From Sarah, With Joy

Why Losing Confidence in Your Book is a Good Thing

2012-01-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

So, I'm still blah about my novel, but I've decided it's a good thing, and here's why.

It doesn't mean I'm not going to move forward exactly the same. I'm going to edit the crap out of it and then give it to other people to read and then start the submissions process. Feeling sort of whatever about it just means that the editing will be that much easier, and so will the putting it in other peoples hands. I still hope and want just as much for it as I did before, but I'm in a much better emotional place for accepting that whatever happens happens, and that it's okay if things just don't pan out for this one. Because they might not.

All this is true, but it's also true that I wouldn't be able to feel this way about this novel if I didn't have wild hopes and faith and ambition for my new novel. I have to be crazy about something. And I spent some time yesterday doing some good brainstorming, and I'm definitely starting to feel the excitement coming. If I've taken my eggs out of the old basket and sent it down the river, hoping it ends up somewhere nice, that just means my eggs are in a shiny new basket.

So, basically, this just means that I'm emotionally ready to push my baby out of the nest and can deal with the consequences. It also means I'll be writing my new baby like my life depends on it, because for a while it will. Then I'll grow hard to it too, send that one out, and get started on a new one. Circle of life.

I guess this seems kind of cruel. Maybe it is. Really I don't think my relationship with my books is going to turn out as black and white as all that. I'm just going through a phase that I'll probably go through with each novel, but once I give it time and get some fresh perspective on it I think I'll totally fall in love with it again.

I'm getting all practice for married life, aren't I?

Sarah Allen

Everything to say and not much at all

2012-01-26T05:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm having one of those weird days where I feel like I have so much to get off my chest I'm going to burst, while simultaneously feeling like there's not much to say at all. So I hope you'll forgive me if I just talk, fighting both the urge to say too much and to say nothing, and see where we end up.

I'm in a doubtful stage with my novel right now. I feel like it's all a bunch of crap. I should have known it was coming, I had a good level of confidence almost the whole time I was writing it, so it was bound to happen some time. I know it's me being silly, and I know not to trust my own feelings at either extreme, but its still not fun to feel like it sucks. Self-prescription: Get over it, edit the thing, and most of all start work on novel #2. Hopefully the getting over it part happens really soon.

There aren't many people I have a hard time being around, and I try really hard to genuinely get along with everyone, and usually it works. There are, of course, some types that rub me the wrong way, but the hardest type for me to watch--and in this case by hardest I don't mean annoying or grouchy-indusing but rather saddest, painful, upsetting, that kind of hard--are people who let themselves feel victimized. I suppose this can be quite annoying too, but really its so hard to watch because they are only making things so, so, so much worse for themselves, but nobody ever thinks they're playing the victim and when you try to help at all they just feel more victimized. Painful frustration caused by helplessness. You love and pray and hope and it never seems like enough. But what else can you do?

The last while has definitely been a haze of Downton Abbey. Sometimes I don't understand myself. I have the normal scale of hating something to really loving it, and then there's this whole other sphere of liking things where it takes me over on the obsession level, and I know its happening and know I'm involving myself and loving something beyond all sense of proportion and can't help it don't really want to help it. In this sphere live things like Severus Snape (of course), Ben Linus, Colin Firth, Jane Austen, John Green, Frasier, Sherlock, and now, Downton Abbey. I need Bates and Anna to be together like I need to eat when I'm hungry and pee when I'm full. I wish it made sense in my own head, (anyone else as crazy as I am?), but I guess that's all I've got to say about that.

I suppose I've already run the risk of saying too much, so I'll stop now. But thank you all very, very much for listening.

Sarah Allen

My Query

2012-01-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

Decided I might as well go for it and see what I can come up with. This is the summary part, and I'll have the personalized agent stuff and personal info and all that jazz too. So this is the query for my novel, The Keeper, and I could really use some feedback and critique. What do you think?

***

George Shepherd is grizzly keeper at the local zoo, and,what’s much more difficult, guardian of his sixteen year old niece. After sevenyears he believes he’s finally balanced the muddy claws, menstrual cycles and apast mistake he doesn’t ever expect to escape.

Then a little boy shows up with the news that on Cindy’sseventeenth birthday, she will be taken as a princess by the prince of anotherworld. This is easily dismissed. He pats the boy on the head and takes himhome, hoping Cindy didn’t hear anything.

At worst a sick prank, he thinks. Until things start turningup that can only be construed as evidence: symbols, letters, dreams, animpossible painting. With the help of Cindy’s former teacher, he knows he mustdo whatever it takes to make sure Cindy is not in danger, even when it meansdirectly confronting the past he’s tried so hard to bury. All before the leastmomentous birthday he hopes Cindy will ever have.

Part mystery, part romance, with a dose of magical realismand mid-life crisis, the true heart of this story is the exploration of whatkeeps us going when we lose it all, and the fine line between holding on fordear life and just letting go.

Sarah Allen

How does one even begin the agent research process?

2012-01-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

The book is done. It is on to the next steps. I've spent the past couple days scouring agent query and query tracker for information.

Oh my heavens there is a lot of it.

There are so, so many agents out there, and then the ones outside my genre. I'm starting a tentative list, but its hard to differentiate between the ones that would do great and the ones that would be perfect, if you know what I mean. I'm new to this whole thing, obviously, and its fascinating and a bit complicated, though that's okay. Live and learn, right?

Really what matters is that this is a two person decision, so what I expect my job to be is make a list of agents and just keep submitting until something good happens. I've heard seven at a time is the magic number. And I think I'm over-analyzing things, too, because if I can find someone who is as passionate about my project as I am, then that's really the main thing I'm looking for, right? I'm one who believes that everything happens for a reason. My job: submit and deal as smartly as I can with what happens.

Right? Any advice? How do you find agents you think would be right for you? And what kinds of questions should I be ready with? Though I haven't done specific agent research until recently, I've done lots of reading on the whole agenting system and contracts and all the uproar and controversy around that, so I'll try and be as wise about this whole thing as I can. But...help?

This is all still a bit in the future yet. I've got editing to do and beta readers to give to and more editing. So couple of months, ish. We'll see. But I'm going to start working on a query letter and put it up here for your advice and critique in the next little while.

Agents. Ah!!!

Sarah Allen

p.s. Also, I mentioned Downton Abbey yesterday. Oh. My. Gosh. Why must the BBC be so freaking delicious? Its quite taken me over lately, case you couldn't tell.

The book, ladies and gentleman, is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Yes. It's done. The first draft, at least. Right now I'm feeling a bit like this:

Sorry, didn't mean to slober on your face. I'm celebrating by watching White Collar and Downton Abbey.

Now time for edits and brainstorming Novel #2.

Sarah Allen

Guest Post: How To Find Time To Write, by Rochelle Melander

2012-01-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

Stephen King writes every day. A colleague of mine only writes when she has a book due. Most of the writers I coach wonder how they could ever write a book when they cannot dedicate all day, every day to their work. Writers, we need to think outside the box. There are plenty of ways to fit in writing time—if we get creative. Here are four ways you can honor your inner writer and keep a full-time job!

1. Take 20. Anthony Trollope was able write for three hours a day before going to work at the post office, but chances are he didn’t have to do his hair or make a lunch. Author Cory Doctorow has said that he spends 20 minutes a day on writing his novels—and that’s enough to finish writing a novel a year. All of us can find twenty minutes to dedicate to our work. Get up a bit early, go to bed later, or skip lunch—and use that time to write.

2. The Saturday (or Sunday) Writer. I’ve heard that the National Novel Writing participants who cannot write every day put in a big old marathon day each weekend. For writers who need time to get into the mood to write and hate quitting once they get there, taking a day each weekend to write sounds like a sensible thing to do. Pick up your computer, head off to a coffee shop, and write until your fingers get numb!

3 The Weekend Writer. A client of mine has written several of her fiction books on the weekend at hotels. She works full time and also has children, so taking a day a week to write is impossible. Instead, she books a hotel for one weekend a month through one of many available discount web sites. She enters the weekend with a chapter or word count goal and locks herself in the hotel until she finishes. (She does escape for food and exercise during the weekend.)

4. The Vacation Writer. Every summer, a writing friend takes a week of his vacation to participate in a writing workshop at one of the many writing programs in the United States. Other friends have given themselves a week at a remote cabin or friend’s empty house to work on their books. Wherever you end up staying, taking a vacation to write can be the perfect way both write and have a life.

Writers, there is no ideal or correct way to make a writing life. Do what works for you!

Rochelle Melander is a certified professional coach and the author of 10 books, including a new book to help fiction and nonfiction writers write fast:Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It) (October 2011). Melander teaches professionals how to get published, establish credibility, and navigate the new world of social media. In 2006, Rochelle founded Dream Keepers Writing Group, a program that teaches writing to at-risk tweens and teens. Visit her online at www.writenowcoach.com.

3 Keys to Brilliant Dialog

2012-01-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

Dialog has always been one of my favorite things to write. It's easy for me, compared to other things (like plot). In my years of getting critiqued, dialog is the one thing on which I consistently receive positive feedback (sometimes the only positive thing, but we take what we can get, right?). Anyway, I'm just saying this so that when I explain how this dialog thing and all the advice about dialog fits and works in my head, you can take that head at least somewhat seriously.

1. Read your dialog aloud. You've heard this one before, I'm sure. But what are they really getting at here? It's all about sounding natural, but what does that even mean? To me, thinking "I must write Great Dialog" can be really intimidating, as opposed to "Its just me, yo." In everyday conversation you just talk, easily, almost reflexively, with little to no analytical thinking. When you read your dialog aloud it should feel as close to that as you can get it. If you can write it in that conversational way to begin with, all the better. (Don't believe anyone who says literary dialog can't be conversational. Just write. There are always edits.)

2. Get in Character Mode. In my experience the worst thing a person can do for their dialog (both in writing and acting, actually) is to think 'How would this character say this?' Right there you've lost all your naturality, and made your dialog stiff and contrived. You can't know how someone else would say or even perceive something, you can only know how you would say or perceive it. But Sarah, you say, my forty year old zookeeper musn't sound like his sixteen year old niece or people will figure out I'm a hack and throw one-star reviews at me.

So we bring out our inner thesbians. You know you have one. If you didn't you wouldn't be trying to tell a story. If you're going to write believable dialog for this character, you need to be that character. And that's not so hard, because they all came from you to begin with. They're all part of you, all in your head. So it's less thinking "How would a teenager say this" and more "I'm a teenager saying this." It's not some generic "A Teenager", it's you. As a teenager. Or a trucker, or a pirate or a seventy-year old retired FBI agent living in a rest-home. If you get rid of any self-conciousness and just write, the nuances between characters will be seem incredibly subtle to you, but will make all the difference. The key is to not think of what they say as separate from what you say.

3. Hear brilliant dialog. This is the fun part. This is when watching genius television (*ahem* Sherlock) counts as research. It's like learning any other skill, the best way is to watch someone who knows how to do it. Or for that matter, someone who doesn't and you can learn from their mistakes. Reading great dialog is good too, but I particularly like the idea of hearing it because dialog should flow from your pen as naturally and realistically as great dialog flows from a great actors tongue, which is to say, as naturally as it flows when you're telling your roommate the weird dream you had last night. I think its perhaps harder to get that same experience when you just have words on a page and didn't experience the way they flowed from the writers mind to that page. Does that make sense? But once you've experienced the ease and flow of good dialog it is of course a great idea to see how that translates to ink and paper.

Is dialog one of the hard bits for you, or easy? What have you done to make your dialog the most effective?

Sarah Allen

Sherlock...Benedict Cumberbatch...can't.handle.the.awesome.

2012-01-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm a few days behind, but last night I watched the last episode of Sherlock, called The Reichenbach Fall.

I...it was...no words. My roommate spent a good five full minutes laughing at my face.

Let's just say it was possibly the most emotionally effective episode of television ever created.

There's a reason Sherlock Holmes is one of the top three most well-known characters of all time. (The others being Mickey Mouse and Peter Pan. Can't remember where I heard that). We want to be him. Sort of. We want to be able to look at someone and know everything about them. He's just a brilliant character.

And Benedict Cumberbatch. Oh wow. I mean, beyond the squeeing about his curly hair and blue eyes (holy cow oh my gosh his eyes), the man is a genius. His Sherlock could not be more perfect. And Martin Freeman as Watson? Yes please. The fact that they're going to be in The Hobbit together (AHHH!!!) way overflows the worlds cup of awesome and almost makes up for the fact that we have to wait a year and a half (freaking year and a half!) for the next episode.

And you guys. I don't know how I'm going to make it, like for reals. When this episode was done I wanted to slap the freaking freak freak out of Steven Moffat. And then kiss his feet. But mostly slap him.

So yes, all I can manage right now is this incoherently fangirl squee, but if you haven't seen this show, you need to fix that. Right now. It's only six hours total, but if it were six hundred I would say the same. Please, please, please do yourself a favor and watch this show.

Why does this happen, guys? Why do we (please tell me its not just me) get so entirely invested in made-up stories and characters? I relish what that says about the importance of story to our most basic nature, but I can't quite figure out how it makes any logical sense. It's not about the logic at all, which is why it doesn't make sense, but still...why?

And how do we make people feel that way about our stories?

*Sigh*. God bless the BBC for everything they do. And God bless Benedict Cumberbatch and those eyes...

Sarah Allen

Writing the Denouement

2012-01-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

So the big, climactic chapters are done. I only have a little bit of resolving left to go. After I wrote the end of the climactic chapter I thought to myself, what if I ended it here? It seemed like it could be cool, but I think I have a few more things to take care of before the story is done. I'll make sure my beta readers agree with me on that one.

Now comes the denouement. The falling action, the resolution. I sort of know what needs to happen, but I want to make sure it plays out right, and has the right feel about it. Any tips on getting the most out of your ending? How best to make it work?

I even know what the last line is going to be. I just need to get there. I want the emotions to be in the right place, but I also don't want to lose too much of the drive, or action of the story. What kinds of things happen at the end of your novels?

Sarah Allen

Oh Captain, My Captain and other dreams

2012-01-16T05:30:00.002-07:00

I'm feeling sick today, which is a shame because I really wanted to make some progress on the book, but I'm writing the BIG SCENE and I feel even more inadequate when my brain feels congested. Ugh. We're going to try, though.

My roommate and I watched Dead Poets Society last night. I cried. I love Robin Williams. Something about his half-shy smile and puppy-dog eyes.

The book is coming you guys, its going to be finished soon. Then its time for edits, which I'm hoping won't take as long as drafting did. I've spent so much time on the drafting, that seems only fair. I'm starting to do research on agents. Soon, you guys. Soon. Geez I'm ready to be done.

Short story collection is making progress too. Edits are finished. Maybe. Cover design is in the works. I may have to withdraw a few stories from submission but I'm thinking April 1 as a tentative release date. That's not a joke, by the way.

Job is great. I adore preschool kids, snotty noses and all. I only wish the hours and everything was more viable and secure. We'll see what happens there.

I think I want to start working on another picture book, too. Or a screenplay. Definitely a second novel, once this first one is done. Also I would love to learn to play the saxophone. And buy a turtle.

Happy Martin Luther King day. I hope you have a dream, too.

What's going in your life?

Sarah Allen

Funny, lolz and stuff

2012-01-13T05:30:00.001-07:00

Here's to laughter and other worthy causes:

There's a lot more where that came from here. Have a happy weekend :)

Sarah Allen

10 Ways to Get Paid for Online Writing, with Lior Levin

2012-01-12T05:30:00.048-07:00

So pleased to have Lior Levin with us today, talking about making money with online writing. Lior is a marketing consultant for a css company, and also consults for a company that works with physicians and patients to evaluate the likely effectiveness of new cancer treatments that specializes in new cancer treatments.Take it away Lior!

***

10 Ways to Get Paid for Online Writing
Selling words for dollars is easy, if you are aware of two things:

-How to put down the words together.

-How to sell your piece in the right market.

Be it a full time day job or an online freelance gig, good writing pays. Almost, always.

For the past couple of years, I have made a good amount of money by “writing for the web”. Not with my pen but with the keyboard, to be precise.

When I started out, I was clueless about the sites where I could actually get paid to write about the things I would write on my blog anyway. That time, I had a blogspot blog where I wrote about random topics e.g movie reviews, technology, gadgets, gaming and personal rants.

Over time, I discovered that there are a good number of sources who need full time writers on the topics I am passionate about. If you are a newbie freelancer and want to get paid for writing online, here is a handy list which you should remember:

1. Write in your own blog:

Writing in your own blog pays and pays better than writing for anyone else. But there is a catch - you have to maintain your blog/website and make it popular in the first place. If your website never topples the average popularity line, it would be hard to make money through sponsored advertisements.

On the other hand, if your blog gets quite a few thousand visits daily, you can monetize it with Google Adsense, BuySellads, Chitika, Kontera and other advertising programs.

This is better than freelance writing as you can write whenever you want to and get paid from clicks on advertisements, banner ads and so on. The result is certainly much more rewarding than writing for someone else.

2. Write in article directories

If you do not have a website and have no vision of creating one, I would recommend starting with article directories. Write for free article directories in early days and build a solid online portfolio first. When you have the trust factor attached with your name, other paid article directories would contact you and you will eventually end up working for them.

3. Join other blogs as staff writers

Blogs and forums is not a one man affair these days. Most large blogs have full time writers and staff authors, who research and write stories regularly. If you are a skilled person and know how the ins and outs of something better than anyone else, contact an authority blog and ask them whether you can join their writing team. Show them proofs of your writing and if you have the talent, they will be more than happy to hire you.

4. Participate in Freelance gigs

Small and medium sized websites often need part time writers for bi-yearly projects. Keep an eye on freelance forum sites and be-friend other freelancers on Facebook and Twitter. By participating in the community of freelancers, you would be able to crack a deal, sooner or later.

5. Write your own book

Do you have expertise and full proof knowledge over something which people want to know badly? Consider writing an ebook and sell it through your blog, email newsletter or through Amazon. If your blog is not so popular, it will be very difficult to sell the ebook you wrote.

In that case, I would recommend you to contact authority blogs in your niche and make a deal. You can split the sale amount by 70-30, so if your ebook sale crosses 10,000 copies - you would make a decent income through the exposure of the authority site selling your ebook.

