Zippy (#atozchallenge)

Welcome to today's post on the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. My challenge, as I have chosen to accept it, is thus: I have asked on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for people to contribute random words beginning with today's letter. From Random.org, I have selected one of these words, and will below challenge myself to connect said word to writing.

For the letter Z, I received 36 suggestions. Random.org selected number 18: zippy.


Zippy

It's been a long month. We've zipped through several different topics together, some of which related to writing more than others. And now we've come to the last one.

Zippy.

I used to be a pantser. I wrote three novels as a pantser. I know it works for some people, but it didn't work for me. I didn't pay any regard to the tempo of the scenes, and make sure they continued with a decent pace while raising the tension each time.

Now I plot everything, each scene throughout the story. I focus on the tempo of every one. I want them all to be zippy, high paced (as much as possible, anyway). I want the reader to be unable to put the story down. I can't say I've succeeded, but I'm still trying.

How do you keep your stories feeling zippy? Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Yorkie (#atozchellenge)

Welcome to today's post on the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. My challenge, as I have chosen to accept it, is thus: I have asked on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for people to contribute random words beginning with today's letter. From Random.org, I have selected one of these words, and will below challenge myself to connect said word to writing.

For the letter Y, I received 30 suggestions. Random.org selected number 16: yorkie.


Yorkie

Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Dogs are man's best friend. Cute little creatures that love and cuddle us when we're down. And not just dogs. We could say the same about cats, iguanas, hamsters, Coi, ferrets, what have you. They're frequently in our lives wherever we turn.

So, my friends, I ask you: why don't we see more animals in fiction?

Really, I'm not just talking about the MC who has a Yorkie that cuddles with him/her while s/he watches television at night. I more mean, as the main characters themselves? What precludes animals from taking a major role beyond, say, MG fiction?

I don't have any answers, and, honestly, I'd like to know your thoughts. I have a weird idea for something with ants based on a recent ant invasion in my house (I can't blame them for trying to escape the rain!). But is something like that marketable?

So, what do you think? Why don't animals make more of a prominent appearance in YA and adult literature?

Xbox (#atozchallenge)

Welcome to today's post on the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. My challenge, as I have chosen to accept it, is thus: I have asked on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for people to contribute random words beginning with today's letter. From Random.org, I have selected one of these words, and will below challenge myself to connect said word to writing.

For the letter X, I received 19 suggestions. Random.org selected number 10: Xbox.


Xbox

Pong (courtesy of Wiki Commons)

Video games have come a long way since the days of Atari. Pong and Space Invaders are so basic for today's kids that they won't even play them.

Sure, maybe it's the graphics, or the fact that it's boring to move the joystick left and right and left and right trying to bounce a tiny ball. But to me, the real reason kids today like the more modern video games is because of the stories.

Super Mario Bros (from Wiki Commons)

Yup, I said it. Video games have stories, too. Sometimes they're no more complicated than Super Mario Bro's—save the princess!—and sometimes, they are. There are side missions to find the key you need to open the door to the next submission, all so you can save the overly busty girl from being killed by zombies before the zombie master blows up the island. There are the main villains, their lackies (sub-villains?), and all the minions your little heart desires to stomp or shoot or whatever method you choose to get them out of your way.

Admittedly, we don't have an Xbox. We have a Wii. But as I asked for suggestions from the population at large—and today is X, not W :) —I gotta use what I can, right?

Resident Evil 4 (from Wiki Commons)

Granted, the stories in today's video games aren't exactly complex. Little character development goes on. The stories don't vary much, in that they're usually a journey story with a goal of treasure or redemption or saving humanity at the end. But as video game technology advances, so do the stories. And while I love playing Super Mario Galaxy, the "story" is more a throwback tribute to the original Mario games while raising the skill level—jump on some mushrooms, save the princess from crazy Bowser. I much prefer watching my husband play (because it's too scary for me) Resident Evil. Yeah, there's a lot of zombie destruction, but the story's kind of interesting.

