2017 Year in Review and Looking Ahead

It's the first week of January and I'm already breaking my posting routine by blogging on Wednesday and not Tuesday. But, when I saw that one of my favorite bloggers, Helene in Between, was hosting a year in review and 2018 goals for January 3 link up, I had to join in on the fun. I was already planning a blog post on this topic anyway, so why not. Right? 

Right.

Click on the photo below to go to Helene's blog and find others who are linking up too!

2017 in Review

Life

At first, I didn't think 2017 had much going on, and for so many people 2017 was a terrible terrible year with politics, hurricanes, Nazis... just to name a few things. But, when I thought about it, there were a few big moments at least for myself and my family!

My sister and her husband had their first baby! All year my family and I were preparing, organizing the baby shower, and general excitement for the new arrival! She was born in November and we couldn't be happier!

I got a new job at another hotel. The same position at the front desk and same company as the hotel where I was previously, but this one is much closer to home. At my old job, I was driving an hour each way and when I looked at the cost of the commute, it just wasn't worth it. I'm really enjoying my new hotel which is also smaller than the previous one, and makes for a much more relaxing work environment. 

My parents and I moved to a new condo. It's smaller than our old place, but we really like it! It's cozy and perfect for us and the animals. 

I was in a friends wedding in Orlando, and while I was there I decided to spend a couple extra days to visit Disney World and Universal Studios. It was a blast! The best part was meeting Snow White (along with Elsa, Anna, Aurora, Mickey Mouse, Mary Poppins, Alice, Ariel...). Which, I know that makes a total dork! But I love Disney, and Snow White has been my favorite character ever since I was a toddler. I've gone to Disney World a few times, but never got to meet her before now, so it was definitely exciting for me.

Me at the wedding in July. The venue had an awesome library!

Blog

I finally bit the bullet and got my new blog started up! My old blog, Love Woke Me Up This Morning, had it's domain expire and I couldn't get it back up again. I took it as a sign to officially close that one down and get this one set up. I'm loving Square Space, and I'm really proud of the design and layout, and my blog posts and topics are much more intentional than they used to be.

Meeting Snow White in Epcot!

Reading

I read 113 books in 2017! In 2016 I had read 124, and I wanted to read less so I had more life/reading balance. Technically, I did read less. So... mission accomplished? Although, I'm not sure if I've nailed the life/reading balance yet - haha. 

Here's the genres I read (many books overlap into several genres and categories):

• 56 adult 
• 49 young adult
• 25 contemporary
• 59 fantasy
• 19 historical
• 2 graphic novels
• 6 sci-fi
• 3 classics
• 5 non-fiction
• 1 action
• 3 horror/thriller
• 32 romance
• 18 own voices
• 51 books which featured main characters from marginalized groups

I'll be posting about my top 17 books of 2017 next week, and if you want to see a full list and more stats, click here. 

One of the pretty trees at our new condo!

Writing

2017 was the year I finally began querying my urban fantasy novel to literary agents! It was terrifying.

After sending out 47 queries, I had exactly one agent request more pages, and all 47 ultimately said no. Sometimes through an email back, sometimes by not responding at all. Which, was a bummer. But, this was a big and important step for me in my writing career. 

Sending out queries helped me learn how to handle rejection. I learned what agents are looking for in a good query and opening pages. I learned how to get over the fear of putting myself and my work out there. Now that I've overcome the hurdle of starting the querying process, I know I can continue to do it.

I got started on a new project, which I've nicknamed "Vampire Snow White." It's exactly as it sounds. What if Snow White was a vampire? I'm obsessed with this project and these characters. It's been so much fun!

I joined the summer writing contest through The Write Practice, which was my first venture into short fiction and writing contests. I learned that I'm not very good at short fiction, but it's something I want to continue to work on. Thus, I created Flash Fiction Fridays here on my blog. It's a series I'm already loving, even though there's only been four stories so far. I hope you all have been loving them too!

Finally, I gained more writer friends and critique partners. There's a trio of myself and two friends from college where we've made our own little writing group and it's been a blast reading their pages and getting their feedback on mine too. Even beyond the writing elements, I'm living for our ongoing Facebook chat. 

Me and my niece, Elsie, the day after she was born! Isn't she the cutest?

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2018 Goals

I know that in all reality, the start of a new year is just another day. We don't need to count down to midnight and turn the page in our calendar to get started on our goals and what we want to accomplish. But, I love the symbolism behind it, and I like having that set time to start fresh. It doesn't erase or change anything from the year before, but it has the feeling of something fresh and new. 

Here are a few of the things I'd like to happen in 2018.

Life

It sounds a little sad, but I had a hard time thinking of goals for myself that are simply for myself and not the blog, reading, or writing. I'm not one to say "This year I'll go to the gym every day!" or "I'm going to eat healthier!" 

We all know that neither of these things will ever happen. 

But, I did think of a couple things in life I know I need to work on.

• Spend time with friends. Now that I have a semi-normal work schedule, I don't have an excuse to not see them anymore. I get off work around 3pm nearly every day, which means I have plenty of time in the afternoons to hang out and have a social life. I'm always happier when I'm out and about, but I let some anxiety get in the way.
• Go on actual dates. A friend and I were talking about this the other night and how we moan and groan about being "forever single." Then we turn around, talk to a guy for a bit, then ignore him, and never go out. It doesn't make sense. (We also joked about making a podcast about our crazy online dating stories just for comedy's sake because wow - we have some funny ones.) 
• Make a plan to go on a vacation. I've been doing better about this the last couple of years. I love to travel and see new places and experience new things, but I have a hard time making it a reality. My mom and I were discussing this not long ago and how we need to pick a place to go that we've always wanted to see, and figure out how we'll get there. 

Blog

I'm pretty proud of myself as it is with being able to keep up with blogging as much as I have been already. But there is always room for improvement and growth!