Tip: Make sure your ebook is top notch and one of its kind, or else authority sites wont accept your deal in the first place.

6. Help someone write his book

A lot of prolific writers often look for “seconds” who can help them write their ebook. As a “second”, you have to research, prepare documentation, write dedicated sections and complete assignments for the author.

The result is pretty rewarding because when the eBook sells, people will notice your name. This hardens your standing soil and you gain that “trust” factor. Keep an eye on online Job boards and freelance sites for these occasional offers.

7. Look for Internships

Top Technology blogs e.g LifeHacker, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Mashable often hire regular interns, so if you are really passionate about your subject,

8. Write For Startups

Startups are small organizations who are keen on developing their product and often need someone who can spread the word about their product, pitch authority blogs and maintain their official blog. Get involved with a startup and ask them whether they require a blogger or a media person for spreading the word. Almost all startups have interns who are responsible for writing documentation and maintaining their social media brand awareness.

Tip: research well ahead of time and make yourself familiar with industry jargon first.

9. Editing and Proofreading

If you have command over the English language, you can work as a copy editor for clients or blogs. The role of a copy editor is to correct grammatical mistakes, proofread and tweak the writing style of the author. This type of job is ideally suited for folks who are already engaged in a full time day job, as proofreading articles is not that laborious and takes only a few minutes.

But, where do I find these sources?

This is the million dollar question.

You have to be active on social networking sites e.g Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and regularly visit freelance portals/online job boards. Here is a list of sites where you can start:

Don’t jump for shortcuts, there aren’t any shortcut to make thousands of dollars within a few weeks. It is going to take some time, be patient and keep looking.

Good luck!

Green Day, Red Day, Work Day, Dead Day

2012-01-11T05:30:00.001-07:00

You've heard the expression, "Treat every day as a gift."

What they never say is what kind of gift.

When I wake up, ready to open my day in its neat little box, I have certain expectations. I want certain things out of this gift of a day. When I look in this box I want to see writing, sleeping in, more writing, blogging, talking with roommates, going to the gym, reading, and at the end a nice little package of a chick-flick, kettle corn and peach citrus Fresca all wrapped up in a red bow.

What they never say is that gifts change, and are only rarely what you expect.

Sometimes I open the box and there's extra errands. Sometimes its puppies and rainbows. Sometimes its a new song or an old hoodie or sitting on the couch with my mom watching Biggest Loser and not wanting to leave. Sometimes its absolutely nothing. Sometimes it explodes.

I've learned that the best way to feel good about your writing and your life is to take what the box gives you and do the best you can with it. If its nothing, let it be a nothing day and don't beat yourself up about it. If its twenty juggling knives and a few flamethrowers, do the best you can and just try not to burn yourself. If you happen to wake up on a Saturday with no obligations, take advantage of it and write. If its puppies, give them to me.

It's just that I've been realizing lately that I'm spending too much time beating myself up about days that I don't get enough done and not enough time writing on days when I have more time to spare. Days can be unwieldy, but if we just go along with it, work with it, then I think we make more progress and stay healthier than if we try making bread out of vacuum cleaners.

So take what the box gives you and try to smile :)

Sarah Allen

In the Room Where You Are Writing

2012-01-10T05:30:00.001-07:00

Ever wondered what other writers' writing space looks like?

I'm over at the wonderful Callie Leuck's blog today, answering that very question. She had the awesome idea of doing a series around that question, and getting pictures and information from a slew of different authors. Answers to not only the where, but the when and with whom and with what as well. Hop on over to check it out. Oh, and ignore the unmade bed. And the messy desk. And the teddy bear.

Callie is taking volunteers for this series, if you're interested, but even if you're not I would still love to hear your answers in a comment somewhere.

Where do you write, and when?

Sarah Allen

Lessons from High School Drama and some scheduling questions

2012-01-09T05:30:00.004-07:00

Hi guys. Happily though unintentionally, this week has turned into a guest-bloggy kind of week.

The first one is today. I am over at Rochelle Melander's Write Now! Coach blog. The post is titled Lessons from High School Drama: Attitude vs. Aptitude. Pretty stoked, she is wonderful to work with and gives some pretty fantastic writing advice over there. And don't forget to check out her book Write-A-Thon. It could be an invaluable aid to anyone interested in NaNoWriMo, but I'm sure the advice in there applies to anyone writing at all.

So there's that going on, and then a special series on writing space going on tomorrow and a guest blog visiting us here on Thursday (talking about money. You won't wanna miss that one.) So (said in my best announcer voice) tune in tomorrow for more not-to-be-missed information.

Cool, yeah? It always makes my day when I'm approached about doing a guest post or hosting a guest blogger. That's what this community is all about, right? But anyway, what I wanted to ask you all is this:

How is the 5-day blog schedule working out for you all, and would particular themed days be of interested to you?

I blog five days a week (sometimes [often] more) because I want to. I love talking to and hearing from all you guys, the more often the better. But I don't want it to be too much. Because blogging so frequently makes for some serious, informational posts and for lots of other not-so-seriously informational posts, I want to make sure that's not a bad thing for you, or bothersome.

Many blogs also have themed days, like "Music Monday" or "Tell-the-Truth Tuesday" or something like that, and I would love to get your thoughts on that too. Does having one or two structured theme days make things more manageable for you the reader? And if yes, what types of themes would be of most interest to you?

Obviously I'm going to have to take any ideas you may have into consideration and decide for myself before I make any changes, but I really want to know what you think. Please don't be shy, and don't worry about hurting my feelings or anything like that. I can take it. It benefits both of us for me to know what would make things easier and more interesting for you personally. I really mean this, even if this is your first time to the bloggy blog, let me know your thoughts. And thanks :)

Sarah Allen

A Song and a Poem

2012-01-06T05:30:00.002-07:00

Here's the song:

And here's the poem:

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sarah Allen

If you didn't write, what would you do?

2012-01-05T05:30:00.021-07:00

My roomie and I were talking last night, like we do sometimes. She's a writer too. I don't quite know how it came up, but we were talking about people who write just for themselves, with no goal of publication at all. Just for the fun of it. I told her I couldn't write like that. That I need that end goal of getting my words to readers as something to work towards, and that without it I don't know if I would have the gumption to finish any serious project.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. What does it mean that I feel that way? Why did I get into writing in the first place? I got into it because of the fulfillment and genuine joy it brings me. This may sound ridiculous, but I sort of feel like I don't and never did really have a choice. I don't want to go so far as to call writing a "calling", but its been with me and part of me for as long as I can remember. There have been times when I've wanted to write and do something else (photograph for National Geographic was a big one), but I've always wanted to write. I don't know what I would do if I didn't write. I'm not saying I couldn't live, I really just don't know what I'd do instead.

That could be an interesting mental exercise. What would it feel like to just completely drop the writing ball right now, and what would I do instead? I actually think these are good questions to ask, especially for me at this point, because I've been so focused on the career/business aspect of a writing career. It would be good to remind myself why I love writing in the first place.

So, what would it feel like? Very scary, first of all. I would feel very hollow. I would feel like the effort I've put into things all these years would have gone to waste, and that I would be behind in whatever else I decided to do. I would jump into whatever else I decided to do with my whole soul and kind of go bat crap crazy about it just because I don't know any other way to do things. It would be the littlest bit exciting, and I would have fun going through possibilities. The first one that comes to mind is aiming for a career at some place like National Geographic or the World Wildlife Fund or some other environmental non-profit agency. That seems like it could be amazing.

But would something like that, or any other career be as fulfilling? I'm thinking out-loud and trying to be totally honest with myself here. I really don't think it would. I mean, it would be incredibly fulfilling, but it would not feel as personal. I love the idea that through writing, I will never die, or that I can continue to be an influence in the world not just generally, but in a very personal way. I could see acting filling that same personally fulfilling need, but I don't know if it would go as deep, and I'm pretty positive I don't have the claws it takes to succeed in that industry these days.

I'm having a hard time being patient with writing right now, which is why I think this exercise has been helpful. It has actually been extremely helpful. I'm allowing myself to imagine life without going crazy about a writing career, and as refreshing as it seems in some ways, I don't want it. I'm impatient right now, but that's all it is. Impatience. I'm doing the planting and sowing, I just have to wait for the harvesting and reaping. But it will come, and this is the garden I want to plant in. For sure.

Another way it has been helpful though, is that I've been having day-job uncertainties. Because all I want is writing, I've been unsure about what to do in terms of supporting myself. Just last night I was telling my roomie that I was in this weird place of not being totally stable but not really knowing what I wanted as far as jobs go. But this helped me realize that there are other things that would be amazing that could support me and that I could do as well as write. The environmental agency thing is sounding better and better, and every writer needs a second career as well, right? Who says they have to be mutually exclusive? Because I'm so obsessive it takes extra thought for me to imagine things in a dual-career kind of way--how do you obsess over and give yourself to more than one thing?--but I don't think it has to be that way necessarily. I might have to start doing some research and see what I can see.

Whew. Thanks for letting me do that, guys. I actually feel like I've just aired out and sorted a mental file cabinet. What would your answers be? Could you imagine life without writing, and what would you do instead?

Sarah Allen

Being Taken Seriously as a Single Woman

2012-01-04T05:30:00.008-07:00

I am not a feminist. Not in the make-up shunning, bra-burning sense of the word anyway.

But there's something I need to get off my chest. (Pun intended).

I'm not trying to complain, either. I think we've made remarkable strides in woman's rights, though I do think the term "women's rights" is a bit silly because we're all just people. But anyway, I've just noticed some things lately and I think I've noticed partly because of my sister.

My younger sister, just to clarify. She's a little over three years younger than me. And she's dating a guy very seriously, as in everything but officially engaged. They even have a tentative date, and he's been coming on family trips with us over the holidays. He's a great guy, she has been so cute about it, that's all fine and good.

It's the change in how she is being treated. Not big things, just a slight shift in attitude. Like she's really a grown up now, even though she's younger than me. My parents have been particularly good at treating us all the same, but its just a general attitude, ya know?

Is this a Utah thing? Or does it happen outside the bubble as well? I adore Utah, and I don't think its purposeful or even consciously done in many cases, but there's still this kind of weird thing that women are taken seriously based on their husbands. The exceptions are the women who have done something major with their careers, but even then its weird. Yeah, maybe it is a Utah thing.

I'm really not trying to complain, and I'm secure enough in my own life and ambition that it doesn't really get to me too much. I'm just noticing. It's just a bit irksome that being a young unmarried woman puts me in the "how cute" category, when I would be taken more seriously or given different opportunities if I were married, even though I'd be the exact same person. Maybe not exact same, but you get the point.

Does that make sense? My thoughts aren't really even clear in my own head, it's all very much on the level of vague general impressions. And most of them are probably me just being defensive anyway, but I thought I'd just spiel and see what you think.

So...what do you think?

Sarah Allen

Free story!!! And the story of the story.

2012-01-03T05:30:00.003-07:00

I'm a little bit of an idiot, guys. I didn't realize authors were not allowed to list books as free on Amazon. Now, I love Amazon, but that's kind of dumb. I told you guys this was going to be a free story, and I meant it.

So I turned to our good friend Smashwords. After fiddling around on Amazon for a good long time, I've come to the conclusion that Smashwords is actually a good thing in this instance. The point of publishing these stories, as I've said before, is to be as available as possible. By using Smashwords, even people who don't have kindles can read the story. People with nooks and iPads can read it. People browsing the web can read it. And that's what we want for this. I'm going to do the "report a cheaper price" thing on Amazon, so I'll let you know if that works. But today, as I promised, this story is free. The entire anthology is on its way.

So without further ado, I give you my short story, "Gabby."

Sarah Allen

A short story and Elana Johnson, Taherah Mafi, Beth Revis, Stephanie Perkins and John Green oh my!!!

2012-01-02T05:30:00.002-07:00

Happy 2012 everyone!

My birthday was on Saturday, and I just have to share the awesomeness that is my parents. Here is a taste of the joy that was in the box they gave me:

Yeah, I'm very happy right now. My reading is taken care of for the next month at least. Ok, so more than that, but the point is I'm set! All these books I've been dying and aching to read and I is a po' chil' but now I have them and can read them and them will make me happy more a lot! I loves my flamly.

Ok, now for business. *Ahem*. I've said I'm going to be indie publishing a short story collection, and that I'll be giving one sample story from the collection away for free. Well, guess what time it is. It's free story time. The story is formatted and all ready for me to press upload on Amazon KDP. So those of you with kindles or kindle apps for iPads and other such gadgetness can get my story for free. I know its the moment you've all been waiting for. Ok maybe not, but I've been waiting for it. I'm ready to have my name on peoples kindles. I know short stories aren't going to give me any huge sales or publicity perks or anything like that, but I've had these stories with me for a long time. They are part of me, and I want them to go to good homes. Which is why I'm giving them to you.

The story that will be available starting TOMORROW! is one called "Gabby." You guys know me through my blog, but I want you to know me through my fiction too. There are some truths only fiction can tell, and that's why I write stories. "Gabby", though the main character is younger than I typically write, is a good representation of the kinds of stories I like and generally go for. I'm going to leave it at that, you'll have to come back tomorrow for more information.

Ready?

Sarah Allen

2012: New Years Resolutions Edition

2011-12-30T05:30:00.004-07:00

So I thought I'd take my turn with the whole new years resolutions thing. I'm keeping them simple and easy this year.

First, I want to lose weight. I know, I know, everybody does that one. And I say it every year. But I have a really good feeling about 2012. This is my year to be skinny. Goals and resolutions don't work unless you have specific tactics for accomplishing it, and I have those for this weight loss goal. I'm going to eat more protein and vegetables and eat absolutely no desert or candy. As for exercise, I am going to go to the gym for a minimum of half-an-hour six days a week, or at least as much as possible. I am going. to. do it, you guys. But anyway, enough about that.

Then I have my writing goals. Those are my main goals for this year. I have four projects I want to get done before 2013.

1) Finish my novel, which will probably happen in January (I know I said I'd finish this year, I'm sorry. Consider my wrists slapped), edit it and start submitting to agents. Hopefully submitting will start happening sometime in the spring.

2) Finish a draft of novel number 2. I'm going to get started on that as soon as I finish the first draft of novel number 1.

3) Publish my short story collection. I'm super stoked about this one, guys. I even have the free sample story formatted and ready to go as soon as I press the upload button. Then in a few months when all the other stories have come back from submissions and are ready to go, we'll do the whole collection. I could still use tips on this one if you've got any.

4) Write a screenplay. I've wanted to for a long time. I'm a movie freak, I figure why not try my hand at writing one. This is probably going to happen later in the year, after the other three are finished. I'm going to need some good screenwriting software for this one. Any recommendations?

There are always the new years hopes that you don't really have any control over that would be nice if they happened this year, too. For example, I would love to get an agent. And maybe a boy who I think is hot who thinks I'm hot back. But like I said, those aren't things I have control over. They'll happen when they happen.

Anyway, those are my goals for 2012. I think they're pretty doable. I feel more anxious and realistically ready to face this year then I ever have before, and I think its going to turn out some good things. So like I said yesterday, bring it on 2012.

What are your goals for next year?

Sarah Allen

2011: So long and thanks for all the fish

2011-12-29T05:30:00.005-07:00

John Green once said, basically, that the two years after graduating college are the hardest years of a persons life. This year has proved him right. It has also proved that even though being freshly graduated sometimes totally sucks, you live. And I can say even after only one year, it has gotten much better. And if his two year estimation is right, I only have one more year to go!

See, my life has always been pretty stable. My parents are still together, all my siblings are alive, and I've had a great education. High school was crazy busy and involved, but it was an easy crazy busy and involved, if that makes sense, and fun. College wasn't too bad either. I've always been pretty comfortable in a classroom, and I feel like the friends I made in college brought out and accepted and emphasized parts of me I'd never really been okay with before.

2011 shook things up. Graduating was the bomb that exploded my stable little world, and looking back I think I sort of saw it coming.

It's not even that anything drastic or totally traumatic happened. The epicenter of the bomb was May, and what I am now referring to as the I-Thought-I-Knew-Myself fiasco, when I tried a move out of Utah and learned what Alone really means. I still don't think moving out of Utah is a bad idea, but now I know how to be more realistic about it and much, much wiser.

So anyway, basically 2011 was a huge learning year for me, that sort of yanked my naked face in front of a mirror and didn't let go til I learned how to stop squirming.

And when your naked in front of a mirror like that, you learn a few things about yourself. And I mean Yourself with a capital Y, way deep down, without any outside input or titles or categorization. This year I learned that I am who I am because of three things.

1) My God. I never doubted my relationship with God. I never doubted He loved me, no matter what. No. Matter. What. And when you are lucky enough to have that security, there's a certain line of despair you just don't cross. If He's your rock bottom then you're okay.

2) My Family. When I was sitting alone on a bed in an apartment in a city I'd never been with absolutely no one that I knew with no really good reason to be there and wondering what the hell I'd gotten myself into, all I wanted was my mom. I always knew I loved and needed my family, but I didn't know till then how desperately. When I talk to people about family, I only rarely feel like people get it. It shocks me how many people don't like being with their family. And I don't think it's an unhealthy apron-strings thing either, for my seven siblings and I. We're a unit. And people don't quite get where the happiness and unity come from, either. People only see the happiness from the outside, which makes it look very superficial. It's all very big house, beautiful mom, piano recitals and Disneyland to them. They have no clue how big of an understatement it is to say that those things are just the tip of the iceberg. You don't have a family like mine without fights and bitterness and honesty and vulnerability and seeing the worst things about each other and coming out on the other end loving each others guts. You don't have a marriage like my parents without years, and I mean years, of seeing things the totally wrong way and doing the totally wrong things and thinking your right and thinking your wrong and staying together so hard it hurts until it doesn't hurt anymore and you realize you've figured something out and lost track of where you end and they begin. When nothing else was there, all of that was.

3) My Writing. And I'm being totally serious. When everything I thought I wanted or thought I was or thought was important got flipped upside down, one thing staid. I wanted to write. Not just write, but be a writer. Because of that, there was at least one thing to hold on to. There was at least one thing I knew I wanted, and because everything else was gone, I knew I really wanted it. God loved me no matter what. My family supported me no matter what. Writing is my what.