Mario Kart (from Wiki Commons)

Of course, my favorite video game is Mario Kart. No story there. Just win the race. But I've always been more a puzzle game person myself. It helps that I can play online against my friends and cousins all over the world. (If you ever want to play, just let me know :)

Have you ever considered the stories in video games? Do you play video games?

Wine (#atozchallenge)

Welcome to today's post on the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. My challenge, as I have chosen to accept it, is thus: I have asked on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for people to contribute random words beginning with today's letter. From Random.org, I have selected one of these words, and will below challenge myself to connect said word to writing.

For the letter W, I received 51 suggestions. Random.org selected number 4: wine.


Wine

So, let me be honest. This challenge has me WIPED OUT. Given the way I designed the challenge for myself, too, it's bee rough.

So, forgive me when I say, I've got NO inspiration as to what to write about in relation to wine.

Wine and I have a tortured relationship. My favorite wine of all is nice, dry red, like a Rioja or sharp Cabernet. But then I discovered that I got migraines from red wine. So I switched to white wine. Come to find out, sweet white also gives me migraines. Then I tried to drink only dry white wine.

Well, guess what happened.

Now, Rosie gets no more wine. Surprised?

When Random.org selected "wine" for this post, I thought I'd be inspired. But then again, if my inspiration previously came from wine, and now I can't drink it anymore, it's not surprising that I can't think of a single way to connect wine to writing with some clever twist.

Where does your inspiration come from? Has there been a source of inspiration that you've lost? What do you do to find the inspiration again?

Visionary (#atozchallenge)

Welcome to today's post on the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. My challenge, as I have chosen to accept it, is thus: I have asked on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for people to contribute random words beginning with today's letter. From Random.org, I have selected one of these words, and will below challenge myself to connect said word to writing.

For the letter V, I received 54 suggestions. Random.org selected number 9: visionary.


Visionary

When I first started writing again, I had a vision. No, literally, a vision. Well, okay, it wasn't one of those show-my-destiny-through-mental-images vision, but it was a message my brain wanted to tell me. A repeated scene in my head over and over. My psyche whispering to me in my dreams. Too bad my psyche really wanted to scare the pants off of me... and succeeded, to be sure.

But this vision turned into something. It's the climax in my first (hefty) manuscript, something that no one will ever see but me, one supportive friend, and my super-supportive sister-in-law. But that's not the point.

The point is that we're all visionaries in our own worlds. We create from nothing but the synapses in that gray matter under our skull and some personal experiences. We have visions.

Yeah, yeah, are you bored with my "we're the awesomest" speech yet?

I bring this up because sometimes the original vision isn't the best. My writing instructor once told us that revision and re-vision aren't the same thing, and I believe her. I've seen it in action. Sometimes moving scenes around and editing the syntax aren't enough to provide the best story within us. Sometimes you have to delete a third of a novel and rewrite it, re-visioning how it should play out. Sometimes you have to rethink a character's actions. If, upon further inspection, that character wouldn't do that huge action that creates the tension for the rest of the novel, then something needs to be re-visioned.

I'm currently rewriting the first, oh, third (the number above was either arbitrary or subconsciously apt) of my novel Fighting Fate. The original was poor. The tension lagged. People did some stuff, but, eh, people do stuff all the time. This time around, though, I'm rethinking everything, including the backstory, to get them where they need to go. And, if I do say so myself (*dusting off shoulders*), it's not too bad.

Ever had to re-vision your work? How far are you willing to go to rewrite your fiction/poetry? Are you willing to scrap everything but your basic characters and start over? How much re-visioning is too much?

Usual Suspects (#atozchallenge)

PS (in this case, pre-script)--My Mondays and Wednesdays have me running around without good internet access all day until 9pm EST (US). I'll get back to you, but it might be late tonight. 

