut her. Adjust, keep moving, do what you need to do.

Chin Up. I take this to mean two things: First, keep your eyes on the goal and don't look down. Second, have fun while you're at it. If you don't love what you're doing, why do it?

Be invested or be gone. So a couple nights ago one of the directors notes was this: "Ok guys. If everyone in our ensemble was as invested and having as much fun as Sarah Allen then the energy would be incredible. Embrace the cheesiness like Sarah does." I'm not saying that to brag. (Okay, maybe I'm bragging just a little...). I mean, really, Wizard is definitely a cheesy show, and I'm a munchkin for crying out loud. But you know what, if I'm a munchkin then I'm going to be the most munchkiny munchkin I possibly can and have a blast doing it. I am most definitely not a trained dancer, I don't have nearly as good a voice as many people in the cast. But I'm invested. I'm in with both feet. 110%. I kind of do either 10% or 110%, I don't really know how to do anything in between. And with shows and anything I care about, I'm invested.

That's the way it is with writing. I have confidence in my writing career, confidence that I will succeed, not because I'm any better a writer than anybody else, but because I am in for the long haul with every cell in my body. I don't mean that in any kind of cocky way, I mean that if anybody is that invested in getting where you want to be, that's all you need. You'll get there.

And by there of course I mean the Scera Shell at 8:00 on June 8th :) If you can, come and play!

Sarah Allen

Starting the Agent Query Process

I now have a spreadsheet of almost 30 agents. Almost at that stage, you guys. I've been ready to start submitting to agents for years, just not actually ready. But now...almost.

Yesterday I said I'm waiting on my last few beta feedbackers, and I still am. However, in my typically ridiculous impatience, now that I'm so...freaking...close...I'm starting to wonder if it would be totally inappropriate for me to start querying anyway. It may move things along, and will feel wonderful, even if I get rejected. However, the last thing I want to do is jump the gun and shoot my chances.

Now that I have a list, my plan is just to go down probably six or seven at a time. If I should be so lucky to get a call, I have Chip MacGregor's awesome list of Questions to Ask Prospective Agents at the ready.

I have my query letter just a few tweaks away from being ready. It's been looked at by some way smart, awesome and experienced people, which gives me hope. I have my list, my tentative plan.

So. Does that plan sound like a good one to you? Am I missing anything? And do I start now or wait until I get the last of the feedback and put the novel through one last round of edits?

Where are you in this process? Have you done this before, and what advice would you give?

Sarah Allen

How to keep your brain learning

This is becoming more and more important for me for two reasons. First, since I'm graduated and not going to school, I need to be my own teacher. And two, like I've said before, I'm waiting on feedback for the first novel and still in the brainstorming stages of the second, meaning I'm in limbo, meaning I'm slightly going crazy and need my brain to be doing something. So here's a list of ways to keep your brain active, partly for my own list-loving benefit, partly to get your ideas added to mine. And here goes:

1. Read. I thought I'd start with the most obvious one. Read. Read everything. EVERYTHING. Novels, biographies, books about neuroscience and The Bay of Pigs, National Geographic magazine and Writers Digest, People Magazine and The National Enquirer, the dictionary, the thesaurus, author blogs, artist blogs, tech blogs, old archived newspapers and online newspapers, your old history textbook, the phonebook and the back of your Waffle Crisp box. EH.VREE.UH.THEEN.GUH.

2. Watch. This one is a fun one. And easy, given stuff like YouTube and *ahem* watchseries.com. There's so much out there. Documentaries, black and whites, cartoons, sitcoms. I have this weird dichotomy with TV were I feel like depending on the show, I learn more and am more creatively inspired by watching than by almost anything else, or it relaxes my brain and shuts it off more than anything else, which, given the fact that it can take hours for me to fall asleep sometimes because my brain won't shut up, can sometimes be refreshing. Anyway, I love watching awesome story shows, everything from The Office to House to Downton Abbey to Frasier to Person of Interest to Lost. All of those give me so many character and story ideas and I love it. Then there's also all the Discovery and History channel documentaries that honestly help me remember and learn cool new facts better than anything else. Or there's, you know, Johnny Bravo and Phineas and Ferb that shut my brain off when I need it.

3. The Interwebs. I suppose this is sort of a combination of the first two, but you can teach yourself basically anything through the internet nowdays. My brother is teaching himself computer programming via instructional videos on YouTube. Wikipedia can give you a basic run-down/background of pretty much anything ever. You can teach yourself a new language, find recipes, guitar chords, anything. Pick something you want to teach yourself, and learn.

4. Exploring. I wish this one was more natural for me than it is. I love learning stuff at my bedroom desk, but sometimes I go outside and the sun is bright and I feel like I'm Frankestein's monster coming out into the world for the first time or something. I should probably work on that. It's good to get out and explore and experience things first-hand. Go to museums or art shows. Take pictures, look at birds and bugs, go fishing. All things I should do.

5. Community Resources. In most places it's pretty easy to find something like night-classes or workshops or clubs that can help you learn what you want to learn, or just stretch your mind. I'm lucky enough to live in a college town that I should probably be taking much more advantage of then I am. The classroom setting is sometimes just awesome, and even if we're all gradumicated there's still that option sometimes.

