My friend Jaime Morrow and her sister Erin Funk created the WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY meme. Here’s Jaime’s explanation about it: “It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you.”
WHAT I’M READING
I finished Eyre House by Cait Greer on Monday night. It’s amazing and I’m sorry it took me so long to read it – but I was too busy.
Last night, I started Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout because a publicist from Entangled asked me to. But … it was on my TBR list and I do like Jenn and her writing very much, so I would probably get to it at some point anyway.
WHAT I’M WRITING
Last week, I wrote 22k words and I finally finished Breaking the Reins … yay! At first, I thought I could wrap the story at 60-70k words … turns out I typed The End with 94k words! Crazy …
Yesterday, I got an editorial letter from my editor and now I’m working on a plan for revisions. I have to get these revision back to my editor by July 1st – which means my first 2 weeks of Ready. Set. Write! will be spent revising.
WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
Music as always. This one has been on repeat lately:
ALSO, Monday evening I (my writing, actually) got compliments from two different editors – it was great and it lifted my spirits a lot. I wish I could quote them here …
WHAT ELSE I’VE BEEN UP TO
Nothing much.
I took the kid to a birthday party on Sunday and they had an animal show … bunnies, hedgehogs, lizards and snakes! And … the kids could pet them all – including getting a hug from the snake. Here’s my kid:
My mom almost fainted when she saw that photo lol
Whatelse? Hubs was travelling for the last three days, which made the house considerably less noisy … I do hate it when he travels :(
I exercise everyday religiously, including Sat and Sun, but yesterday I just couldn’t. My lower back was killing me and it’s starting to bug me to the point I think I should see a doctor. I know my posture hasn’t been great since I had to stop dancing ballet, but I guess it has been getting worse and worse with time …
And I can’t think of nothing else ;)
Now tell me, WHAT’S UP WITH YOU?
Don’t forget to stop by Jaime’s post and check out the linky of the awesome writers who are participating of this meme!
Cheers,
Welcome to the Author Spotlight, Irene Rose!
Nicknames: Ang, Angelina Ballerina, Jukebox hero
Where do you live : The Dirty South aka Southeast Louisiana
Your favorite dessert: Ice cream! (Mint chocolate chip)
Your favorite TV series: of all time – Veronica Mars, currently – Supernatural
Last book you read: The Fault in Our Stars- John Green
Last movie you watched: The Princess Bride
Last song (or album) you bought: The Great Gatsby Sndtrk
A book/series you could read over and over again: Anything by Anne Rice, The Great Gatsby and The Westing Game
Coke or pepsi? Coke
Day or night? Summer nights
Pen or pencil? Pencil
Summer or winter? Summer
Cat or dog? dog
Tea or coffee? COFFEE!!
Plotter or pantser? I mix it up. I plot by the seat of my pants.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? I won a book contest in 4th grade and always wrote stuff here or there. But my Jr. high creative writing/speech teacher who also turned out to be my HS English teacher was really the one who made think I could write something worthwhile. He let me know my words were as a big an outlet as my dancing and that was huge for me. Still is, actually.
What are you working on now? I just released Charcoal and Hot Chocolate and am working on my next NA book, Learning Curve. It’s a bit of a mix-up on standard tropes and is really fun to write.
If you decided not to be a writer, what would your other dream job be? Why? I have my dream job. I’m a dancer and singer. I teach at a performing arts school. Writing is just another form of art to me. If I didn’t do art-related things, I would work toward green energy and conservation for the planet. Really, I’d love to work for the new animal sanctuary that is also going to help bullies not to be bullies any more that ISF is building in Mandeville, LA. That’s a good dream job.
What is the scariest thing you’ve ever done in your life? Um, that’s a hard one. I don’t know really. The things that really fulfill me are the things that have lots of inherent risks of a personal nature. Being on stage, moving across the country, writing and releasing a book, getting married, having kids, writing dances for competition. They’ve all been scary because I could fail or succeed and both are equally frightening to me. As far as just something daredevil? The roller coaster at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. It’s on the outside of the top of the hotel and crazy high in the sky. It’s no longer there, but it was freaking scary!
