Mrs. Rowling, how we love thee

Jen Daiker @ unedited, Melissa @ Through the Looking Glass , Lisa Galek @ Read. Write. Repeat, and Renae Mercado @ The Siren's Song, Laurel @ Laurel's Leaves, and I are at it again for the last installment of HP yummy-madness bonanza extravaganza!

Firstly, midnight show was crazy awesome. My bud got there at 7 and it was packed already so he got in line and texted me to hurry up. In my haste I got a few pictures but it was so hectic I didn't take any in line! I'm sorry! But there was a chick dressed up as....wait for it...a Firebolt! It was pretty freakin funny. Some great costumes and some...I didn't get...but whatever.

My mask, I made that thank you. My mark...I scribbled that as quickly as possible...thank you... and ME! If you saw that girl last night, HI! If not. Sucks for you. Apparently I creeped people out. Which was awesome. Sadly I was a lone death eater as far as I saw. There were a few guys in capes with white face paint which we assumed were death eaters but...it was hard to say for sure. LOTS of Dobby ears though and that was crazy awesome.

Some news crews were there as well. I had hoped to link it if there had been something cool to see for you all but I can't find anything on this blasted internet and it's 4 am so...I quit for the night. Hope you all enjoyed the movie who go to go. If not yet, I hope you will enjoy it! I won't say anything more about it than this: I was pleased. I loved it.

Today(you will probably find me snooooozing in after the midnight release) marks the beginning of the end to an amazing series. (which is soo close to being over *pout*!) And so we must honor the woman who made it all possible. Without her, we would have no Harry, Snape, Dumbley-dore, Weasley twins, or any other characters we love. (and love to hate)

J.K. Rowling had a hard start. I think her journey to being published is one every writer clings to these days. Even epic novels like Harry Potter didn't make it easily. Which is something I know I will have to remind myself every day when I set out to query. She worked her ass off for what she has. It is easy to be jealous of her but impossible to think she didn't earn it all, or deserve it all. She did. She does.

I wanted to highlight some facts about her that I thought were interesting and reflect in big and small ways in her writing.

• Did you know her parents met on a train traveling from Kings Cross? Her father was off to join the Royal Navy. Her mother the WRNS (apparently the woman's equivalent)
• As a child she lived near a brother and sister who's last name was Potter. The boy claims to be "the" Potter and his mother says they used to dress up as wizards but she says that is not true at all. I believe Mrs. Rowling. 
• Her favorite grandmother, Kathleen, is whom she took her K in JK in honor of. 
• When she was 11 she met Sean Harris who Chamber of Secrets is dedicated and owned the original Ford Anglia
• She was traveling alone on a crowded train when the idea for Harry Potter struck! (he's alone on the train in the beginning? eh? Neat.)
• Her mother died young in 1990 at only 45. Very sad...
• Sometimes, as she fought to finish Philosophers Stone before she ran out of time, Mrs. Rowling HATED the book, even when she loved it too. So. Yes that is a real thing, to hate your own amazing work and love it all at once. 
• Her name is NOT pronounced Row(as in an argument) but Row(as in what you would do in a boat.) Nothing to connect with her stories actually but I thought it was interesting...I didn't know that anyway.  

 And something I read on her site that I just loved, I don't know why exactly but I did:
"You need to write something that a publisher would want to publish (it only takes one, but it might take a while to find them. If you are turned down by ever single publisher in existence, you will have to consider the possiblity that what you have written is not publishable)." -HA! Yes. Love. 

So this weekend as you head the theater with your friends and family, spare a moment to marvel at the one mind that dreamed it all up. Because that is what this week was all about, Harry and Imagination. And one imagination has been the cause for all your fond memories that involve waiting in line to see the next HP movie and counting down till midnight to get your hand on the next book just to see what happens in the life of the boy who lived. Amazing, right?

HERE is JK Rowling's official website, if you don't already know it. And where I collected most all my info on her to guarantee its truthfulness.

Mrs. Rowling, I salute you and all the strength, imagination, and genius you possess. Thank you.

 

(you notice how I had a few pictures to finish out there? Yea...no, my supply was never ending!) 

JK Rowling texted Daniel Radcliffe and promised no more HP! Boo. But I bet he is relieved. 