So there you have it. Ways to keep your brain from atrophying. Anything else you would add to this list?


Sarah Allen

Oh the things we have

Last night the fam and I drove to Salt Lake to see my great grandparent's graves. They were pretty awesome people, and one of the best examples of a perfect couple I've ever seen. On the way back we were listening to the 40's XM station and talking and my mom told us about my dad trying to explain the internet to her almost 20 years ago and how incomprehensible it was and how she didn't see the point of it and what it would be like to show an iPhone to people 75 years ago. Isn't it incredible, what we have? The things we are capable of doing? The developments that have happened just in the last 5 years?

And look at how all this has totally changed the publishing industry. Well, the entertainment industry as a whole. 30, 40 years ago there weren't twenty bajillion different channels and shows to choose from. There were, like, 4. Those were the ones everybody watched. We still have popular shows that get a pretty general viewership, but its changed to more of a wide variety each with a loyal camp of viewers type set-up. Which I'm okay with.

Same with books. Back then it was either you were An Author who had made it big and the publishers took care of you and made sure you were read, or you just, weren't an author. Now anyone can be an author, and manage their career at various degrees of success and popularity. How many people make a living off writing that I've never heard of? Probably a lot. In a way that's a very hopeful thought. We have way more options to make things work for ourselves. Sure its more complicated, but to me its worth the trade-off.

You know, I think its false to think that just because certain things may have been simpler a long time ago, that they were easier. (We've all seen Midnight in Paris, right? Right?). They had their own challenges and issues, not easier or harder, just different. Maybe they had it harder getting from one place to another and less medicine and more disease, but I think if they saw the stress and craziness we deal with today, I'm not sure they'd want a trade. I mean, they also had more open fields and less obesity and pollution. But then, we've got electric guitars and microwave ovens.

So its not really fair to say one period or time is better or worse than another. (Unless you're talking the 1340's. That can probably be called worse than...ever.) They're just different. Thinking our age is worse takes the joy out of all the amazing things we have, and we do, but thinking it's better keeps us narrow-minded and open to repeating histories mistakes.

Enjoy today and learn from yesterday. I think that's all we can do, really, and I think its what our great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents would tell us to do if they could.

Happy Memorial Day.

Sarah Allen

Character challenge and a new video poem

Remember about not having skills but trying anyway? Yeah, here goes again. See what you think.

Ok. So there's that.

Now I have a challenge for you. I'm going to give you three characters, and I want you to put them in a story together. I'm having a really hard time with novel #2, so this is actually me just taking advantage of your creative brilliance, but I'm totally excited to see what you can come up with. And with that, here are the three characters:

So yeah...how would you put these three together in a story?

Sarah Allen

Pulling a Virginia Woolf on you all

Don't worry, I don't mean killing myself. Or being a closeted lesbian, or having a movie made of my life where I am brilliantly portrayed by Nicole Kidman. However, I am in such a transitional, semi-unstable period right now, fabulous in many ways, but my thoughts are in every direction, crazy and scattered, and I thought doing a mental free-write might help me sort out my own head. Hopefully its not too scattered. So here goes:

Maybe I'm listening to David Archuleta Christmas music right now. Is that allowed? I guess I don't really care.

I am having such a fun time in this show, guys. Just had costume fittings and the steam-punk awesomeness is AWESOME!!!

THE HOUSE FINALE OMG!!! Totally perfect. Absolutely perfect. Totally fits with the Sherlock thing, and Hugh Laurie is just...perfect.

I need to be doing more writing. I have not been making very good direct, day-to-day progress on that at all lately. It has to do with being in the transitional phase, and also I'm just excited to get the book back from the last of my amazing and awesome beta readers and start submitting. Gah I'm excited for that!

Ok, so I'm pretty sure the big reason I feel transitiony and unstable is all job related. I taught my last day of preschool today. Bitter-sweet. Those kids are so absofreakinglutely adorable. I'm going to miss them. But I need more hours than I get there at least so far, and what do I do over the summer anyway? Figuring it out. I have to remember that things are in the process of being figured out. Maybe that could still work out, and I'm waiting to hear back on some other fabulous options. So good things are happening, progress is being made. I don't need to freak out about it. It will work out. Right?

Just need to get the job thing taken care of. Then I can have a schedule and do things I want to do like go to the gym regularly and get back into a writing schedule.

People with chips on their shoulders bother me really bad. I always want to knock it off and play devils advocate, even if I mostly agree with them. Can't I be a BYU grad raised in Provo Mormon Utahrd without feeling judged? Why do I feel that way when I'm pretty sure its just me being self-conscious and paranoid and nobody really gives a crap where I grew up or where I live anyway?

I'm actually kind of glad Phil Phillips won American Idol. Jessica's voice is absolutely incredible and she's going to do amazing things, but there's just no connection for me there at all. And Jennifer Holliday...I have no words.

