The Hunger Games

Image borrowed from Feli's Book Corner

My goodness, how in the world have I lived this long without reading The Hunger Games? Of course I had heard of the series by Suzanne Collins from numerous people and blogs. It was certainly on my list of books to read, but I just never got around to it.

Recently a co-worker offered to loan a copy to me, but she needed it back in a couple of weeks. I was a little weary because I am a pretty slow reader, but she said, "I really don't think you will need that long to finish it though. It is one of those books that once you start, you will likely zip through the rest of it."

That was the understatement of the year.

Once I started reading The Hunger Games, I was hooked! I neglected my house and my family to finish reading the first part of Katniss Everdeen's story (um, and how great is that name?! The prediction around the office is that "Katniss" will start rising in popularity amongst baby girl names). I loved the book so much that I decided to buy the box set - in hardcover! Gasp! Any books that I have purchased for the last two years were made on my Kindle, but these books are so good that I wanted to have a set to display on my bookshelves. So, in the last week, I have finished the The Hunger Games as well as the sequel, Catching Fire, and am currently beginning the third and last book of the series (sad!), Mockingjay.

It's funny how one persons amazing writing can inspire me. After reading these books, I started to work on my current WIP again, after a month of no writing. My WIP is absolutely not the same genre as Suzanne Collins's books, but it still got me motivated. I was even talking to my honey about collaborating on something together! He doesn't write or read much, but he listens to books on tape, his favorite being The Legend of the Seeker, by Terry Goodkind. He also loves role playing games because of the storylines and the backgrounds and has been working on his own RPG video game off and on for a couple of years. I was thinking it would be fun for us to come up with a plot together and he could give me input on magic and other fantasy type subjects and then I could get to writing them and include my own fun love story in the midst of it. Suprisingly, John didn't laugh at my suggestion and was actually very intrigued by this idea! Don't hold your breath though, we have all seen how long it has taken me to write a story on my own.

One Week Down

Saturday marked my one week abstinence from soda, which included a kid's birthday party, thank you very much! I find it hardest to to resist at home since my house is stocked full of soda. I was tempted several times at the birthday party to indulge in one cup of soda, just one! But I know myself, and the moment I start, I won't be able to stop again. One week down, 51 more to go!

On another note, right before winter break, I started writing again. It started out as such a great idea in my head, but it is slowly turning into a very poorly written romance novel. I am determined to finish this book, though, if only just to go with the momentum and prove to myself that I can keep up with this hobby of mine. I am about 30,000 words into it.

As I am writing and reading more, more new voices and plots pop into my head and I am horribly tempted to veer away from my current project and move onto the next, but I want to stay focused!

Weigh-In Wednesday #23

Oh you guys will be so proud of me! I have lost 2.6 pounds this week! I implemented the circuit training that my boot camp trainer recommended which includes five minutes on the Stairmaster at level six, followed by 15 push-ups, 15 shoulder lifts (again, I am making the names up), and 15 tricep curls. I had to do this four times. The Stairmaster portion was brutal because I normally do it at level four.

In addition, I have still been sticking to my morning runs/jogs and even did my first 10 minute run/jog in over five years! I had a very good week in the working out department, but my eating habits are still suffering. Man, could I have possibly lost five pounds this week had I stuck to my calorie counting? In all honesty, if you saw what I ate on Saturday and Sunday, then the answer would be a resounding, YES!!!

But I am super happy with my 2.6 pounds and feel like I am on a roll. Skinnybitchdom, here I come!

Oh, and let me give a warm welcome to some lovely new friends:
Cheyenne - thanks to your advice, I have started bringing my netbook to my daughter's gymnastics class and have started writing again!
Melissa - who has a countdown to her vacation at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. You know I started following her the moment I saw that! My trip is sadly much further into the future, September 2011 to be exact.
Renae - thanks for your comment yesterday! I am totally feeling like this whole weight-loss blogging is worth while and certainly keeping my spirits up.

Thanks for the support ladies!

I have been a poor blogger/follower lately because work has been busy and I have been stressed about fitting into my bridesmaid dress. But I will be on track soon enough!