So with God holding me up, my family pushing me forward and a path of words to walk on, I say to 2012: Bring It On. And to 2011, thank you for what you've taught me. I realize now I needed those lessons in order to reach the kind of joy I envision for myself.

But most of all, so long, good riddance, and thanks for all the fish. Even though they were really hard to swallow.

Sarah Allen

Thinking about...

2011-12-28T05:30:00.005-07:00

Thinking about how amazing it will be to finish this novel, including edits, and start submitting it to agents.

Thinking about how badly I want to publish the short story collection, how cool it will be to make a little money selling words, and how best to handle the business-y side of it.

Thinking about new years resolutions.

Thinking about King Jimmer and his skilz.

Thinking that The Adventures of TinTin wasn't all its cracked up to be. Graffics=way cool, character development=meh, pacing=huh?

Thinking about friends I love with all my heart and that's all I can do for them.

Thinking that this teaching thing is awesome and I love it, but I need more hours to make it sustainable, or that I need to think of something else to live off of in the meantime that will still let me write and nurse this teaching seed into fruition. Over-thinking has turned to worrying by this point, actually, but we're living and breathing and eating and sleeping and writing over here, so we're good.

Thinking that sitting on the futon with my mom flipping between Seinfeld and Chopped is a great way to spend an evening.

Wondering if my spreadsheet of book review blogs is enough and what else I could do.

Thinking that House most definitely needs a new romantic interest now that Cuddy's gone.

Thinking that Dr. Pepper is way way better than Coke or Pepsi.

Thinking that Pottermore has lost its thunder for me, and thinking that J.K. Rowling should really come out with something new. I'd read it and love it, I'm sure.

Thinking that Christmas was incredible, that I'm going to be old on Saturday, and that I'm so freaking out of my mind excited to get my pre-ordered copy of The Fault In Our Stars in a couple weeks. John Green rocks my socks.

What are you thinking about?

Sarah Allen

What books did you get for Christmas?

2011-12-27T05:30:00.013-07:00

Hey guys! I hope you had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas. I know I did. There is nothing quite as happy as staying home with the family for a while. The break was very needed.

I'm sure most, if not all of us, asked for books for Christmas. They're kind of the best present anybody can get. So I have a two-part question for you: 1) What books did you get, and 2) How were they picked?

I'll do three of the books I got. Each was on a list I gave my mom, which is how they were picked out, but I'll try to remember how they ended up on my list in the first place.

Out Stealing Horses, Per Peterson: I had this one on my list because whenever I go to Barnes and Noble, the title and cover always jump out at me as particularly gorgeous, so I pick it up and the first paragraph is equally awesome. I don't think I would consider random shelf-hunting as my typical way of picking books, but it worked for this one.

The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel: I might be mixing her up with someone else in my head, but I think I heard of Amy Hempel through my college creative writing professor, who said he had a literary crush on her. He also said his wife was okay with it.

The Sugar Queen, Sarah Addison Allen: Ok, I most definitely discovered this one because of the authors name, and please tell me I'm not the only one who looks themselves up at bookstores. She's on the NY Times best-seller list too, which honestly isn't saying too much in and of itself besides the fact that she's sold a lot of books, but I figure if a lot of people read someone named Sarah Allen, I should too. Just to, I don't know...be prepared.

So there's mine for this year. What about you?

Sarah Allen

p.s. That is not my picture up there, just in case you were wondering. Though I'm not saying I wouldn't like it to be mine.

Christmas Giveaway Gift-card Winners!!!

2011-12-23T05:45:00.037-07:00

It's gift-card time! Yay!

*throws sprinkles and confetti*

And the grand-prize winner of the $15 Amazon gift-card is...(drumroll please)

Emily Voss!!!

Hooray!!

And the two winners of the $5 Amazon gift-cards are...(more drums...yes, that's right, keep going)

Tamsin Clement and Rochelle Melander!!!

Each of you lovely, fabulous people should have already received a gift card for the allotted amount in the inbox of the email address you used to sign in with rafflecopter. If not, or if there's a problem, please let me know.

Thank you to everyone who entered, I appreciate the support bunches and bunches. We're over 700 followers now! I know the numbers don't really mean anything, but how cool is that? You guys seriously rock. When I'm having a bad day reading your kind and supportive and helpful comments makes me motivated to keep everything going. And if you didn't win this time, stick around because there will definitely be more contests and other awesomeness.

And most of all, Merry Christmas!

Sarah Allen

Christmas Made Easy, Part 4: Movies

2011-12-22T05:30:00.004-07:00

Movies are a classic part of the Christmas holiday. The only hard part is that there are so many to choose from. So I'm going to make that choice a little easier and give you probably my favorite Christmas movie ever:

If you haven't seen this adaptation of A Christmas Carol, do yourself a favor. Albert Finney is the best Scrooge ever.

Sarah Allen

Christmas Made Easy, Part 3: Oh the weather outside is frightful

2011-12-21T05:30:00.011-07:00

So look for the beauty in the ice...

Or find a little sunshine in the backyard...

And most of all, don't forget to sing!

Sarah Allen

P.S. Why yes, I did take those pictures myself. I'm letting myself think it took more than just dumb luck.

Also, don't forget the $15 Amazon gift-card easy-peasy Christmas giveaway going on here at the bloggy blog. There's only two days left, don't miss out!

Christmas Made Easy, Part 2: Russian Teacakes

2011-12-20T05:30:00.003-07:00

These are a tradition in my family, and well worth the effort.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ¼ cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

¾ cup finely chopped nuts

¼ teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar

Instructions:

-Heat oven to 400ºF.

-Mix butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in large bowl. Stir in flour, nuts and salt until dough holds together.

-Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

-Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool slightly on wire rack.

-Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar; cool on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar again.

*Makes 4 dozen cookies

*Changes: In my family we nix the nuts, and instead wrap the dough around a Hershey's kiss before we bake it. That way its like a little present when you bite into it. My mom buys tons of different flavors like mint, cherry, hot cocoa, candy-cane, and of course regular chocolate. It's become quite a game to see which flavor we get. It's important to wrap the dough fully around the chocolate so its completely covered, but not too much bigger either. Too big, too much dough, too small, the chocolate melts through when you bake. That's why we don't do Rolo's anymore, although those were my favorite. This is what we do for my entire ward, meaning we do it for two days straight. We put on Christmas movies and do an assembly line with the littlest unwrapping kisses, mom and sister mixing dough, and the rest of us rolling the dough around the chocolate. Then we wrap each cookie in tin-foil, bag them, and deliver them around the neighborhood.

Last year we made over 1600.

Sarah Allen

Christmas Made Easy, Part 1: Gift Shopping for Writers

2011-12-19T05:30:00.002-07:00

This week, countdown week to Christmas, I'm going to feature a series of posts to hopefully take some of the stress and insanity out of the holiday season and bring things back to the fun and joyful side. First up, shopping for writers.

Really, writers are very easy to shop for. In fact, I'll just give you a list.

-Books. Always a good idea.
-Movies and music. Second to books, but a close second.
-Notebooks, pens, envelopes, stamps.
-Printer. Always need to print off stuff for editing and submissions.
-Time. (i.e. babysitting, cleaning, certificates to cafes, etc.)
-Fish or a turtle. Muses, you know.
-If not something live, a teddy bear. Someone to talk to. Or maybe that's just me.
-Plants. We need to get our oxygen somehow.

Not hard, right? Hope this helps!

Sarah Allen

Deja Vu Blogfest: Romance Movie Guide

2011-12-16T05:30:00.010-07:00

This post is part of the Deja Vu blogfest. I was going to do something more writerly, but then I thought, heck, it's Friday.

Ok, so as long as we're being sentimental, I thought I'd give a list of what I think are well-written, well-done, happiness-inducing romance movies. In my opinion, these movies give good artistic lessons, as well as pure enjoyment.

-Sabrina (1995): This is one remake thats better then the original. Harrison Ford's Linus Larrabee seems suave, collected and calculating until we see how lonely and vulnerable he actually is. These secretly vulnerable characters are my favorite, which is one reason I adore this movie. Harrison Ford plays the balance of power and vulnerability perfectly, and may I add that he is incredibly appealing to look at, even as an aging business man. Julia Ormond is also fantastic, completely adorable, and her physical transformation in Paris always stuns me. She is beautiful and absolutely sweet. Greg Kinnear is also very charming and fun. All in all, a very well-done film.

-Moonstruck: I know, I know, it's Nicolas Cage, but don't let that dissuade you. I'd been reading about this movie in a screenwriting book, and then I found out Cher won the Oscar for best actress, and it was also nominated for best picture. Those factors outweighed the Nicolas Cage issue so I decided to watch it, and I was pleasantly blown away. Even Nicolas Cage gets it right in this movie. His "We're here to love the wrong people" monologue is so well-written, and Cage does a great job with it. Cher and Cage are wonderful together and the family is absolutely hilarious and heartwarming. This movie is very Italian and utterly delightful, which in this case may be the same thing. After you watch this movie, you won't be able to stop smiling. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

-Terms of Endearment: This movie comes with a warning--only watch it if you are prepared for heartbreaking, poignant, real life, exhilarating, stirring, Academy Award for Best Picture winning awesomeness. This is not a light movie. Hollywood doesn't come out with movies like this anymore, and it is an incredibly rewarding watch, but just be ready. The entire cast is phenomenal, Shirley MacLaine in particular. Her character is so incredibly real-life, and despite her crusty exterior, you can't help but love and feel for her. She has some wonderful scenes with Jack Nicholson, and the whole movie is incredibly well-written. Watch this movie. With a box of Kleenex.

-Much Ado About Nothing: This is a classic. Obviously a Shakespeare film is going to be well-written, but in this movie it almost feels like Kenneth Branagh shows you exactly how well-written it actually is. From the humorous to the poignant, he seems to show you exactly what Shakespeare was trying to say. His speech about what he is looking for in a woman is perfectly delivered, and shows how absolutely "guy" Benedick really is. His delivery shows the beauty and profundity in lines like "Serve God, love me, and mend." And then of course there is Emma Thompson, who is in no way outdone by Branagh. She is smart, beautiful, clever, and passionate. Like the movie itself.

-As Good As It Gets: This movie is utterly sweet. It is the story of two people with messed up lives who are finally able to accept solace in another person. Jack Nicholson's character is like many of us--someone who keeps messing things up for himself. He starts off on the right track, but then says something that ruins everything. But he keeps trying, and Helen Hunt keeps forgiving, and in the end they find out how much help, happiness, even love, they can get from each other. This movie has several classic lines, like "you make me want to be a better man." Enjoy the progress the characters go through, and let it progress you in your own screenwriting.

-Sense and Sensibility: Another classic. Emma Thompson shows her true brilliance in being able to not only act fabulously, but in also writing such a well-done adaptation of a Jane Austen classic. Every person in this movie does a fantastic job. What I love about Jane Austen movies, and this one in particular, is the characters who try so hard to be rational, logical and proper, and then have moments when they totally lose it. Emma Thompson has some great "losing it" moments. If you plan on or have seen this movie, don't miss this deleted scene.

Honorable Mentions:

Any other Jane Austen movie: Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion especially.
What Women Want
You've Got Mail
The First Wives Club

What do you all think? What have you learned artistically from these movies or any others? What movies would you add to this list?

Sarah Allen

Finalized (?) Plans for the Short Story Collection

2011-12-14T05:30:00.001-07:00

So you know my short story collection idea?

First of all, I want to thank you all for your suggestions and support. There were a couple of you who said you'd buy the thing, so that plus my mother means I may sell three whole copies! But anyway, the point is that you guys are awesome and gave me some great ideas.

The final answer is yes, I'm going to publish a short story collection.

Here's what's going to happen:

First, there's going to be a bit of waiting, because all of my stories are in the slush piles of various magazines, and I need to wait for them to be rejected before I publish them myself. I could pull them from submission, but I kind of want to wait out this one last round of submissions and see how it goes. So it may be a while yet, but its coming.

Second, (which may actually get done before step one) is to get editing and cover design done. I happen to have a sister doing an editing minor and another sister who's an illustration major, so that works out pretty nicely for me. I'll have some other editing/writing/reading friends look it over too, so you can trust that the editing and cover art will be totally kick butt.

Third, release. The biggest bit of advice I've gotten so far is to release each story individually, and then as a collection for a higher price. I really like that advice, but I'm going to do a kind of a variation on a theme here. I'm not sure I want every story released individually, and I also like the idea of having the whole collection available for a pretty cheap price. Like I said before, this is about me getting out there and just being available rather than a huge marketing or money thing. So what I'm probably going to do is, as the stories start coming back from submissions, I'll pick one sample story and release it for free, and then when I'm ready release the whole collection for $1.99. That way I get the bonuses of multiple releases, plus I'm really, really available.

And there you have it. That is the plan. Sound like an okay one? More suggestions? There are other fun ideas floating around in my brain right now too, like other stand-alone $0.99 releases and POD options and other awesomeness. Definitely going traditional route with my novel, but I'm kind of loving the self-publishing party going on here and I hope it works out for me to do both. Even with my short stories, I'm self-publishing some and keeping a couple back for additional traditional (alliteration llama!) submissions. Both seems like a perfectly good idea to me.

As far as this specific collection goes, though...is this a good plan? Any advice on orchestrating a book release? I've been reading blogs and researching for a long time now, so I have a few ideas, but I need all the help I can get. I've got a few months to get get things planned right, but I've never done this before, the whole being published thing. So this will be an adventure.

Sarah Allen

Christmas Story Creative Writing Prompts

2011-12-13T05:30:00.002-07:00

For fun:

Write about a reindeer other than Rudolph.

Write about the only present she didn't want.

Write about what elves do in the summer.

Write about the courtship of the Clauses.

Write about a Christmas tradition and where it came from.

Write about Christmas in China.

Write about Christmas at a fast food chain.

Write about Christmas from a pet's perspective.

Write about Scrooge from the Ghost of Christmas Past's perspective

Write about Christmas at a rest home.

Mix Christmas with another holiday, like Halloween or Valetine's or Presidents day.

Write about Santa in a ballet class.

Write about the sleigh stowaway.

Write about how Mrs. Clause spends Christmas Eve.
.
.
.
Any other ideas?

Sarah Allen

Self-publishing a Short Story Collection: Good Idea, Bad Idea?

2011-12-12T05:30:00.027-07:00

Ok guys, here's what's going on. I've been writing pretty much my whole life, and writing seriously since my first creative writing class in seventh grade. We're not going to go into what my previous novel attempts have been like (hopefully the current one is going to change all that), but through all this time I've ended up with maybe a dozen short stories that I have confidence in, that I like, that I would be comfortable putting before the world with my name attatched.

And frankly, my dears, I'm ready to have something out there.

If that means waiting and working until my novel is done and ready to be sent forth, then that's that. But I couldn't sleep last night because I had this idea come to my head that I couldn't stop thinking about and over-analyzing and wondering why I hadn't thought of it before: why not take the stories I already have and publish them myself as a collection?

I would love to have even something small out there, as sort of a calling card. I would love to have something to offer all y'all so that you have some idea who I am as a writer. I would probably keep two or three stories back for further lit mag submissions, and then publish the rest (at least the ones that fit together) as a collection. I definitely plan to go the traditional publishing route for my novel, but best case scenario doing a short story collection now would get me readers and connections that would only help with that. And I could maybe even start making a little cash selling words, which would be fantabulous.

But. But. What if it backfires? What if people don't take me seriously afterwards? Is it a bad idea to start this way, and should I wait for the traditional route? I know short story collections never do particularly well, even traditionally published ones, and I'm okay with that because this would be more like a calling card, beginning sample type thing, like I said. I know, too, that self-publishing means doing my own marketing, and I feel like I'm ready, or at least anxious to try my strength as far as that goes. But what if I, heaven forbid, lose readers or potential connections because of it? I do have every confidence in these stories, and believe they represent my best work and who I am as a writer. But going without the traditional publishing filter still feels risky, no matter what I'm putting out there.

Perhaps it feels more risky because with self-publishing, whether it goes extremely well or extremely not, it all comes back to you. And with these stories and at this point, I feel like that's a risk I'm willing and ready and anxious to take...but I thought I'd get your thoughts first. I want to make sure I'm thinking this through thoroughly, seeing it from every angle, taking the most positively calculated risks.

So. A self-published short story collection. Good idea? Bad idea?

Sarah Allen

Happily Ever After

2011-12-11T05:30:00.009-07:00

Who says we can't have it?

Who says religion doesn't apply?

Who says being in a church run by old men is a bad thing?

Who says they don't understand?

Who says stories don't tell the truth?

Who says German accents aren't attractive?

Who says General Conference is boring?

Who says being Mormon is restrictive?

Who says we can't be happy?

Not me.

Sarah Allen

Some David Hyde Pierce? I think so...

2011-12-09T05:30:00.006-07:00

Just thought I'd share one of the greatest episodes of television in the history of the world. Especially the last scene. This episode is called 'Mixed Doubles' and I think its from season four. I don't think there's ever been a character quite as endearing as Niles Crane, but of course, we know that on this blog already, don't we?

Enjoy, and have a good weekend :)

Sarah Allen

Date a Girl Who Reads

2011-12-08T05:30:00.018-07:00

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in thesame day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes."
Source: The Monica Bird

How do they write like that?

2011-12-07T05:30:00.001-07:00

There are some writers that make me ask that question a lot. Here are some examples of what I mean.

"Serve God, love me, and mend."
-William Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing"

"Because nothing true can be said about God from a posture of defense."
"Night and light, silence and difficulty, it seemed to me always rigorous and good."
-Marianne Robinson, "Gilead"

"I was not good at drawing faces. I was just joking most of the time. I was not decisive in changing rooms or anywhere. I was so late because I was looking for flowers. I was just going through a tunnel whenever my mother called. I was not able to make toast without the radio. I was not able to tell if compliments were backhanded. I was not as tired as I said."
-Jonathan Safran Foer, "Here We Aren't, So Quickly"

"If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."
-George Eliot, "Middlemarch"

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs."
-Norman Maclean, "A River Runs Through It"

"Think of the force of life, yes, but think of the component of darkness in it. One of the things that's in whale's milk is the promise of pain and death...I shall be richer all my life for this sorrow."
Wallace Stegner, "All the Little Live Things"

How brilliant are these people. Seriously. I mean, what does it take to be the kind of person who can write things like that? Inherent genius? Years and years of practice? An MFA?