As scared as I am about the job thing, I think I'm more scared to have a new apartment, meaning new roommates. I've lived with the same group of friends since 2007, and the past year or so we've all kind of split off one at a time and now I'm the basically the only one left. Does that make me super, super lame? I worry about that a lot. Maybe too much. But I don't want to be lame. I want to do exciting things and have adventures and do what I'm supposed to do with my life, but I don't want to run away for the sake of running away or do things for the wrong reasons or at the wrong time and what is the right time or way of leaving ones home in the first place and is leaving Provo required for me to be unlame and adventurous anyway? I have no idea.

My book. And working on the next one. That's my unlame adventure. Hopefully more will come soon. Is that an okay way to think of things?

I really, really like this song:

Whew. Okay, I'll stop. Thank you for indulging me. I don't know if this helped me settle myself or if it just stirred things up, but I guess we'll see. Life is great anyway, and you're great.

Now tell me I'm not crazy :)

Sarah

When you ain't gots the skillz

So all the time I have these ideas in my head that are way beyond what I'm actually capable of doing. Ideas for projects like with drawing and illustrating and photography and video making and cooking and all these other things I want to do.

It happens with writing too, where I get an idea and feel like its too big for me. I think everyone probably gets that way when they're first starting out doing anything, but we pick the thing we're going to work at and try and improve, and our thing is writing. But I'm talking beyond that, or in addition to or in collaboration with writing. When we want to do a project that requires additional skills that we haven't been working on and training for like we have with writing. Art, videos, music, like I said. Many of the projects I want to do are an expansion of and supplement for writing, like making video poems or illustrating your own children's books. Those require writing skills plus cinematography, video editing and illustrating skills. Which I don't have.

So...what do you do?

1. Drop it. I don't mean this as a bad thing. Sometimes it really is just best to focus our efforts and attention on something else, something more worth while. Prioritize. For example, I would love to write songs, make a cookbook for writers, and videos for YouTube. Eventually I hope to be able to do all three (and lots of others), but for now I simply can't. It's just not possible time-wise, not even taking into account my complete lack of skill in any of those areas. But I can maybe work on one at a time, and obviously I've decided the YouTube video thing is at the top of my list. The others are dropped. For now.

2. Collaborate. If you don't have the skills, find someone who does. Maybe someone you already know, or there's always the option of getting a professional. My sisters a totally amazing artist, and even though I have way more ideas for collaboration than she has time or desire for, she did do the background for this blog. And I hope to rope her into at least a couple more projects before the end. If you need a book cover designed or a marketing strategy for a self-pubbed book, getting help is not a bad idea.

3. Do it anyway. This is my favorite option. The biggest downside is that you are going to make some mistakes. (Have you seen some of my videos? Oh dear...). Especially at first. The awesome idea in your head is still too awesome for your limited skills, which will probably leave you slightly disappointed at the end result. But keep going. Be patient. Practice. Learn. Teach yourself or take extra classes. Fake it till you make it. Doing it this way means you don't have to rely on anyone else, you can get it done the way you want to get it done and when you want to get it done, and even if it leaves something to be desired, it's still totally yours. Your skills will expand, meaning that you become closer and closer to making all those awesome ideas a reality.

Really this is just a long way of me saying please forgive the amateurish videos and illustrations that may appear on this blog. I'm working on it.

What do you think? Do these work, or can you think of other ways to make it work when you don't gots the skillz?

Sarah Allen

First time for everything and experiments with format

So today is a bit of a prompts post, but also just something cool and fun and interesting to think about. There are two things we talked about in the creative writing class last week that I wanted to mention as kind of ways to build and experiment and inspire stories.

1. Firsts: First time for everything, right? And that's often where the most interesting stories can come from. Take advantage of that. Put a character in a place or situation for the first time, and their true colors can't help but shine through and interesting things happen. Here are some "firsts" that we brainstormed:

-First date. Something totally awkward and creepy and random like visiting a cemetery or your dates dying father in the hospital.
-Boy catches his first fish.
-Father taking daughter to the store for her first tampons and midol.
-First time meeting foreign relatives.
-First time on an airplane.

Some fun ones, right? Could turn into some really interesting stories. What other firsts can you think of?

2. Unique format: In class we started throwing around unique ways to tell a story, probably something more towards flash fiction. But the idea was basically to tell a story not using typical prose. So here's the list of our ideas:

-Checks (The experimental story "Ordeal by Cheque" by Wuther Crue was the start of this conversation)
-Shopping list
-Tweets or Facebook statuses
-Blog posts
-Email subject lines
-Billboards
-Graffitti
-Notes in class
-Receipts
-Headstones

Anyway, those are just some fun ideas or things to think about. I definitely plan on trying out some of these. Do you agree these could turn into some cool stuff? What other ideas can you think of that fit in with these?

Sarah Allen

Thoughts on The Avengers

Yeah, I know I'm late to the party. I don't know why it took me this long to see it, I was even planning on going to the midnight showing and then I got sick and all that jazz. But even though I'm late, it still looks to me like Superhero is the new black, and its always useful to analyze the current trends. Besides, I like black. And superheroes.

I will say up front that even though I like superheroes, they're not what you would call "my thing." I really, really enjoy superhero movies, but I'm much more likely to pick say Midnight in Paris over Spiderman or The Kings Speech over The Dark Knight. I guess its because its so easy to keep superheroes on this stereotypical, superficial level, and that bugs. However, Joss Whedon did a fantastic job of filling out character in The Avengers, so what I want to talk about is my three favorite Avengers and why they're so flippin awesome.