• Build up my email list. From what I've read for aspiring authors, I always hear how the email list is super important. Already I have it set up so people receive an email with each blog post, and a monthly newsletter. I'd love to have a freebie to include though when people sign up like an exclusive short story you can only get as an email subscriber. Keep an eye out!
• Post more often. So far, I've been posting once a week. Twice when I have a Flash Fiction Friday or a special occasion. I'd love it though if I could bump it up to twice a week.
• Include guest bloggers. Yes! I want guest bloggers! My email list was already informed, so they have first dibs. But I would love to include other writers, readers, and friends on this blog with guest posts and interviews. If you would like to write a guest post or be interviewed, send me an email! (eehornburg [at] gmail [dot] com)

Blog posts about planning for the new year means showing off your new planner, right? Right.

Reading

Usually, I try to go easy on the reading goals. Reading is a fun escape for me, and I hate it when I feel as though I "have" to read a certain book, vs. wanting to read it. But, I did notice that I wasn't reading as intentionally this past year, and there are a few things I'd like to accomplish.

• Read less. It sounds weird, and this was a goal last year (I read 124 in 2016 and 113 in 2017), and it's one I want to keep up. I love reading a ton of books every year. But, I know I need to be better at life/reading balance. I don't want to wake up one morning realizing I missed a ton of life opportunities and experiences because I had my nose stuck in a book.
• Read more own voices. I definitely have been reading own voices books, and reading books where the main characters are from marginalized groups. But, when I look at the numbers, I can do way better. Especially with own voices and books for adults. Not that I don't want to read YA own voices - I absolutely do! But, I'm familiar with that market and know where to find them. I want to work on finding authors for adults who are also own voices. All books need to be diverse and have representation from everyone in them. But, we need to be sure the own voices are being raised up. 
• Read books I already own. This is a big one. Of the physical books I already, I have roughly 35 I haven't read. Which isn't a bad number. But of my ebooks... that's a whole other story. I have a severe ebook downloading problem. They come so inexpensive, I feel like a fool NOT downloading them! Then here I am... with over 130 unread books sitting on my Kindle app. When I think about it too much, I get ridiculously overwhelmed.

Writing

My writing goals at this point in my life are some of my most important. Mainly because I'm impatient and I just want to have an agent and a book deal RIGHT NOW. 

I know this is not realistic, and even after an author signs with an agent, there's a ton more waiting and work to be done. But, my impatience helps to keep me motivated.

• Have a full rough draft done for Vampire Snow White and ready to send to my critique partners by the end of February. I got a big chunk of it done during NaNoWriMo, took a much  needed break in December, and now I'm ready to get back to it. This means writing about another 50,000 words. Considering I wrote 50k in one month, I can totally get another 50k done in two.
• Work on revisions and rewrites for my urban fantasy, Guardians of the City. This one is much more tentative, because I do think I need to take a step back from it for a bit. But, I'd like to think at some point this year, I'll be ready to tackle it again.
• Get back to work on fairy-tale mash-up. This is a project I was in the very beginning stages of before VSW took over my life. I didn't intend to cast it to the side, because I think it has a lot of potential. But, I'm so excited for VSW that I knew I needed to put all of my focus on that. I think while I'm waiting for readers to send me feedback on VSW I'll play around with this one a bit. Get some brainstorming and outlining done. I'd love it to be my 2018 NaNoWriMo project!

Apparently, I need to use pencil when I use my planner because I'm always crossing things out and rewriting it!

How's that for a list of goals and resolutions for 2018? I feel like such an overachiever when I look over these lists. But, I also know in reality, I most likely won't be able to accomplish all of them, and I'm okay with that. Which doesn't make me such an overachiever after all. 

How was 2017 for you? Any favorite memories for the year? Do you have any New Years Resolutions, Goals, or Plans?

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An Unexpected Christmas Eve

I had a request to bring back Jeff and Mike for Christmas. Which... I guess at the end of Meet the Family Part 2 I unintentionally alluded they'd return. But, when I tried to think of their Christmas story, my mind kept on drawing a blank. There were a few ideas I had in my head, but none really fleshed themselves out. Then, this one started to form. It doesn't star our favorite monster/human couple, but I was able to have them make an appearance, and I think you'll like it!

If there's anything you'd like to see for January's Flash Fiction Friday, let me know!

The dashboard light blinked at me like Rudolph's nose during a storm. I pulled the lever but the sleigh kept spinning in a downward spiral. 

"No, not today!" I moaned as I continued to try and get it back in flight. The wind pushed my red hat to the floor, making my hair fly in my eyes as I plummeted to the ground. This was not how I imagined my Christmas Eve.

I pressed the red emergency button and braced myself for the impact. A silver beam shout out of the hood and I turned the steering wheel to guide it. If I had done my calculations correctly, I knew exactly where I'd land. The beam wouldn't prevent the crash, but would make it significantly less fatal. 

Not that it mattered. Dad was going to kill me for taking my sleigh out on my own on Christmas Eve. 

Well, not kill. Santa wasn't a fan of corporal punishment. But there would be a lecture about being a good example to the children of the world and he may not give me any extra cookies. 

But some things were more important than cookies.

I landed with a loud thud and the sleigh spun in circles, making the snow from the ground swirl with the smoke coming out from the jets. Air bags popped out upon landing. At least those worked. I coughed and sputtered as the air bags deflated and the sleigh came to a stop. I turned the key in the ignition and it let out a pathetic spurt.

Two men walked out to the backyard, coughing and waving away the smoke that came from my sleigh. One had dark brown hair and wore a sweater with reindeer on it. A human. The other man was green. 

Good, this was the right place.

"Ivy?"

"Hi Jeff."

"Why is there a sleigh in my parents backyard?" the human asked.

 Jeff rolled his eyes. "Mike, this is Ivy Claus. Ivy, my fiancee, Mike." He walked over to me and crossed his arms across his chest. "Ivy, are you allowed to be out alone on Christmas Eve?"

"Please don't tell my dad!" I begged as I climbed out from the sleigh. "There's a gift I have to deliver. I meant to put it with dad's stuff but one of the elves lost it and I thought my sleigh was ready to go out but then it malfunctioned. I just need to borrow something to get it up again and I'll be gone before you know it."