It's not like I'm trying to write like someone else. I can only write like me, and that's that. And it's not like there's one guaranteed way to get to that level of poetic genius, or that there's even one set definition of what "genius" is. But still, these peoples writing blows me away, and I want to blow people away too. Or at least get as close as I can. Maybe just a little breeze, but something...

I guess its a combination of things: studying, practice, honesty, observation. And we just have to pray for the rest.

What do you think?

Sarah Allen

Christmas Giveaway, Amazon giftcards and all. Hooray!

2011-12-06T05:30:00.014-07:00

Hello everyone :) So, in the spirit of December and because you all are just so awesome, I'd like to do a little giveaway with a little sum'n sum'n. Amazon gift cards, to be precise.

Its quite simple, really. All you have to do is be a follower of this blog. That's it. There are other ways to enter too that you can check out if you're really hankerin for some Amazon goodies. On the 23rd, just in time for Christmas, we'll pick one grand prize winner who will get a $15 gift card, and two others who will win a $5 Amazon gift card. That way you can get something cool for yourself that you really want.

So spread the word and feel the Amazonian love. Er...that didn't quite come out like I intended it...

Sarah Allen

Using my powers of sentimentality for good, and not for evil

2011-12-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. Use your powers of sentimentality for good, not for evil."

My high school creative writing teacher said that to me once. I try. I really do. But sometimes its so hard to control myself, even when I want to.

I am an...lets use the word effusive (effervescent, exuberant) type of person. I get told to calm down a lot. And that translates heavily into writing, where the things that matter most to me in my stories are not the plot twists or elaborate settings, its the dig-down soul-searching heart-wrenching moments that happen inside the character.

And that's not such a bad thing in and of itself, I think the emotion has to be there for the story to reach people. But(and this is where it gets hard for me) they can't happen always all the time. Otherwise it gets sentimental (sappy, saccharine). You have to earn those emotionally climactic moments for them to stand out and be effective.

I know all this, and still have a hard time. It is much, much easier for me to make emotions happen than to make things happen, and that can make for very mushy writing. I'm grateful that my sentimental tendencies were pointed out to me at an early age by a wise and very helpful teacher, and I'm learning when to give in and when not to. But I guess my question is, how do I keep the emotion high when the scene is more action-oriented rather than emotion-oriented? How do I know when I've gone too far with the sentimentality?

When editing comes I know one of the things I'm going to be doing is adding action and concrete detail and draining some of the mush. Keeping my bad habits in mind as I write helps, but I know I'll need to go back and fix even more, and I'm getting pretty good at catching myself either as I write or afterwards. Don't worry, I'm not going to be putting out anything that hasn't been meticulously combed through by me and bunches of other people much smarter then me. They're the ones who can really act as my gauge.

So yeah, how do you find an emotional balance throughout every scene? What are your evil writer tendencies?

Sarah Allen

Occupy Wallstreet and the 99 Percent Movement: A Contribution in 2 Pages

2011-12-02T05:30:00.001-07:00

It looked fun, so I did it my way. You know you want to do one too :)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Sarah Allen

December is the Bestest Month

2011-12-01T05:30:00.001-07:00

I love December :) It seems like October and November went so fast they were almost never here, but I'm glad its December now anyway. There's just so much awesomeness in December. Christmas, The Osmond Family Christmas album (I know, I know, I'm such a Mormon), New Years Eve, my birthday. Snow isn't annoying yet. And I love the feeling of getting ready for a whole new year, and how it always feels like its going to be so much better than the one before. Which I really do think this year, because 2011 was rough. I'm expecting big things from 2012, and I don't just mean the Olympics.

I love the Olympics, especially gymnastics and ice-skating. I love midnight bowls of cold cereal. I love sitting in my room writing blog posts with the window open so my room gets really cold and then I shut the window and turn on the heat and snuggle in my blanket with my teddy bear. I love being 22, but I'm excited to be 23. I love snow, especially when I'm inside looking at it from the safety of a warm house. I love the word December. It's a cool word. I love polar bears. I love boots and coats and gloves, but not scarfs. I miss Postum (I know, I know, I'm such a Mormon). I love mountains with snow on them. I hate skiing, but I like ski lodges. I love icicles. I love count-downs, especially to Christmas. I love Clay Aiken and Barbra Streisand and David Archuleta and Josh Groban and Celine Dion doing Christmas on the radio. I like fireplaces and stockings. I like The Grinch with Jim Carey and Scrooge with Albert Finney. I love making Russian teacakes for two days straight with my family. I love being hijacked into my home wards Christmas pageant, even though I really don't. I love this:

What do you love about December?

Sarah Allen

Fan loyalty and the Muppets

2011-11-30T05:30:00.001-07:00

So I went and saw the new Muppet movie yesterday.

It was beautiful :) It made me smile and laugh out loud. The heart of the original Jim Hensen stuff was there, and the wacky humor, and the cameos by a cast of random and hilarious celebrities. I loved it.

The whole thing was about the Muppets as a brand, and whether or not they still had the backing of a loyal fan base. Obviously they did. And do. And it got me thinking: what does it take for something to have that kind of fan loyalty? Like, what makes the difference between someone buying your book and someone waiting for and looking forward to and buying all your books?

Obviously the most important part is having something amazing to offer, or people won't have the emotional engagement it takes to become a rabidly loyal fan. The Muppets are amazing. Harry Potter is amazing. That's why people care so much.

But beyond that. There are plenty of incredibly amazing things that don't have that same kind of widespread, devout fan base (Connie Willis), and also plenty of less amazing things that do (*ahem* Twilight. Sorry.) So what is it that makes the difference? I really want to get my hands on a copy of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, but what are your thoughts first?

Here are some of mine: to try and get some kind of answer to my own question, I thought about what makes me personally a fiercely loyal fan of something.

First, past experience. I love the Muppets because I remember watching them as a kid. I will always consider Walk Two Moons one of my favorite childhood books, because I remember how strongly it effected me when I read it. I will always love Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, despite my knowledge of it's and Andrew Lloyd Weber's many musical flaws, because I remember listening to it while my sisters and I ran circles around the living room naked. (That was our form of dancing. We haven't progressed much since then.)

Second, because someone we know and trust recommended it. I've never washed clothes with anything other than Tide, because that's what my mother always used. I will always love Stephen Sondheim, because my mom loves him. A River Runs Through it will always be one of my favorite books, because it reminds me of Mr. K, my high school English teacher. I love Listerine and the '500 Miles' song by The Proclaimers because they remind me of my dad. So does Steve Martin dancing. (And you wondered where my family got our dance skills.)

Third, herd mentality. I hesitate to mention this one, because for me and I suspect for a lot of you, when EVERYBODY likes something it tends to make me like it less, at least at first, and if I love it then I love it despite what everybody else thinks. Like the play Wicked. I love it because it's awesome, not because every theater goer and their dog loves it. But still, whenever anybody goes to New York, they ALWAYS see Wicked and Phantom of the Opera, because that is what EVERYBODY sees. So basically, even though herds are sometimes annoying and often wrong (I still do not understand how Phantom is still there and Les Mis is not), if they're going to be there, they may as well be in your field, right?

Anyway. As far as it goes for us writers and artists, all that really matters is that we create the best work we know how. With work and some luck the rabidly loyal fans will follow. Hopefully not too closely. But yeah, the psychological and business aspects of this are fascinating, at least to nerds like me.

What do you think? What makes you a loyal fan of something, and how do you think we can maybe apply that to writing careers?

Sarah Allen

The End. Almost.

2011-11-29T05:30:00.001-07:00

I've never written the end of a novel before. But now I'm 3/4 of the way through, and I'm starting to get to the wrapping up point. I'm trying to remember all the lose strings I've got dangling so I can tie up at least some of them, and have something somewhat complete. That will feel so amazing, to have finally finished a full-length novel.

The weird thing is confronting things I've only been thinking about for months/years and now actually having to confront them. Or at least just things I need to start thinking about for reals now. Major editing, finding good beta readers, researching and querying agents, trying my best to be contract-smart, that kind of thing. I mean, all that's still going to be a while yet, especially anything to do with signing contracts, but I'm getting to the point where I almost have something ready to try with. And that is exciting.

As far as actually writing, though, I could use some tips and advice from those of you who have actually done this before. Finished a novel, I mean. I want to make sure I wrap this thing up right. Of course it's not going to be perfect and it's going to need major changes anyway, but I want to get it as good as I can the first time around. So what can you tell me about making a successful ending?

I'm also finding myself arguing with whatever part of my brain controls motivation. I want this done so bad, and I'm working and everything, but I feel so...slumpy. It's still coming, but it's going slow again, and taking a lot more effort than usual. I hit that kind of thing before, at around the 53% percent mark, and then I got over it. I'm hoping that happens again, that I get even closer to the end and I get some kind of last cross-the-finish-line energy boost. I'm also trying hard not to think too much about what I'm going to do next. Because guys, I have so many ideas, and they are going to be awesome. Next year is going to be awesome. But in the meantime I've got what I'm working on now, and I still love it and will feel so much better about myself and my life and my presumptuous attention whoring from all y'all and people all over the interwebs when its done. So I'm going to just keep going and hopefully get it done this year, but any ideas on how to make that easier or get through it with more smiling and less teeth gritting would be greatly appreciated.

Those of you doing NaNoWriMo, I hope the ending is working out for you. We will make it to the end.

Sarah Allen

Sunshine Sure Looks Good On You

2011-11-28T05:30:00.001-07:00

Isn't that a great line? It's one I just heard in the Lady Antebellum song I'm listening to right now.

You know, it seems like people around me are having a bit of a hard time. Everything from feeling sick/lonely/depressed/unstable to 15 page papers and unreciprocating boys and messy houses and dull day-jobs and the list goes on and on. This spring and summer was when I felt like I was buried under that big steaming pile of wrenching, crushing, soul-sucking crap, but I feel like I got my feet under me this fall and things have been quite fabulous for a few months now. But it seems like a lot of the most important people in my life are going through hellish blegh right now.

I talk about this a lot, and it should be no surprise given the title of this blog, but I like being happy, and I like when other people are happy. To me that's the point of life.

And it's not like there's a magic wand to wave or button to push that will make the suck go away. As optimistic and happy as I am, there are definitely times (this spring and summer) when I just feel like I'm drowning and there's not really much you can do except wait and pray and paddle with all your might to keep at least your nose above water.

But there is so much good. When I was at my lowest, I still had things like my God, my family and my writing. I never realized how vital those things were to me until I hit that low point. As vital as breathing. But just because we have those things doesn't mean problems are going to be fixed in a snap and that everything is going to be peachy hunky rose-colored dory. It's still going to be not that sometimes. And that's okay. How else do we figure out what we really have, who we really are, and what really matters?

And in my mind, writing is one way of spreading a little bit of sunshine. Again, that doesn't mean our stories have to be nice and happy and full of kittens and rainbows. In fact, the best ones usually aren't; they're usually rough and real and talk about hard things. But those stories still bring sunshine because then you know that other people understand, and that's automatic sunshine right there. And sometimes rain just makes your own little sun stand out even more, which makes rain awesome too.

So watch a movie or a show or listen to a song or read a book or write a word or find a picture or a person that makes you smile today and remember, the sunshine sure looks good on you.

Sarah Allen

101 Things I'm Thankful For (in no particular order)

2011-11-24T05:30:00.001-07:00

1. Candied pecan yams
2. God
3. My yellow bedroom
4. Windowsills
5. My family. I wouldn't be without them.
6. Pansies. I like their faces.
7. J.K. Rowling
8. Chapter 33, 'The Princes Tale.'
9. England
9. Jane Austen
10. Jazz
11. Colin Firth
12. White Chocolate
13. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
14. Frasier
15. My luck with roommates. I've never had a bad one.
16. Black-Eyed Peas on the radio
17. Thursday night dinners with my mom
18. Reeses Puffs and Waffle Crisp
19. My computer
20. My car
21. Blogs and blogging
22. Being as far as I am on my WIP
23. The amount of butter and sour cream my mom puts in the mashed potatoes
24. Meryl Streep
25. My parents marriage
26. The letter Captain Wentworth writes to Ann Elliot at the end of Persuasion
27. Mathew Macfayden in the rain in the new Pride and Prejudice
28. Having ward prayer and FHE at my apartment. It forces me to socialize.
29. Sweaters
30. Farmer Hogget in Babe
31. Taming of the Shrew
32. My best friend who introduced me to awesomeness like TNG and Doctor Who
33. This poem
34. Friends who I can argue with and they still love me
35. Midnight showings of anything. Even Twilight.
36. Alan Rickman's voice.
37. Dr. Benjamin Linus. Don't think I'll ever get over him. Don't judge.
38. My cell phone.
39. My green leather purse I've used so long its chipping on the bottom.
40. Indoor plumbing. It's big.
41. Pixar
42. Josh Holloway's dimples
43. Hooker boots
44. Gum
45. John Green
46. Peach flavored Fresca
47. 100 calorie fudge bars
48. Dishwashers, especially because my apartment doesn't have one
49. Dollar theaters
50. The smell of Listerine and after-shave
51. Colin Mochrie
52. My adorable preschool kids
53. YouTube
54. This song. And this one.
55. My playbill of 'Gypsy' signed by Patti LuPone
56. Holly Flack for Michael Scott
57. Niles Crane
58. Vincent Van Gogh
59. Post-it notes
60. Converse shoes
61. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
62. The Book of Mormon and the Bible
63. Fingernail clippers
64. Rain
65. Sonnet 130
66. Zoos
67. Secondhand book stores
68. Construction. Not really, but I'm trying.
69. My ginormous Gone With The Wind poster
70. Brian Regan
71. This dance from Sasha and Twitch, or this one from Melanie and Marko.
72. Gustavo Dudamel's hair. Also Josh Groban's.
73. Toby Stephens as Mr. Rochester
74. The part in Two Towers where a muddied, bloodied Aragorn bursts through the big double doors.
75. My teddy bear named Russ.
76. Having at least one X chromosome
77. C. S. Lewis
78. Pinterest
79. Laughing
80. David Tenant and Catherine Tate
81. Stephen Sondheim
82. Pajamas
83. Treadmills with TV's
84. Animal Planet
85. Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain
86. Black trench coats
87. Google and Wikipedia
88. Paychecks
89. Duotrope.com
90. Brigham Young University
91. Disneyland
92. Eating frozen chocolate covered bananas, churros and funnel cake by the Rivers of America waiting for Fantasmic to start
93. Waking up ridiculously early on Christmas morning and talking with my siblings until it's time to go upstairs to open presents
94. Amazing high school teachers
95. Guys with beards or curly hair
96. People who need people
97. The Bronte sisters, especially Charlotte
98. Airplanes and road trips
99. The smell of sharpies (should explain a lot)
100. Jim Hensen
101. The word 'chimerical'

What would you add to this list?

Happy Thanksgiving!
Sarah Allen

Five Cookbooks for Writers

2011-11-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

So we all know what tomorrow is. Stuff our faces day. To help with the stuffing, here are 5 cook books made especially for writers and readers:

The Write Ingredients

The New Great American Writers Cookbook

Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen

The Book Lover's Cook Book

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

Pretty fun, huh? I'm definitely not one for cooking, but I think if I had a few of these it might make it a little more fun for me. I may actually invest in that.

Do you know of any cookbooks for writerly people? What are your favorite general cookbooks and recipes? Any that you're going to be using tomorrow?

Sarah Allen

So Nike Was Right

2011-11-22T05:30:00.001-07:00

The past few days I've stumbled upon something that is quite a novel concept to me, though for the rest of you its probably very old hat. The concept is this:

Just do it.
Its so incredibly simple. I don't know why I've made things so complicated in the past. It's like I let myself float from thing to thing, distraction to distraction and do some writing here and there when it happens. I get some done that way, but only a little some. (Pun very much intended).

Here's the thing. This weekend and yesterday (and hopefully today) I just quit the goofing off. I've set aside morning writing time, which typically works out well, but I've wanted the after-morning time to be more productive too. So the past few days I get home from work, get a quick snack, and then say, ok, now its time to write. That's it. Nothing else. I turn on a classical iTunes radio station, turn off the internet, and just write. Doing that I've gotten 4000 words out in the last three days, which for me is huge.

See, the mornings work for me because I tell myself its writing time. But the afternoons its been more like "stuff" time. Like email and reading blogs and eating and going to the gym and maybe writing a paragraph and playing on Pinterest time. It's pretty obvious that, for me at least, I don't write unless its WRITING TIME. It's not that I didn't know that before, it's just that I'm discovering how much I can get done when I apply it across the board. Because I want this book DONE, dang it.

Its amazing what a little mental manipulation can do. Do you have any mental tricks to help boost your creativity or productivity?

Sarah Allen

Boys Are Like Parking Spaces

2011-11-21T05:30:00.001-07:00

Sometimes it's frustrating, isn't it. Cute guy from church? Girlfriend. Friend's nice brother? Engaged. Colin Firth? Married.

It's almost enough to make you start comparing yourself. What am I doing wrong? What should I do to be more like them? Is there some secret man-catching formula that I'm missing out on?

That is what's so great about writing. There is no wrong way. The point is to be different and stand out. There is no secret formula.

Writing is a big party and everyone willing to drive or fly or swim or crawl to the house is invited. It's not a competition. Our writing voices are our very own, and we can make connections with our own very special group of readers.

And those readers will connect with other writers too. That's what's so great. You can never have too many books, and there's always enough shelf space. With the advent of eBooks there really is enough shelf space. It's not like we're trying to steal readers from other authors, we're just trying to grow our big happy family as much as we can. Room for everyone.

Spread the love :)

Sarah Allen

Movie Night: Miss Potter

2011-11-18T05:30:00.001-07:00

Need something to watch tonight? Look no further. Miss Potter is one of the sweetest, most heartwarming movies ever. And it's about a writer.

Make sure you have a box of Kleenex close, though.

Sarah Allen

Things I Miss

2011-11-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

Zebra patterned bubble gum.