Iron Man: Who doesn't love Iron Man? (Who doesn't love Robert Downey Jr.). He's totally got the exciting bad boy exterior sensitive sweetheart interior thing going on. He's so absolutely smart and witty and hilarious. Albeit also absolutely cocky, which usually drives me nuts more than anything else, but he's cocky in the 'for humor' way as opposed to the 'you're all scum' way. I also have a tendency to favor superheroes who are super because of their own devices (i.e. Batman and Iron Man) over superheroes who are super because of some kind of supernatural something (i.e. Superman and Spiderman). Favorite line: "Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?" Did I mention Robert Downey Jr.?

Hulk: People kept saying Mark Ruffalo did a fantabulous job, and even with that my expectations were exceeded. I'm always a sucker for a middle-aged lonely damaged man, so of course I loved Hulk. You see his insecurities and sympathize deeply because of it, but then we also see him overcome those insecurities and kind of embrace his "other guy". Favorite line: "Yeah, last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem."

Captain America: I think its Agent Coulson ("His first name is Agent.") who says that the people could use a little old fashioned, and that kind of sums up the big reason I love Captain America. It is so, so incredibly refreshing to me to see that kind of down-to-earth, home values kind of thing represented in a super hero. How I see it, that's sort of the closest to real-life superhero that they get. I love that in the face of a Norse god he'll say something like, "There's only one God, ma'am, and I don't think he dresses like that." That line almost made me squeal with love for CA and also Joss Whedon for writing it. I also loved "Last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." That whole Germany "There are always men like you" scene took my breath away with its awesomeness.

I do have two minor complaints. One general, one specific. I would have liked to see more women, including more women present for more than just their sex appeal, but Black Widow was still pretty kick butt and too few women is a thing with pretty much any super hero movie.

In this one particularly, though, I really wish they had done more with Loki. In the Thor movie he was so much more complex and developed, whereas in this one he felt a little one-dimensional. I like my villains a little less villain-y. But Tom Hiddleston is still fantastic and incredibly, incredibly beautiful.

So, thems my thoughts. Have you seen Avengers yet? I'm sure you're way ahead of me. What did you think?

Sarah Allen

I'm sexy and I know it

Oh my word you guys. You just need to see what confidence and some mad skillz can do for a person.

Have a great and fantabulous weekend :)

Sarah Allen

Guest Post from Callie Leuck: Friends with Everybody

Callie Leuck is a writer, dancer, tea-drinker, amateur photographer, and Oxford comma enthusiast. She is currently daylighting as a proposal writer for an IT company in northern Virginia and moonlighting as a science-medical writing grad student. Callie keeps a blog which she remembers to feed slightly more often than her fish, Frankie II.

A priest gave me the best advice about relationships.

It was one of those days where all the religion classes at my church were offering Confession: hundreds of children with the kinds of confessions an elderly priest later described as “being pelted with popcorn.”

The three priests based at my parish were assisted by a handful of priests from surrounding parishes. So of course I chose one I didn’t know, so I didn’t have to have an incredibly awkward conversation with a priest I saw in the vestry every Sunday, before the 7:30 am mass, when I was pulling an altar server robe over my church clothes.

At the time I was having trouble with a friend. Maintaining the friendship had become an exhausting and unrewarding chore that made me dread being around this person. I felt guilty about this. The visiting priest I was talking to sighed, leaned forward, and said, “Callie. You don’t have to be friends with everybody.”

This was quite a revelation.

I don’t have to be friends with everybody? Wow. That’s... wow.

Over the years, remembering this has helped me from having my soul sucked out through my eyeballs by vampiric relationships. I think many people have vampiric relationships at some point. I’m talking about the kind of friendships where you walk away from encounters feeling like... well, like your soul has been sucked out through your eyeballs and you need to go have a quiet lie-down in a dark room for a day or three.

I’m not saying you should trash-talk these people. I’m not saying you should fight with them. I’m not even saying they’re bad people or that you shouldn't be nice to them. All I am saying is that sometimes there may be people in your life whose association with you sucks the joy out of your life, and you don’t have to be friends with them.

I've been thinking about this because although talking about emotional vampires sounds depressing, I personally frame it in a positive way: I can choose who my friends are. I can choose to have joy in my life. I'm writing about this for a guest post for Sarah (who hopefully will have a joyful reason for her blog absence to share upon her return) because Sarah is one of the happiest-seeming people I know. She always seems so upbeat: even when she’s down, she’s positive. And she’s always talking about joy.

Sometimes, I think, you have to remember that having joy in your life is important. Sometimes that means not holding on to toxic things and people who suck that joy out of your life.

Why keep emotional vampires close to you, sucking out your joy? There are tons of people who love you, who care about you, and whose friendship buoys you up and brings joy to your life.

So today I’d like to challenge you to tell some of these people that they bring joy to your life and you appreciate that. Because that’s important. It’s important to have joy in your life, and it’s important to tell people they bring good things to your life.

