So Close

I'm so close I can taste it. And it tastes like Smarties and chocolate milk. Because those are my main character's fave treats (separately of course, you can't wash Smarties with chocolate milk! Well, you can, but you shan't). Did you just google if shan't is a word? Take my word for it, I have no idea.
I'm so close to finishing my middle grade manuscript. I had a month off while working on my house. Now I am using that energy towards my story. I have worked and reworked this manuscript since spring. I originally had written it as a chapter book the year before, but after some valuable advice, started rewriting it as a middle grade in April. So here I am working on the last chapter. I am almost there. I'm excited. I still love my story. Even after rereading it so many times.
You see when I add a chapter or scene to my story, I reread all the chapters I've written up to that point. I know it's slow going, but it just helps my writing flow into the next scene. And after all of this rereading, thankfully I still smile when I am reading it.
So, I am publicly putting it out there that I am going to finish it this week. I will send it out to beta readers (anyone want to read?) and critique groups soon after. How am I going to celebrate when I'm done? With a large glass of chocolate milk (hold the Smarties) of course! So please check in next Monday to see if I reached my goal. If I haven't, I give you permission to call me names, slap me silly, or even pelt me with Smarties.

Did anyone else catch the live author/agent chat on WriteOnCon last night? Make sure you follow their blog so you don't miss any of these awesome opportunities to pick the brains of cool, talented people in the publishing biz! Last night agent Stephen Barbara and author Leila Sales(Mostly Good Girls) chatted about the agent/author relationship. Fun and informative!

Since I'm Closer to the End, today's Tune for Tuesday is "Closer to the Edge" by 30 Seconds to Mars. Jared Leto of My So Called Life and movie fame is the lead singer. I saw them live in April (see picture of Jared's arm around me here), and they were amazing. You can see for yourself how a 30STM concert experience really is in the video. The venue is usually packed. The crowd knows all the words. You can see the crowd move three steps forward (which was impossible for me at my concert as I was about next to the stage which prompted me to swear at him (he didn't hear me ;) and have strangers be squished all around me). But the concert was awesome enough to let me forgive him for that. He also walked into the crowd, on top of the crowd just like in the video.
Watch and listen to CLOSER TO THE EDGE!

Block Writer's Block!: Guest Post by Stephen Tremp

November is the month of Nanowrimo and PiBoIdMo as well. There is a lot of pressure to get words and ideas onto the paper. What do you do if just can't think of one more scene? What do you do if you can't think of any more picture book ideas? What do you do if you can't stop eating Halloween candy (okay, that is a topic for another discussion)?

Today I have author Stephen Tremp to help you work through Writer's Block. Stephen Tremp is author of the near future science fiction action thriller Breakthrough. Stop by and visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs where Breakthrough is available for purchase and download to all eReaders. Take it away, Steve!


I have blogged about Writer’s Block on and off for the past year. This heinous dark thief of creativity can affect a writer in trivial or monumental ways and often rears its head at the worst of times. Writers Block can frustrate a writer’s creativity and source of inspiration and thus impede their ability to translate mental concepts into written words.

But not to fear. There are numerous simple exercises one can use to slay this sinister villain of imaginativeness. Here is a comprehensive list of methods I use to fight off this evildoer. This is a great blog to save to your Favorites or Bookmarks. Okay, here we go:

“What if …” Scenarios These two words have inspired writers and poets to pen masterpieces that are now considered literary classics. Think of a “What if …” statement, then make a pot of coffee, sit down, and begin writing. Please take a moment to read this brief link, then try it your self.

What would you do if you were not a writer: Here's a little exercise I do to get the creative juices flowing. I ask myself a question, "What would I be if I could be anything in the world other than a writer?" Then I place myself in this situation and think, “What can I do with this?” Again, take a moment to read this brief link and you’ll be amazed at how such a simple exercise can open the door for multiple stories.

