On the Blog

October was an incredibly prolific month on the blog. I started off the month with A Novel Idea: Astrid & Cobie, and in general did the A Novel Idea blog meme a total of four times: Here We Have Six, Evee and Hal, and All About the Writing Process #3. My first non-meme blog post of the month was to celebrate my 8-year-blogiversary, along with sharing 20 facts about me. You can find that one here.

I participated in two fantastic cover reveals this month, both of which I was privileged to be a part of: Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag, and Portals of Water and Wine by R. L. Haas. My new link-up with Cait, Beautiful Books, debuted this month, and that was a whole load of fun. I loved reading all of your posts! I participated in it as well by sharing about my NaNo novel, and that was amazing, too.

I did not get my wisdom teeth out (though I did later on in the month, so not to worry), and bought two new fabulous plushie friends. I revisited a couple of my older posts and spun them into new ones, with both Five Reasons Why I Love NaNoWriMo: Reprise and Courage to Rewrite. In a fit of inspiration and bravery, I wrote Trust Me, I'm a Superhero (And You Are, Too), which is one of my favorite posts out of the entire month. And finally, we launched into my Week of Scheduled Posts due to me recovering from wisdom teeth surgery. I had a fantastic guest poster, Christine Smith, come share 7 Reasons Why the Once Upon a Time Writers Are Magic. (Check that one out if you haven't already!) I also asked what's on your character's bucket lists, and shared what I stay alive for. I also wrote about how I want to write about family. Which brings us to today, my recap, and the 18th post on this blog for October, which I frankly can't believe. I don't know if my posting record will be this good every month, but I'll take what I can get! I've so enjoyed flinging my words across the blogoverse for the world to see this month.

Writing

"Pleeeeease read my blog, please?"

Music

This coming year, I want to write about family. The living, vibrant ones that are tied together with bonds thicker than blood. The ones that aren't perfect, but that cling to each other when life is difficult. The families that love each other more than anything.

While most of my characters don't have families, maybe I kind of want to change that. Whether it's their actual parents, siblings, or a family found and stitched together all by themselves, I want to write about that feeling of family--of a tight-knit group of people that would sacrifice anything for each other.

A trope in YA often is the parentless (and family-less) hero or heroine. This is because it's a lot harder for your characters to do exciting things when they have to be home by eleven o'clock PM. So I totally understand this. But at the same time, my favorite show when I was younger was Caillou, which showed the bonds of family. I liked it because I felt like it compared to my real life.

I think some people may be looking for the same thing in books, at least. While some of us may not have parents, it's rare not to have some sort of family--whether it's a mentor, a parental figure, or their best friend. I think it's time that families were upheld way more in YA fiction than they already are.

I want to write about families like mine. Families where I hear my mom playfully yelling about how my brother put wrestling on TV and trying to get him to change the channel. The ones where my mom sends me an email telling me to be at peace, that it will all be okay. The kind of family where my mom makes me get in the tub with candles and darkness, where my mom makes me just rest. The kind of family with vivacious little sisters that are almost too quick to keep up with because of all the joy they hold inside; families with brothers with orange and blue casts on their legs, and playful senses of humor, who can hardly wait to watch Breaking Bad every night. Families with dads who may have their own struggles, but still will always, always guide their children when they need him to, and be there for them even when he isn't doing well himself. Families with pets, with home-cooked meals, with homes to come home to and holidays spent around the table eating and laughing. Families with grandparents; grandmas and grandpas, aunts uncles and cousins, and tons of love to go around.

Families without parents or brothers or sisters or any clearly defined roles except they are there for each other and that's everything that counts. Families that are makeshift and messy, but the most incredible thing my characters have ever experienced. Families that spend time watching TV show marathons and sitting around bonfires and discussing Mere Christianity. Families that don't share genes, but don't have to, because their hearts are right at home and safe and loved and cared for. Families that make people feel like they belong.



With such heartfelt sentiments as these, it's shocking it's not utilized more in YA and in the world in general. It's high time the feeling of family -- no matter what shapes and sizes they come in -- is embraced more in fiction. At least in my fiction. And, in real life, too. I think writing and reading about families helps us appreciate our own. At least it has for me while writing this post. So that's why, this coming year, I want to write about family. Every single kind.

Actually, maybe the word I'm looking for is love. Not necessarily romantic love; instead, those most-encompassing, life-changing, heart-rending, warming-up-by-the-fire-with-people-dear-to-you kinds of love. The ones that wrap around you like a warm blanket, so that your whole life and being changes. The kinds of love that make you feel safe, warm, and okay. Yeah. That kind of love. That's definitely it. This year, I want to write about love.

What are your thoughts on the lack of family in YA? Most importantly, what do you want to write about this coming year?

Sometimes, as much as I try to be optimistic, I have to admit something: it can hurt to live. It's not the kind of pain where you wish you were dead. It's more that quiet, dull sort of tiredness--the one where you're just tired of living. You don't want your life to stop, but you're exhausted from the daily grind, the pain you feel, and what life is putting you through today.