Who is the one person that has singlehandedly inspired you the most in your life? My grandma. I wouldn’t be who I am without her and that’s because she believed in me for who I wanted to be, not something she tried to mold me in to. She always had wisdom or laughter to share and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her fiercely. She was kind and giving even when she had little to give. Her doors and heart were open and I can only hope to be a fraction of as wonderful as she. She is the person I strive to be like and to make proud, because I know she watching over me every single day.
What is one talent that you’re hopeless at, but you wish you had? I wish I was good at guitar or piano. I’ve always wanted to walk in a room and play a song, but as a percussionist, not so feasible. I would love to sling a guitar on my back and walk into a coffee house and play. Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing ever? I think so.
hat is one trait or physical characteristic that you are proud of/love about yourself? I love my hair. It does what I want and grows quickly. I’m very fortunate with my hair and I adore it.
Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers? From the moment you sit down to write those first words, you are a writer. Don’t apologize for it or feel like you need an agent/a deal/ a book to legitimize you. You are a writer, so make time and prioritize your writing time. Treat yourself like a real writer and make real time for your words. If it’s important, don’t let anyone (including yourself) talk you out of it being a real thing. You are a writer. So write.
College life is a breath of fresh air for 20 year old Ellie Baylor, a painfully shy but beautiful art major. She has her canvas and charcoal and that’s more than enough. Her choice to go to school far from home and the watchful eye of her strict parents seems like the perfect thing for smooth sailing into an easy life. But when River Daniels, a charming artist with eyes the color of hot chocolate, asks her to join him in a project for class, Ellie may get more than just an A. She might find out how to live.
Find the author: Twitter (Angi) | Twitter (Irene) | Facebook | Blog (Angi) | Blog (Irene)
Cheers,
Title: Being Kalli by
Author: Rebecca Berto
Publication date: TBA
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
Genre: NA Contemporary Romance
There are two things you should know about Kalli Perkins.
1. She’d rather do it in public than be alone with a guy.
2. She loves her little brothers more than her mom does.
Kalli doesn’t pretend to be a good girl. At nineteen, she’s never been in love and doesn’t ever intend to be. She has her issues handled. She’s managed to keep the secret of what happened to her nine years ago from her mother, although her mother’s usually high anyway and barely notices Kalli or her little brothers.
One night at a party, Kalli makes a bet with her friend, Nate, that could change everything. Their friend, Scout, tells them there’s no uncrossing the friendship line once it’s crossed—even though they were both drunk. But Kalli can’t imagine how anyone could want her damaged self for anything more.
She didn’t count on Nate. Nate’s very capable of satisfying her not only under her clothes, but in her heart, too.
She just doesn’t know it yet.
Add it on Goodreads!
About the author:
Rebecca Berto is a new adult contemporary romance author. She is also a freelance editor.She writes stories that are a bit sexy, and straddle the line between Literary and Tear Your Heart Out. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her stories, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She’s strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.
Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.
Cheers,
Disclaimer: this post may contain a couple of spoilers from Teen Wolf, Nikita and Beauty and the Beast.
Most of the TV shows I watch, I do so with my husband. The ones I watch alone are The Vampire Diaries, Nikita and Beauty and the Beast – but these are all gone until September …
So, the other day I wanted a *new* TV show that I could watch on netflix while on my elliptical. I asked on twitter for suggestions, but most of the suggestions were of shows I think my husband would like to watch with me. Then, I remembered two writer friends gushing about Teen Wolf on twitter (holler to Karen Rought and Stacey O’Neall) – this series had potential and because it’s about a teen guy, it wouldn’t be of hubs interest.
I gave it a try.