Mike's eyes widened. "Claus as in... Santa Claus?"

I gave him a little wave. "The one and only."

"You're not how I imagined."

I decided to ignore his comment, but I got that a lot. Most people don't expect to see a brown girl with dark curly hair to be the daughter of Santa Claus. People were usually confused when they saw him too. They were always debating if he was white or black or whatever. But Saint Nicholas was from what's now modern day Turkey so... what did they expect? 

I turned to Jeff. "Can I get some juice and see if it'll perk up my sleigh?"

Jeff sighed and surveyed the scene. "It's for something good, I hope?"

I nodded. 

"Fine." He turned to Mike. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

Which left Mike and I to stare at each other awkwardly. 

"So... you have your own sleigh?" he asked.

"Yeah, I've been working on it for months. It's my baby," I answered as I walked around it and popped the hood. Another puff of smoke poured out. "I thought it'd be ready by now but... I guess not."

"How did you find my parents house?"

"Dad's magic snow ball."

"Of course."

Jeff returned and had a bottle of purple liquid in his hand. It was basically like car oil but magic. Which should do the trick. I grabbed it from him and poured some in the hood. There was a low humming sound, which was promising. Then, it gurgled. Not so promising. Followed by a stream bursting into the sky like a geyser and splattered all over my new paint job.

I moaned and pulled my red hat over my ears.

"Is where you need to go close? Maybe we can give you a ride," Mike suggested. Helping Santa's daughter has got to put you on the nice list for life, right?"

"You'd think," Jeff and I said in unison.

But, Jeff relented. "Where do you need to go?"

"There's a hospital about ten miles from here," I answered. 

"I think I know which one you're talking about," Mike said. "Let's go."

I grabbed the gift sack from the sleigh and we piled into Jeff's car. Within twenty minutes, the car pulled up to the hospital and Jeff had barely parked before I darted out and ran inside.  Finding the room wasn't difficult, as most people had already been released to go home for Christmas. 

The teenage girl was asleep, which was much deserved. Notes from the nurse were written on the dry erase board hanging on the wall, and It's a Wonderful Life played quietly on the TV in the background. Beyond that, the room was empty. No Christmas tree. No cards. No flowers. The nurses hadn't seen me walk in thanks to the elf dust I'd nabbed from Dad's office, but I didn't have much so I needed to be quick. I placed the packages on the tray beside her bed as silently as possible, then tip-toed back out. 

Mission accomplished. 

Dad was standing in front of the glass window for the nursery, smiling and cooing at the newborn baby. There was only one, and she'd been born just that night.

"So what did you bring them?" he asked.

"A couple pacifiers and onesies for the baby. A robe for the mom." I peered through the glass next to Dad. The new baby slept soundly in their bed. I smiled. "Did Jeff call you?"

"An elf messaged me."

Traitor.

"I'm sorry I left without telling you. I just couldn't let her or the baby be all alone. It didn't seem right. Not even her mom is here or anything and she really is just a kid still... and I'm 316 years old now, I'm perfectly capable of going out on my own-"

Dad pulled me into a hug before I could finish my defense and his chest rumbled with laughter. "You shouldn't have snuck out. But...maybe it's time I stopped being so protective and let you join me on my sleigh. I could use the help sometimes."

"Really?"

"Really."

Jeff and Mike walked up to us, panting from running. I had kind of left them in the dust back there. Mike paused and stared at Dad. "Wow... that's really Santa, isn't it?"

Jeff smiled. "Yup."

"I'm never going to have a normal holiday with you, am I?"

"Nope."

Dad chuckled again and squeezed me tighter. "Merry Christmas, Ivy."

"Merry Christmas, Dad."

"But no solo sleighing for two weeks."

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My Writing Process: World Building

This is one of the more difficult writing process posts I've written. I think it's because a lot of this happens during my brainstorming phase, and it's one of the elements I end up working on as I go vs. planning it out in advance. I have some general ideas as I start drafting my book, but I work out the details as I write and in revisions. 

First of all, "world building" is a bit of a writers phrase, and not one other groups of people use very often. So, let's define that. 

World building is anything that has to do with the world the characters live in. At first glance, it's about setting. Where the characters live, the geography, etc. But it's so much more than that. World building definitely is about their home, their neighborhood, and other geographical elements. But it also spans to culture, politics, slang, swear words, religion, magic, where the characters hang out, where they go to school, values, ethics, clothing styles, what characters carry around with them, the list can go on and on. 

This is partly why I tend to world build as I draft my novels. There are so many details, it can get overwhelming. If I approach them as I need them, I can have a bit better of a handle on it. Then, when I go to my revisions, I can see where the gaps are in my world building and fill them in. 

Some writers can create whole binders and guides to their world. I think about some of the big fantasy writers like JRR Tolkien and George RR Martin and how they could have several books just about their politics and family histories and languages. Which is awesome, and I love that they can put such great realistic detail into their work!

I'm not one of them. I wish I could be one of them, and maybe I will be someday. But today is not that day.

One misconception about world building is that this is exclusively for fantasy and sci-fi fiction. This is not true! Contemporary, mystery, historical, and any other genre also need to have well done world building!

Let's say you're writing a book about a modern day teenager in the mid-west and most of the action takes place at school. I don't know about you, but the high school I went to was VASTLY different than the one only a few blocks away. Each school has their own groups, culture, trends, after-school activities, views, etc. The local hang outs will be different for each student body. Maybe one school wears uniforms and the other doesn't. One might be a public school and the other is religious. All of these are world building elements. This is what makes those books feel so real and relateable.

For historical, you have do a lot of research for clothing, culture, the way the homes were built, what was happening politically at the time, etc. I'm actually slightly terrified at historical fiction because there's so many details that I'm scared to mess them up!

