Libraries, Laptops, and other scary things.

Hey, guess what rancid banana smacked me in the face today... C.E. Murphy (my recently chosen pen name) is already an Alaskan fantasy author. *facepalmx10* Suckage. So, for heaven-sakes, just call me Colene then.

I'm having a small identity crisis because of this. Do I post my pen last name? Do I just got by Colene for now on my blog? Is it more professional to use both names on a blog? Does it really matter right now?  Ugh. Could be worse I suppose.

Something awesome is a Random House Writing Contest for YA that could win you a publishing deal. Deadline is in late December, so check that stuff out quickly! Almost didn't want to mention it risk spreading the word any farther!

In my town, our library is amazing! It has a coffee shop, an excellent internet lounge-y area, lots of rooms for private study/reading, a HUGE audio section, massive genealogy section(don't ask why I love this section of records and the long gone but I do), tons and tons and tons of books that make the whole building smell like heaven, its own several story parking garage, and a million stairs! It's YA section is a tad small, disappointingly enough, but being in the center of a university, I'll forgive them of that. I likes to buy my YA anyway :)

Something someone told me when I started writing was good, no, GREAT advice from Stephen King: "Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule."

I take it to heart. Even if I do use the thesaurus, its usually to find a word I can't remember. My brain likes to have a lot of brain-farts when I'm writing and I can't recall a simple word everyone knows. Like "parking garage" up there, I had to ask the hubs what those "big car lot thingys that are everywhere down town that you drive up the ramps to park in" were. I got an "is she serious?" look. Oh well. Anyway:

Am I a walking spelling-bee-bot? Heck no. Do I know super smart words? Obviously not, being the gal that makes up words on a daily basis (usually ending in -y). But, whatever, that's who I am, that's my own voice. And if you can talk like an almighty smarty pants, more power to you. And your writing will be more natural and easier than mine will if I try to sound like one.

Embrace you. That's my advice. And the smartest thing I have been told and the smartest advice I could ever pass on. One day I'll be an AUTHOR and maybe people will take my advice seriously. Hopefully by then I'll have more worth passing on than just the one bit. I mean, besides: "close your mouth when you use hairspray" but that's good advice too.

Other great Stephen Kingy advice can be found HERE.

Laptop and I aren't in a great place lately. Maybe cause I haven't chosen a better name than "Laptop"?

Laptop refused to let me log into Windows the other day. I have my eye on him. I almost screamed when he kept telling me I was typing in the wrong password. Which, I swear I wasn't. All I could think was "I haven't backed ANYTHING up on my memory card thingy(see. wth is that thing called!?) in a month!" Two new book ideas. A months worth of edits. ALL GONE! ...*stink eyes Laptop*


OH! No, that is the best advice I can offer anyone. Back Up Yo Sh*t.

Luckily Laptop has been behaving since then.

HERE you'll find what all the most highly paid authors have in common. Interesting stuff there.

HERE are 5 questions every book proposal must answer.

HERE are 11 Questions  for crafting your pitch by Rachelle Gardner(Literary Agent)


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

See ya!