Monthly Archives: February 2013

Celebrate the Small Things Hop

Posted in Inspiration, Misc. by

vik - small things 2Week 5 here at Celebrate the Small Things! If you are new to this blog hop, all you have to do is sign up on the linky below if you want to join! If you already have, then go around to each blog that signed up and congratulate or just say YAY to everyone and their accomplishments for this week! (Full instructions at our host Vikki’s post here!)

I have had one of the most WONDERFUL writing weeks ever. Seriously. And no, I didn’t finish my manuscript but it was still awesome. This week is all about appreciating the wonderful, giving, amazing, thoughtful people still left in this world. Because, believe it or not, they exist! Continue reading →

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff Book Review

Posted in Book Review, The Writer Diaries by

paper-valentine-coverPaper Valentine
By Brenna Yovanoff
Published January 8, 2013 by Razorbill
306 Pages

I cannot express enough how much I loved this book. If you like ghosts, if you like dark themes that have real, yet heartbreaking truths about human nature, then this book is for you. And guess what, if you don’t like ghosts and dark books, this is still a book for you because I wouldn’t necessarily put myself in that category either.

Here is the official book description:

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls. Continue reading →

Celebrate the Small Things Hop

Posted in Inspiration, Misc. by

vik - small things 2Week 4 here at Celebrate the Small Things! If you are new to this blog hop, all you have to do is sign up on the linky below if you want to join! If you already have, then go around to each blog that signed up and congratulate or just say YAY to everyone and their accomplishments for this week! (Full instructions at our host Vikki’s post here!)

Writing related: Well people, it finally happened. I hit 50,000 words this week!!!!! I will be doing a separate post on this later but let me just say, it feels super amazing. I probably won’t be highlighting every 10K of writing I get done with every other book going forward, but I just feel like for this first one that I am actually forcing myself to finish, it helps to keep me motivated and gives me a goal to work towards. And, come on, I think 50K is a big one! My only problem now is that I still feel like the ending isn’t that close and I don’t want to start getting into word count trouble. I guess lots of editing is in my future too then!

As far as non-related accomplishments go, my husband and I are on our way to refinancing out house and saving about an extra $110/month on our mortgage payment, so YAY for more money in my pocket!!! Now where to spend it….OH YEAH. Books.

What did you celebrate this week? Let me know in the comments or join the hop and I will find out on your blog!

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To Be a Series or Not to Be a Series? That is the Question

Posted in First Novel Attempt, Inspiration, On Ideas/Planning, On Writing, Series by

Let me skip away from the title of this post for JUST a moment and then I will jump right back on task. I promise.

forever-book-trailer

When I first started writing THE BEHOLDER, it was kind of a side step to what I had really been wanting to do. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited about it and I thought the idea was pretty unique and had a lot of potential. But REALLY, I was more excited about the series idea (ELEMENTS) that I had been trying to write but was having a hard time plotting out. I had already spent months with those characters inside my head and they felt like the most awesomest cast EVER. To me, at least. I let a few CPs read the first 6 or so chapters I had churned out and a lot of the feedback was very positive and complimentary. But as a beginner writer, trying to tackle a series was a daunting task. I spent all of my time trying to figure out how each book would play out and how the characters would change from the beginning to the end of 300,000 words or so. It was mostly frustrating and sometimes insane. I felt completely and irrefutably over my head.

But I was determined to be a writer. It was in my blood. I knew I had the passion for it and I wasn’t going to let this hole I dug keep me down. So when I got the idea for THE BEHOLDER, I made the very difficult choice of setting aside ELEMENTS and all the wonderful characters I had created and started in on a new idea, a new cast. At first I didn’t know them as well but I came to know them. And I came to love them. And it was a lot easier for me to wrap my head around an idea that would only span one single book. Or would it? Continue reading →

Nomination for Liebster Award

Posted in Inspiration, Misc. by

J.A. Ward Writes has been Nominated by April Books for the Liebster Award! I want to say thank you to my nominator and congratulations to all of my nominees, you all have wonderful blogs.

The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows:

liebster-award1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you.

2. Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees;

3. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been chosen. (No tag backs)

4. Copy and Paste the blog award on your blog.

Continue reading →

Celebrate the Small Things Hop

Posted in Inspiration, Misc. by

vik - small things 2Week 3 here at Celebrate the Small Things! If you are new to this blog hop, all you have to do is sign up on the linky below if you want to join! If you already have, then go around to each blog that signed up and congratulate or just say YAY to everyone and their accomplishments for this week! (Full instructions at our host Vikki’s post here!)

Writing related: I made it to 40K big ones this past week! I feel like I am closing in on my story and it will be the most loveliest day of all days when I complete that first draft and have a whole flowing manuscript! It will still need to be hacked up with my red machete (also known as the evil editing pen) but at least it will be a finished piece. My first rough draft of a real novel! I get so excited to just thinking about it!

I also decided to put myself out there even MORE and plan to attend the Midwest Writer’s Conference in Muncie, Indiana this July. I am super nervous just thinking about sitting in front of an agent and pitching my story, but worrying about that is for another time and day. I even think my wonderful friend Vicki Orians will be joining me at the conference, so at least there will be some friends to hang out with too!

As far as non-related accomplishments go, I got some cleaning done around the house and did somewhere around five loads of laundry. Our furnace started acting up and my wonderful hubby was able to fix it, so no extra bills! The furnace lives to breathe out hot air for another day! Oh, and I joined the smartphone world with a Samsung Galaxy S 3 – as if I needed another device to distract me from writing!

What did you celebrate this week? Let me know in the comments or join the hop and I will find out on your blog!

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