Ask other bloggers to help with a particular problem: This is a great exercise with a huge payoff. Example: I was struggling with a particular chapter. I needed a jailbreak. And not just any ol’ jailbreak. I needed to bust out someone from the center of a state-of-the-art facility. It had to be clever and high tech. The response was 40 terrific comments. Although I won’t use all of the ideas in the actual jailbreak, I can use them while the characters are brainstorming ideas to bust the professor out. So I ended up with two chapters, the jailbreak itself, and a chapter covering the planning stage. Two for the price of one!

Research the research: I don’t have a particle accelerator in my garage. Good thing I don’t need one in order to perform research in the area of physics. I can research the research. Make two lists: One of topics you would like to research and one people who have a deep understanding of such topics. Then, go to theoretical physics or the name of a respected expert in the respective field of your story. For example, type in “theoretical physics” and a multitude of clips will come up that you can watch. These are free, concise, and usually reliable sources.

Weekend Follies Captions: This is a great way to get the creativity moving forward. On weekends I often post my Weekend Follies, five pictures of cute animals doing silly things and ask people to write a clever or witty captions. This exercise quickly stimulates the mind (best to do with a cup of coffee) and helps the neurons in the brain make those all-important chemical synapses between the nerve cells in the brain.

Guest bloggers: I belong to a few Yahoo! Writers Groups and we each take turns hosting. These are talented people; writer, editors, poets, teachers, researchers, etc. with fresh ideas. I subscribe to all posts, quickly eliminate those that are not pertinent, then reading and sometime saving the relevant ones.

Finally, ask your editor: You do have an editor, don’t you? Think of an editor more as a mentor. A life coach. A friend in need. Your editor is one of the best sources to bounce ideas off. Just don’t call them in the middle of the night. They hate that.

Please join me Monday as I visit Jemi Fraser’s blog and we discuss an emerging genre: Modern Steampunk.

Thanks for stopping by on Stephen's blog tour. Great suggestions, and I just might have to ask my wonderful blogger friends for help with future scenes...For example, in one scene I have a character that wants to meet her favorite rock band. How should I (cough)- I mean she go about doing that ? :).

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

Spot the Blunder, Shawty!

Last week our realtor sent a photographer to take pictures of our house to go on our brochures and online realty sites. Before this, she sent a stager to make sure our house would look as presentable as it could be. The stager was amazing. She told us the best way to position our couch. Which plant or what kind of centerpiece would look best on the table and so on. Have you ever watched HGTV's Get It Sold? Kind of like that.
So the photographer came and I had the place as clean and perfectly placed as possible. Which is a huge feat as I am not known as the world's most fabulous housekeeper. I checked and rechecked each room and I knew I was ready.
Or was I? Can you see what I forgot?

Yep, the bed's a mess. I'm a terrible bedmaker, I am. But you'd think my eyes would scan the foot of the bed to make sure the comforter was covering the sheet for crying out loud! Oi. But thankfully, my only blunder. But definitely a true Kelly blunder. Okay, I could have taken my TBR pile out of the nightstand too, but hey, I love my books. You'd think the photographer might have noticed the bed blunder, but maybe she didn't want to offend. Her pictures turned out awesome by the way. She made my wood floors look so shiny and the colors of the walls of the bedrooms pop.
Thankfully I am not a terrible writer (at least I hope not). But you'd think my eyes would scan my manuscript and catch every misspelled word or tweak each scene just right. But I can't. I'm only human. So use your critique group, use your family, win great blog contests like I did and get people (and by people, I mean definitely more than one person) to read your stuff. And your comforter, I mean, your manuscript won't be a mess.

One last thing.
Who the heck is Shawty?
This I wondered after I looked up the lyrics to Dynamite to make sure it was acceptable for my son to download on Itunes (it was fine...and catchy). Then I recalled the song from Fred the Movie (a Nickelodeon movie), "Call 9-1-1, Shawty burnin on the dance floor" and the Usher commercial singing "Happy Birthday" to Shawty.
Who is this mysterious Shawty that everyone and their mother is singing about?
So I googled "Who is Shawty?"
It turns out according to the Urban Dictionary, Shawty is used as a pronoun like man or dog or girl. It is also commonly used as a term for a hot female or girlfriend. So there you have it.