When I think about how I've been going about setting up my Vampire Snow White novel, I did a lot of things the more traditional route when it came to my vampire lore. I had the main action happen in Chicago, which is where I live, mainly because I already know the city so well I would be able to put more of my focus and research on other elements. (Not that I don't have to research my home town - I totally do! There's a ton I've learned because of preparing for novels.) Some vampire stories do a lot of twists to the legends, which I really like. But, personally, I liked keeping some of the traditional things. Particularly when it came to weaknesses. (No daylight, wooden stakes can kill, can't touch silver, religious icons burn, etc.) Vampires are already very powerful creatures, and I didn't want them to be too powerful. A creature without weaknesses felt boring to me. So, that's the route I went. 

Once that was decided, I started to research the origins of the Snow White tale as well as German folklore. Since it is a German story, I wanted a lot of my magic and other world building aspects to be influenced by that history and culture. I was excited to see that some elements of the German vampire were slightly different than the traditional one we always see. So, even though I have a lot of the classic vampire in my book, there are a few unique twists I snuck in. 

For other world building elements, I tend to think of them and brainstorm them as I go according to the needs of the plot and the characters. If they need to have dinner in a scene, that's when I start to think about what sort of food they'll eat. When they go to buy something, that's when I'll brainstorm the economy and stores they'd go to. 

I for sure would love to improve my world building skills, because there are many authors who excel at this and I want my stories to feel like they're in real places happening to real people!

It does help to take some notes though, because if you're anything like me, you'll forget some details! I've also found that if someone presents me with the questions about my world, I can easily answer them. Having to come up with those guidelines on my own, I struggle. Check out my World Building Pinterest Board for some of the resources I've used. 

What are some books, movies, or TV shows where you've felt the world building was really well done?

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Finishing My Hot Mess NaNoWriMo Project

It's the morning of December first and all I can think about is how tired I am and I want to go back to bed. Granted, that might be because I had to get up at 5:45am so I could get to work on time. But it's also because I just spent the last 30 days writing 50,000 words for my novel. 

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is officially done.

In the grand scheme of things, 50,000 words is a pretty short novel. If there are roughly 300 words on a page, that makes a 167 page book. About the length of The Great Gatsby. But, it's still a lot to do in a 30 day time period. 

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol (another short book) in six weeks which in a way was his own little NaNoWriMo.

Let's be real though - my novel is nothing close to the brilliance of Charles Dickens and his was published right away. Mine is no where near being complete or ready to be published. 

My novel about vampire Snow White is a hot mess. There's scenes where I'm not sure where they'll go yet. Large sections have parts where I literally typed in [insert some awesome stuff abut this character and an action sequence here] just so I could keep going. In a way, this draft is basically a very detailed outline. I have a lot of chapters and scenes which have actual dialogue and action and plot line. But I also have a lot which are just a paragraph summary of what I think I want to happen. Some of my characters don't even have names yet. 

I have no idea how my book is going to end. 

But, 50,000 words exist on the page. I can see the skeleton of a novel coming together. Some characters are coming to life in my head. Plot lines I didn't expect are popping up and bringing things together. 

In spite of the hot mess and how tired I am, I'm proud of myself. Last year's NaNoWriMo was the first time since 2008 that I didn't complete the goal of 50,000 words. While that's not the end of the world and ultimately that was what was best for me, I was still disappointed. Knowing that I sat down everyday and put words to the page this year (even if some days it was only a couple sentences) was exactly what I needed.

I've spent so much time revising the urban fantasy novel I started a few years ago I almost have forgotten how to start a book from scratch. It was a muscle I hadn't used in a long time. 

Contrary to popular belief, in order to be a successful writer you do not have to write every single day. But you do need to make it a regular habit, and sometimes doing it for 30 days in a row is what you need to get that habit going.

I needed this to get me going again. 

My relationship with NaNoWriMo has changed over the years. I remember the first few years I would sit on the website for hours commenting in the forums, checking my mail, and making new friends. We'd chat on Twitter and swap ideas. It was so fun to get to know other writers around the country and the world all jumping in not knowing what was going to happen. 

I don't spend as much time on the website and looking through the forums anymore, because I've learned how to brainstorm and get my ideas. I already have my writing friends I go to and we chat via Facebook messenger or text message or Twitter DMs to talk through our problems and cheer one another on as we draft. Not just in November, but all year. 

Part of me misses those early years because NaNoWriMo was such an exciting time. Almost like Christmas as a little kid. But now as an adult, I still love Christmas as much as ever - but it's not the same as when I was a child. The same is for NaNoWriMo. I still love this month, but since my writing habits have changed my relationship with it have changed as well. 

I was listening to the Writing Excuses podcast for their episode about NaNoWriMo at the start of the month, and they talked about whether or not they participated and if they did how they approached it. Something they pointed out is that NaNoWriMo is mainly geared for people who are first time novelists. Those who have always wanted to write a book but never actually did it. November is that push to finally get it done.

That's not me anymore. 

Not that people who have written novels before can't participate in NaNoWriMo. They totally can and do all of the time! But when I heard them talk about this, it made me feel better about how my relationship with the event has evolved and I don't have the same enthusiasm I once did.

It's because the original intent of the month isn't geared toward me anymore. In a way, I've graduated from it, and that's kind of a cool feeling.

I'm still so glad I participated this month, even if the hot mess of my rough draft makes me cringe. (But that's why they call them rough drafts- right?) Then as long as I still have new novel ideas each November, I'll still participate in NaNoWriMo each year. Or if not, I'll use it as a time to do some hard-core focusing on revisions and edits on whatever project I'm working on at the time. I love having the month long excuse of "sorry, I have to lock myself up in my room and write for a few hours cause I need to have this word count in." Not that I can't do that in other months, but when I have something a bit more official to add to it, people tend to be a tad more understanding of why they don't see me for weeks at a time. 

So, I did it. I wrote 50,000 words in the month of November. 

I'm going to take a break from noveling for a bit. For some people, they like to keep going through December and keep writing if their book isn't finished yet. If they still have the momentum, this is awesome because then it can get done. That's not the case for me. As much as I love the dedicated four weeks, I'm tired. I like taking December as a time to relax and enjoy the holidays. 