Weight: 195.6 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: 34.4 lbs.

Tatted Up

Blogging cousins, Pam and Marquita, are followers of YA Highway who posted a question that I loved so much that I have to blog about it.

The question of the week was, "What tattoo would you get to pay homage to a favorite book or celebrate the success of your own?"

I don't know that there is a book out there that I love so much that I would get it tattooed on me. But I do have one completed book. A book I am so attached to that I would have no problems getting a two inch tattoo of - drum roll please! - a MIXTAPE! Oh, and pink, of course. I couldn't find a picture of anything I really liked, so I sketched this:

Ok, I was joking about the "Author!" thing, but you get the idea. Not quite sure where I would put it, either on the back of my neck, right below my hairline and off to the side a bit, or on my back, right below the bra line also to the side. But that second option would only be possible if I wasn't eating this:

The anti-diet.

There is nothing sexy about a bra line tattoo if my bra is cutting into my back fat. Maybe next summer, when I have reached, and am comfortably maintaining, my goal weight!

But don't worry, because thanks to my personal handyman, I now have this at home to work off the anti-diet "snack" I had:

I am still planning on waking up at 4:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that I can run on the track because I really like the fresh air. But I figure I up my running regimen and get on the treadmill to jog/walk a mile every morning. I will let you know how that goes. You know me and my "goals"!

Anyway, what about you? Not all of you write, so what kind of tattoo would you get to commemorate accomplishing your biggest goal?

Attention Working and Writing Mothers: How Do You Do It?

I want to write, I really do, but between my 8-5 job, my quest to the land of Skinnybitchdom, house chores, and spending time with the fam, I find that writing is the last thing I have time for. I know I am not the only working mom out there that likes to write, so how do you do it? Here is a breakdown of my Monday through Friday schedule:

6:00-7:20 Wake up, get myself ready and my daughter ready (if it is a running day, Tuesdays and Thursdays, then I wake up at 4:45 am then come home and shower).
7:45 Drop Bella off at daycare.
8:00-5:00 I am at work. Sometime during my day at work, I find the time to blog a little bit. 
5:15 Pick Bella up from daycare.
5:30 Go to the gym (on Tuesdays I take Bella to gymnastics at 5:45). By the way, the Kindle was made for the gym! I love it - no clunky book to mess with, no page turning. Brilliant!
7:00-7:20 Arrive home.
7:30 Eat dinner.
8:00 Give Bella a bath.
8:30-8:45 I shower.
9:15ish-10:00 or 11:00 Watch TV with John while doing laundry.
10:00-11:00 Get to bed.

Seriously, how do you working mothers do it?! 

By the time the weekend arrives, all I want to do is chill on Saturdays. As you can see from my weekday schedule, there isn't much Bella time and I make up for that on the weekends. Since I do little to no cleaning during the weekdays, Sunday is my big house chores day. I am sure I could squeeze some writing time somewhere on Saturday or Sunday, but it is difficult.

I think that a lot of it has to do with how passionate one is with their current project; the more you are into something, the more time you find to do it. I have started reading Cassette from My Ex, which is a compilation of stories about past, real-life relationships in which a mixtape was produced.

Of course I had to go check it out! I did, after all, write a book about just this subject matter (which, if you are new to my blog, you can read the query here). I have to say that I love the book so far. A lot of the songs aren't ones that I am horribly familiar with (apparently mixtapes were more common among the indie rock junkies), but I can still relate to every single one of the stories I have read so far. 

I haven't given up on Nori and Mason's story, so I got Cassette from My Ex in hopes that it would ignite another spark in me to rewrite my book. I think I may have reached that point. Stay tuned!

Writing

It's been a good long while since I have posted anything about writing. The main reason for that is because I haven't really been writing anything. My current story has been untouched for a few weeks now and has stalled at just over 10,000 words. I still like the idea of it, but haven't found any motivation to write it.

Then, last Tuesday, I got an idea for another story. I started to put it on paper right away and am currently at just over 9,300 words. Not to say that they are quality words, but there they are.