Some thoughts on Gay Marriage

Ok. So I know how volatile this issue is and I want to say up front that these are just my thoughts, and I really hope I don't offend anyone. But what with the recent comments from Obama and Mitt Romney and the lovely videos from Hank and John Green, I have to just say what I have to say. It seems like the views represented are more often than not on one extreme or the other, which leaves me feeling quite under-represented. I would love to get your thoughts on my thoughts and I know we can keep discussion civil, and again, I apologize in advance for offending anyone.

I don't believe this issue is as cut and dry as people make it out to be. People are put in either the florescent rainbow camp or the brainwashed h8tr camp and I've never felt like I belong to either. After much thinking and discussing and several totally awesome gay friends (even in Utah, I know!), I have come to two main conclusions:

1. People are people.

Shocking, I know. This is the area where I agree with people when they say this is a "human rights issue" and not a "gay marriage issue." People are people, people. Whether they're gay, straight, white, black, addicted, annoying, ginger, athiest, Buddhist, whatever. Even the Scientologists count as people (well, most of them). But seriously, the fact that anyone is being treated any differently because of anything like that is disgusting and we as a civilization should be so beyond past that. Homosexuals specifically, they love just as genuinely as anyone else, they hate stereotypes just as much as anyone else, and they want to be happy just like anyone else. That is not new or shocking or unrealistic and shouldn't be. I have no problem if two guys want to live together and be happy and have things like hospital visitation rights and be allowed to do taxes together or will property to each other or that kind of thing. Again, I don't think any of this should be an issue. If you have a problem with someone else, its usually just your problem. I mean, on a general philosophical level, stereotyping is dangerous, and someone's sexual orientation is only one thing on a huge list of the things that add up to who that person is, and its not even the most interesting one. People. Are. People.

2. I have a right to a religiously based definition of marriage.

So, I'm pretty sure what I said above isn't gonna ruffle too many feathers. What I'm about to say might, and I'm sorry. But here's the thing, and I'm not quite sure how to say "the thing" in the first place, so bear with me. The comparison to interracial marriage and the calling people who would or did vote in favor of proposition 8 "h8trs" makes me really uncomfortable. For me this has nothing to do with "hating" anyone or thinking anyone is less than anyone else because they're gay or black or atheist or whatever else. We're all people, remember?

But. I still have a right to believe in a definition of marriage as one man and one woman. One of the founding principles of this country was freedom of religion. In John Green's video he talks about how even the religious...not just religious, but historical Christian definition of marriage is incredibly complex and he's right (remember Solomon?). However, as an LDS Christian, I also believe in modern revelation, that God still speaks to prophets and apostles, ("the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow" and all that) and under the umbrella of that belief, modern revelation states that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God. So whatever the complexity and confusion was before, that's where things stand, at least according to my beliefs.

Churches and people have a right to believe what they believe about marriage. I would even go so far as to say they have a right to defend that belief, and should not be forced to do anything they are morally opposed to doing, such as performing gay marriages, etc. But the largest tenet of Christian belief, at least according to, you know, Jesus, is loving God and our neighbor, and I've seen some pretty horrific examples of Christians doing a terrible job at that.

Are these two things incompatible? I don't think so. You might say, well, Sarah, putting these two things together basically just means that your only problem with gay marriage and the main reason you would vote yes on something like proposition 8 all boils down to a definition issue. You would basically be right. I believe people are people, I believe marriage is sacred, and I believe if you have a feeling towards anyone anyone ANYONE that is anything less than love, you have some work to do, and that's what you should be worrying about.

Including me. I'm still thinking about things and working on things, as we all are. I hope I can be allowed to be religious without being bigoted. I hope I can be allowed my faith and that everyone can be allowed love and happiness. I hope this isn't too much to ask, and again, I hope I haven't offended anyone.

What do you think?

Sarah Allen

Goals for the near future

Goals are important. They keep us looking and moving forward and making the progress we want to be making. And since I'm going through sort of a shift/transition period, I want to make sure I come out on the other side with both feet on solid ground, everything set, ready to go. So here's go:

• Finish edits on The Keeper, submit to agents, try not to die.
• Start novel #2.
• Go to the gym more often, eat healthy, weigh consistently. Try not to die.
• Spend at least 10 minutes every day pondering, meditating, or otherwise living in the present.
• Be more grateful and show it. Life is good.
• Try not to let the House, Smash, or Person of Interest finales kill me. Also try not to die while I wait for Downton Abbey and Sherlock.
• Find a job and new apartment. Try not to die.

That's the basics for me right now. Mostly trying not to die. Things are going pretty darn great, it will just be nice to have some of those juggling balls I was talking about back on the ground and settled. I absolutely work better and get much more done when I have a consistent schedule, and it will be nice to get one of those.

What about you? What are your goals for the near future?

Sarah Allen

My new obsession: Person of Interest. Or Michael Emerson Y U MELT MY HEART

It's happened again, guys. Big time. We all know that if you look up a picture of "crazy obsessive fangirl" in the dictionary there is a picture of me, but sometimes it gets really crazy obsessive.