Today's post is a little different from my other 25 for the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge, because I'm trying to do double duty. I know, I know. Shame on me. Maybe I'm cheating a little, but I don't think so. Maybe it's more like positive time management :)

Anyway, today is U for the A-to-Z Challenge.

It's also the Now Starring... Blogfest.

So, today, I give you my Usual Suspects.

Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Here's my ideal cast of Fighting Fate, my work in progress. These are only the major players for Book 1. Anyone else I'll have to save for another time.

Anabelle Lindsky, played by Emma Roberts. 
Anabelle, 19, is a lively girl, impulsive and playful. Emma Roberts physically looks the most like how I picture Anabelle in my mind. I'm not positive I've ever seen Roberts on screen, so I can't say much about her acting. She just needs a pair of blue contacts.

Prince Marcus, played by Chace Crawford.

Marcus, 21, has little interest in what the royal family wants from him. He's rebellious, but in his own subtle way. Not only does Crawford look like my ideal Marcus, but his attitude and his acting making me think he'd do well.

Admittedly, it was a toss up between Crawford and Zac Efron, but Crawford won out.

Lily Yasukawa, played by Aya Ueto.

Lily is spunky and nuts, and drives Anabelle to do things she wouldn't do of her own accord. She puts up with not nonsense, and it's in your best interest not to lie to her. She has her ways of making you regret it.

Roger McKilthy, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Roger is Marcus's bodyguard. Serious and stoic, and, well, hot. Yup. Roger's muscle and hotness, and I can't think of anyone better than Gyllenhaal to do that. Oh, yeah, he's a good actor, too :)

Betsy Lindsky, played by Charisma Carpenter.

Anabelle's mother is beautiful and spunky. Who better than Carpenter to play that role?

Then again, it's hard for me to think of Carpenter as her own age after habitually watching Buffy. To me, even at 41, she's a HS student! But in my WIP, she'd be playing her actual age.

Queen Renee, played by Helena Bonham Carter.

I think Helena Bonham Carter is so incredibly beautiful, even when she's playing an evil Death Eater. The woman has so much poise and charisma, she would be a perfect Queen. 

Eric and Camilla, Archduke and Archduchess, played by Alan Tudyk and Gina Torres.

They have such great chemistry in Firefly and Serenity, and they both fit the bill physically for my mental image, so I'd love it if they could play my Duke and Duchess, too (just in less cowboy-meets-outer-space-type clothing).

Princess Natalie, played by Summer Glau.

Okay, I never watched the Terminator series. My devotion to Glau comes from all things Joss Whedon. Natalie's character is a little crazy, a lot blunt, and just enough off the mainstream that Glau seemed the perfect fit. Plus, Glau's dance experience could come in handy in Book 2. *wink* 

Lady Zoe, played by Amanda Bynes.

Zoe is blonde, beautiful, and voluptuous. Of all the characters I've listed here, she's about the only one who hasn't changed.












Who would you cast for your novel?

Tune (#atozchallenge)

Welcome to today's post on the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. My challenge, as I have chosen to accept it, is thus: I have asked on my Facebook and Twitter accounts for people to contribute random words beginning with today's letter. From Random.org, I have selected one of these words, and will below challenge myself to connect said word to writing.

For the letter T, I received 58 suggestions. Random.org selected number 30: tune.


Tune

Music helps me write. I have an ever-evolving playlist that I consider the soundtrack to my novel(s). Here are a couple of the highlights, in no particular order (links go to YouTube):

Muse

Muse, "Starlight"

The Spice Girls, "Wannabe" (don't ask how that happened)

Paramore, "Conspiracy"

Heartless Bastards

Heartless Bastards, "Had to Go"

Brazilian Girls, "Jique"

Juanes, "A Dios le Pido"


Do you have a soundtrack for your fiction? What songs/artists are on your lists?


I'm taking suggestions today for the letter Z. Have any? Leave them below. Thanks!