Am I geek for not knowing this or a bigger geek for googling it? You know it, Shawty!

This and That Thursday

1. My house went on the market on Monday! The house is just about perfect, and the cleanest I've ever seen it. I even bought a St. Joseph statue to bury in the yard (thanks for the reminder, Anita!). I have to admit I cried when the sign went up. I love this home and area so much. But I know we will be happy in cheeseland once we sell this house and are settled there.


2. Thank you to Ishta Mercurio for an awesome critique of one of my picture book manuscripts! I won a critique at her blog, Musings of a Restless Mind. She gave me such valuable advice and suggestions!



3. I also won a critique from Marcia Hoehne. I'll be sending her the first 1000 words of my middle grade manuscript soon. Thanks, Marcia!


4. AWESOME CONTESTS!
*Jen Daiker at Unedited is having a superdeeduper contest on her blog! Enter to win a $65 CSN gift certificate!!

*Susan Fields is having a Back From Hiatus contest. Win your choice of a great non-fiction book that will help you write much gooder!
*Don't forget about Candyland's I Heart Joy Like Br80 contest! A fabulous cause with fabulous cash prizes and concert tix - yes, concert tix to a band I love, too (New Medicine, baby)!
*Marcia Hoehne is giving away Sara Pennypacker's Clementine, Friend of the Week!
*Kimberly Franklin is giving away a signed, yes, signed copy of The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney! Plus bookmarks!

5. Next Friday I will have a guest blogger. Breakthrough author Stephen Tremp will give tips on Writer's Block! Make sure to stop by to check it out!


6. Now that my house is ready, I can get back to my writing!!! I am finishing that middle grade manuscript once and for all! I even finally stopped by The Practice Room again for a session yesterday. Yay!



7. Remember a few weeks ago when I said I wanted to see a certain band? (Okay you don't, but I did, darn it.) Well, soon after I found out they would be playing nearby in December!! I finally get to see My Chemical Romance live for the first time!!! Yay! Here's a preview of their next single, "Sing." Did I mention that I named a character in my middle grade after the lead singer? Did I also mention that the lead singer is an author of a comic book series titled The Umbrella Academy? And I get to see him in concert!!!!!!








What are you excited about?

Ha Ha Halloween

Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? This photo is of me and my two best friends in third grade. We are still besties today! See, I have always liked vampires. Somehow I don't look as hot as Eric Northman or Edward here though.... Everyone has an awkward stage, you know!

With all of my packing, organizing, and trips to Home Depot, and juggling the kids' schedules I do feel more like this lately:


Here are a few of my favorite Halloween funnies to join the silly pictures.

Why did the ghost do to the bar? For the booooo-ze.

Why do demons and ghouls hang out together? Because demons are a ghouls best friend!

Why doesn't anybody like Dracula? He has a bat temper.

Do you have any funny Halloween jokes to add?

I have two tunes for Tuesday for your Halloween listening pleasure, both zombie related.

Thuggish cartoon disco metal band, Uncle Rotter, joined up with fellow Manchester gothic industrial band, Resist, for a charity single for Zombie-Aid.
The Zombie-Aid single will be released on October 25th in the aim of reaching the No1spot in the charts for Halloween. The single will be available for download from major online stores such as Amazon, HMV, Play.com, iTunes and 7Digital.
All money made from the single will be going to UK charity, Make-A-Wish Foundation, who grant magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses.
Check it and you will be singing, "Zombie!" all day long!


My second tune today is by Rob Zombie. I just love this song, and the video is creepy, yet funny! Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches and
slam in the back of my DRAGULA!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Rick Springfield Book Signing

And she's watching him with those eyes. And she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it. Yeah 'n' he's holding her in his arms late, late at night!