Lets see. Downton Abbey was a recent one. Bates and Anna gave me heart palpitations. Then there was the Mr. Gold/Belle episode on Once Upon a Time that may or may not have led to a whole evening spent making a fan video of them. Except, Downton Abbey doesn't come back till September and Belle FINALLY came back in Once Upon a Time last night but it was so much less kick butt and awesome than it could have been (although Robert Carlyle you make my heart melt too I only wish they had given you more heart melting time but I maintain hope for next week).

All that is to say, I wasn't expecting it to happen again so soon, because usually I go for a while before I find something else that hits my kinks so absolutely perfectly, but oh my word, there were moments. Person of Interest. I haven't started watching until recently, although I have no clue why because Michael Emerson oh my freak I should have known. I think maybe I was scared I was going to be disappointed after the incredible amazingness best written never to be matched character on television Benjamin Linus from LOST (in case I haven't squeed enough about him in that show already), and while I still think LOST had much more development and scope for Michael Emerson to work with, I waited that whole entire show for Ben Linus to have some sort of romantic thing and they sort of kind of went there with Juliet and that was awesome but creepy and then again sort of kind of with Alex's mom in the alternative life thing but still...in Person of Interest he has an ACTUAL ROMANTIC INTEREST who is interested back and he's a total nerdy recluse who finally found another nerdy recluse and they loved each other but he had to leave to protect her and now he's left with sitting in the park outside her apartment and making sure she gets commissions for her art and pining and OH MY WORD THE PINING and its Michael Emerson pining and its wonderful! And not only that, but the girl who plays his love interest is his actual in real life wife! How totally awesome is that? And oh my word you guys my heart is already pounding for the moment when she realizes he's alive. Gah! Officially watching all the things.

Whew, okay.  I was going to try to write something a little more professional but then I watched the latest episode and clearly I can't think about anything else or even form a coherent thought. Bates, Mr. Gold, now Harold Finch. Not to mention Niles and Ross and Michael Scott. Why the middle aged man pining thing? I seriously don't even get it, and its me. Middle-aged man + woman he doesn't have; really the formula for me getting crazy obsessive about something is pathetically simple. And for some reason it doesn't work with younger characters either, like what's his name from White Collar. Too young and pretty boy. But when they're a creepy, dorky, adorably self-concious older man...am I revealing unhealthy things about myself here?

Does this happen to you too? Are there certain scenarios or specific types of characters that just get you every single time?


Sarah Allen

Oh what a juggling act

That's definitely what I feel like right now, the middle of a juggling act. Like I've got about a bajillion balls in the air waiting for just one to come down and pay off. Then I'll have to throw it back in the air, no doubt, but still. Lots of juggling and waiting.

The most important ball up in the air right now is definitely the novel, which is currently getting its last rounds of feedback before it's hopefully ready to start shipping out to agents.

Then there's also novel #2, which I am in the process of outlining.

Also all the fun online stuff like blogging and twittering and youtubing and pinning and obsessively-analyzing-my-google-analytics-page-ing. I can spend quite an obnoxious amount of time doing that, actually.

All the mini projects that won't let go, like the video poetry and short story collection (which is STILL coming, I promise. Just waiting on some responses from other places first. Still.) And wanting to experiment with songwriting and screenwriting and other awesomeness.

I can't forget the what-to-do-about-day-job freaking frustrating ball. That's the most unpleasantly stressful one for sure. The others are quite pleasantly stressful, actually. I've whined about this before, I'm sure (its what I do), but as much as I have absolutely LOVED working with the preschool kids, my hours aren't enough to live on and summers coming anyway, so I have to figure out something else or do I try and make this work because its so great or maybe the stress of trying to wait/figure the teaching thing out is too much and I just want the stability of a less awesome desk job that could potentially be pretty cool too and is much more likely to (and here's the key) buy me a roof and kettle corn so I can write and live at the same time. That ball.

And my sister got married. And I got cast in a play. (Yay!! More on that later. But I'll tell you this: it involves steampunk.)

Agent research and trying to find a new place to live but I have to catch the job ball first and its all crazy. Awesome, for the most part, but crazy.

So that's whats going on pour moi. What about you all? Is it more a climbing one huge mountain phase for you, or are you juggling as well? Or both?

Sarah Allen

Ever thought of doing videopoetry?

So its been long enough since I've posted a YouTube video, right? Because I had a lot of fun yesterday with my camera and iMovie.

I think I mentioned before that I wanted to try out videopoetry. The genre as far as I can tell is just what it sounds like, a video of a poem. A poetic video. I dunno. But anyway, I spent probably too much time watching some videopoetry and thinking this looks really cool I want to try. Because as fun as vlogging is, and I'm still gonna do it, I'm just awkward and inconsistently feel like doing it but I still want to use YouTube as a creative and networking resource and so the result, ladies and gentleman, is my videopoem, Soft Pedal:

If there's one thing I learned in high school creative writing, it's that sibling rivalry can most definitely be used as creative fodder. Ok, so I actually learned a ton in high school creative writing, and this poem is one of the things that came out of it.

So what do you all think? I would love your feedback and ideas on this, because I want to keep going with it and do lots more, everything from more straight up poetry vids like this one to vloggy/vignette poetry vids and see what comes of it.