Dexter's Laboratory and Rugrats.

Benjamin Linus.

Eating desert without thinking about it.

Reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the first time.

My English 319 fiction workshop class.

Niles and Daphne.

Disneyland.

The smell of New York.

Being young enough to make my teddy bears age appropriate.

Staying home from school sick with a Jamba Juice and Animal Planet.

Being in high school plays.

There have been some good things and good experiences in my life. I'm grateful for them, I miss the ones that are gone, and hope and pray for more goodness in the future.

What do you miss?

Sarah Allen

E.J. Patten and Popular vs Literary

2011-11-16T05:30:00.001-07:00

MG author E.J. Patten (Return to Exile) came and spoke to the creative writing class today. It was pretty awesome. Seeing and hearing from authors in real life can be such a refreshing experience.

Anyway, he read a bit from his book (which I highly, highly recommend for the MG readers in your life. It's supposedly in the same vein as the Percy Jackson series, though from what he read I think its a lot better. You can check out his website here.) He also answered a bunch of questions that the students had.

He talked a little about his experience in the publishing industry. He has a lot LOT more of that then me, so I was listening. He said he had an idea for a YA book a while ago, but was told it was unpublishable just because of the way the YA market is. He obviously found a way to work it out, a way that worked for him and the publisher, but I asked him what he would suggest to people if what they want to write is "unpublishable."

He said pretty much everything is publishable, but you have to keep the market in mind. He got into the whole popular vs literary question, and said that to make a good living as a writer, you pretty much can only do that with "popular" genres. He mentioned Michael Chabon and Jonathan Franzen as a few people who are doing pretty well within the literary genre, but that it's just the way things are that in general literary fiction doesn't sell that well, definitely not as well as the popular genres.

You know, I used to get really bugged by the Popular vs Literary debate. I always thought, can't a book be both? Popular and well-written? I mean, take Harry Potter. One of the greatest literary achievements of our time, and one of the most popular. I still think they can, but I think its just a fact that we have to deal with that really literary books that sell well are the exception. Straight up that's just the way things are, generally.

It's unfortunate, but not disastrous. It just means we have to make some decisions as writers and accept and deal with what those decisions mean. Writing is hard and takes a lot of time and effort, no matter what genre you write in, and there's a lot of luck involved too. There's a little better chance you can make it big writing in popular genres, and if you write more literary fiction, you should probably be prepared with a second career/day job.

The most important thing, though, is that we write what we want. That's all it comes down to. Just write whatever the heck you want and write it the best you can. That's what's fun about being a writer anyway, isn't it?

Sarah Allen

NaNo Half-Way: How is it going?

2011-11-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Today is the 15, the midway point of November, and hence NaNoWriMo. I'm not trying to freak anybody out, because being behind at this point is normal. I just want to know how its going. So how's it going?

If you're not doing NaNo, what are you working on? And how is that going?

Mine is going. Slowly but surely. I just finished chapter 14, and there's going to probably be 21 chapters. So I'm about 2/3 done. Which is great, but I am so ready to be done.

Sarah Allen

What We Learn When We're Out of Our Mind

2011-11-14T05:30:00.002-07:00

On Saturday I saw this awesome documentary called 'Being In The World.' It was so amazing and thought-provoking. It was about the human interaction with the physical world around us, starting with early philosophy's idea that we are individual and the world around us is what we perceive it to be, whereas the more modern thought is that the world is made up of our collective interaction with it. Fascinating stuff.

That's pretty abstract, but I'll try and make it clear, like they did. They used the examples of cooking, jazz, and sports. When you cook, you have a recipe; when you play a sport, you have rules. But they talked about how the true masters know their medium or physical surroundings so well they make something completely different from everybody else, even within the confines of recipes and rules. The jazz masters aren't individual musicians so much as a collective group listening to and feeding off each other, improvising based on each other and the audience and the room. True revolutionaries don't so much blow up the rules or the cultural norms as much as imbibe the rules and culture of everyone and everything around them and work with it to create something totally unique. Like a meal or music. And we can't do this without seeing meaning outside of ourselves and feeding off of it.

I was, of course, trying to apply all this to writing. Though writing is a craft, definitely, and takes practice, its not the same kind of thing as cooking or sports or music. We're not using tools or our body in quite the same way. Writing is more mental and less physical then those other things. Those physical things, though, I think make connections in our brains that can definitely develop our writing. Even more directly, though, is a quote they used in the movie. It was the W.B. Yeats quote that says, "Man can embody the truth, he cannot know it." They were talking about it in relation to the fact that a good cook, musician or athlete cannot really tell you exactly how they do what they do, except that they just do it. Same with writing. In our writing, if we try to explain things, try to tell the reader what we "mean", it comes off unrelatable and preachy. Much more effective is just telling a story as best as we can, letting our words and characters "embody" the meaning, and letting whatever Truth is in our story come out to each reader on its own. Because if we have a good story and round characters, it will.

I hope that makes sense. My thoughts today are a bit piece-y and random, as they kind of were all last week. Thanks for putting up with me.

Anyway, there are a couple other things I want to share. First, I started a Pinterest account. Check it out for awesome stuff. Find new things to teach you meaning and truth :)

Mostly, though, I wanted to share a song that I think shows perfectly what it looks like when characters and story speak for themselves. It's from a Broadway show, but don't let that turn you off. The play is 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.' The whole show is major hilarity (which is why people are laughing at the beginning of the video; notice they aren't laughing at the end), with all the kids having these quirky problems and issues, singing songs about their magic feet and being too perfect at everything. Then this song comes. This girls mother is on an ashram in India and her father isn't there either:

Good stuff, huh? Powerful. Possibly my favorite Broadway song of all time. It is, to me, what happens when words say more then words can say. Which is when you know you've got something great.

Sarah Allen

Friday Funny

2011-11-11T05:30:00.001-07:00

And my bro being funny :)

Hope you're having an awesome weekend, and awesome 11/11/11!

Sarah Allen

See Yourself the Winner

2011-11-10T05:30:00.001-07:00

So I already told you that I'm not doing NaNo. However, I was talking to an awesome friend last night who is doing it, and we were talking about her struggles with her book, and my struggles with mine, and how writing is hard but awesome. I love talking with other writers who can give me direct sympathy and advice on the issues I'm having with my WIP and how to cope with or fix them.

I felt very motivated after I hung up the phone, and decided I was going to write, and got another five or six-hundred words in. That's not much, I know, considering the pace of you NaNo-ers, but for me its good news.

That's kind of what I want to talk about--getting in to that mindset where you're ready and excited to be productive. It makes things go by so much better, and helps you really get things done. I know for you NaNo-ers, that's a pretty important mindset to maintain for all of November. Here's my tidbit. When I'm in that motivated mood, its pretty much always generated or accompanied by the thought 'because you know what? It is going to feel so, so, so, so, freaking amazing to be done.'

Can't you imagine it? Typing the words THE END. Hitting 50,000 at 11:57 on November 30th. Even if you've done it before, it feels just as good to do it again, doesn't it?

That kind of thought right there I think is where motivation comes from. At least for me. When I'm thinking about writing that last sentence, one I've been working on in my head already for months, changing my WIP meter to 100%, blaring the news all over every social media outlet I know, I don't want to watch a movie (which is a big deal for me) or listen to music or chat with friends or do anything but write. Get the dang thing done. As I'm becoming aware that this kind of thinking is power, I'm hoping to be able to use it more and more to make faster and faster progress.

Because you know what? We can win. We can win NaNo and writing and life. And it's going to feel indescribably fantastic when we do.

Sarah Allen

Glee, turkey toast, and other good things

2011-11-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have finally reached 50,000 words.

My sister showed me her first illustration for the picture book we're working on together. Its brilliant. Adorable. Fabulous. I am very, very excited.

Turkey toast. By that I mean a piece of wheat toast with margarine, mustard and turkey lunch meat. Very yummy. And in lieu of my strange aversion to sandwiches, a good lunch option. Anyone else not a fan of sandwiches?

Coach Beiste from Glee. After last nights episode, she is my new favorite.

Christmas music on the radio. You may not agree. I don't care.

Sleepless in Seattle on at the Gym. I love the Lifetime channel.

This song:

What's good in your life right now?

Sarah Allen

Interview with Beth Revis, author of 'Across the Universe'

2011-11-08T05:30:00.001-07:00

So excited today to welcome Beth Revis, author of Across the Universe and it's upcoming sequel, A Million Sons, out in January, 2012. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and dog. Be sure to check out her amazing website, if you haven't already. Take it away Beth!

What is your writing schedule like?

I tend to start writing around noon or so, until about 5pm, and then I usually write some more a few hours before bed...if I'm feeling very productive and focused.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I pretty much always knew it. I love writing from an early age. I wrote my first "book" when I was in elementary school--a 10 page story about a unicorn.

How do you typically come up with ideas and develop them into a story?

It's different for every story, but for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, I came up with the twist at the end first, and developed the entire book around that.

What is the story behind getting Across the Universe published?

A long one! I started writing ten years earlier, and wrote a novel a year for ten years. By the time I got to the eleventh book, I was pretty beat down--but I subbed to my dream agent, she signed with me in December, and then the rest is history!

Who are the authors that inspire you, and what have they taught you about writing?

JK Rowling taught me that the best stories make you both laugh and cry. CS Lewis taught me that the best stories have more than one meaning.

What most attracts you to the life of a writer?

I just honestly love telling stories.

What do you consider the hardest thing about being a writer, and how do you deal with it?

I am my own worst enemy. I tend to procrastinate--but fortunately I work pretty well under pressure!

What's the best writing advice you've ever gotten?

I was watching the director's commentary to the Joss Whedon movie SERENITY, and he mentioned that the Operative was a character that was totally evil...but that you could almost sympathize with. That made me realize that what I really need to do is make all characters, even the bad ones, have a viable motivation.

Why do you blog? What advice would you give to other author bloggers?

I blog because I enjoy blogging--that's the whole reason. My only advice is to do it if you like it--and don't worry so much about the numbers.

What do you hope readers will take away from your books?

If I've done my job right, then hopefully each reader will find what they need to find in the story. I think reading is a deeply personal thing. But I did set out to write it with the idea that the truth is important, even if it hurts.

So someone I know is going to read this?

2011-11-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

As I get closer and closer to finishing my book, I've been thinking about this more and more. The goal is to get your work published, right? That means out there for everybody to see. And that everybody includes your friends and family.

Mostly, that's just fine. There's just a couple things that worry me about that. One that worries me a little, and one that worries me sort of a lot.

When you read something, you can't help but make judgments about or connections to the author and the authors life. So when people read our work, they make assumptions about us and our lives. Whether they are correct (which they probably aren't) is beside the point. And you know, that's all ok, that sort of comes with the territory of being an artist. Of course people are going to judge you and your work, but only we know where it all came from, and even that's a little iffy. It's a little more complicated when the readers know you personally. When they know your life a little more intimately, and they make connections or judgments or think that you're making certain points or using certain details based on your life and who they know you to be. Does that make sense? Basically what I'm trying to say is that by letting people in your life read your work, its a bit like letting them in to your head, and whether what they see is accurate or to the point, it can't help but shift/change/alter, even if its only slightly, the way they see you as a person, or the way they've seen you up to that point. And I kind of don't want it to change anything. I'm still me, I'm still the person I've presented to them, but now they know a little more. Or they think they do.

But all that is okay. I can deal with that. It's expected. The bigger deal for me, related, but not an aspect of this issue I've fully thought about until recently, is this: People in my life who read my work will not only make assumptions and judgments about me, but perhaps also about the other people in my life. Say I write about a father, a mother, a sister. Can that be kept separate from real life to people who read it and know my actual father and mother and sisters? Even on a more general scale. Say I address certain issues or topics: Does that mean people are going to make judgments about my family as a whole and the way I was raised or something like that?

It seems like those kinds of connections and judgments are inevitable. What bothers me most is that if this type of judgment is passed, which it will be, then I've dragged the people in my life into something they did not ask to be dragged in to. That seems a little bit presumptuous to me.

This is where I come to those of you with more experience then myself. Obviously this is something every writer and every artist has to address, somehow. How did you deal with this? Is it best to just be true to your own inner-artist, move forward, and trust the support of the people that matter most? I'm thinking that's the only thing you can do, if you're going to be honest and truthful with yourself and not compromise your inner artist. And you know, even if the people who matter most don't quite understand, which they might not, they still love you and support you. Sometimes it's scary to rely on that, but that's why they are the people that matter most.

What are your thoughts on this? How do you write without shaking up too badly your own real life world?

Sarah Allen

A Fairy Tale Twist

2011-11-04T05:30:00.000-06:00

Anybody watching that new 'Once Upon a Time' show? It's actually pretty cool. Sometimes the writing feels a little forced, but its generally well-done and the premise is freaking awesome. Basically its about fairy-tale characters who are stuck in our world.

I really like the idea of mixing or twisting fairy-tales. Modern day spins even, that kind of thing. It's just a fun idea.

It's also pretty great creative fodder. Take your two favorite fairy-tales and mix them up. Or use mythologies, like Greek or Norse. People like Lewis and Rowling do it all the time. Fenrir Greyback is a direct throwback to Fenris Ulf, a character from Norse mythology.

I've actually got an idea that's been ruminating in my head for months. I don't wanna give away too much, but I will say that it's a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Peter Pan. I guess Peter Pan isn't technically a "fairy tale", but its public domain and up for grabs anyway. And it works in my head. I've got a line-up of other projects that will probably have to come before that one, but maybe I'll do it eventually.

Anyway, what fairy-tale mix-ups would you do? Ok, ok, so I'm keeping mine a secret while asking for yours, but you can keep your best idea to yourself, if you must. Seriously though, what fun combos can you come up with?

Sarah Allen

3 Steps to Fame, Glory, and Eternal Life

2011-11-03T05:30:00.001-06:00

Are you a writer disenchanted with blogging? Are you a new blogger wondering how you're going to make a difference anyway? Are you intimidated by all the social media outlets writers are supposed to know how to juggle, and juggle brilliantly? If you answered yes to any of these questions...

Ok, enough of that. But seriously though, there are so many posts about how different writers feel towards blogging. Like Roni Loren's post about the life cycle of a blogger from yesterday. I'll admit that's the post that got me thinking, but like I've said, I've seen similar posts all over the place. So I figured I might as well add my two cents to the conversation. Halloween was my two year blogiversary, so I have a little experience to back me up.

I feel like there is so much drama llama trauma that eventually pops up with blogging. Which for me, kind of defeats the whole purpose. I feel like things could be a lot more emotionally smooth and satisfying if people just kept three things in mind from the very beginning.

1. Set those lofty goals, but keep them personal. I am the first person who will tell you to dream big. Shoot for the stars. Go whole hog, go for it, all those cheesy, sentimental cliches. (I annoy people sometimes...)But I really mean it. Its no fun and just not as meaningful if you don't have buckets full of gold and rainbows as your end goal. But. Be self-aware and realistic in how you plan to move towards those goals. 3,000 followers on your blog? Sure, why not. But you're not going to get there in a day, a month, even a year, no matter how often you post or what marketing you do or whatever. Its a very slow building process, so know yourself and know what kind of pace and efforts you are comfortable making on a daily and weekly basis. Remember, you're doing this for you. The rest will come.

2. Determination. Stick to it. Grit your teeth. Suck it up. Just do it. Muscle through. However you want to say it. Even if you're very careful in how you set things up, and make reasonable short-term goals for yourself, there are still going to be times when you feel like chucking your computer at the wall. When you're sitting in front of a blank post at one in the morning with no clue what to write about. This is when you have to try and remember why you're doing this in the first place and just do it. This is where you show how badly you really want it, whatever 'it' is. Good things come to those who never give up.

3. Rejuvination. Sometimes you just get burned out, and sheer determination only gets you so far. Don't be afraid to take some time for yourself to get yourself feeling alive again. Sometimes for me all it takes is belting my lungs out to a really good song. Often going to the gym makes me feel better. Sometimes I just need a night of kettle corn, diet Dr. Pepper and a couple good chick flicks. It's kind of like filling up at a gas station, and then you've got the umph to get you through the next few hundred miles. Do what you need to do so you don't burn your engine out completely.

So there you have it. Those are my thoughts on the subject, take them for what they're worth. What are your thoughts on the whole writers blogging thing? Worth it? Too much effort? What have you felt about your own bogging experience?

Sarah Allen

The Book I'm Most Grateful For and a 19 Book Giveaway

2011-11-02T05:30:00.001-06:00

The most amazing giveaway is going on at Beth Revis' blog. And when I say amazing, I mean amazing. 19 books. Nineteen. And signed too. Yeah. Amazing.

The point of the giveaway is for everyone to write a post about the one book they are most grateful. An awesome idea, in my opinion. And while it is impossible for me to pick one favorite, or one book for which I am most grateful, there was one that popped immediately to mind.

This is a book I've read within the last few years. I've read other books by this author, which were also mind-blowingingly incredible, but this one just left me breathless. In my opinion, this book could not be more perfect.

This book is Persuasion, by Jane Austen.

I love everything about it. I love the honest, realistic and still dreamy Captain Wentworth. I love the strong, good, intelligent, and just plain amazing Anne Elliot. I love how each of them has kept to their own values and moral system despite the ideas and personalities around them.

What really got to me about this book, though, can be said in one word. It is the same reason that led me to buy all eleven seasons of Frasier and watch every episode within two months. It is why I love characters like Gregory House, Severus Snape and Benjamin Linus. It is often a defining factor for me in my enjoyment of a book or movie.

Pining.

Agonizing, loyal, soul-wrenching, heart-breaking pining. Like Niles for Daphne. Like Severus for Lily. Like Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth for each other.

And this book is pining at its absolute best. Every move, every moment, so your hair stands on end and by the end you feel like you've just run a marathon and feel like sobbing. I feel little twinges on the violin strings of my heart just thinking about this.

I'll give you a little taste. Just a little taste, and you see if you can resist. I'm not giving anything away here, because, lets face it, its Jane Austen and we know the right people are going to end up together. So here is a letter from Captain Wentworth to Ann. Just try not to melt, I dare you:

I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan.--Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes?--I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others.--Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Belive it to be most fervent, and most undeviating in,

F.W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your fathers' house this evening or never.