I know, I've been there. It's been that way off and on for a little while now. And let's be honest: it sucks.

Sometimes, though, it helps to remember the bright things in life, the ones that make life worth living. Just tiny bright spots of sunlight speckled across the fabric of daily living. like sunlight streaming through the window onto a blanket. Here's my list of those things. They're as much for me as they are for you.

You'll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips. Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living breathing screaming invitation to believe better things.

Dreams. We all have them, and I'm pretty darn sure our characters do too. When writing with one of my friends, one of the characters asked his friends what they wanted to do with their lives, and whether there was anything they'd wanted to do since they were little.

One of my characters, Eli, wants to put a lock on the Love Lock bridge in Paris.




I thought this was a really interesting question, and it got the wheels in my head turning. (Thank you so much for that, Caroline!) So, here's my question that I pose to you: what's one thing your character has always wanted to do? What's on your character's bucket list?

Just so you know, this is not a test -- it's more designed to get you thinking. I know some people aren't keen on bucket lists; if that's you, just try thinking about something they'd do if money and time allowed, or one of the things their soul wants more than anything else, or something they've wanted to do their whole lives. You can even do more than one character if you'd like. There are no right or wrong answers, but I do want to hear them! Tell me what you come up with in the comments!

(And, I suppose, if you'd like a bonus question after answering that one, you can tell me what's on your bucket list, too. ;))

*scheduled because of wisdom teeth recovery, ladedadeda, all that jazz. miss you lovely readers already!

Sky here! Today's blog content is brought to you by a talented writer, fabulous blogger, and all-around sweet and caring person, Christine Smith! Christine blogs at Musings of an Elf, and I'm so glad she's able to come share her insight with us!

As you may know, I've wanted to talk about what makes good stories great on this blog for a while now, and this post is a continuation of that. I asked Christine to come share about a show that I'm not very familiar with: Once Upon a Time. In a comment on my Breaking Bad post, Christine wrote about how complicated and beautifully written OUAT is, which seemed like a perfect storyline to cover on my blog. Unfortunately, I didn't know much about OUAT, and it just so happened I'd be taking a week off from blogging, too. So voila, a guest post was born! I'm incredibly grateful to Christine for her assistance and for blog-sitting for me! (Seriously, thank you so much, Christine!)

To sum it all up, here's what's happening: I like to analyze stories and what makes them tick, and I've dragged a guest poster into it with me. *quiet evil laughter* This post is a discussion starter, with seven great points about a well-told story. The purpose of these types of posts is so that we might figure out what makes it well-told and then incorporate what we've learned into our own writing. So sit back, relax, and take in the magic!


I've always been a major fan of fairytales. Sometimes I think I inhaled a mite of pixie dust as a child, just enough to crave more, to ache for whimsical adventures and dream of flying to the stars. So when I saw commercials for a show involving all the fairytales being thrust into our own world. Well, goodbye, life! I'm watching Once Upon a Time!

('cuz, ya know, rewrites feel a lot like standing at the edge of a cliff.)

(The title is a spoof of one of my posts on my blog from a while back, titled courage to write. Check that out here.)

You've probably heard about Because I'm Irish before. It was the second novel I ever finished, and it, as well as its characters and sequels, is my baby.

But it does need to be rewritten.

The question is... how?

I can catch hold of the sparks of inspiration I once had for it, if I try. And it's not that the inspiration has faded, exactly; it's that I need to remember why I love that dear old novel in the first place. I need to let it sink into my soul again. I want to return to its roots so that I can keep to the heart of the story while improving the bones around it. (Anatomy metaphors, yay!)

The question is, how much do you let stay and how much do you let fade away? I've been grappling with this one for quite a while. What I'm most afraid of is rewriting and editing so much that I lose the heart of what Because I'm Irish is. 

So, instead of some sort of exhortation or writing pep talk, instead I'm asking my readers for advice. This is my question to you: how do you tackle rewrites? How do you make sure you don't lose the heart of what you wrote?


P.S. - Thus today begins the journey I have waited for for ages... this afternoon I finally get my wisdom teeth out. (Hopefully. If nothing else falls through again. I sound so hopeful, don't I?) I don't know how long it'll take to recover, but I have blog posts scheduled out for at least a week. I can't wait to get back to blogging, and I'll miss you guys! And wish me luck. I'm nervous and I'm going to need it. And of course, all prayers are welcome, too. I'm sure I'll be back on my feet in no time. Au revoir for now, my friends!

P.P.S. - If you were looking for a pep talk, this might be your category.

P.P.P.S. - If you saw a lovely post called "what we stay alive for" go live this morning as well as this one, that's because I foolishly hit the publish button instead of schedule. (The publish button turns into the schedule button, that's all I can say.) That post has been reverted to draft form, but not to worry; it shall go up later this week.

Today I'm participating in A Novel Idea, a weekly blog meme for writers by Ashley @ Ashley Aspires. Every week, she posts questions to answer about you, your writing, and yourself. It's awesome, and you can check out this week's edition here.