Is this a bad idea? Is this a problem that most writers face: not finishing a story to work on another idea? Am I starting a vicious cycle of partially written ideas?

How many writing projects do you work on at a time?

And the Extra-Curriculars Have Begun!

Last Monday, I took my daughter to a trial class at a kid's gymnastics place. It started out pretty rough. Mama had to run the warm-up lap with the rest of the 4-year-olds because Bella was too timid to jump into the class. I could hear the snickers of the other parents who were posted up on the viewing deck.

Luckily, Bella warmed up and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of class. I signed her up right away! It is a weekly class held on Mondays. I was bummed becaused Mondays are usually my good gym days. But ultimately, this works out:

5:00 Off work (HALLELUJAH!)
5:10 Pick Bella up
5:30 Go to gym and do 45 minutes of cardio
6:15 Leave gym and head to gymnastics
6:30 Arrive at gymnastics right on time because Mommy didn't allot for us to dilly dally.
6:31 Mommy perfectly sitting on a bench, writing her second book feverishly for 45 uninterrupted minutes
7:15 Leave gymnastics for home!

I haven't been doing much writing lately. Life just gets in the way. I have been working on my second book (which I have temporarily titled America's Match-Up) for over six months now and am only 9,000 words in. I am really excited about being able to pick up on book two because I really didn't think I could come up with a better story idea than Mix Tape, but I am really starting to fall in love with the way the story is progressing in my head for America's Match-Up.

That's it for now. See you tomorrow for Weigh-In Wednesdays! Oh mama is nervous about tomorrow's weigh-in (types the bad dieter as she eats a McDonald's cheeseburger). Not looking good. But I have managed to stay off the scale this entire week (I am an obsessive weigherer - real word? No? Should be). Unfortunately, I have also managed to stay out of the gym, except for Sunday. My pecs, triceps and shoulders are still screaming in pain! 

Oh, THATS What You Were Looking For!

I am sad to report that I am not one of the five finalists of Nathan Bransford's contest. I am even sadder to admit that I didn't deserve to.

I concentrated so much on a topic that would stand out that I had totally lost the point of the contest. I read the finalists' entries, and I agree with the selections. They wrote exactly what Mr. Bransford had asked for. He had asked for a diary entry/unsent letter written in the voice of a teenager. What did I give him? I gave him a scandalous story, hoping to catch his attention because how risque my teen voice was.

Yeah, nowhere did it say anything about the juicier the better. But that's what I concentrated on.

Although it sucks to have been so wrong in writing the piece I submitted, I like to believe I didn't walk away from this contest empty-handed; I learned that I need to pay attention to exactly what is being asked of me and not to over-analyze everything.

You know that interview question where they ask what is your weakest trait? My answer was always that I am constantly over-analyzing everything. Apparently this weakness holds true in my writing as well. Well, at least I can add consistency to my list of pros (or cons?).

Writing Contest

Nathan Bransford is an agent.
Nathan Bransford has a blog.
Nathan Bransford has an awesome contest going on right now.

Yes, I entered.
Did you?
Time is ticking.
Deadline is 01/06/10, 4:00 PM Pacific.

Julie & Julia and LC Too!

I just got done watching Julie & Julia. Surprise, surprise, I run to my computer and start up my blog again after a week's absence.

I really enjoyed this movie, and I think it would be a wonderful movie for anyone that is an avid blogger or someone who wants to publish a book. It is inspiring. I almost wish that I had watched the movie on New Year's so that I could kick off the new year with some motivation!

But this will have to do.

I have this entire week off of work and I had such visions in my head of writing for seven days straight. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I haven't done any writing; I mean, just look at the gap between this post and the last one. A lot of it has to do with the holidays. Like everyone else, it has been a busy time for me, getting ready for Christmas and all (I will tell you all about it soon).