*Picks self up from puddle on the floor* Ok, that's all I can say about that...This book is my happy place.

Sarah Allen

NaNoWriMo: And the next plot point is...

2011-11-01T05:30:00.001-06:00

So. Even though I'm not doing NaNoWriMo, I couldn't let November 1st go by without addressing what would be causing me by far the most grief, were I doing NaNo.

Plot.

It's never been my strong suit. I love characters and thoughts and dialog and description and scenarios, but putting those all together into a novel-length cohesive story is tough for me. I've talked about this before in various ways, but its definitely worth talking about again.

Let's say the first segment of my MS is plot points A-G. The way my mind works, I get the major plot points--A, D, G--down okay. But hitting B, C, E, and F along the way sometimes gets me stuck, even though I know they need to be there. Does that make sense? It's like crossing a river on stepping stones, and finding the smaller steps between the bigger, more obvious boulders is tricky.

This can cause problems during NaNo for people like me, who don't have the luxury of a long time to think things through and search and search for that tiny needed step. And its a problem for me in general, so I could really use your ideas.

I have come up with a few things. When I'm starting an idea, I start with a very basic outline with those more major, A, D, G points. I come up with as many plot points as I can just within the story in my head, but it still ends up fairly sparse. Then I start a kind of accumulation process. I start a list. I go through my old creative writing notebooks, see what ideas they can give me. I stare at my bookshelf and try and think what major plot points from my favorites could maybe give me ideas for something in my story. I take that list and integrate it with the outline and flesh it out a little more. Then I go through and see if I can spot any holes and try and fill those in. By then I've hopefully got something workable and its time to start.

Inevitably, though, new things are discovered as the story unfolds, more holes are uncovered, new ideas pop. Then the outline changes and you're left without a step, without an E where you thought there was one.

That is where I get stuck. That is the biggest problem I have personally so far encountered in the novel-writing process. After a period of thinking and agonizing I generally find a way to get myself unstuck, but if I could get your advice to make my unsticking a lot more stable and graceful, so I don't feel like I'm flopping my way to the next boulder, that would be great.

So what do you do? How do you get from A to D? I mean, some people--the "pantsers"--write whole novels just one step at a time, feeling their way forward with their characters, with only the vaguest notions of where they're going if any at all. It's that exact "feeling your way forward" process that I could use help with.

So. For my and the NaNo-ers sake. Help?

Sarah Allen

The 5 Best Halloween Movies on YouTube

2011-10-31T05:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween everyone! To help with the celebration, here are 5 Halloween movies I consider classics that I was able to find on YouTube.

Clue

Addams Family Values

Edward Scissorhands

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Hocus Pocus

You'll notice this is a fairly light list as far as Halloween-ish movies go. Call me a wimp or whatever else you want to, but I'm just not a big horror fan. I love the freaky, creepy, awesomely atmospheric feel of these movies, and the incredible acting in ones like Clue and Edward Scissorhands, but the slasher flick blood and guts fest type stuff? Not really a fan. And as far as my list goes, there's a reason Tim Burton is on twice. Hope this helps brighten...er, darken your Halloween :)

Sarah Allen

A Little Weekend Madness!

2011-10-28T05:30:00.000-06:00

Here's a crazy bizarre awesome song!

Here's a hilarious picture! (I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself):

Here's another awesome song!

Here's a book that just came out that is totally, amazingly awesome and you should read it!

You see what my roommates have to put up with?

What plans (besides writing) do you have for the weekend?

Sarah Allen

Why I'm not doing NaNoWriMo and some thoughts anyway

2011-10-27T05:30:00.001-06:00

So I always feel a little guilty/lame/defiant around the end of October. I've never done NaNo, but I've got plenty of friends who have, and had a great experience doing it too. So why not me?

There are two main reasons. First, I shrink at the thought of having my writing pace dictated and regulated. I actually think being forced to produce can be a really good thing, and end in huge accomplishments, which it does during NaNo, but I guess I just prefer to regulate my writing productivity on my own terms. Even if I'm not as productive as you nanowers are going to be. Though I may try for the 1666 a day pace anyway, at least for a little while.

Second, and more importantly, I'm in the middle of something that I want to keep working on, and don't want to risk messing with. It's going well, and I want to keep it that way, and even if I do end up going at NaNo pace for a while I still want to work this novel on my own terms. I'm too invested in it to change things too drastically now. And besides, I don't have 50,000 words left anyway. Which is a good thing.

To all you who are NaNo-ing this year, I have one thing to say. I'm sure you've heard it before, and you'll continue to hear it throughout the month of November, but I wanted to say it anyway, because it might help: The percent of worry you should allot to what other people may or may not think of your NaNo novel is zero percent. You don't have time to worry about that in the first place. First drafts are always about you. Write what you want to write. Write the best you can, but write for you. Nothing else matters. If something else does matter, it can come later. That's what editing is for. But NaNo and first drafts in general are about passion and excitement and the pure joy of writing, the uniqueness of each writer and story, and that won't come through if you worry too much about what your great-grandma Mildred would think of the scene on page nineteen or what your old college writing professor would say about your use of adverbs. You can get grandma Mildred and your professor's opinions later, take the bits you find helpful and chuck the rest. But that's later. For now, just do one thing. Write.

Happy almost November :)

Sarah Allen

Shift in Writing Schedule

2011-10-26T05:30:00.001-06:00

Not the blogging schedule. Don't worry, you still get to hear from me every. single. day. I'm talking about the WIP.

It's going, but not as fast as I would like. So I've decided that in order to kick this thing in gear I'm going to start waking up about an hour and a half before I normally would and set that time aside for writing. No internet, no music, no painting my toe-nails--writing.

There is always the intention of writing at night, and I don't know about you, but I always feel so much more tired and distracted by the end of the day. Things always just come up. So the hope is that by getting some serious writing done every morning, I will get some serious writing done every day, and get some serious progress on this thing. It is going, but I'm beginning to get impatient with myself. This is my way of being serious about writing. Giving up sleep is serious business.

So here goes! We are cranking this, baby. I'm tired of not having a completed manuscript.

When do you write? What do you do to help amp up the progress?

Sarah Allen

p.s. I'm not trying to contradict what I said yesterday, I promise. I'm definitely working on slowing down my pacing for the story, but I still want to get it finished as fast as effectively possible.

p.p.s This is the song I have my alarm set to, in an attempt to make waking up marginally less painful. You may think its incredibly annoying, but I think its probably the greatest wake-up song ever.

Slowing Down the Pace

2011-10-25T05:30:00.001-06:00

When I speak, write, or drive, I have a habit of going too fast. I'm trying my best to slow things down, but sometimes it feels like, despite my best efforts, I still just end up with people who can't understand what I'm saying, an MS that doesn't flow, and traffic school.

As far as writing goes, how do I slow down the pace? I guess my habit is just getting from scene A to scene B, and I'm not good at the middle stuff that fleshes things out and makes it all flow. I typically go back and add more detailed description to try and help, but what else can I do? What do you do to round out scenes and fill in the in-between-scenes stuff?

Adding detail and description is one specific thing I've thought of to help pace my writing (again, let me know your other ideas), but I've tried to think of ways to counteract my break-the-speed-limit habit in a general way. Meditation. Daily gym-ing and veggie eating. Ambient nature sounds while I write. Telling myself its okay to slow the freak down .

I think its just going to take time and practice. Because a nice controlled pace is not my habit, I'm not even sure exactly how or what one specifically does to keep that pace in writing, so I could really, really use your advice and ideas. My hope is that once I work out how to slow things down, I'll be able to make it work for me better and better.

Of course, we don't want things too slow either. Then it's in danger of becoming dull. But there's a balance, and since I tend towards the speedy side, I thought I'd see if I can get your advice for pulling things back towards that balance.

So...help?

Sarah Allen

Making the News

2011-10-24T05:30:00.001-06:00

There's a technique or strategy that I've been talking about with my dad in terms of my social media job; but I think it could be very useful for writers too. I thought I'd get your ideas on how to really make it work.

The strategy is this: keep a list of journalists in your field from online journals and newspapers all over the country and then contact each of them with a story when it comes out. For us writers I guess that would mostly mean book reviewers or journalists in the publishing industry. This isn't groundbreaking stuff. In fact its pretty basic publicity. A good idea, but pretty basic.

So I'm wondering how we use the media to the best advantage. Getting published is news, certain levels of sales is news...but is that it? How do we keep the buzz going in the interim?

I suppose we're getting in to publicity stunt territory here, but maybe that's not so bad. Our first and foremost priority is to our craft, of course. That's as it should be. But we might as well do what we can for marketing, yeah? So what kinds of things can we boring, average, middle-of-the-WIP writers do to generate a little media buzz?

This is where I need your ideas. I've thought of a few: maybe organizing some kind of event, like a read-a-thon, book drive, or even a blogfest or some kind of online event. You could do some really awesome things, and the publicity would just be an added bonus. What other kinds of big-event, news story type things can you think of that we writers could generate ourselves?

There are two key points to this, I think: First, to keep whatever you do writing/book related so that the publicity generated is about you as a writer more than some random thing. Second, make sure you connect directly with the journalists on your list so they're aware of the story you have ready for them. From what I've heard, what with deadlines and being lazy, journalists love being spoon-fed.

Social media is fun, fantastic, and amazing for connecting directly with people. But as far as getting some real buzz going, I think this is probably one of the best strategies we have short of having some really good luck. Do you agree? Do you think this could work, and what ideas do you have to put the strategy into action? Or is it all too mercenary and vulgar in the first place?

Sarah Allen

Dichotomy is good

2011-10-21T05:30:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite stories so far from the New Yorker '20 Under 40' collection is a story called 'The Warm Fuzzies' by Chris Adrian. Its hilarious and kind of genius. Its somewhat of a coming of age story about a girl in a large Christian family who go around and play Christian music in a family band and have a slew of foster kids that come through for short periods of time. The dichotomy in this story is that this young girl wants so badly to be obedient and good and love her family; however, she also has this voice in her head that says nasty things and mocks everyone around her. What she says out-loud and what her inner voice says are sometimes very different, and that's what makes this story so interesting.

I think that's the key to interesting characters, and particularly interesting dialog. There should always be a little bit more to what they're saying. We're drawn in. We want to know where the two voices really are different, and where they're actually not as different as they seem.

Don't we all feel like that sometimes? An inner dichotomy? Sometimes its not even that we're pulled in different directions necessarily, but that we've got some seemingly mismatched things inside our heads? I'm a good, active Mormon girl who grew up in Provo and went to BYU. I also have a thing for grunge rock, skulls and guys with long hair. I like puppies and pirates, David Archuletta and Nikki Sixx, Jane Austen and Steven King.

We all have weird, quirky combos like that. There's no reason they have to be mutually exclusive. I think its healthy and exciting to embrace all sides of our personality. It's what makes us us.

What are your interesting dichotomies?

Sarah Allen

What does your muse look like?

2011-10-20T05:29:00.001-06:00

I'm giggling just thinking about this question. Not quite sure why.

On good days, my muse looks like this:

On bad days, my muse looks like this:

I have no explanations. That's just how it is, I guess.

Now I'm curious...what does your muse look like?

Sarah Allen

Maybe it just sucks.

2011-10-19T05:30:00.000-06:00

People always warn you about this point. I've gotten to 47000 words feeling pretty confident and happy about my MS.

But of course, it hits. I'm at a point in the book that I'm just not happy with, and I don't know what to do about it except keeping going. Then hopefully I can come back and edit the crap out of it and make it something decent.

What do you do when you reach the maybe it just sucks point? I guess all you can really do is keep going. Once I finish I can get some outside perspective. But in the meantime, how do I keep going with confidence that what I'm doing isn't total crap?

What if it is? How do you tell?

Actually, this is why I love the blogosphere, because even just knowing that this phase of writing a novel happens to pretty much everyone, that it doesn't really reflect on the true quality of the work, and that it will all end up better than I expected, helps. So thanks.

I just need someone to pat my head and say, 'It's okay, Sarah, you're a good girl.'

Sarah Allen

What have I gotten myself into? gulp

2011-10-18T05:30:00.000-06:00

Do you ever feel like that sometimes?

Last night I was sitting at the kitchen table with my computer, trying to work something through. I'm at one of those plot point blocks where I have to figure something out before I can move on in the MS, and its taking some time and thought to figure that something out. I was sitting and staring at my screen (ah the life of a writer) and something about the font on the screen and my pj's and cereal bowl and all of it was just kind of like, what is it that makes me want to do this? I was just kind of intrigued and entertained that this is my choice of life.

And you know what, it totally is. Writers block is scary. Being weird is scary. All the publishing and marketing we writers have to do for ourselves is scary. Rejection is scary. So I think 'What have I gotten myself into?' *gulp* is a totally legitimate question, and don't be ashamed if you feel that way sometimes, because I think we all do.

We get ourselves into this mess because, to quote Shakespeare, its freaking amazing. Words are amazing, and the fact that we're making them is amazing. The fact that we're putting our brains somewhere where people can see them and read them and discuss and even change because of them is amazing. The effort feels good and pays off. Pajama's feel good. The publicity and marketing is fun and challenging and exciting. Believe it or not, I mean that genuinely.

Yes its scary. Yes you feel blocked and lonely and invalidated sometimes. But for all that, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

Sarah Allen

Whats age got to do with it?

2011-10-17T05:30:00.001-06:00

I'm kind of obsessed with writers' age. Like, how old they were when they got published, and when they wrote their big masterpiece. That's why I get really into stuff like the New Yorker's '20 under 40' thing. I want to know if I'm making okay time, or if I'm really behind in relation to other writers out there.

Some examples:

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility at 36, Pride and Prejudice at 38, though I think she'd had them written for a decade or so before that.
Charlotte Bronte: 31 at publishing of Jane Eyre
George Eliot: Published at 40, Middlemarch at 52
J.K. Rowling: Published the first Harry Potter around 31.
Maureen Johnson: First published at 31.
Cormac McCarthy: 32
Amy Tan: 37
John Grisham: 34
Stephen King: 27
Stephanie Meyer: 32
Charles Dickens: 24
John Green: 28
Lois Lowry: 40 (The Giver, 56)
Judy Blume: 31
Nicholas Sparks: 31
Danielle Steel: 26
Amanda Hocking: 26
Louis Sachar: 24
Christopher Paolini: 19
Agatha Christie: 30
Nora Roberts: 31
Roald Dahl: 27
Mary Higgins Clark: 41

Ok, ok, I'll stop. I told you I'm obsessed. Its also fascinating to look at this list of the top fiction sellers of all time. It includes books in every language, which makes me want to see if I can get my hands on an English translation of the top Chinese, Japanese and French sellers. It would be interesting, I think.

Anyway. What's the point of all this? I'm not really sure. It seems like the magic age is early-thirties, which means I've got another decade or so. But I don't know. I'm so neurotic and I suppose freakishly competitive that people like that stupid Christopher Paolini make me feel a little behind. And I've only got a couple years if I'm gonna match pace with Dickens and Louis Sachar.

To be honest though, I don't think age really matters at all. Some of the best writers in the world didn't start till their fifties or sixties. And some people come out with something brilliant in their twenties or thirties and then never write again. Writing is so personal, and I think the timing of a writing career is too. I think what matters is where we go from here, wherever "here" is.

Thoughts?

Sarah Allen

Notice the Leaves

2011-10-16T05:07:00.000-06:00

My roommates and I are going to take a drive up the canyon today to look at the lake and the trees. Though in my ideal world the temperature would never get above 65, I do love that Utah has actual seasons. It's fun to have snow in winter, red leaves in the fall, and summer and spring just how they're supposed to be. It makes you notice things. In some ways, it keeps things interesting.

Whether you have seasons like that, or whether you live in San Francisco, take a minute today and notice the leaves. Or the sky. Or the fence. Or the neighbors cat. Or the fire-escape. What is it, really? Take some time today to notice things.

Sarah Allen

Friday Roundup and Random

2011-10-14T05:30:00.000-06:00

First, the roundup.

Here's a cool personality test that is fun and actually pretty accurate. Interesting to read about your strengths and weaknesses. Just thought I'd share.

Also brought to my attention is an article with a list of the best books for the linguistically minded. Including awesome people like Lynn Truss. Check it out.

And here's a photo I stumbled upon this week that I thought was...incredible:

Ok, now random.

I am in the process of acquiring a used MacBook. Expect videos.

How do you pick the next book to read? I'm terrible at it. I end up sitting for about forty-five minutes in front of my bookshelf, vacillating, unable to make up my mind. It's kind of obnoxious. I think even with the best advice, my stupid stubborness and indecisiveness isn't going to make it easy. But it might help.

I have these on my wall.

They make me happy.

Hows it going with you? Hope you have a fantabulous weekend ahead of you!

Sarah Allen

On Windowsills and Queen Victoria

2011-10-13T05:30:00.000-06:00

I am not good at the whole sleeping thing. This is not new news. I've never in my life been good at it. It's mostly to do with my mind refusing to shut up. And so I've come to appreciate windowsills. After I've given up trying to sleep, or sometimes before I start trying, I open my window and sit and breath and let my brain run its course. It has become its own part of my nightly routine. This time of year is the best, when its cold but not frigid, and the air feels clean and your room and lungs feel cleaned out and then when you climb back under the blankets it feels nice and snuggly and warm.

I am good at watching movies. Tonight I watched Young Victoria. If you haven't seen it, you should. Emily blunt is beautiful. The movie is beautiful. Queen Victoria is inspiring, and there most definitely needs to be more Prince Albert's in this world.

I'm not quite sure what the connection is, except that I want me a Prince Albert and I really want me one of those Cavalier puppies, and as much awesome as there is in my life, and as much as I love it, sometimes I feel like there is a lot of waiting and waiting is hard, but it's made a little easier by things like windowsills. Victoria was strong, waited patiently for the future, worked hard in the present, and that seems a more than good enough example for me. We all have things we want, things we're waiting for, but in the meantime there is the moon and a windowsill.

Sarah Allen

The 2 Levels of Plot: A Lesson from Up

2011-10-12T05:30:00.001-06:00

Today I wanted to talk about a principle we've been discussing in the creative writing class. It actually really helps me understand better how to access a story, and make it relatable.

