Midweek Mayhem: Keep Calm and Imagine Dragons... #amblogging #CultOfSwedishFish #Giveaway

 Working it out…

• (NEW) Check out Author Laura Oliva on my blog! Guest post on the topic of research...excellent advice (here)!
• (NEW) Now through the end of the month, I'm participating in J.A. Belfield's Bookaroo-Ju Blogaversary Giveaway! Win a signed copy of Witch Way to Turn here!

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Random: In case you didn't know this, I am a huge ABBA fan! *has all their CDs and LPs--vinyl is better* Anni-Frid is my fave of the group ♥ Thus, one of the few vids she is the lead in Money, Money, Money. For your viewing pleasure...

 

Hearing voices…

Cover art by Danielle Fine

• My dark and gritty new adult urban fantasy with cursed dragon shifters, titled Becoming, is currently with my amazing editor!!! So excited to make this story sparkle and then pitch it at RT and RWA in a few months! Agents, you're gonna want this story...like super bad! Just sayin' ;D
• Check out my stunning cover inspiration (right side above this paragraph) designed by the talented Danielle Fine!!! 
• (Read last week's snippet, here) Since I've been in the editing cave for the past week, I'm gonna share a few sentences from the first chapter that my editor loved :D The sentences don't have anything to do with each other.

♥ (Opening line of chapter 1) Impatience gnawed at the edges of Zoe Moore’s sanity.
♥ Anchored to the ground by Taylor’s movement, she waited.
♥ She forced herself to turn away then stood under the canopy with her back to the window, watching the rain slowly turn to sleet while the only steadfast thing in her life melted inside her.
♥ (Closing of chapter 1) This was how it would end. Not the months and months of waiting to die in the hospital, but the few minutes it’d taken her to run away from living.

Dragon update... Round one of the first 150 pages of Becoming edits are back with my fabulous editor!

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Cover art by Danielle Fine

Waiting game...

• (Update) On week #3 of waiting to hear back from a lovely agent who is reading Running From Shadows.

Reading...

• Currently I am beta-reading for a fantastic friend and writer... Katheryn! Hooray for grim reapers!!
  
• What's on my Kindle? Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter!
• Looking for book recommendations and reviews for your 2013 TBR List? Check out The Perks of Being a Book Nerd! 
• 5 STAR Book Review for Shifting Pride by Laura Diamond will be posted on Friday! 

Check out the teaser book trailer...

 

Bonus material... 

*Writers, looking for a talented editor? I highly recommend Danielle Fine. She's edited three manuscripts of mine and has taught me so much! I'm a stronger writer because of her guidance. Also, she designed my beautiful inspiration cover art for Becoming and Running From Shadows! Annnnd she created the book trailer for Witch Way to Turn! 
*For more information on Dani's editing services, cover design, book trailer creation and website design stop by her site >>>> here!

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Random Alert! Alert. Alert. Alert...

This is a picture of a poster...yup, high tech stuff ;) So, this is the newest sculpture in the city. Personally, I think it's pretty cool looking, but apparently a lot of citizens don't. Anyway, one of said citizens decided to spray paint the letters WTH on the road with an arrow pointing to it...it's not cool to deface property, but I gotta say it kinda made me giggle :P Yes, I am odd.

I have no idea why I took this picture. BAM! Random.

Erm, me being skeptical of this so called Fish that is Swedish :P But it's yummy, squishy goodness did NOT disappoint...I am now a lifejacket-wearing member of the Cult of Swedish Fish! (Like how I totally made the cliche saying card-carrying member my own?? Bwahaha)

Yeah, Rusty pup was moving at near Banshee speeds, so it was hard to get this pic! I normally have a bagel for breakfast every morning--why, yes, I am a creature of habit--anywho, after the tub of cream cheese is empty...Rusty pup gets the remnants. This is him in attack mode ;)

Guest Post: Author Laura Oliva on Living For Research! #writetip #AllThatGlitters

Today's guest post by Author Laura Oliva!!
 Living For Research

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” -Henry David Thoreau 

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A while back on my blog, I wrote a post on "writing what you know." I touched on the concept of taking your everyday experiences and using them as a jumping-off point for your imagination.

