Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Oh, the Angst!



Sometimes--for me, anyway--emotions can get in the way of writing.  Ever try to bang out a couple thousand words of a fight scene but you're in a sparkly-unicorn-farts good mood?  Or attempt to write a chapter of happiness, only to discover that the funk you're in makes this next-to-impossible? 

This usually happens to me when the moods are extreme, but I have a feeling we've all been there.  

On the other hand, sometimes emotions take us to strange places as writers, even inspiring us.  I had the dubious pleasure recently of being so upset, so absolutely throw-down-and-kick-some-ass angry, that if anyone was around me at the time, I'm sure they would have spontaneous exploded, or would have gotten this kind of response: 


But in the middle of my rage, a line came to me out of the blue, and I'm sure if I hadn't been in such a terrible mood, I'd never have thought of it.  And no, I'm not going to share it with you...I'm not that generous.  But I'm saving it for when I get a chance to use it in some future work of mine.

Has this ever happened to you?  Do you write better when you feel the same as the scene you're writing?  Or can you turn it off and write whatever you need to, no matter what?  Tell me!

xoxo Sarah

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Tech & the Twitter...

Or should that be "the Twitter" (Twittah...?) as they say over here in the UK?

I enjoy social networking.  I have a FB author page, a Twitter profile for me as an author, and this blog. (If you can't click the links, you can also see them in my right side-bar..."like" or "follow," pretty please?)  And anything to consolidate that crap together or make it easier is a good thing.  For example, when I post a blog entry, I have it set up so my FB page automatically makes a post.  Another example: when I post anything on FB, it's linked to my Twitter account, so it tweets for me.  Easy-peasy.  

And FB is my favorite to use of all those because of the fun interaction I get to do with the people who have "liked" my page, but I do love me some Twitter on occasion.  The problem is that Twitter's actual website doesn't have the best interface.  You have to click on a million different things to see stuff, like your mentions (where other people have mentioned your screen-name and tweeted you) or your direct (private) messages, and a ton of other stuff.  And don't even get me started on their lump updating.  I prefer real-time!

A while ago, maybe a year or two, there was an awesome Twitter app/client called Tweetdeck.  It somehow managed to consolidate all the things you'd want to do on Twitter, including real-time updating, in one easy-to-use program.  And the interface was super easy. 

The problem?  Twitter bought it and, pardon the phrase, promptly fucked it up royally.  Everything we liked about it was gone. And when I say "we," I mean myself and a ton of other users who jumped ship to find another app that worked as well.  I sought recommendations from friends, other people on Twitter, everyone...and no dice.  I tried a ton of them, and though some were pretty good, I kept comparing them to the old Tweetdeck.  

This would have been me if I could have found the old Tweetdeck's house. 
Even worse was that Twitter had stopped updating the old version of Tweetdeck, so it didn't even work anymore.  Though you could download the old program from multiple sources online, it used outdated support and wasn't the same.  Last week, out of desperation, I decided to give the new Tweetdeck another try, and lo and behold, the people at Twitter had literally JUST redesigned it.  It doesn't suck anymore, and it's actually very close to how the old Tweetdeck operated.  

So now I'm a happy camper, or at least happier, and am enjoying tweeting much more than I did before.  I realize this kind of sounds like an ad for it, but I was just so excited to find a Twitter client that I liked (again) that I wanted to share.

Do YOU have a favorite Twitter app or client for your computer or mobile device?  Does it update other social networks?  Tell me!

xoxo Sarah

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Excerpt from Fate's Awakening...

As I mentioned yesterday, in honor of my reaching 100 blog entries, 40k words (officially a novel!) on my manuscript, AND having a new title for it (Fate's Awakening), I'd post an excerpt from it.  If you're curious about Fate's Awakening, click the "Novels" tab above, or click here.

And here you are, lovely readers.

It's a tiny...and I do mean tiny, excerpt from the prologue of Fate's Awakening.

Enjoy!

“The Three have requested your immediate presence.”
             The messenger’s stony expression did little to quiet Evangeline’s nerves, though she suspected he took no notice. It was rare that she was summoned by any of the greater gods, much less the Moirai—the Three Fates, to most of the mortal realms—and she racked her brain for a reason why they’d want to see her. She came up empty.

There you go!  I hope you enjoyed that.  Was it interesting?  Intriguing?  Let me know what you think!

xoxo Sarah

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Number 100! And a Treat!

Woot!  Despite my shitty blogging skills, I've officially passed my 100th post!  Sure, most of them have come from the two April A-Z blogfests I've done, but hey, they're entries.

I hope you've been entertained and informed...at least that was my intention.

Anyway, because it's such a nice round number, I thought I'd make a little announcement.  I've officially crossed into "novel" territory with my manuscript!  As I mentioned in one of my other posts from forever ago, a "novel" in the romance world is something that is 40,000 words or more, and I'm clocking about 41k at the moment.  Go, me!

Brad Pitt is THRILLED for me.
It won't be much longer than this; maybe I'll hit 45k, though I'm not likely to make it to the 50k mark, but hey, stranger things have happened.  The story is winding down, and I'm in the home stretch.  I've mostly been re-reading and editing as I go, as well as fleshing out scenes where I basically wrote, "And stuff happened here."

So, because I'm so excited to hit both 100 AND 40k in a short period of time, you guys are in for a treat.  My lovely critique partner, Shelley, has helped me pick a new title for the manuscript.  It was titled The Curse, which I wasn't married to, and good thing I wasn't because I was given some great feedback that it sounded like I was referring to a lady's "that time of the month." If ya know what I mean. And just so we're clear, I mean menstrual cycle.  Well, that wasn't going to fly, so I've picked a new working title for it (it still may be re-titled by a publisher if one picks it up) but for now, I'm going with....

...drumroll please...

Fate's Awakening

I really like it, and I hope you guys do too!  If you're curious about Fate's Awakening, check out the little tab above labeled Novels, or click here.

Even better, if you tune in tomorrow, I'll post a short excerpt from the prologue!  That's how excited I am!  But please keep in mind that none of this has been professionally edited, or even accepted for publication, so it's probably crap.  But I still want to share my crap with you, you lucky readers.  

xoxo Sarah