We've been looking at plot and story in two levels. The top level is the more overarching issue or problem, maybe the more abstract one, the larger one. The lower level is the day-to-day problem, the seemingly more mundane or less important one. It seems like approaching a story or character from the higher problem would be the best way to go, but actually its opposite. I'm sure there are a whole bunch of deep psychological reasons why, but as outsiders/readers we tend not to really care about the higher problem until we care about the character, and we care about the character through the day-to-day problem. Even if we do care about the larger issue, its just easier to get a specific hold on it when we've got a hold on the smaller issue.

To illustrate what I mean I'm gonna use one of the greatest characters ever created.

Russell's larger issue is that his family is somewhat absent. He's trying to do the best he can on his own, and doesn't get much attention. But this issue is only directly addressed a little bit, and only towards the end of the movie. We are introduced to and care more about Russell because of his day-to-day issue: he just wants his badge.

The two issues are related. He wants his badge, but is having a little trouble with it because he's not getting much help from his dad. The little kid wanting his badge is something we can all understand, appreciate and relate to. Not only that, but it helps us get a specific understanding of the larger absent family issues.

So when you're stuck, when you have a minor case of writers block, one of the best ways I've found to get unstuck is to bring things back to the day-to-day problem. It keeps the reader involved in the story, and moves it forward. Then its amazing how naturally the story itself leads to connections with higher, deeper problems. And you end up with an interesting, relatable and well-rounded story.

What do you think? Do you agree? What are some of the day-to-day problems in your story?

Sarah Allen

First Forays into Children's Book Publishing

2011-10-11T05:30:00.001-06:00

My sister is an illustration major. And not just any illustration major. She is super, super talented. Seriously. She has a gift. I mean, look at that mouse.

So, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity here and asked her if she would be interested in working on some children's books together. She said yes, which makes me very excited. I've got some ideas floating around in my brain, and I'm gonna try and solidify them and let her do some illustrating while I keep working on The Novel, and that will be extra awesome because then I'll feel like I'm getting two things done at once.

Anyway, I'm wondering what the next steps would be after we get something put together. I've done research into regular publishing, and I'm wondering how different it is with kids picture books. I'll do some research into that, of course, but I'm wondering if my wise readers have any beginning advice for me, or recommendations of where to start.

Is it pretty much the same submit-to-agents process? Do we just submit the words and illustrations together, and is that the norm? Can I have an agent and publisher for children's publishers separate from my adult stuff and will there be issues with that?

Yeah. That's kind of what's going on right now. Advice or pointers in the right direction would be fabulous :)

Sarah Allen

p.s. My sister said if I posted this picture I had to include a disclaimer that the photo of it was low res and bad quality. Consider it disclaimed.

Song to Celia by Ben Jonson

2011-10-10T05:30:00.000-06:00

Song To Celia
Ben Jonson (1573-1637)

Drink to me only with thine eyes,
and I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
and I'll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove's nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honoring thee
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent'st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself, but thee.

Pen Names

2011-10-07T09:51:00.003-06:00

I'm not planning on using a pen name. In fact, I plan on doing my best to defy the publishing industry and use my plain old name for everything I write, in every genre.

But. In the case of needing a pen name, such as competitions where they require one, I have one at the ready.

George Lewis.

George for George Eliot. Also for George Tate, my humanities professor from my Freshman year in college who my roommates all said I was like, and then when we were analyzing ourselves and coming up with boy names for each of us, because that's what college girls do, my boy name was George.

Lewis for the very obvious reason of C. S. Lewis.

So there is my carefully planned pen name that I have in my back pocket in case of emergencies.

What's yours?

Sarah Allen

You know he's your mentor when...

2011-10-06T08:30:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time there was a man named Mr. K. He was an English teacher at a small private school in a small college town in a very out-of-the-way state. He taught English to the eighth graders, ninth graders, tenth graders, eleventh graders, and twelfth graders, and he also sometimes taught stuff like improv and helped with drama. It was a very, very small school.

One young girl started at this small school in first grade, and after a brief stint in the comparatively very exotic Bay Area during fifth and sixth grade, came back to this small school in this small town in this out-of-the-way state and became one of Mr. K's students.

This young girl took English from Mr. K in eigth grade, and ninth grade, and tenth grade, and eleventh grade, and twelfth grade. She participated in such activities as reciting out-loud chimney sweeper poems from Victorian England and playing faux poker while the class studied The Virginian and borrowing his Kenneth Branagh...er, Shakespeare movies for nerd-fests...er, parties with her friends. He made her read Moby Dick. Not the whole class, just her.

Soon after this young girl graduated, three things happened:

1. This young girl became an English major at the university in that small college town.
2. Mr. K got a job as a headmaster at a cool new school.
3. The very small school closed down.

This young girl then graduated from the university with a BS...er, BA in English and aspirations of being a novelist, but soon realized she needed to eat too, and that diplomas in English did not pay very much, or taste very good either. After a chaotic, confusing and occasionally traumatic time, this not-so-young-as-she-once-was girl came to her senses and contacted her former high school English teacher at his cool new school and was relieved to hear that yes, indeed, he could use help in his creative writing class and sometimes Shakespeare too, as juggling teaching and administrative duties was rather...time-consuming.

(Note: The very small school also started back up about this time, with some administrative and financial changes that make for a bright and hopeful future, and they too were willing to hire this young girl. Now she teaches creative writing at cool new school on some afternoons, helps with preschool at very small school on the others, and does social media contracting in the mornings. With these powers combined, she can pay rent, and has after-school, evenings and nights to write the day away. She is happy.)

While she never expected to end up teaching (Her answer to "English major, huh? So are you gonna teach?" was always "No"), and really never expected to be teaching with Mr. K; despite a few disenchanted teens and snot-nosed tots; despite not knowing quite how to feel about going back to high school; she is having an absolute blast. The interesting thing, however, and the point of this long, rambling, self-indulgent story, is that in working with Mr. K, she is seeing just how much of an influence he has had on her life.

And its not only the obvious stuff. She loves Taming of the Shrew because he loves Taming of the Shrew and she learned the play from him. But now she is discovering that they share opinions she didn't even know they shared. Like in movies; they are both freakishly obsessed with Up [moment of silence for Steve Jobs. I cringe to conceive of a Pixar-less world. Thanks Steve.] and The Kings Speech, which both came out after this young girl had left Mr. K's tutelage. But he'll use Up as an example of ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT character in the creative writing class, and then use Kings Speech in correlation with Henry IV, which makes this young girl want to stand up and shout "And I love that movie too!" By similar means, she has found out that they both share an affinity for random things like Alaska and Abraham Lincoln.

This young girl has ideas and opinions separate from Mr. K's, of course, and recognizes that nobody is perfect. Still, she is grateful for everything she has learned from him, and would be a very different person in a very different place without his mentorship. A person and place she would most definitely not want to be.

These are the people and experiences that shape us as writers. That shape our tone and voice and opinions about what constitutes good writing. Recognizing the influences helps us see the strengths and weaknesses we've accumulated from these influences, and therefore grow as writers. As people too.

Who are the Mr. K's in your life?

Sarah Allen

Its my special pen.

2011-10-05T05:30:00.001-06:00

So I go through pen phases. I had a black bic one that I used for a long time, but then I lost it. Now I use the one I got from the bedside table at Days Inn.

I always take the pens from hotels. That's allowed, right? Sometimes I even leave notes on the notepad. Something sophisticated and non-creepy like, "I'm watching you," or "It was like that when we got here I promise." But I have pens from the Luxor, California Grand, Super 8, and a few others. When I lose one pen or it dries out, then I go to another one. I've probably got six pens in my ginormous green leather purse, but for some neurotic reason I'll dig through all of them to find the one I'm looking for. Right now, Days Inn. After that, who knows. Maybe Excalibur. That sounds cool just saying it. ("Hey, can I borrow a pen?" "I shall fetch Excalibur!")

Anyway, do you have any objects you sort of attach yourself too like some kind of totem or magic feather? Its habit for me, if I'm sitting for any length of time, to dig my notebook and my special pen out of my purse just to have them at the ready. Its good to have a special pen, especially when your current notebook is not so special. I used to have this gorgeous leather-bound black notebook that lasted me for years, but I eventually filled it, and now I'm on to this weird floppy dotted one that functions just fine, but I hope I can fill up fast. Then I'll get another cool leather one. Anyway. Special pens and special notebooks. Special words and special computers. I actually named my computer Baby. My car's name is Little Dorrit.

We writers are such special people.

Sarah Allen

3 Essential Questions Every Author Must Ask Themselves

2011-10-04T05:30:00.001-06:00

I cannot take credit for these questions. They were part of the post by Wendy Lawson that I mentioned a while ago. However, I think they are incredibly valuable questions to ask, in terms of self-analysis, creativity, marketing, and lots of other things. I would like to discuss them a bit, and get your thoughts on how best to answer them.

1. Who am I as a writer?

This one covers a lot. I think it has to do with the kinds of things we write, yes, but also why we write in the first place, and what we hope to accomplish by adding to the overflowing mess of words already out there. Writing is not easy, so why do we do it? What is it that you wish everybody else understood? What kinds of stories seem to fill up your soul? Ok, so I'm just asking more questions here, but I think answering these smaller questions might help on the never-ending journey to discovering who we are as writers.

2. What is distinctive about my book?

The two main ways I can think to get answers to this question is to read, read, read, constantly, everything, read, and also, ask someone else. The more you read, the easier it is to place your book into a category. But sometimes it can still be hard to know what kind of story you're actually writing. That's when an outside reader can help you decide how to label your book. This will also help in marketing, if you can take the distinctive features of your book, whether that's in character, plot, setting, whatever, and use it in a more specific marketing niche.

3. Who are my readers?

This is sort of a follow-up to number 2. Once you decide what type of book you have, its easier to decide what sort of people read that kind of book. I mean, romance has a different target audience then say, horror. There is always overlap, of course, but defining a target readership can be the key to successful marketing and promotion. Discover who your readers are, and figure out lots of ways to reach them. I'm actually having a hard time on this one, because I feel like my current project is a mix of a few different things. I'll have to think about it some more, and maybe eventually get some outside opinions. Have you found any effective ways to figure out who your readers are?

I would love to hear your answers to these questions, if you have answers you're comfortable giving. I think that actually helps the rest of us in our own figuring out. Or if you have suggestions for how to answer these questions, that would be useful as well.

Happy writing!

Sarah Allen

To Show or Not To Show

2011-10-03T05:30:00.001-06:00

I have a dilemma. I've mentioned it casually before, but I hope you don't mind if I bring it up again.

I can't decide whether or not to start showing people my WIP.

Here's the thing. I've always been one of those who keeps unfinished work under cover. I don't even talk about it with anyone until its done. When I read Steven Kings advice to never show anyone your work until its done, my reaction was, yeah, that's what I think. I'm self-conscious enough as it is without having someone pass any kind of judgement on something I'm not done with yet. I worry it might kill my oomph. But I've always had a pinch of doubt that goes with it. What if I really need an outside perspective? What if it would help me catch big mistakes earlier in the process? What if it actually gave me more motivation?

I'm just not sure. I haven't shown anybody up to this point, but I'm halfway through, which means I'm more dedicated to the story, and I may be relatively safe from peoples opinions. So do I risk it, in hopes of making it better? What do you do? I could give someone the first half and take their feedback into account for the second, and even maybe give people the next chapters as they come. Or do I just keep it safe and crank through it and then show it when I'm done? Maybe just one person? How do I decide who to show it too, if I decide to at all? Advice?

I also have a legal question: If at some future point I wanted to post excerpts here on the blog, say the first chapter, would it cause problems later with agents, editors or publishers? What's the deal-io on that?

Your advice and wisdom is much appreciated. You guys are awesome, and I wish you the best on your current projects!

Sarah Allen

Maureen Johnson and So I Have a Book Coming Out Tomorrow

2011-10-02T05:30:00.000-06:00

Too hilarious not to share.

Enjoy!

Sarah Allen

Growing Up

2011-09-30T05:30:00.001-06:00

Is weird. I've decided that 22 is both very old and very young. It is old because all the sudden there is all this responsibility and pressure that hasn't been there before, and different things are expected of you, and people start talking to you a little bit different and telling you different things than they would have before. It is young because people start telling you different things than they would have before, and you realize how much you were oblivious to before, and how weighty the world is and you feel like you're finally seeing things for what they really are in a lot of ways.

And seeing things for what they really are can be hard. There is some truth to the saying that ignorance is bliss. People are hurt and abused and go to jail and have depression and commit suicide and starve and manipulate in truly horrible ways, and the older you get and the more you know, you start realizing that these things are not just abstractions, they really happen to actual people, sometimes (often) much, much closer to home than you ever expected.

Sometimes I have growing pains, and I just sit and think, how do I even take in all this? What am I supposed to do with it? Why have I lucked out, when sometimes it would be easier for me to just have gone through something myself than to see someone else go through it?

This is when I know I really am an incurable optimist.

I do not think its right to wallow in the bad. Life sucks and then you die just doesn't cut it. For so many reasons. Yes, sometimes life sucks, but even in the midst of everything terrible, there is beauty and redemption and hope. Always.

I do not think its right to pretend, to shy away, or to leave the bad in the world at the level of abstraction. We cannot pretend abuse and pain and loneliness don't exist. They do. We cannot pretend it won't happen in our personal world, because it will, and it already has, even if we don't see it. And above all, because from my perspective this is the easiest trap to fall into, we CANNOT gloss over it. We MUST face the world with absolute brutal honesty.

We have absolutely no right to judge. Nobody is perfect, and pain has happened to everyone. We cannot reach people or love them if we judge them. We must look them in the eye. God will always be there for people that hurt, but so must we. That means saying, even though God is the only one who can ultimately heal you and take care of everything, and even though this is dirty and messy and painful, if you'll let me I would like to stay here right by your side and go through it with you, every step. Because, people, that is life. Dirty and messy and painful. It doesn't have to be soul-witheringly lonely too.

But remember, too, it is not only dirty and messy and painful. In fact, in the grand scheme of things, the dirt and mess and pain is only a small part of life. That's why wallowing is wrong. Yes, mud needs to be addressed, cleaned thoroughly and not swept under the rug; but make music while you're doing it, even if you're singing through tears. The music is all the sweeter for it.

Thank you for letting me collect my thoughts out-loud. Its been a bit of a philosophical few weeks, in case you couldn't tell. Thank you, also, for letting me get a bit religious. Hope you don't mind too much. What does all this have to do with writing, you say? Think of it this way: Who do you think make the best writers? The people who won't acknowledge the mess? The people who wallow in it?

Nope :)

Sarah Allen

Personal Editing List

2011-09-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

[This is a re-blog of a post I did back in 2010]

Every writer has their own unique method, style, and voice, and with this comes unique issues. There are certain quirks, turns of phrase, and specific cliches that they tend towards in their writing. Recognizing these is the first step in avoiding them. It can be hard to figure out what they are, but having others read your writing is one way. Be humble and willing to accept feedback and apply it according as you see fit.

My suggestion is to make a list of your own personal writing cliches, make a "personal editing list", and keep it up by your writing area. If you know that you have certain bad habits, you can consciously keep from falling into them.

Here are some things from my own personal editing list. Some of them are specific, sentence level things, and some have to do with the overall, general idea.

-Struggle vs. slump: I have the bad habit of setting my characters in emotionally hard situations that they can't really do much about except passively accept it and try to be happy despite the problem. This can turn into simple "portrait of a saint" (as my creative writing professor called them) stories, which may show kind, generous characters, but they are passive and not interesting as characters. Every story needs active, immediate and relatable conflict, and this is something I have to consciously remember as I come up with my story ideas.

-Words that don't do enough: I have a list of words that I have a habit of overusing, which don't do as much as I want them too. Some of those words are smiled, laughed, sighed, cried and looked. Words like this are so generic that they don't really show whats going on. Its not that they're absolutely forbidden, but in general, for them to be effective they need context.

-A story isn't poignant/meaningful/significant just because its about infidelity/abandonment/abuse. These things are poignant and important, of course, but they are often such huge topics that they overwhelm the piece. An incredibly meaningful, successful piece can be about things as simple as sister jealousy, unmet expectations, or just the small things that make meaning in our every day life. I have a habit of picking topics like infidelity just because I assume that if its about something significant like that, the piece itself will be significant. That is not necessarily the case, and remembering that helps me steer away from sentimentalism.

What are your bad writing habits, and what are some good ways for getting over them?

Sarah Allen

The Caboose of the Crazy Train and a Play

2011-09-28T05:30:00.001-06:00

I'm starting off with the hunch that today's post is going to be a bit rambly. But it all makes sense, at least in my head. So bare with me.

So this summer has been a bit chaotic. At least emotionally, if that's okay for me to say. It's hard to even explain, except to say this summer has just been weird, and definitely the hardest of my life. I'm not trying to sound angsty, its just been hard. And every time I thought things were going to get settled, they went and upheaved themselves all over again, and then I freaked out some more. Now, I can finally and safely say (fingers crossed) that I am seeing the caboose of the crazy train. Everything still not fully settled is at least somewhat in place, and in a way that just takes time to grow roots. If that makes sense.

There is finally some semblance of a schedule returning to my life. I do social media contracting stuff in the mornings, teach in the afternoons, and then I have after school to do stuff like write, and read, and write, and go to the gym, and watch stuff, and write. Which is fabulous, because I think I've actually written words every day for the past week or so. And it doesn't look like that's going to stop, which is double fabulous.

Now I want to be in a play. There are lots of reasons for this, other than the obvious one that I plain love (SERIOUSLY I LOVE IT SO MUCH) theater. Like the fact that I can't sit still, combined with what I guess you could call an inertia problem, which means that when I do sit still it often takes outside energy to get me moving again, and being in a play is a good outside energy source. Also, since my work entails lots of people who are small children, it would maybe be nice to do things at other times that involve people who are not small children, at least on the outside. (Don't get me wrong, I freaking adore small children, but a range is good, right?). Also, I like to meet new people. Also, its creatively inspiring. Also, I try and take advantage of getting out and doing things that I actually enjoy that are not school and my computer, because that doesn't happen often, and when it does its good for me. For all those other reasons. And its been a year and a half, and that's just too long. So yeah, I'm putting it out there that I'm ready to be in a play again. We'll see what happens.

