Tweets of the week!!

Here's this week's installment!! Enjoy!!

@jentoinfinity: You're sleeping with the wrong people. RT @INDIEAUTHORHULK WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET A LITERARY AGENT, BUT SO EASY TO GET CHLAMYDIA?

@MattBryantDFW: The problem with the bat-signal is it lets everybody in freakin' Gotham know he's coming.  It should be a subtle iPhone app.

@RickyGervais: Following someone on Twitter & then complaining about what they tweet about is like stalking someone & complaining that they walk too fast.

@AdvicetoWriters: Writers get paid for what other people get scolded for: daydreaming. We’re supposed to wander. RICHARD WALTER

@RuthiKnox: I just need to say, for the record, because I'm really feeling it today: God, I love being a romance writer.

@thejessbess: I've been calling 1-900-MIX-ALOT, but no answer. So I'm not quite sure how else to kick these nasty thoughts.

@BuffaloGrlProbs: I've been doing a lot of bikram yoga...except room temperature and no stretching and in my bed watching TV. #workoutplan #buffalogirl

@RubenAgency: Don't be too serious as a writer. Or anything. If you're not having fun, you're probably doing it wrong.

What inspires you? Tour stop #9!

Today I am guest blogging over at Nicole Zoltack's blog, Where Fantasy and Love Take Flight! Please stop by! And don't forget to comment...you'll be entered to win my Grand Prize!

The Big Leagues

Like most writers, I have a project idea folder on my laptop. Whenever something new springs into my mind, I start a file for it. Some have names, some are just "Untitled #?." I type out whatever came into my brain. Sometimes it's just a basic plot idea, or like last night (after being in bed with a brain that wouldn't rest, I wrote down my idea so I wouldn't forget) the opening scene of the actual story.

And then those ideas sit there for who knows how long. They just wait for their turn to be brought forth and plotted out and written. It's a big deal to open a document and "Save As" in my "Novels" folder instead of just the "Project Ideas" folder.

It's kinda like baseball teams or hockey teams who occasionally bring up a player from their farm teams to play with the big boys. My little project ideas get their big chance to become a real novel!

And like baseball and hockey, there is no guarantee that the project will actually stay and become a full-length novel. I sometimes try them out, see if inspiration strikes. If not, it's pushed aside and another project gets a turn.

And that's where I am now. I have a new idea that came to me last night and I'd love to start it now...but I might take a look at my "Project Ideas" folder and see if there is anything else that strikes inspiration.

How do you choose what to write next??

So many mixed emotions right now...

And I just don't know what to do with them.

This past Saturday was my big release party for A Bitch Named Karma. My family was here, my close friends were here, my writer's group was here. We had food, we had music, we had fun. It was a great party...I was on such a high! I mean...how can you not when you're the center of attention?? LOL! It's so rare that I get that kind of opportunity.

But thank God I did not check my email that morning. Bad news. Rejection for a project I'd had such high hopes for. Life sucks like that. You try to be positive about certain things and sometimes all that positivity does is give you false hope. And it makes the rejection suck so much more.

I'm so torn here..between being ecstatic about my debut being published and the sadness that my second book is going no where.

I tried working on a couple different projects today....got about 800 or so words down on two different stories. But it was forced. I am having a hard time finding inspiration right now.

I love when this happens...I hate when this happens....

Last night I got into bed...it was maybe 11:30, which is a normal bedtime for me. I try to get in earlier if I have a book to read but I hadn't had a chance to get to the library yet. And if I don't have a book, I cannot get into bed before I am absolutely tired....I just lay there.

So anyway, I got into bed last night and I was tired. I thought I'd fall right asleep. Ah, nope. Somehow a new story idea popped into my head and it's fabulous opening line (we all know how important an opening line is!). When this happens, my brain replays the thought over and over in hope that I will remember it all in the morning. And that NEVER happens. It's gone forever. So I lay there, not wanting to turn on the light. But I knew I had to. The thoughts would not go away until I wrote them down.

So I turned on the light, grabbed a notebook and jotted down the idea and the opening line. The light goes off and I snuggle back under my comforter. But oh no...that wasn't good enough. My brain decides it wants to imagine what will come after that first awesome line. So again, I am forced out of my warm cocoon. I grab the notepad and write a page worth of dialog and text. I could have gone on and on but I stopped, hoping what I had was enough to jog my memory today. And finally my brain allowed my body the rest it desired.

I love when this stuff happens-- an idea comes to me out of no where...something that sounds fun and quirky, something different from what's already out there. I love the thrill of creation.

I hate when this stuff happens because the idea will nag at me till I get it on paper. And usually ideas like this come when I'm knee deep in something else and there is no possible way to start on it. I'm in the middle of my POV change on my 3rd novel and I'll be starting copy edits in the very near future for my 2nd novel. I just cannot start something new right now.

But what an idea it is!! I really love it!! So now I will add it to my "Project Ideas" folder and save it for another day :)

What do you do when inspiration strikes????

I hate when this happens!!!!!!!

I was sitting here reading blogs, making some comments...you know....doing the whole blogging thing. Then an idea popped in my head for a great blog! I was going to start it right away, but I said to myself, "No, let's finish reading these one first."

Big mistake....

Idea is gone....buh bye.....

*Sigh*

This has happened to me on more than one occasion. I get a great story idea and I don't have a pen and paper handy...so I tell myself it's okay and I'll remember it. Nope...I never do. If it's not out of my brain and on paper immediately it's forgotten.

I have an entire file on my computer devoted to story ideas. Each one of my flashes of inspiration get turned into a file...some get names...like one idea..all I have is a name. Others get named "Untitled" and are assigned a number (the last got #14). I type whatever came into my mind...a plot-line, a situation, sometimes even a few lines of dialog, whatever....Then when I'm ready to start a new project, my ideas are there waiting for me.

What do you do with the ideas that float into your brain???

Get hungry!

I feel so eager to work, to write, to edit, to create. I think it's all due to the publishing contract I received and will most likely sign (just waiting for my lawyer's evaluation) within the next few days and ship it off to my new "boss".

It's amazing how different it feels now. Before I was just writing for me, pursuing a hobby some people would say. It wasn't bringing in any money so that would classify it as such. It did have a purpose though. Making it my career was always on my brain, but I wrote because I needed to write. Now I'm writing for other reasons too. I'm finally getting to that next step and soon my writing will be out there for the entire world to see (and hopefully enjoy!). And it just makes me hungrier...not satisfied in the least. I want more. I want to write more and get more of my stuff out there.

My advice for today....get hungry. To all those writers who are leery about submitting to agents, publishers, contests, anything...just do it. Rejection will happen, it's a given.... I'm hearing some quote about death and taxes right now....but that one acceptance, that one yes in a sea of nos....it will fuel you and inspire you to go on, but it will also make you hungrier than ever, needing more and more!