This doesn't mean I won't work on it at all. When I have the chance I'll do some polishing and cleaning up here and there. When I have ideas I'll jot them down and work on fleshing out some of those scenes I haven't finished yet.

Even when it comes to reading, I've started the habit of taking it easy in December. I've heard of people only re-reading favorites during December and I kind of love that idea. I'll read a few new books but that's just because I have some cheesy Christmas ones waiting for me on my Kindle. Other than that, I'm going to go back and read the ones that I love no matter how many times I pick them up. Or one I really enjoyed earlier this year that I want to experience again. 

Sometimes, even when we love something, we need a break from it. Time to relax and enjoy other things for a bit.

And maybe bask in the glow of saying "I did it."

Did you do NaNoWriMo this year? What big tasks have you accomplished recently? What are your plans for December?

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Meet the Family Part 2- Flash Fiction Friday

I hope you all enjoyed part 1 of this story last week, here's the conclusion! 

If you have any prompts or ideas of a story you'd like to read for December, send it over! 

I wasn't planning on proposing. But after we talked about it once I couldn't get the idea out of my head and the next thing I knew I was at the jewelers inspecting rings. I'd kept the ring in my pocket ever since so I wouldn't lose it.

Clearly, that didn't work out so well. 

"What were you planning to do with this?" Jeff's hand was shaking as he held it, from the cold or at what the ring meant, I wasn't sure. 

My mouth went dry and I tried to swallow. "I just thought it looked cool."

That was by far one of the dumbest answers I could have given.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "And keeping it in your pocket?"

I didn't have an answer. 

"This is only the first time you've met my family," Jeff said as he handed me the ring. When he did, I felt my heart bend. It didn't break, because he wasn't rejecting anything. But he also didn't look thrilled about it, and I didn't realize how much I wanted that ring on his finger until he was handing it back to me. So, my heart bent. 

"I'm sorry I've messed things up," I said and placed the ring into the box. It snapped shut and I flinched at the sound. 

Jeff stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. "We're so different Mike. I always liked that about us. But..."

My heart continued to bend. I didn't like the sound of where this was going. But I couldn't argue with him.

"Let's go back inside," I said before he could finish. "I don't want to be late for dinner and have your mom hate me even more."

Jeff opened his mouth as though he were going to say something then closed it again. He nodded his head and we walked back to the house in silence. In fact, a majority of the remainder of the day I spent in silence.

When we returned his family didn't say anything mean, didn't try to eat me, or made any comments about my spilling Grandma or almost poisoning them. They simply ignored me, and Jeff wasn't much better. It was as though I had faded to the background and became part of the wallpaper. I almost wished I could go back to ruining the day because then at least Jeff would talk to me. 

Normally, I would have loved to sit back and observe Jeff with his family. They all obviously loved him. He cracked jokes with his uncles, let his niece sit on his lap, and helped his mom in the kitchen. This should have made me happy. It would have if I could have been a part of it. 

His niece screeched at my side and I jumped. She was sitting on the floor with a toy vampire doll, but one of its fangs had fallen off. Tears welled in her eyes as she helplessly tried to reattach it. 

I held out my hand. "Let me try."

She gave me a wary glance but handed the toy over. I knelt on the ground and saw where the fang would be inserted into the mouth. Apparently it was retractable. With a bit of finagling, I was able to get it back in.

She gave me a hesitant smile then pushed along the floor over to me a bride of Frankenstein doll. Well, it was better than being ignored. 

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Jeff looking in my direction with a small smile.

Finally it was time to eat and we all gathered around the dining room table. Jeff started to say something to me but was interrupted by his uncle saying a prayer. We all bowed our heads and when he was done he started to cut into the meat.

"The way his kind acts toward each other I'm amazed they still pray," someone next to me murmured. I felt my cheeks warm. 

"That's enough," Jeff snapped. Everyone at the table stared at him, including myself. "Mike has been nothing but kind to you all day. Yeah, it hasn't been perfect, but he's tried. Which is more than I can say for everyone here. Including myself. I know we're different, but that's just how it is. I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with him and you better just get used to him, or get used to me not being around. It's your choice."

My jaw dropped and could have touched the table. He turned to look at me with pleading eyes.

He wanted to spend the rest of his life with me?

"I'm sorry," he said. "I should have spoke up sooner. If this is going to work, you're my family now."

I couldn't speak, so I reached under the table and gave his hand a squeeze and smiled. He smiled back. 

The rest of the night was better. I made an effort to talk to his family members, and his mom even apologized for how she acted in the kitchen that day. They were just protective of Jeff, and I couldn't blame them for that. 

As we put our coats on at the end of the night I heard something fall from Jeff's pocket and hit the ground. I picked it up. It was a ring box.

"Um..."

I opened the box. "What's this?"

Jeff shrugged. "I just thought it was cool and decided to keep it in my pocket."

"Oh really?"

His eyes were twinkling. "Yeah."

I pulled out the ring from my pocket and compared the two. They had the same engraving. "So... the rest of our lives. What do you say?"

Jeff pulled me close to him and kissed me. He took the rings from my hand and put one on his finger, and one on mine. "If we can survive my family, I think we can survive anything."

I kissed him back. 

"Just wait until you meet mine at Christmas."

---

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My Writing Process: Characters

Over the last few months I've been sharing about my process when I am writing a novel. Previously, I wrote about brainstorming, then last month I wrote about outlining. Today, I'll talk about one of my favorite elements.

Creating characters.

For me, characters are one of the most important part of a novel. The plot might be simple, the magic ordinary, writing style not that great, etc. But if you have characters that I can completely fall in love with? Or even characters I may not like, but I find fascinating? I forget about the rest. Characters are the heart of a book and are what make you care about the story.

Then, building relationships around those characters. I love figuring out who is friends with who, their family dynamics, who will fall in and out of love, and seeing the differences between my protagonists and antagonists.  