Here's a playlist of some of the videopoems I was watching the other day, some of them are super weird but could maybe inspire some ideas. They all have very different styles, which I kind of want to play around with. I think its worth checking out.

Sarah Allen

3 social media sites I haven't quite figured out

I am a social media nut. I seriously love it all. People say it stresses them out, and I only sort of get it. To me its a game, and a fun one. How many new tweeps can I get today? Pinterest and Facebook fan page followers? What cool things can I do on YouTube?

The ultimate goal, I suppose, is to spread the word once I've got a book out. But really I'm having fun and loving the awesome new people I make connections with and the amazing things I find. I love it and want to do as much as I can.

However, with all that said, there are 3 social media sites that I would love to use, but haven't quite figured out yet. I guess I kind of need help. They are sites that could potentially have huge benefits, I just can't seem to figure out how to work them.

1. Goodreads: I know that, being a writer, its odd and not a good thing for me to say that I don't get how to use Goodreads. I know, and that's exactly why I'm coming to you all for help. Obviously it has huge potential, and hello, it's a site for people actively looking for their next read. The thing is, I'm having an awkward time trying to figure out how to communicate with people on the site in the same large-scale way you can on places like Twitter or blogging. Not that small scale isn't worthwhile, I guess on Goodreads it just seems very intimidating. Especially not having a book out, I'm just not sure how to go about it. Tips?

2. Tumblr: Another beneficial site that's only becoming more and more popular. I think on this one its the format that's complicating things for me. It's just really difficult to keep track of things on Tumblr. Again, I'm just not sure the best way to contact people, which makes it hard to know how to spread the word. How do you get your Tumblr in front of people? I mean, I know that the strategy I've used for this blog is to find other blogs and comment on them and do that a lot and that seems simple enough. Is that basically it on Tumblr as well? I mean, just posting regularly and liking and reposting and commenting on other people's stuff? It just seems intimidating to keep a handle on it all on Tumblr, but maybe that's just the nature of the beast.

3. StumbleUpon: This is the one where I'm really, really lost. I've at least spent a little time fiddling around on the other sites trying to figure things out, but not so much on this one. But I still want to use it, because I've heard it has huge referral potential, and that's its growing in popularity as well. So I don't want to miss out on what it could do for me. I suppose I'll just have to play around more on this one too and see what I can see, but anyone a user of StumbleUpon who can give tips on how to use it the most successfully?

Anyway, I could really use some tips if you have experience on these sites. Or even if you don't, it might be worth checking these ones out because, like I said, huge benefit potential, and we can learn together. But yeah, any ideas?

Sarah Allen

Why your best characters are just you

Going through the beta reader/editing phase of my novel has already taught me a ton about my own writing. I have a real issue with comma splices and a tendency towards too much dialog with not enough breaks.

One of the most interesting things I've learned is about character. Even though my main character is a forty-year old man, I didn't think too much about finding his character "voice" or "type". I did that on purpose, and instead basically wrote him in my own voice, as natural as I could be. So yeah, I basically wrote myself as a forty-year old man. Sort of. Anyway.

I did, however, think through the "voice" and "type" of many of the secondary characters. I based them off a very character-y image I had in my mind. Crazy lady type, clumsy soldier type, slimy skinny villain type. Some of them paid off, and were fun to write. However, the consensus from the feedback so far is that my MC is much more developed and round as a character than the others. Not just that (I mean, he needs to be more developed obviously, since he's the MC) but some of the others are falling a bit flat. That's not so okay, and we're working on fixing it.

Maybe this should be obvious, but its a revelation to me. I mean, nobody is more developed and rounded than a real person, and we don't know anyone better than we know ourselves, so characters where we go the natural route and basically put ourselves on the page are clearly going to be more human than when we don't. The dilemma, though, is how to make round and developed characters out of the ones who are nothing like us. Yeah, I'm not a forty year old man but I might be able to relate to one, whereas I really don't know what to do with the slimy, sleezy, malicious villain type. So what do I do if I want a slimy, sleezy villain?

I think the problem starts with thinking of characters as "types". We need to think of each character as an individual, and if this guy happens to be slimy, sleezy, and malicious then that's what he is. But he's also geeky and desperate and lonely and ambitious and just trying to get where he wants to go, and that I can definitely relate to. When we try and write "types" then the characters end up turning out like bad versions of characters people have seen many times before. And we don't want that.

So just be yourself. Be your shy, quirky, girly self for one character and your snarky, bitter, witty self for another. Every character comes from you. They turn out better when you let them.

Anyone else experienced this before? What characters are easiest for you, and which are the hardest?

Sarah Allen

Marriage, Indianapolis, and Writing Makes Everything Worth It

This week is...well, is there a redder color than red? Because if there is, this week would be it. The reddest red letter week at the Casa de Allen. And so I apologize for being more personal lately; we'll get back to more businessy writing type stuff next week.

I've mentioned this before, but my little sister #2 is getting married on SATURDAY HOLY CRAP!!! and my little sister #1 is going on a mission for the LDS church.

She totally got her mission call to Indianapolis, Indiana and she is totally going to meet John Green!!!!!! Maybe. But yeah!!!!!!!!