The one non-Christmas thing I did manage to do was pick up my held copy of Lauren Conrad's L.A. Candy. I have been so curious about it, just not enough to actually go out and buy the book. I was super excited when I got an email from the library that my book is ready to be picked up. I started reading it today at the gym. I was a little embarrassed, being a nearly 30-year-old holding a book by LC of Laguna Beach/The Hills fame. It is pretty hard to hide the fact that it is her book seeing as how her name is in 72 font on the front cover and her face is plastered over the entire back of the book.

But dammit, if my book got published, I would stick a poster size picture of my face on the back too!


So I started the book and got to page 37 before I was interrupted. I would like to declare that, page for page, I am pretty sure my book is better than hers. There, I said it - my book is better than LC's! But, she got her book published. Game, set, win - LC. I am still going to read the entire book (even though I am bitter) because it is good research for my second novel.


Let's see how much LC can teach me.

Ready For Round Two?

I will post chapter two right after this post. However an explanation is required before I do so. In Word, chapter one is seven pages, double-spaced. Short enough to put in as one post. Chapter two, however, is 37-40 pages, double-spaced.

I know! Weird.

Since I was jumping between 2009 and 1996 in the book, I tried to make it clear by putting the flashbacks in its own chapters. Don't worry, it is no Time Traveler's Wife. It is not that intricate (or good!). 

To me, it flows better by separating the flashbacks and present time with chapters. The first half of the book focuses a lot on the past, then as the book progresses, the focus changes to present time.

So, the next post will be chapter two, but not in its entirety.

Great Concept, Bad Writing

I have gotten some really wonderful comments and suggestions on the forum that I had mentioned earlier. My blog readers have also provided some wonderful comments which I truly appreciate and cherish.

I follow Jenny Bent's blog and one of her interns, Mandy Hubbard, was a guest blogger the other day. Ms. Hubbard is the author of Prada & Prejudice and her backstory on getting her book published is pretty inspiring to me. It is an interesting read, so if you want to read it, go here.

After reading the post, I am faced with two options at this point (I warned you that I am a wishy washy person, always going back and forth):

1.) Put my book away and come back to it in a couple of years.
2.) Put the original book away. Open a blank Word document, keep the same concept and just start telling the story from scratch.

I am confident in the concept of Mix Tape, I have just been forced to understand that the writing isn't up to par. But the concept seems so current and something that people could really relate to. Plus, I am slightly superstitious and I see so many things with the mix tape theme. Like this, this, this, this - ok, you get the picture. It is everywhere! Pop culture is calling for my book!

If I go with the second option, I might try it in third person, past tense. However, I noticed a trend with chick lit books that they are generally written in first person, present tense. Hmm, Ijust don't know what to do. Any suggestions?

PS

Here is a real mix tape USB stick at Wishing Fish. One of my friends thought I came up with the concept when she read my book. Nope, sorry, I am not that cool.

On second thought...

In an attempt to share my work with other writers, I wrote an entry in a forum at Absolute Write. I wrote about how I have this book that I love and want to share with the world and that I am posting it on my blog.

I have since received an overwhelming response of, "Don't do it, stupid, over-eager, beginner writer!" (Don't worry, responses were way nicer than that! But I get the picture.)

Because of their advice, I have chosen not to post my entire book on my blog. I know! I know! I haven't had my blog for that long and I have already broken a promise! Here is my compromise:

I will still post the first two chapters. At that point, if you would still like to read the rest of my book, I will be happy to email it to ya - just send me an email by clicking on my profile picture or "View My Complete Profile", then "Email".

If you are interested in reading the thread that changed my mind on posting my book, go here.

The "Why"

First things first: Welcome to December! I love December because Christmas is coming up as well as my baby's birthday. I also hate December because Christmas is coming up as well as my baby's birthday. Not because I don't like to celebrate these two occasions, but because it is super busy for me and a big expense month. So this is a debt drawback month.

However, I do believe it is all about attitude, so I am now officially getting into the spirit of things. So, again, "Welcome to December!"

My holiday movie suggestion of the week is Love, Actually. I watch this movie every holiday season. I warn you: I am one of those that watches the Sound of Music every year too. So just be careful about how seriously you take my movie suggestions.