I will admit, for my current project, Vampire Snow White, figuring out my cast is pretty easy since it's a retelling. The cast is already there for me! Snow White, an evil queen/stepmother, a huntsman, the "prince," the "seven dwarfs," etc. But, the trick was still to find ways to make them unique to my book, and not in a way which is done often and would speak to my story the best. 

The Main Character

This should be pretty obvious, but your main character is the one you should be spending the most time with. It's who the whole book is about after all! The author should know this character the best out of all of them. 

Honestly, I'm slightly in love with my vampire version of Snow White. She completely fascinates me, and I think she's much different than your "typical" Snow White. Making her a vampire, and a particularly old on, gave her a much different vibe than other characters I've written before. I've loved trying to see the world through her eyes.

When you're the scariest thing in the room - what are you afraid of? When you've lived for several centuries, how do you view people and culture? What memories and time periods stand out to you the most? Why does the evil queen want you dead? What did you do to her? What is it about the prince character that you're drawn to? Why would you decide to live in a house with seven strangers? 

Slowly, the pieces of her came together. I also took inspiration from some of my favorite vampire and historical figures I think she would appreciate. Researching the origin of the tale also helped me to shape her character. 

The Antagonist

I love reading and watching a great antagonist. They can make or break a story. But for some reason, I struggle writing them. I'm still working on my evil queen/stepmother character. She just isn't coming to me. 

Maybe I'm just not evil minded enough. Who knows?

But, something I love to do when I have an antagonist is to compare them to my main character. I figure out how they're alike, and then see the ways they're different. Maybe they have similar backgrounds and personality traits, but they make different choices. 

A classic example of this is in Harry Potter. As Harry learns Voldemort's history and plans, he notices that in many ways they are very alike. But, they made very different choices, which makes them excellent foils against one another. 

Visuals

As I've said in previous blog posts, I'm a pretty visual person when it comes to my characters. On my secret Pinterest boards, I pin images of who inspires my characters and it helps a lot. When I was first brainstorming about my "prince" character, he wasn't very clear in my head. He was just "some magic warlock sexy man guy." Then, I saw a photo of an actor and it was like lightening struck. I just though "that's him." All of the sudden I could sense his personality, his background, his style, and his values. He wasn't just the quintessential love interest. He was a person. 

To Keep in Mind

When stuck on a character, the biggest thing to think of always is "what do they want, and what's preventing them from getting it?" Then, from there you can figure out why they want that certain thing, what would be the first things they try, who is in their way, etc. 

Then, I think about their core values. Are they loyal? Are they selfish? Do they put friends or family first? What's the most important thing to them? 

When you know their values, you can think of what would cause them to betray those values. You think about what can make or break the character. What's going to push them to their limits. 

If you do a search on Google or Pinterest, you can find a ton of character sketches which are really helpful to start brainstorming characters. Scrivener has a character sketch template which is pretty bare bones where you can map out some key elements of their physical features, a few personality traits, background information, and a brief bio. For some people that works well. For others, they may want more details and you can find a ton of templates to help figure out the tiniest things like favorite colors, most embarrassing moment, people they admire, and favorite foods. 

For me, I like to do these to an extent, but don't always go full out for each character. Sometimes, they just come to me and develop as I write. But, I do find character sketches useful when I'm getting stuck and they help me dig a bit deeper than just the surface level information. 

Many times, I love to do character interviews. These were fun when I had longer commutes and during my drive I could put on some music and have a "conversation" with a character. It was surprising how much information I had stored away in my head that I didn't realize was there once I started "talking" to them!

Also, I've learned that you don't always have to like a character. But I do find that thinking they are interesting is important. I remember when I read the book Gone Girl that I really didn't like any of the characters. But they were fascinating, so I wanted to keep reading. 

Who are some of your favorite characters from books, TV, or movies? What do you think makes them so great?

---

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Flash Fiction Friday- Under the Bed

I've been brainstorming ways I could try and share my fiction writing with you. Instead of just talking about writing all of the time, I want to show that "Yes! I do actually put words to a page which aren't a blog post!" None of my novels are published (yet), so it's not like I can share a link of where you can purchase one. I thought about maybe sharing peeks at what I'm working on such as sample scenes and chapters, but I'm not sure how publishers and agents feel about that when you're trying to go the traditional route of publishing.

But, what about flash fiction?

Flash fiction is a form of short story where you write something 1000 words or less. I'll be the first to tell you - I'm not good at short stories. I'm a novelist, and a long-winded one at that. Even when I was in elementary school and was told to write a one page story it would end up being at least three. 

Short stories just aren't my thing.

But, I also know it's a good skill to have, and one I should be practicing. This in mind, I thought it might be fun if here and there I added an additional blog post to my schedule where I try some flash fiction.

Have prompt ideas for any future flash fiction? Let me know in the comments, shoot me an email, or reach out via Facebook/Twitter!

Here's something I thought of for Halloween! I had a lot of fun with it, and I hope you do too.

Under the Bed

"And they all lived happily ever after. The end."

I heard the book shut and the mother placed her feet on the ground. I jerked my bony hand underneath the bed before she could step on it. 

"Good night, Sweetie."

The mother's feet made their way to the door until the child cried out. "Check!"

I heard the mother sigh and I slunk further into the shadows. The mother and child knelt down next to my entrance and shone a flashlight. The child's brown pigtails bounced as she examined the area. They couldn't see me in the light. No one could. But I could see them. 

"There's nothing there," the mother reassured her as she helped the girl back into bed.

"But I saw it!"

"It was just a bad dream, Sweetie. But, I can give you Bear. Will that make you feel better?"

I snarled at the sound of Bear's name. I had tried to get to it during the story while they were distracted.

The mother left the room and turned out the light. The glimmer of the moon and stars plugged into the far wall was the only thing which would make me invisible again. The moon couldn't even gaze inside with the dark curtains shut. Now, it was my time.

I waited until the child's breathing slowed as she fell asleep, then slid out of my dark home. Slowly. Slowly. Slowly. It couldn't know I was there. It would ruin everything. My nails gripped the floorboards and made a small creaking sound, and the child gasped. 