Writing that post got me thinking. As writers, we often spend a good portion of our lives in front of a computer (or notepad, or typewriter if you're really old-school). We create entire worlds in our heads, occasionally at the expense of living in this one. This is just par for the course.

Sometimes, though, it is beneficial--no, necessary--to carve out some time away from the keyboard. Not just for the mundane aspects of living--grocery shopping, laundry, eating--but for some actual, bona fide adventure. We're writers, after all! If you choose to follow the adage "write what you know," then how are we supposed to write about a world we never see or experience?

I've long embraced the probability that I have gypsy blood in my veins. I love to travel, especially to places I've never been before. I love trying new things, and meeting new people. I love getting lost. It always surprises me how many people never take the time to explore the world beyond their own little cocoon.

In the name of public service, I've taken it upon myself to help out. Below is a short list of ways to inject some adventure into your life. So get your butt out of that office chair (it doesn't have any lumbar support, anyway). Don't bring a notebook. I know that sounds sacrilegious, but the idea is to be in the moment, not in your own head.

Trust me.

1) Go someplace near where you live where you've never gone before. I started doing this recently, and was amazed how many towns I've never visited, restaurants I've never tried, roads I've never taken. If you're at a loss, get your hands on a tourist guide to your area (hotels usually have them free in the lobby). Make a day out of it. Take good mental notes. Meet new people. Above all, enjoy yourself. Research can be fun, too.

2) Try a food you wouldn't normally eat. Last week, I tried beef tongue for the first time, in authentic-style Mexican tacos with fresh onion, cilantro, and salsa verde. It was incredible. This one throws a lot of people, especially Americans. Even those of us who don't consider ourselves picky eaters, are, by the rest of the world's standards. Our food literacy is pitiful. Our tolerance of different textures is nonexistent. Our willingness to branch out and try different--really different--things is abysmal. Change this! Challenge yourself! Who knows, you might find you actually enjoy, say, tongue tacos...

3) Talk to someone you wouldn't normally talk to. Whether it's the grocery clerk, the police officer at the lunch counter next to you, or the homeless person on the street corner, everyone has a story and a unique take on life. If you never talk to them, how will you know what it is? And you want to know. At least, you should. As writers, it's our job to translate people--their beliefs, their fears, their hopes--for others. And it's our duty to portray them for how they actually are, not just how we assume they are. Muster your courage, swallow any prejudgments, and introduce yourself. Ask a question. Ask another question. Then sit back and listen. You'll be amazed at people's differences. You'll be even more amazed at our similarities.

4) Find a piece of nature, no matter how small or how big, and soak it in. I'm lucky enough to live near several national parks, and within driving distance of the beach. But when I was younger, I didn't know about any of those things. I knew about the big open spaces in my neighborhood, the feral apricot trees down the street, the creek that ran, mysterious and otherworldly, a few blocks from my house. I spent lots of summers down there, picking blackberries, ogling tadpoles, getting dirty. I still do those things. You can, too. You don't need a bunch of fancy equipment or anyone's permission. Even in the city, wild things are all around you. Train yourself to find them. They're definitely worth searching for.

5) Take a back road. Street signs and freeways are all well and good, but nothing beats a one-lane dirt road winding through the middle of nowhere. I've found some of the best places to eat, met some of the nicest people, seen some of the most beautiful sights, when exploring off the beaten path. Don't let the people who have gone before you dictate where you go. Whether by car or by foot, blaze your own trails. Find your own adventures.

6) Get lost. In an age of smartphones and GPS, getting lost has become an art form. Hone your skill. Sometimes the best places are the places you never would have reached had you known where you were going. Turn off the phone. Leave the map in the glove box. Do what humans have been doing for time immemorial: go to the point where your knowledge ends. Then go a little farther.

Now before you start telling me about how you don't have the money or the time to be going on long vacations, let me be clear: exploration doesn't require a lot of money. It doesn't require a plane ticket, or even a car (although a car does help, I won't lie). And you don't need to quit your job to travel the world (if you do, send pictures).

All you need is an afternoon, a little imagination, some inner drive, and an inextinguishable spirit of curiosity.

Which, let's be honest, as writers we all have in abundance.

Author Laura Oliva

*Loved that post by Laura! Now, check out her latest release!!*

 

All That Glitters 
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Cover love!

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