I guess this is just an extension of yesterdays post, just applied to every day life. What are your favorite...extra-curriculars, I guess you could say? What do you do to spice things up and put yourself out there? Where do you go for that zing of freshness? Clubs? Sports? Outdoors? Hobbies? Tell me, oh wise readers.

Sarah Allen

Avoiding Redundancy

2011-09-27T05:30:00.000-06:00

We writers only have ourselves to draw on. Our own experience and instinct. What I'm afraid of, at this point in my WIP, is that I'm being redundant. I'm worried that the emotional reactions are repetitive, or that I'm hitting the same points too many times. Because like I said, I've only got me to go on.

Obviously the real check for this is outside readers. They will be able to pick out that fast any moments where things lag or feel redundant. But to catch it ourselves beforehand or to change it afterwards, what do we do?

I guess recognition that this is a possibility might be the first step. Figure out what your gut instincts are, so that every once in a while you can shake things up by not following them. But I mean, we have those instincts for a reason; the things we think make good characters, the emotional reactions that we think mean something, mean something to us for a reason. This might be confusing already, but my question is this: if we're used to doing things one way, how do we even know what the other options are?

I'm trying to make sense, but I don't know how well that's going. Let's see, I'll try and be more specific. So, say that when you're trying to amp things up, you're instinct is to have a certain thing happen, or to do more with the Big Topic that means the most to your MC. How do you amp things up in a different way? How do you get emotional involvement from your MC without directly going to Big Topic?

I am in no way saying that we shouldn't be ourselves. Of course we should, that's what makes writing interesting. But I think its a definitely possible and often easy to get stuck in kind of a rut, and not stretch ourselves or use other, weirder, different parts of ourselves. How do we access those parts of ourselves when we want to spice things up?

Thoughts? Ideas?

Sarah Allen

Reading Supplemental

2011-09-26T05:30:00.001-06:00

I've decided I want to do a little better on my supplemental reading. By that I mean anything other than fiction. I do okay with poetry, and want to stick with that, but I want to maybe get into some non-fiction too.

It just seems like this is a good idea. The more we read the more we know the more we have to write about, right? And its not like this needs to be a big project either. I'm thinking maybe a poem or two, maybe a short story, and a chapter of something like Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews or a fairy tale from the Grimm Brothers (though some might say that's cheating.) Maybe some books on Greek or Norse mythology would be cool. Maybe some biographies. Maybe the Qu'ran.

What do you think? Mythologies, folktales and biographies are what sound interesting to me right now, but what other suggestions do you have? Or are there particular biographies/books on mythology that are extra awesome?

Sarah Allen

Someday

2011-09-25T05:30:00.001-06:00

Someday I will be a published author.
Someday I will win literary awards and be published in the New Yorker.
Someday someone will come up to me on the street and ask for my autograph.
Someday I will earn enough money from books to afford trips to London and cruises to Alaska.
Someday I will have a house and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppy. Tricolor.
Someday a boy who I love will love me back and we will get married in December and go on a romantic honeymoon to Alaska and live in a house with a big library and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy.
Someday I will adopt a little boy and name him Linus.

Today I will write.
Today I will submit my writing to competitions and to the New Yorker.
Today I will make sure my roommates know they are special.
Today I will not go over my budget.
Today I will read and look at pictures of puppies.
Today I will be happy with myself, my family, and my books.
Today I will play with my little sister and make lesson plans.

Oh today.

Sarah Allen

Friday Roundup

2011-09-23T05:31:00.001-06:00

I don't know if I'm going to do this usually, but it just seems like this week I happened upon some excellent articles that I couldn't not share. In case you hadn't already seen them.

The first is How To Steal Like An Artist (and 9 Things Nobody Told Me) by Austin Kleon. Brilliantly honest, realistic and inspiring.

The second is an excellent article by Wendy Lawton about what actually works in terms of author publicity and marketing, and how we can navigate in this crazy social media/advertising/publishing world. Its so fantastic and actually gives some new ideas I hadn't heard before.

Last but not least, some fantastic advice on having a serious career as a full-time writer, and what that honestly entails, written by Ron Marz.

So yeah. Lots of smart people who know more than I do. This is why I love the blogosphere.

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sarah Allen

Passion vs. Technique: Writing from the Heart and the Head

2011-09-22T05:30:00.001-06:00

So I just finished Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Having quite enjoyed it (OMG ANN BRONTE IS AMAZING!!!) it got me thinking: why do books like the ones from the Bronte sisters and other writers hit you so hard and stick around so long, while others, if I may be so presumptuous as to suggest The Tigers Wife by Tea Obreht as an example, leave a little to be desired?

My conclusion is that the difference is in the passion. The passion the writer imbues into the story as well as the passion within the story itself. Anything written by the Brontes just oozes with passion, while Ms. Obreht's novel, though absolutely beautiful and technically stunning, feels a little manufactured. Passion is what grips readers and makes your story timeless.

Here's the catch: if the technique is too sloppy or obtrusive, the passion will not come across the right way. I don't doubt that Tea wrote her book with the same passion and feeling as any author; but her technique was so cerebral and precise that it kind of got in the way of a unique voice. On the other end of the spectrum, wannabe writers everywhere (and believe me, they are) who either don't know or don't care about technique don't give us anything but an abstract, angsty mess that is way too generic to be relatable or interesting. Readers want to be able to really see you, clearly and uniquely, meaning their vision must be neither pixelated or smeared.

Easier said then done. I think most of us err on the side of messy, but we can't beat ourselves up too much about that or we might over-analyze and over-write, and that's no better than if we left it messy. Writing is a delicate balancing act between being fake and being repulsive, which I guess isn't so different from real life. This is, I think, where knowledge and experience come into play. Knowledge of what the technical "rules" actually are, and lots and lots of experience reading different writers who keep them and break them in interesting ways. Then we can experiment and see what works. But the rules are there for a reason--they don't restrict our voice, instead with proper use they help our voice come across more clearly. That means that when the rules aren't used, its for a reason too.

Anyway, those are some more of my English-major-nerd-Bronte-sisters-inspired thoughts. But what else is new. Do you agree? Do you think I'm being the right degree of cautious about keeping the literary "rules"? And there are writing rules all over the place, so which do you think are the right ones?

Sarah Allen

How To Make Your Blog More Popular

2011-09-21T05:30:00.000-06:00

Short on time today, so I thought I'd leave you with the video I made as part of the Dear Muse vlogs as an attempt to answer some questions I've been getting about marketing a blog. This is super important for writers, because blogs are one of the main means at our disposal for book publicity. These are just my ideas based on my own experience, and if you have additional ones, I'd love to hear them.

Sarah Allen

How Do You Want To Be Remembered?

2011-09-20T05:30:00.001-06:00

So I've been reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I am totally hooked. I'm just never swept away in quite the same way as I am when I read a Victorian novel. And its fabulous to be discovering a new Bronte sister. I mean, I've known of Ann, of course, I just haven't gotten around to reading any of her stuff until now. And its wonderful. I thought she was going to be much more cerebral and much less emotional then her sisters. She is definitely more sensible, realistic, and wry, but the emotion is just as strong. She can be quite hilarious as well.

Here's what's gotten me thinking: Jane Eyre does hold a very special place in my heart, as does Villette. But why is Ann the sister who has been historically brushed aside when the other competition is Wuthering Heights? Why has history chosen to emphasize one and not the other? Especially when Emily only wrote the one, and its not as good anyway? This is of course my personal biased opinion, and I'm not trying to discredit or invalidate Wuthering Heights. It is a beautiful book and for certain readers packs quite a hefty emotional punch, which is why it has stuck around for so long. What I'm trying to say here, is that I wonder why Ann is the one who has been brushed aside when she's just as good a writer as Charlotte and (*ahem* better than *ahem*) Emily?

Bit of a rant, but really the broader question is this: how do we want to be remembered and how do we create that legacy for ourselves? I'm sure much of it we can't help, and is just up to chance and history. I mean, its not like Ann would have chosen to be Bronte the Lesser. I think all we can do is create the best work we can, work hard at everything else, and hope for the best.

Me? I want to be remembered as an author who tried to show that its not easy or naive, but honorable and okay to be happy. That there is truth and beauty. That good art leads to faith and faith is power. Faith in ourselves individually and collectively, but also faith in something larger than ourselves. Like truth and beauty.

How do you want to be remembered?

Sarah Allen

Vertical Movement and the Pyramid of Abstraction

2011-09-19T05:30:00.001-06:00

How many of you have heard of the Pyramid of Abstraction?

To me, this provides a great mental image of good writing. The base of your writing, the support, the majority, is specific, concrete detail. That's where the real connection happens, the true understanding.

Once you have these details, though, then something more needs to happen, something I call vertical movement, because in a way it is movement up the pyramid. You don't even need to get into abstractions, but somehow things need to be tied together in a way that gives the piece a connection to something more universal, or larger than itself. I'm going to use poetry as an example, but I think this applies to all kinds of writing.

A Spiral Notebook
by Ted Kooser

The bright wire rolls like a porpoise
in and out of the calm blue sea
of the cover, or perhaps like a sleeper
twisting in and out of his dreams,
for it could hold a record of dreams
if you wanted to buy it for that
though it seems to be meant for
more serious work, with its
college-ruled lines and its cover
that states in emphatic white letters,
5 SUBJECT NOTEBOOK. It seems
a part of growing old is no longer
to have five subjects, each
demanding an equal share of attention,
set apart by brown cardboard dividers,
but instead to stand in a drugstore
and hang on to one subject
a little too long, like this notebook
you weigh in your hands, passing
your fingers over its surfaces
as if it were some kind of wonder.

Amazing, beautiful detail. I love all the metaphors with the spiral wire. That is the biggest part of this piece. But do you see where it goes vertical? I would say its the lines "but instead to stand in a drugstore and hang on to one subject a little too long." It starts talking about something much, much more than just a spiral bound notebook, even though that's what its technically talking about. But it becomes more symbolic, more universal. Slightly more abstract, but you'll notice he's still using concrete, specific language.

Next example.

Break of Day
by Galway Kinnel

He turns the light on, lights
the cigarette, goes out on the porch,
chainsaws a block of green wood down the grain,
chucks the pieces into the box stove,
pours in kerosene, tosses in the match
he has set fire to the next cigarette with,
stands back while the creosote-lined, sheet-
metal rust-lengths shudder but just barely
manage to direct the cawhoosh in the stove—
which sucks in ash motes through gaps
at the bottom and glares out fire blaze
through overburn-cracks at the top—
all the way to the roof and up out through into
the still starry sky starting to lighten,
sits down to a bowl of crackers and bluish milk
in which reflections of a 40-watt ceiling bulb
appear and disappear, eats, contemplates
an atmosphere containing kerosene stink,
chainsaw smoke, chainsmoke, wood smoke, wood heat,
gleams of the 40-watt ceiling bulb bobbing in blue milk.

Again, amazing detail. This one is a little trickier to find where it goes vertical, but I would say its the line "appear and disappear, eats, contemplates an atmosphere containing kerosene stink, etc...". That is where it starts meaning more than its actually saying. Its not just describing things anymore, it mentions so subtly the way this man feels about all the things its just described, and it doesn't even go into how the man feels about his life of all these things because we've already gotten such a strong sensation of our own from all the concrete details that it doesn't need to. If he started saying, "the man was disenchanted with the kerosene stink..." that would be a gross oversimplification. Maybe that's it, but maybe it's comfortable, or it's exciting, or its whatever. Its could be any or all of them, and that's the point. Vertical expands the poem to mean more than its actually saying, but it still lets the reader find much of their own meaning.

What do you think? I hope I'm making sense here. It's ironic trying to describe an abstract principle of not being abstract. To me, though, this is one of the key principles that once people get, it takes their writing a gigantic leap forward. Then its a matter of figuring out how to do this and do it effectively, which is a much more painstaking, never ending process. If you start with that strong, concrete base, and just keep going, the vertical almost takes care of itself. You'll find the places where its starting to mean more, and you can go from there. Then you'll have something that just blows peoples minds.

Sarah Allen

What book are you reading right now?

2011-09-18T11:50:00.002-06:00

And where did you hear about it?

I'm reading The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. I picked it up because I'm a huge C.S. Lewis fan, in case you couldn't tell, and he called MacDonald his literary "master".

You?

Sarah Allen

Bleh.

2011-09-16T10:55:00.002-06:00

I am feeling not so good today, so I just thought I'd give you a preview of how I will be spending my day.

Hope you are feeling better than I am!

Sarah Allen

Your Favorite Marketing Strategies

2011-09-15T05:30:00.001-06:00

I loved the updates I got on yesterdays post. It seems like you all are working on such awesome stuff. Some of those ideas sound so amazingly awesome, and I definitely want to be kept updated on what happens with those.

It has also been a while since we've talked marketing here at the bloggity blog. So today I want to get your updates and ideas in terms of marketing. The fact is, writers are pretty much acting as their own publicists in today's marketing world.

If you click on the little contacts tab up top, you'll realize how big of a social media nut I am. Honestly, I find it fascinating, almost like a game, and I think its one of the fun, exciting parts about being a writer. I consider this blog kind of my social media hub, but I've also got a Twitter, Google+, YouTube channel, Tumblr, and if you noticed on the sidebar, a button to a brand new Facebook page. And a few others. I know that seems crazy, but I sincerely love it. I love finding new awesome stuff and getting in contact with amazing people who share my quirks and dorky interests. In other words, if I haven't been blatant enough already, I would LOVE to connect with any of you who use any of those sites, because you are part of that awesome people group.

But really, I want to know what has worked best for you. What sites have been most effective, and what strategies the most successful within those sites? What has helped you get more Facebook or YouTube followers? What maybe obscure sites do you use that have actually helped you get in touch with a great group of people?

I'm still trying to learn the tricks of the trade. I think we all are. Whats scary is that so little about social media or marketing is really under our control, and the most we can do is be genuine, active, consistent and relevant. But there are certain things we can do to help spread the word, and I want to know what those things are according to you.

Don't be shy :)

Sarah Allen

Project Updates: What are you working on right now?

2011-09-14T05:30:00.001-06:00

Time for more updates.

My WIP is going pretty well. As based on my meter over on the side, I am so so so close to being half-way done. I may already be half-way done depending on how many words I actually end up with. My MC is a quiet middle-aged guy, except in a few recent scenes he's kind of had mini blow ups, which I didn't expect. It keeps things a little more interesting, I suppose. I'm having a lot of fun with him. At this point in the story his problem is frustrating him because there is little he can do to solve it, which means its frustrating me because I need to figure things so that he will actually be doing something, or else pleh. Yes, that is now officially a word.

Ok, now your turn. What projects are you working on? What stage are you at? Jeez, I'm ending sentences with prepositions all over the place in this post, aren't I? Oh well. Anyway, yeah, whats the status on your current project? And do you have other minor side projects going on too? What keeps you motivated? What are some of your favorite tricks of the trade? Basically, how's it going writing-wise?

Sarah Allen

From Sarah, With Joy

Why Losing Confidence in Your Book is a Good Thing

Everything to say and not much at all

My Query

How does one even begin the agent research process?

The book, ladies and gentleman, is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guest Post: How To Find Time To Write, by Rochelle Melander

3 Keys to Brilliant Dialog

Sherlock...Benedict Cumberbatch...can't.handle.the.awesome.

Writing the Denouement

Oh Captain, My Captain and other dreams

Funny, lolz and stuff

10 Ways to Get Paid for Online Writing, with Lior Levin

Green Day, Red Day, Work Day, Dead Day

In the Room Where You Are Writing

Lessons from High School Drama and some scheduling questions

A Song and a Poem

If you didn't write, what would you do?

Being Taken Seriously as a Single Woman

Free story!!! And the story of the story.

A short story and Elana Johnson, Taherah Mafi, Beth Revis, Stephanie Perkins and John Green oh my!!!

2012: New Years Resolutions Edition

2011: So long and thanks for all the fish

Thinking about...

What books did you get for Christmas?

Christmas Giveaway Gift-card Winners!!!

Christmas Made Easy, Part 4: Movies

Christmas Made Easy, Part 3: Oh the weather outside is frightful

Christmas Made Easy, Part 2: Russian Teacakes

Christmas Made Easy, Part 1: Gift Shopping for Writers

Deja Vu Blogfest: Romance Movie Guide

Finalized (?) Plans for the Short Story Collection

Christmas Story Creative Writing Prompts

Self-publishing a Short Story Collection: Good Idea, Bad Idea?

Happily Ever After

Some David Hyde Pierce? I think so...

Date a Girl Who Reads

How do they write like that?

Christmas Giveaway, Amazon giftcards and all. Hooray!

Using my powers of sentimentality for good, and not for evil

Occupy Wallstreet and the 99 Percent Movement: A Contribution in 2 Pages

December is the Bestest Month

Fan loyalty and the Muppets

The End. Almost.

Sunshine Sure Looks Good On You

101 Things I'm Thankful For (in no particular order)

Five Cookbooks for Writers

So Nike Was Right

Boys Are Like Parking Spaces

Movie Night: Miss Potter

Things I Miss

E.J. Patten and Popular vs Literary

NaNo Half-Way: How is it going?

What We Learn When We're Out of Our Mind

Friday Funny

See Yourself the Winner

Glee, turkey toast, and other good things

Interview with Beth Revis, author of 'Across the Universe'

So someone I know is going to read this?

A Fairy Tale Twist

3 Steps to Fame, Glory, and Eternal Life

The Book I'm Most Grateful For and a 19 Book Giveaway

NaNoWriMo: And the next plot point is...

The 5 Best Halloween Movies on YouTube

A Little Weekend Madness!

Why I'm not doing NaNoWriMo and some thoughts anyway

Shift in Writing Schedule

Slowing Down the Pace

Making the News

Dichotomy is good

What does your muse look like?

Maybe it just sucks.

What have I gotten myself into? *gulp*

Whats age got to do with it?

Notice the Leaves

Friday Roundup and Random

On Windowsills and Queen Victoria

The 2 Levels of Plot: A Lesson from Up

First Forays into Children's Book Publishing

Song to Celia by Ben Jonson

What have I gotten myself into? gulp