Guys, my sisters (and all of my siblings) are so freaking awesome. They are so smart and beautiful and talented and wonderful. My little brother #2 and little sister #3 were in their school play Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat the last couple nights and they are so hilarious and fabulous.

So guys, I have this really bad habit. I've talked about this before, but the thoughts that naturally come to my head are me thinking I'm lame and feeling like I need to apologize for myself. Very bad and unhappiness causing habit, which isn't good especially because I'm a naturally very happy and optimistic person. Then I went to college I made some really awesome friends who thought I was awesome and for the first time in my life I got in the habit of believing in my own awesomeness and that I was at least sort of on par with my awesome siblings. The joke was still that I had no spine, but at least I was growing one. For one reason or another, I feel like lately I've gotten back in the habit of letting those self-deprecating and degrading thoughts stick around. That's going to stop.

Because guys, my sisters and brothers are so amazing. They are so talented and are doing such awesome things. And I am amazing too, and do amazing things like writing novels. And you are all amazing for being you and doing the things you do. And life is amazing and good and wonderful. And really? Writing is amazing because its all about learning and experiencing new things and even when they're hard you can write about them. And that way you connect with more and more people.

Last night little sister #3 said, "Sarah, will you never let me forget that life is good?"

Never, little sister #3. Never.

What do YOU look for in a blog?

Sometimes the chemistry just works. Sometimes they give you the right answers, refer to all the right fandoms, have solutions to your specific problem and sympathize in all the right places.

That is when you know the blog is a match.

So I'm asking you. As we move forward in our relationship together, what do YOU look for in a blog? What kind of posts draw your attention? Publishing news? Professional advice? Tips on the craft? Do you like the personal?

What are you looking for when you read a blog?

Also, I would love a list of your current relationships. Not to gauge my competition or anything, but really. Or, you know, to add to my list of awesome people to learn from. So yeah, who are your favorite bloggers? How about a top three. Which blogs do you make it a point to check? Why?

I really want to hear from a lot of you, even if its just some quicky thoughts or a recommendation of one absolute favorite blog. Please if at all possible spare a few minutes to let me know what you think; I want to learn and grow and absorb other people's awesomeness :)

Sarah Allen

Why beta readers are angels who renew my faith in life

I forgot how disconcerting it is to write your first blog post after the A-Z challenge. I'm brushing my teeth thinking, okay, so tomorrow I'll blog about...oh, anything. It feels a bit like going to college after a high school that required uniforms. Wait, you mean I can wear things besides plaid skirts and navy blue cardigans?

Anyway, I wanted to talk about something that has kept me sane lately. The thing is, I'm not very good at asking people for help. I was raised with a very 'by-your-own-bootstraps' philosophy, meaning we worked for our allowance and whatever else we wanted. In a family of eight children it kind of has to be that way. If you don't fight for attention and what you want you don't get it.

There are many fabulous things about this philosophy. In 99.9% of cases it really does take sheer determination and work to get to where you want to be, and I'm very accustomed to that idea and ready for it. However, I focus so much on the 'There is SO MUCH one person can do' that I get pretty de-winded when I come up against 'There is only so much one person can do.'

I'm not backing out on my bootstrap philosophy here, I really do believe that its the determined hard workers who make it. But what that philosophy needs to remember is that a person can make it so much faster and further if they have help.

I thought you were going to talk about beta readers, Sarah.

I am. I've started to get some beta reader feedback lately. Quite varied, actually. Very intense, very helpful, very kind. But I have this thing where as soon as I put something I created in front of someone else I start feeling like I have to apologize for it, like it's stupid, and I think "Gah! This sucks and I suck and I'll always suck and I'll never make it as a writer."

That is me (and you, maybe?) being ridiculous and forgetting that I'm not doing this by myself. Once I get the feedback from betas, the intense, the helpful, the kind, and start incorporating it, I see the project with new eyes. I see how it's awesome, where it is terribly flawed but also how to fix those flaws. Then the ball gets rolling and I think of new people to send it to once I put in all the current edits that can give me more edits that will make it even better and maybe this project has the promise of awesome I thought it had in the beginning.

And now I'm going to pause for a moment of self-congratulation and post a text conversation I had with an angel beta reader/bff last night.

Moi: I got hazel wood unicorn core, ten inches :)

Oh, wait, wrong one...

Angel beta reader/bff: Your novel is brilliant. I read 35 pages today.
Moi: Seriously you have no idea how good that makes me feel. Seriously, like i said I always think its crap and its so nice to hear it might not be, especially from you.
ABRBFF: Um trust me, it might be the best thing I've read this year. It's making me hate you a little bit while aso feeling incredibly giddy and proud of you.
Moi: Ah! That makes me feel so good. I really need that. I've been editing it so I hope its getting better.
ABRBFF: I promise to lavish praise on you. Don't think my feedback will be wussy though ;) I intend to be honest on all points--as usual.

Yeah, that's why I'm loving beta readers right now. Also I say seriously a lot in texts, apparently.

Don't forget you're not doing this alone, even though writing itself can be a very solitary process. Get help where you can, it makes things so much nicer.

And guys, I'm talking about all you all. Every comment, every new person stopping by, reminds me why I love this. So thank you.

Sarah Allen