The reason that I chose Love, Actually as my movie suggestion of the week is because I am *gettingthisclose* to posting my book on this here blog. My book is a total chick lit book, filled with humor and that all-encompasing emotion of love. I consider the one and only book I have written as my second child, so no novel bashing or I will delete your comments with my blog administrative powers from above!

Before I start posting my book, I figure that I give you a bit of background as to why I wrote a book when the most writing I had done since high school were Christmas cards.

Ok, here goes.

Two years ago I read a book. I hated this book. The reason I bought the book was because I really enjoyed the first book written by the same person(s). I am not going to say who the author(s) are/is because karma might bite me in the ass when everyone else reads my novel.

So I hated this book. I kept rewriting parts of the book in my head to make it more to my liking. The ending was so obnoxious that I mentally rewrote the ending too. I started thinking that I should just write my own book so that I won't have to alter this beautifully packaged and published book.

Write my own book? Hmm, ok. Why not? I shall write my own book.

In February-ish of 2008 I picked up my lap top, opened a word document, centered the first line and typed the words "Chapter 1".

I wrote the first fourteen pages in that moment. This was the longest I had ever written in one sitting. My high school papers were never more than seven pages long, nor were the papers I wrote in my short community college career.

With such great momentum going, I thought my book would be done within the month. Not so much.

Fast forward to December 2008. Washington is hit with some pretty bad snow storms and I am stuck indoors all day. I started and finished the last three books from the Twilight series, but I am still only fourteen pages into my own book that I have titled "Mix Tape", because for all of my creativity I cannot come up with a better title.

I start writing again and the pages just keep coming. By the end of January 2009, I have a completed manuscript.

Ta-da! A 75,000-ish worded novel randomly written by someone who hasn't written a paper since her tinkerings in community college.

There you have it: how I randomly wrote a book.

And now for a couple of disclosures:

1.) Mix Tape is full-on chick lit. If you hate gushy, lovey-dovey (but oh so humerous!) books, then just skip the posts with pieces of my book in it.

2.) Keep in mind that this is just a brain candy piece of work. It will not make you ponder the meaning of life. It is pure fun.

3.) By posting my book on my blog, I am not disagreeing with the literary agents that have rejected me. I am just showing off my Ugly Baby.

Ok, this post is a book in itself. I shall stop now.

Tomorrow, the query letter! Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnn!

NaNoWriMo

Everyone is either taking part in or blogging about NaNoWriMo, so I figure I put my two cents in also.

I don't get.

From November 1st to November 30th, the goal is to keep writing. The only stipulation is that you finish your book with at least 50,000 words by the end of the month. Here is a quote from their "About" portion of their website:

"Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down."

To take a page from Mary J. Blige: I can do bad all by myself. I guess I just don't understand all the hooplah about a website that asks you to care about quantity, not quality.

For all of us that write but can't get published, isn't every month NaNoWriMo?

P.S.
I am 9,960 words into my second book.

Dammit I'm Sick!

Yes, I am sick again. I am always sick. If I am not sick, then my daughter is sick and I will shortly catch whatever she has. It's great. My daughter is learning how to share everything beautifully.

Even if I am sick, I feel like I HAVE to go into work. I missed a lot (like a lot, a lot) of work last winter and I don't want to be the employee that is always gone. The problem with coming into work sick is that you have healthy people yelling at you all day long to "go home!!!"

Damn the healthy people.

Ok, enough ranting about my sickness...I just mailed off my last car payment!!! Whoo hoo!!!! Happy dance! Happy dance! Stankey Leg! Happy dance!

This is great news for me because now I have an extra $300 a month towards getting my credit card balances down. Now that I am done with my car payments, I almost wish that they had been like $500 payments so that I would have that much more now. Maybe my next car... I keed, I keed!!

I will have to look in the mirror everyday and start doing affirmations or something - I will be debt free before I turn 29. I will be a stick by the time I am 30. I will be a published author before I die. I will, I will, I will!

Wasn't that laid to rest?

Ok, so yes, remember that book that I had laid to rest? Well, I had... sort of.