One thing that SCREAMED the entire first episode: cliche, cliche, CLICHE! Despite that, I was totally hooked! I’ve watched the 1st season, and I’m into the 3rd episode of the 2nd season so far, and I can’t wait to watch more. It’s like my newest personal drug =P
Want to see cliche? On Teen Wolf, you’ve got:
1) The unpopular boy who is bitten and suddenly turns into a werewolf which comes with super strength, super reflex, etc, and makes of him a super star of the [insert sport here] team.
2) The nerdy friend who doesn’t know how to behave around girls.
3) The older and mysterious werewolf, who during the first few episodes acts in a suspicious way to make you think he is bad, when he isn’t all that bad.
4) The new girl who hits off with the unpopular-now-popular boy.
5) The omg-nobody-can-know-what-I’ve-became-especially-my-love-interest thing.
6) The popular and rude and super rich guy who dates the popular and bitch girl.
7) And the father of the aforementioned new girl is a werewolf hunter!
I do think more will come, more that I won’t see coming and that probably won’t bee much of a cliche, but so far, the cliche thing has been FUN!
If you think about it, there’s cliche on everything, even if it’s only a smudge of it. Which proves (to me) that cliche isn’t a bad thing–you just have to make it “fun” and find a unique way of telling it.
Like, tell me how many successful books have you read about a girl moving into a tiny town and being the new girl in school? Or the mysterious guy who suddenly appears in the school? Or the girl/guy who get powers when they turn 16 yo? Or the girl who thought her mother (or father) was dead, only to find out her mother is actually the queen of a magical race? And all of them are about a girl who doesn’t really fit in and a bad boy who has tons of girls flocking around him but he only has eyes for the awkward girl.
However, these books manage to bring something different with the cliche. I don’t remember with whom I was talking to about these sorta things and he said something like “if it was totally unfamiliar, you wouldn’t like it. We need familiar [or in some cases cliches] to connect with it.”
Brazilian author Paulo Coelho said once: “There are only four types of stories: love story between 2 people, love story between 3 people, a struggle for power, and a journey.”
You can’t run too far from those four types of stories. Let’s take Hunger Games, for example. It’s a journey and a love story. You could even argue it’s a struggle for power too. Want another example? The Avengers is about a struggle for power. If you strip these famous books and movies down to their premises, it’s probable they will sound similar.
Now, I’ll add my own writing to these discussion. I’m crazy and I mean really crazy about assassins. Oh, yeah! I even wrote a post about it back in Sept/2011 about wanting to write a book about assassins but all my idea were sorta cliches.
When I was a teenager (14yo to be exact) I was so into La Femme Nikita. Even back then I dreamed about writing an assassin story. In 2010, CW created Nikita (the new version of La Femme Nikita) and I’ve been addicted to that series since then.
This series actually brought back my will to write an assassin story. However, like I said on that 2011 post, my ideas of how a person becomes an agent are cliche. Criminal brought from death row (or simple death) and given a “second chance” = Nikita, Elektra. Child injected with something to make him/her stronger, faster, etc, and/or trained from birth to be an assassin = Dark Angel, Hanna, Ninja Assassin. Soldier who volunteers to become a super soldier/assassin = Bourne series (movies). Agent who becomes an assassin/spy by choice = Alias, the 007 franchise.
However, now that the idea of cliche not being so bad has been refreshed in my mind, I think I should just go with cliche for how my MC becomes an assassin, then try to avoid cliches for the rest of the story? Maybe bring new perspectives and “fun” to this cliche. My *best* idea so far revolves around something like Dark Angel/Hanna (being a child/baby and receiving injections to become “super”) and then there would be a twist that is actually a big part of the Beauty and the Beast TV show (which I love by the way).
Anyway … I’m already too busy with the books I have to finish revising and that I need to write next. If I tackle this assassin story, it’s going to be next year … or even the other LOL
What do you think about cliches? What movie or TV show or book that you really like that even though knowing it’s a cliche?
Cheers,
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