I froze. Maybe she would go back to sleep. Something brushed against my hand. 

Aha! Gotcha!

I grasped it in my fist. Something smooth and cool. The girl's foot. 

She yelped and jumped back in bed and I slid my hand back where it was. 

I waited again. I needed to be more patient. She would be asleep soon. I let my breathing slow, matching hers in a peaceful rhythm. When it was safe, I slid out once again. The girl shivered and tugged her blanket close around her tiny body. The bear was snuggled against her chest, dressed in its little knight in shining armor uniform. I swore it smirked at me as I hovered over the bed, my shadowy cape filling the room. 

The bear slid out from the girl's arms and climbed up to the headboard. It lifted it's shield and sword up at me. The shield reflected the night light and it shone upon me, pushing me back away from the bed. 

No. I wouldn't let it get me. I needed to be closer.

I stretched my arms, embracing the air in the room, then pushed it toward the bear in a wave. He fell off the bed and I flew to where he landed. The nightlight no longer reflected off of his shield and he pointed his miniature sword toward me, his arm shaking. I pushed it aside and it slid across the hardwood floor. 

The bear shook as I pinned it to the ground. I had it now.

A small gasp came from the bed. The wind I created had swept off the comforter. Her lip trembled and her eyes sparkled. I swept to her side and held a bony finger to her mouth before she could cry.

"Shhhhhhh." 

Before I could move on, something thudded against my head. The bear had retrieved his sword once again. He reflected the nightlight toward me once again and I flew against the back wall then rushed to my hiding place. 

The girl started to cry and within moments the mother returned, turning on the light, and sat on the bed. She cooed soothing words to the child. I wouldn't be coming out again that night.

I pulled out the small bottle I had snatched from the bear labeled "Child Poison." I sneered then smashed it against the wall. It vanished in a purple haze.

I hadn't intended for the child to wake and cry. But, it didn't matter. She was safe. At least for tonight. 

My Workspace

I am a firm believer in that if you want to write or get something done, you'll find a way to make it happen. When people tell me "I can't write unless I have..." I tend to struggle to not roll my eyes. A couple of weeks ago, I saw Lin-Manuel Miranda tweet that he wrote large chunks of the second act of Hamilton while in his mother's laundry room. Particularly with the technology we have today, or just plain old pen and paper, you can write anywhere.

Granted, depending on your art form, this isn't always possible. If you're a sculptor, you can't take your supplies with you in your backpack everywhere and work on your project while standing in line at Starbucks. I get that. But, for a lot of us, if we're willing to be flexible, we can work anywhere.

That being said, I do understand the idea of having the ideal work space. Somewhere you can go if you want to sit down and have an intense creative session. A place where everything is organized and set to your liking. Because I'll also admit, that while I love the fact that I have my writing sync'd to my phone and I can jot down lines for my novel anywhere I go, if I want to have a deep writing session, some places are more suited than others. 

Also, I love desk and office supplies. Any excuse to go and shop for them is good in my book.

Over the past year, I made it a goal to create my ideal writing space. The place where I can let my imagination wander as well as be productive. It's now become one of my favorite spaces in my room.

The Desk

As I looked around for desks, I was tempted by vintage writing desks. You know, the old roll -top ones, or those which had grand hutches and intricate woodwork. I could paint it a funky color and make it all pretty and fancy. But, as I was thinking about it, I don't do well when a desk has too many drawers and nooks and crannies. Ideally, they'd help me with organization because I'd have a place to put everything. 

In reality- I'd just fill it all with junk and never clean anything out ever and it'd look like a disaster.

So, as I looked around on Pinterest for ideas, I fell in love wit hthe idea of the Parsons desk. It's the most simple of a desk as you can get. No drawers, no hutch, just a plain flat desk. Yet, it still looks classy in it's simplicity and perfect for small spaces. 

I found mine at Staples for $60, put it on hold online, and picked it up within the hour. I was even able to put it together on my own, which is always a plus.

The Chair

For me, picking out a chair was one of the most difficult parts. I'd heard horror stories about writers having back problems because the chair they sat in the most as they worked wasn't good. I have enough back and medical problems as it is - I don't need my writing to add to the list!

Being so short, it's difficult to find furniture that fits me perfectly. Especially chairs. The seat can be too deep where my knees don't hit the edge correctly, the way the backrest hits doesn't always support where I need it to, etc. Then, since I have such a small space to work with, I couldn't have a huge executive chair. On top of it all, I also needed a chair to stay in my budget. Yes, I could find comfortable and workable chairs, but they'd be several hundred dollars. Not realistic for me.

Finally, I found this one at Office Depot. It was in budget, small enough for my space, but still comfortable. 

Organization

Now, with my desk being this simple, I did need a small space to place essentials like pens, paper, stationary, mail, etc. For this, I picked up a white desk organizer. It has four slots where I can put those basic essentials I need for day-to-day. 

Because of the simplicity of the organizer and the desk, I've decided to add more fun and punch to these essential items. Lately, if I find I need more pens or pencils, I find ones I think are fun or pretty. It sounds simple and silly, but quite frankly, I'm more excited to get to work when I can use that really pretty new pen I just bought.

Yes, I realize how ridiculous I am.

Then, below my desk, I placed a white basket where I put all of my other extra papers and notebooks. When it gets too full, I know it's time to clean it out. I've also added a plastic file organizer where I can fit bills, taxes, and other important documents. It also doubles as a footrest!

The Planner

Last year, I attempted to jump on the bullet journal train. I loved how customize-able it was, and I also have always really loved journaling. 

I soon learned it wasn't for me. I was always jealous of the people who could draw well and put pretty doodles in their journals and try as I might - that's just not the art form I've been gifted in. I missed having everything laid out for me. 

So, I went for a traditional planner for 2017 and it's been awesome. It has all of the calendars and essentials I need to stay organized. Then, with extra note paper, I can make the other lists I'd want to use in a bullet journal. Add some cute stickers and washi-tape, and I can make it look super cute!