First, let me give you a rundown of how to get a book published. No, strike that, the process on how to get a literary agent that can get your book to a publishing house so that they can maybe, possibly, *think* about publishing your book.

Step one, you have to write a query letter, basically an author's resume that includes a synopsis of your book, author's credentials, and why your book is so cool.

This letter is hard to write because it is so pivotal. You are selling your how-ever-many-paged book on a one page letter. If this doesn't sound hard, then let me just come out and say that it is the biggest effing headache ever.

However (oh, yes, there is always a "however" or a "but" in any of my "convictions"), if you can't write a good query letter, then you shouldn't be writing a book. You call yourself a writer? Then write! Just...write shorter.

So, first hurdle is writing a query delicious enough for an agent to say, "ok, you've piqued my interest, send me the first XX amount of pages."

The excitement at one of those partial requests is enough to get me high as a kite. Seriously, there must have been some kind of powdered drug sent with that request, like anthrax but good.

And then (drum roll please!!!)

You wait ...

And then you wait some more...

... Still waiting ...

And then, just like any other high, I come down. And it always happens at this point for me. I haven't gotten past that partial request hurdle. I have decided that since none of the 80 agents I queried wanted to take me on, then this project is a dud.

So, now I have this 75,000 word book on a flash drive and nothing to do with it... Or have I?

After my most recent rejection *sniff!* I have decided to start releasing my book on this here blog 'o mine. I will edit my book (I had some tense issues that I need to work on) and start releasing about ten pages a week starting in December, maybe January at the latest. Now I am not saying it is the next Twilight or that it is the best book out there, but dammit - it's mine, I wrote it, I worked really hard on it!

I am also not trying to say that I know better than the agents out there that rejected me. I value their overwhelming consensus of "no" for this book, but it is my baby. It's like having a really ugly baby and not knowing it, so you show him/her off to the world as if you are holding the next Gerber Baby.

This project is my Ugly Baby.

Pilot

I am a coward. Read on and you will see why.

I turned 28-years-old on September 12, 2009. I am 28 and haven't achieved any major accomplishments. No, I didn't go to college. Yes, I did accomplish the one task that a devout catholic mother dreads: my boyfriend and I have a 3 1/2 year old. Don't get me wrong, Grandma loves my daughter, but nothing would've pleased her more than if I had had a child with a husband instead of a boyfriend.

I have always been the type that hated aging. Twenty-one was a good age to stop at. Ok, maybe I could live with remaining 24 forever. Obnoxious, I know, but I can't help it.

So, obviously I lived past the age of 24 and obviously I didn't stop aging. But looking back on my life, I am suddenly irked by the fact that I haven't done anything amazing. I haven't "left my mark" in the world. I started thinking about what I would like to accomplish before I turn 30 and three things came to mind:

1.) Lose 80 pounds.
2.) Clear the credit card debt that I have racked up.
3.) Publish a book.

Here is where the cowardice comes in. I am too ashamed of my weight to publish it for the world to see. I am too horrified by my credit card debt to write down the actual figure.

One of the above three will happen this year. The other one will happen during my 29th year, if not sooner. The third goal, unfortunately, depends on other parties and isn’t a guarantee to ever be completed, let alone by my 30th birthday.

I know, compared to the first two goals, the third one seems random. And it is. I wrote a book. A fluff book I love and my friends and family love. But they are my friends and family, so they kind of have to love it. I have gotten over 75 rejections, and can certainly take a hint. That book has been laid to rest. I am starting another book though. Why would I start another book when the first one didn’t work out? The feeling of accomplishment. And that is exactly what my blog is about - accomplishments. But simply writing a book isn’t enough of an accomplishment for me. I want the book to matter and to be out there - legitimately. Not because I had to pay to publish it. I want it to be good enough, entertaining enough for someone else to say, “Yes, you are awesome, your book is awesome, let’s publish your awesomeness!”

So here is to day one of my two year plan.

Wait, it’s October already? But I turned 28 in September. Fine, here is to day one of my 23 month plan. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Should’ve started on my birthday.

Damn, already behind.