Enjoy your Harry Potter weekend, all. I know I will!

Saturday I get to meet one of my newest critique partners for the first time in person! Talk about someone being psyched! Abby Minard is amazingly awesome. She is my go to when I have a whine or a question or a concern. So I really am so stoked to get to meet her and get to rave about and discuss her MS in real life!

Oh, and Christmas is coming up so...you all pitch it, K?

Finally, Don't forget to get in on my contest before Dec. 2nd.. Click the kitty head!

Lets talk Innuendos.

Okay, not really innuendos but how about symbolism in writing instead.

I used to stress about what someone would read into what I write. What kind of things they could pick up about me or the intent of every letter I put down when I didn't actually intend more than what was there. What about all those things psychologists, philosophists, crazy people, etc see that I don't? Do writers intend on half the messages that people pull from their work?

What if they think I'm writing about the inadequacy of orphanages, the decline in society, or trying to push SIN and SEX on children.Or worse still, killing children! When none of that is what I mean in INTO, I could see validity in the what ifs. And if I can pick up on those things, surely I'm going to be put under a microscope and judged as being evil by every parent, church, organization dedicated to book-hate in the world!

What will a careful analysis of my story get? Anything? More than enough? Things I didn't intend? Probably.

Crawford Kilian wrote: "Nevertheless, as soon as you start writing, you start writing on some kind of symbolic level. Maybe you're not conscious of it, but it's there: in your characters, their actions, the setting, and the images. (Some writers are very powerful symbolists, but don't realize it; that's why authors are often poor critics of their own work.)"

I wonder if that is true. Do we, as writers,  make decisions about what goes in on a symbolic level without realizing it? I hope so. I'd feel a lot smarter, either way, if my story is deeper than I think it is.

******************This is where I stopped writing this post and put it aside for a few days. Check this junk out>*****************************************************

As I was working on my characters last Friday, sketching my MC(it helps me see her better) and wondering about them all -- if I had enough of them in my pages to be real to anyone but myself -- a song came on Pandora Radio. It hit me, like a wet hand to my face and I felt SO STUPID!

It was one line: "We lost our love somehow". And there, on that page that I scribbled that line down on was a sketch of my MC and her man. And I got it!  Just that simply!

My Story is ABOUT something! Yes, it's about what I intended to write it about but more than that IT HAS A THEME!!! Wow. I wrote and entire novel, been editing, staring at, editing some more, hating, threatening disembowelment, loving, editing it for months, almost a year, and never noticed the theme that runs through the whole thing - ties every character together! *facepalm* And it's good. I'm not bragging on myself at all. I'm not trying to be all "damn I'm awesome." Because, as I just mentioned, I never saw it. I didn't even know it was there. I just think it's cool how it worked out.


More Advice on Novel Writing by Crawford Kilian is HERE. 

Do you think your story has some deeper meaning? Did you mean it to?  What messages can you see in your own novel you don't mean to be there?

(I did warn you about random HP movie images) 



RANDOM: 



Andy over at Writing Myself Crazy has honored me with another One Lovely Blog Award! How freakin' cool is that?! 2 in 2 weeks! I feel like one special gal today so thank you Andy for that. Be sure to check him out. He is witty, smart, and always has some awesome info going up on his blog!

I try not to pay much attention to the stats of my blog, but sometimes I just get curious, like today. That's when I discovered someone/some people found my blog by searching "for private" and "for private reading". So I just wanted to give you a big 'ol one-eyebrow-raise in your honor.

The lady who checked me out at the bookstore looked like the albino from The Princess Bride. I don't mean that to be mean but...she totally did. On the plus side -- found Everlost by Neal Shusterman for $3.50.

I blazed through If I Stay by Gayle Forman this weekend while flying hither and tither. Ate up every wonderful word. LOVED this book! BUT: Never bring a book you KNOW is going to make you cry on a trip unless you are not ashamed to be a blubbering idiot in public. I cannot tell you how hard it was to master my girl-side when reading this. My eyes teared up, got sniffley, the whole bit. If anyone saw me they surely thought I was a freaking lunatic. I could just imagine people praying they didn't sit next to me. All of this I mean in the best way possible. I loved it.

If anyone missed the J.K.Rowling on Opera episode its HERE


Have you ever been eating a bowl of cereal and notice a dark speck, then worry for a moment that it could be a bug. But don't investigate farther because you just started eating and the cereal is really hitting the spot. So you just ignore it for a while until you just can't stand yourself for justifying possibly eating around a bug? Me neither. (It wasn't. It was an over-cooked frosted flake.) 



Happy Wednesday!

 

Not the best? No surprise there.

This is why I don' talk about my novel's with my husband. I love him like nothing in the world but damned if he isn't the worst about literature.

"I wanna go somewhere." -Me

"Like where?"-Hubs

I debate just outing myself right here, but know my husband could set himself up to get suckered into going where I want to go if I just hold out. "I donno." Add a exaggerated bored sigh here. -Me

"Want to go to Lowes?"- Hubs looking genuinely psyched. 

Holding back a gross face as, while I enjoy Lowes when I need something, I don't care to 'window shop' there. "What do you need at Lowes?" Sneer/smile- Me

"Some bolts and screws. I want to remove the computer from the Ruckus and blah blah blah blah my wife just zoned out but is still maintaining eye-contact so I will think she gives a crap as I explain something though she really has no idea what I'm talking about."-Hubs

"Well, I was actually thinking about the bookstore. Maybe I would go to Lowes with you if you will go to the bookstore with me?" -Me

Hubs fails to even attempt to FAKE interest. "Well that doesn't sound like fun. Don't like books and you know what's more? Don't like learnin'. So...No." That last bit he said with the worst, cringe-worthy southern accent ever. Which he doesn't really have.

*leSIGH*

I have been waiting so long to see these two together in a film. <3 Can't Wait.

Looking forward to this, Tangled, Let Me In, Black Swan, TRON: Legacy, The Green Hornet, Beastly, Sucker Punch, Easy A, Monsters, gosh... Some great movies coming out!

But the best, the one I get choked up watching the trailers for. The one who's books I have been obsessed with for a decade and make me push my own writing to bigger, better, stronger...is....Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows(1)

What I'm NOT looking forward to coming out, or even being made: Hong Kong Fooey, Yogi Bear, Footloose, Smurfs 3D, (Anyone elses childhood screaming with pitchforks and torches?) Final Destination 5(how many more ways can they manipulate this insane loop of a plot? no more? cause they couldn't even change it up twice? oh yea...I said it..) Breaking Dawn(only because 2 movies is ridiculous. That book barely had enough content for 1 movie. SPOILER: NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS.) not trying to hate on Twilight, enjoyed the books personally but come on.


It's the life of someone who can call themselves "the best" at one thing or another to know, on a daily basis, that someone is going to not only challenge their "greatness" but also overcome them. You can jump the highest? Watch me jump higher. You can run the fastest? Watch me smoke you.

It's easy to be the best at physical things like swimming, jumping, running, swinging, skipping, yawning, throwing etc. Because those aren't objective. It can be proven without someones opinion getting in the way.

But being the best writer? Impossible. It's too objective. You can't even hope to be the best in a genre. Some writers write with so much descriptive poetry its like a song. Some write with so much heart you can't help but disappear in their words. Some are raw and hard and real. Some are soft and kind and uplifting. People like all different kinds just as people write all different ways.

I can't even tell you who my favorite author is right now if you had a gun. I love lots for lots of reasons.

Obviously, I adore J.K.Rowling. She is so spellbinding with her words. We all pictured her HP world clearly and easily and loved every magical moment. I loved every character she gave us, good or bad. Because she could make me love or hate them so completely. She held my attention for years, and still does any time I pick one up again. I envy people when they read them the first time because I remember how that felt. And every book has something new or a twist or a person that ties into everything else. I was amazed at the way she brought everything together in the end and even added a much loved twist that still surprised me.

Suzanne Collins can break your heart without ever spelling out what has happened. She doesn't have to come right out with it. It's like you watch it all happen and don't need to be talked down to by her writing it all out. She has a power to make you swell with emotion and force you to read her right then, right now. No matter what anyones opinion of the last book is, no one can deny how she snagged you in the beginning and how real she made the war.  Nor can any deny the points she was making.

Laura Whitcomb writes in a musical way. I couldn't get enough of the way she describes things, its hard to describe her accurately. But it is just hypnotizing, reading her words. I'm a gal that loves some action and all but when this woman describes a teenagers room you can help but get tingles, she's that good.  

But I can't say they any one of them is better than the other. That is the nature of being a writer.

This brings me much comfort, rather than bringing me down. I would hate to be considered "the best" at writing because I would know every moment of the day that I will inevitably fall short.

As it is, there is enough pressure to top yourself with a second novel after you have had great success with the first. And if you're a great writer you will always be able to match yourself, if not better yourself from the last time. And that's comforting, to know you will always be able to improve or at the very least stay consistently good. But if you're "the best" you know, without a shadow of a doubt, you will eventually fall.

As long as you do the best you can, make your novel great and amazing and magical to someone, I don't think it's that important to make it perfect to everyone, or possible really. Every writer dreams of being great, me included.  I think that's enough for us all.

But that's just my opinion.

HERE are 7 links to encourage your inner writer. A great must read. 

Apparently one of my email addresses is sending spam about vitamins or some junk like that of its own free will. SO, If anyone gets an email from me and it's about anything other than something relevant: Don't Open It.  My advice? We all need to hunker down for the computer revolution. Almost as threatening as the zombie outbreak. You've been warned.


Don't Forget to get an entry into my Freedom Contest going on right now and win your own copy of SPEAK HERE!

Spontanious Funny Friday Contest! **CLOSED**

AH! Holy Crap, are you guys seeing this? EPIC 20 followers! (don't bring me down. I'm flying on my past-the-teens-follower-high) Pretty darn excited. Thank you guys!

I know I promised a piece of my novel (I'm a liar! T_T) BUT Whisper is terribly busy with her student teacher stuff for school(she graduates in December YEAY) and hasn't had the free time for my favors. So it will just be a surprise when I do post some. I'm so sorry about that but I can't force the girl to neglect her future for mine.(stupid having to be considerate)

If you don't follow the Query Shark yet, do it. I have learned a BUTT-TON from that goody blog.

Did anyone else notice when the KFC mashed potatoes changed? I'm the mashed potato queen and my husband still will not trust me when I say that they aren't the same taters as i knew growin' up! Someone back me up here. For shame, changing the original recipe!

THIS, those Canadians, cracked me up. I tried to just post the video but apparently that's too complicated right now. But, if you don't want to watch, its one of those pavement paintings that looks all 3d but its a little girl in the middle of the road. They are using it to try and stop speeding, hoping the illusion will slow people down. I think they will have a serious problem when papa has a heart attack while driving, thinking he's about to mow down little neighbor Susie.

Enough shenanigans(amazed that spell checker recognized that as a word!) On to the contest!

JOKE:
Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of
the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He
also ate very little, which made him rather frail. With his odd diet,
he suffered from bad breath. This made him . . .
*
**
***
**
*
Super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. XD

Wish I could take credit for that, but I stole it from a friends Facebook who got it in an e-mail. But it was just too good not to share.

I love a good corny joke. So this week, going to run until next Friday, I'm having a contest. The winner will get to pick one of my favorite YA books as their prize.
(I know none are very new releases but deal ^_-) Whichever it is you haven't read/been wanting to, or sounds interesting and want to try out:

A Certain Slant of Light- Laura Whitcomb(who's new baby is ADORABLE.And blog is just as great.)
Zel- Donna Jo Napoli
The Maze Runner- James Dashner(Who just announced TMR is a NY Times Bestseller!)
The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- J.K.Rowling
Sabriel- Garth Nix

The contest: Make me snort with a corny joke, pun, haiku, poem, whatever you like. Keep it clean-ish. (Though, who can deny a little dirty joke should it be tossed in -- if its funny)

Being the first contest I ever host, this one's going to be open to U.S. residence only. Will expand as quickly as I can.

Deadline: Friday September 17th. I'll announce the winner that afternoon.

It's that easy. All you have to do is make me laugh and I will pick the best, can make me laugh the most, joke as the winner.

As my blog traffic is a little low, it would be tremendous if fellow bloggers can help get the contest word out there so there can be some real competition, ya know? What fun will it be if I have one joke in my comments? Easy for that guy, I guess.

Now show me what you got!

(Don't forget about The Banned Book Challenge still going hot! Be a rebel, read a banned book!)