The mug is empty because I already drank all of the coffee. Obviously.

The Decor

Yes! I consider the decor essential too. Sometimes, you just need something pretty or fun to look at while you try to think of your next idea. 

Again, I went with something somewhat simple. If it's too busy, it can be distracting. Thankfully, all of the items on the wall were gifts or something I had received in a monthly subscription box. On my desk, I have a couple of seasonal items. 

I will be adding another larger simple piece of art to fill that blank space, but considering I just moved things are still being unpacked.

The only thing I've kept "busy" is my bulletin board which is to the side of my desk. This is where I pin up all invitations, greeting cards, photos, ticket stubs, programs, etc. I've collected over the year. Then, at the end of the year, I take them all down and place them in a shoebox labeled with the year. 

There you have it. My workspace for when I want to sit down at home and get some intense work done. What's your ideal work area?

My Writing Process - Outlining vs. Discovery Writing

Welcome to the second in the "My Writing Process" series! The first post was about brainstorming. That's simply getting your ideas together. Today, I'll share with you my thoughts on actually planing out a novel and the story. 

There tend to be two categories writers place themselves into for this. There's the outliners and the "pantsers." (AKA- discovery writing.) Either you plan your novel out, or you just wing it.

The reality is, most writers are a mix of both. I know I am. It also depends on the project I'm working on. Some books I feel like I need to know exactly what happens when. Others, I let myself figure it out along the way. Although, I tend to go for more outlining. For the project I'm working on at the moment, I'm winging it a bit more than usual. Which is slightly scary. Some elements of this book I knew I had to know exactly what happened. The rest, I'm only planning one step ahead of where I am currently in my writing process. I have the first few chapters plotted out, but the everything else I have no idea!

Outlining

When I outline my novel, there are a few different methods I've tried. 

The 9 Block Method

I found this one through the YouTuber KatyTastic. (One of her vidoes is below) You divide your book into three acts, each with three sections, and three chapters in each section. This would create roughly 27 chapters. (It sounds confusing, I know. But it isn't!) All of these roughly are just about setting up, creating conflict, and resolution. Beginning, middle, and end. Act one is setting up the story, act two is building up the conflict, act three is the climax/resolution. Then each act has a bit of a "mini" story inside of it with set up, conflict, and resolution.

Katy explains it far better than I do, and when I first started to outline this way, I had to refer back to her videos several times. (You can watch one of them here!) Now that I've gotten the hang of it, it's easy. It's a fairly commercial method of putting together a story and I like to use it when I'm getting stuck on plot. (I'm TERRIBLE at plot. Give me fun characters and witty banter all day. When I have to actually decide the things that happen to them and how it all fits together, it's the struggle bus for me.) It helps me to see how I can keep the story moving as well as eliminate things which don't add anything to the story.

The Snowflake Method

This one is about starting small, then getting bigger and bigger. You first start with a simple, short sentence, summarizing your novel. Then, you write a paragraph. Then three paragraphs (particularly if you're doing a 3 act structure.) Each paragraph having roughly five sentences each. 

Once that's done, you move onto creating something similar for each of your main characters. 

You can probably see where this is going. You keep going until it gets bigger and bigger then you're ready to write your novel. I'd continue, but you can follow this link to learn more. This method is good for people who like to take notes and write things out, vs. having a bullet point outline. I like to use this when I'm focusing more on my characters vs. the plot points.

Classic Story Structures

There's also several structures for classic story lines. Rags to riches, quests, the hero's journey, voyage and return, rebirth, and overcoming the monster. If you look at different genres and compare their story lines carefully, you'll see some basic plot structures and it's a good way to get yourself going. Figure out where the main "beats" of your story need to be, then go from there. You can see many of these on my Pinterest board. 

The Pros of Outlining

You have an idea of where your story is going, and it helpful if you find yourself stuck or from keeping your book from taking it's own course. I especially find it useful during the revision phase because then you can weed out what is and isn't needed in your book. But we'll talk about revisions in a later post.

The Cons of Outlining

Some people get married to their outline and don't let their story grow and breathe. Personally, I found this to be the fatal flaw in the ending of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. The creators had a specific ending in mind when they first plotted out the TV show. But as the show grew and changed, the ending did not. So, when we got to the finale, it was a disaster. Years later, I still become irrationally angry if I think about it too much, because everything else was so well done!

Others don't like to outline because they feel like it constricts them and they can't be as creative as they'd want. 

I always say, feel free to outline as much as you want; just be sure you're willing to be flexible. 

Discovery Writing

There's not a whole lot to say about this method, other than it's the "figure it out as you go" philosophy. You start writing and see where it takes you. This lends itself to being more organic. It's easy to say that this is more "creative," which I don't agree with. There's definitely creativity in outlining as well. 

The Pros of Discovery Writing

No bounds! No limitations! Do what you want! Discovery writing is awesome for people who don't like structure. If a random plot twist comes to you, you don't have to worry about re-doing that outline you worked on for hours and hours. You just go with it. Sometimes the surprises can be the best parts of your book.

The Cons of Discovery Writing

You may not know where your book is going. For me, this is the scary part because it's easy to get stuck. This is the beauty of planning. If you don't know what to write, you can just take a look at your outline and see what's coming next. 

It's easy for your book to lose track of where it's going. You may find yourself with scenes you don't know what to do with, characters who don't have a purpose, and when you get to the end you have no idea how to tie it all together. 

Overall, a majority of writers are a mix of the two methods, or it will vary with each project. I had one book where I had it heavily outlined and I relied on it for every step of the way! For projects like the one I'm currently working on, I have some details set and a few moments I want to be in the book, but beyond that I'm just seeing where the characters and the story takes me!

Brandon Sanderson, a popular epic fantasy writer, says he very much relies on his outlines. But then I've heard of authors such as Agatha Christie who claimed she didn't know who the murderer was until she reached the end of the book!

Basically - you do you.