Yup. That pretty much sums up my night with Rick Springfield. Except for the lovin' him with that body....but he did hold me in his arms (okay, one arm) not so late in the night. But still...

My friend, Sue, and my new friend, Deb, and I had a fun girl's day out on an amazingly beautiful fall day yesterday. It was a much needed escape for me from my endless packing and cleaning.

We started the day doing a little shopping, that led to some champagne, giggling, and the tastiest salad I've ever eaten (Southern Chicken Salad at The White Chocolate Grill) with of course a white chocolate brownie dessert. We celebrated Suzy's birthday, too!

The yumminess didn't end there. We then went to the Rick Springfield book signing with 500 other crazed middle aged women! Actually most were pretty calm. The three of us tried singing Jessie's Girl outside the bookstore to see if we could rouse a Springfield singalong but unfortunately no one chimed in. Apparently Rick told them "Don't Talk to Strangers."

The line went pretty swiftly, and finally it was our turn to have a photo, a one armed hug (because we all need the Human Touch), and his signature (with a heart) on his new book, Late, Late at Night.

For me: Books + Musician +Friends + champagne + white chocolate + Coca Cola = An Affair of the Heart ;)

I'm not sure that last one made any sense, but the song titles just kept spilling out of me.

This and That Thursday

LIFE

Hello, my dear blogging friends. As you may or may not have noticed, I have not been as present in the blogosphere lately. I have good reason for this. My husband and I are getting our house ready for sale. We are relocating to the state north of us due to my husband's new job. I'm so thankful for this really wonderful opportunity for my husband, but it will be hard to say goodbye to my home and family that live here. Luckily our new place will be less than two hours from where we live now.

So, I have been scrubbing and scrubbing some more. We have had handymen doing minor repairs and painting. We've donated fifty plus bags of clothing and household items to charities. My days and nights have been consumed by organizing, decluttering, and packing. I really do love that it is forcing me to get my things in order, even though I fall into bed sore and exhausted each night. This house will be perfect... right in time for us to move!

I love this home so much. It's a beautiful partly wooded lot with a big area for the kids to play. I love the autumn leaves surrounding us in the fall and when the forest POPS with green in the spring. I've rocked all my newborn babies and watched them go on the school bus for the first time here. We've had fun family parties and barbecues and just so many great memories. I will miss it so, but I am ready for the next adventure in my future community and home. Well, not quite ready yet. We have to sell this house first! ACK!

WRITING

Due to my days and nights being consumed by getting my house in order, my writing has stalled. And I am almost there. Almost to the end of my middle grade manuscript. I have one more chapter to finish (the second to last chapter) and then a few revisions before I send it to some critique partners. Then more revisions and hopefully off to agentland. It's been slow going as I reread my a few chapters or all of my manuscript almost every time I write. I like to feel the flow of the story and continue. Luckily, I still love my story. I do sincerely love it. Once my house is up for sale, I will be finishing that thing once and for all!

Where are you in your manuscript?

BLOGGING

Thank you so much to Carolyn Abiad and Patricia Timms for giving my the One Lovely Blogger Award! That was lovely of you ladies!!! Thank you also to Ishta Mercurio as well for awarding me The Versatile Blogger award. Check their wonderful blogs out!
And WOWZA! I surpassed 200 followers sometime in my cleaning hibernation. Hello to my new followers, thanks for coming by!

VaVaVroom, the company my sister owns, is having an amazing contest. If you ride or know someone who rides a motorcycle or scooter, check out her Are You One Of Those Girls? contest. Tell your story and you can win over $650 in motorcycle apparel and accessories!
Even though I don't ride, I wear her clothing, because it's so darn cute.

MUSIC

No more concerts on the horizon until probably 2011. Though just heard about a new album coming out soon and I'm psyched! My Chemical Romance's new album with a very long title drops November 22. I've never seen them live, so hope they'll tour the U.S. sooner than later! Here's a preview: