Novels in Verse Reading Challenge

It's that time of year again; the time for setting goals. I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do like to set one major goal for myself and my writing. Last year I decided to strive towards a finished first draft of my current WIP by Valentine's Day. I tend to revise as I go. So while I have some pretty polished segments already, I sill don't have a start-to-finish draft. Knowing I had a deadline has really helped, and as of today, I am Oh So Close. I do believe I will meet that deadline! The other goal I set for myself was a reading goal. I joined Amanda's Novels In Verse Reading challenge, signing on to read 9-12 novels in verse. I reviewed them all here on my blog, but below is a recap. 

The verse novels I read last year were:

I've joined Amanda's Novels in Verse Reading Challenge for 2013 and I look forward to another year of discovering new voices. All of the books on my wish list are by authors I've never read before.
Titles on my wish list are:

Would you like to participate in the challenge? You can join by committing to read just ONE book. Find the details here.

What's the one book you can't wait to get your hands on this year?

The Muse's Doorway

My good friend, Jennifer, got me this for Christmas from our local Art Market (made by artist Monica Bleiler.) She said it looks like the muse's doorway leading to story land. I love that! And I'm scouting out the perfect space next to my desk to hang it so that the muse can visit me often.

Here are some of my favorite quotes about creativity. I hope they bring the muse through your doorway.

You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not’?” – George Bernard Shaw

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. –Scott Adams

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

Creativity makes a leap, then looks to see where it is. – Mason Cooley

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties. – Erich Fromm

Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it. – Dee Hock

“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso

“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced” – Vincent Van Gogh

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try” – Dr. Seuss

“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity” – Charles Mingus

Anxiety is part of creativity, the need to get something out, the need to be rid of something or to get in touch with something within. – David Duchovny

“Creativity is contagious, pass it on” – Albert Einstein

Each Day a Gift

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

"Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve." - Earl Grollman

Today is the one year anniversary of my father's passing. I miss him every day. But this month, there are so many  reasons why his absence will be more deeply felt: birthdays only two days apart that we always celebrated together, Christmas mornings at his house, and the New Years Day gathering that he always hosted before he got sick.

As I grieve this year, I am painfully aware of all of those who grieve the unbelievable tragedy in Connecticut - so many beautiful lives cut short. And I am thankful for every year, every day I had with my father. I treasure the memories that I have and the opportunity to be with family, share stories, and feel his presence in the impression he left on all of us.

"What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." - Helen Keller

This year, is the first Christmas since our oldest daughter bought her own house. She has been working hard to make it a home and she will be following her grandfather's tradition, taking over the New Year's Day celebration. There will be new memories made and an abundance of blessings to be counted. My hope is that each time I feel the prick of grief anew in my own heart,  it will be a reminder for me to lift up in prayer  the families of those lost at Sandy Hook

"She was no longer wrestling with the grief, but could sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thoughts." - George Eliot

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

Wishing you all a blessed holiday and a happy new year!

Genre Immersion

Last month I posted about books with male MCs. As I was revising my own novel with a male MC I had been reading lots of these books. And I received some great recommendations in the comments. Thanks, Suze, for telling me about The Cardturner by Louis Sachar. I read it, loved it, and have been hesitant to bring my copy back to the library because I want to read it again!

The project I'm working on now is a humorous contemporary YA romance. Sometimes I find myself loosing the thread of the story and becoming too serious. That's when I need to immerse myself in lighthearted reading. Some of my favorites so far have been Eileen Cook's, The Education of Hailey Kendrick and Janette Rallison's, Just One Wish.  Do you have any recommendations for me?

How much of what you read is in the genre you write?

Savoring the Silence

"Stillness is the native language of creativity, yet it's astonishing how we try to avoid silence."

-Kevin Kaiser

Silence is hard to come by. With black Friday, begins the season of busyness; a time when most of us get caught up, at least to some degree, in a whole array of activities that can easily lose their meaning if we're not careful.  Yet for something so rare, I don't think we value silence like we should. We're quick to fill quiet moments with music, television, or even conversation. But that calm is like a little bit of treasure unearthed in the midst of a hectic day. Next time you find yourself in a quiet moment, think before you fill it up. It could be within that stillness you'll discover an idea or find a connection within yourself that's even more valuable than one of those black Friday deals.    

Do you have trouble savoring the silence?

Pleasantly Surprised

I'll admit it: I am woefully guilty of being swayed by a book's cover. Not only will I buy a book I know nothing about if I love the cover, but I'm also a bit of a cover snob. A bad cover can really turn me off. (Admittedly, good and bad are in the eye of the beholder.)

A few weeks ago I read The Upside of Ordinary, an MG novel by Susan Lubner. Honestly, based on the cover alone, I wouldn't have picked it up. But I had read the first page over at First Page Panda and was impressed by the strong voice and humor. So when a friend offered to loan it to me, I snatched it (quite literally, I'm afraid) right out of her hand and read it in one sitting that evening.


It's the story of a girl who is obsessed with becoming famous and hatches a plan to film her own reality show staring her family and friends. But when she starts to fear that their lives are too ordinary to draw viewers, she intervenes in some hilarious and alarming ways to amp up the drama.

While I'm still a sucker for a breathtaking book cover, I'm an even bigger sucker for a really great read, and this book qualifies.

What book has pleasantly surprised you lately?

Hurricane-force ideas

Some of you already know how I feel about trees. (See this post.) So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at how mesmerized I was by watching them dip and sway under hurricane Sandy's influence.

After the electricity went out last Monday afternoon, I sat on the sofa with a notebook in my lap. Though I made minimal progress on my writing project, much of my time was spent simply watching the trees move. It made me think of how we move forward with a story when under the power of a new idea. Those hurricane-force winds rushing through the leaves made me long for the momentum of a new idea.

As I sat there in the dimming light, not yet needing to light candles, every so often my husband would glance over at me. "Why aren't you writing?" he finally asked. I decided not to try to explain how sometimes writers are most productive when we're working things out in our heads. Instead, I picked up my pen and made myself write. And once the ideas got going, they picked up momentum, until finally I found myself caught up in the power of a hurricane-force idea (okay, maybe more of a tropical storm idea) and let myself be swept away!

Have you been able to lose yourself in your writing lately?