Smiling all the Way From A to Z -- I

Today's letter has much to do with writing and is an exciting part of the story creation process. The thing that starts with the letter I that makes me smile is...

 

INSPIRATION

 

The moment where an idea for a story or a scene pops into your mind and you can't stop thinking about it! Oh, man, it is a brilliant feeling to have the idea formulate out of thin air without even thinking, "I want to come up with a really great idea for a book or scene." Like lightning, it shatters through your scull, twists, turns, and tantalizes you until you start typing it out on the computer.

 

My first book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND, came from a dream I had where one tiny part of it stayed with me for weeks on end. The intense part of the dream continued to wedge itself into my mind until I started writing it, or else I would have burst into a million pieces of Julia flesh. Icky!

 

My second book, BOUND (going to be a trilogy), came to me while I was watching "Darbie O'Gill and the Little People" an old school Irish film featuring Sean Connery. A part in the movie sparked my book's idea, I did a bunch of research, and then bodda bing bodda boom I was writing it out.

 

My third book, SPHERICAL, shattered my senses as I was attempting to fall asleep one fateful night. I ended up reading something and one word in it opened up this big ball of dystopian awesomeness. Weeks later, more of it formulated in my mind while I was exercising.

 

Just two nights ago, I came up with another idea for a future project while I was taking a shower. Let's just say a lot of the time ideas float into my mind with the steam of the hot shower water. Lots of time to think in there, ya know (well, if you take long showers like me).

 

Anyway, inspiration makes me smile and giggle and often times jump up and down screaming with joy emanating from my skin into the air around me.

 

How are you inspired to write? Does inspiration make you smile? And starting with the letter I, what makes you smile?

 

Writing Jewels

PS: Refer to the blurb on the very top of my blogs sidebar to know why I am posting about what makes me smile. Go forward and smile!

A Recap Just for You

Hi there, friends and dear followers.

Since I've been out of bloggosphere-land, I thought I would let you know what I've been up to the past few months.

I'm enjoying my new job. I've been working in a medical field position for over 4 months now. It is crazy how time flies. I'm currently taking some training courses to get a certificate to allow myself the option for movement at the hospital in the future. Sweet-tastic!

Writing-wise: I have been querying out my second book, BOUND. I haven't been super religious about it, but at least it's out there. Of course, as to be expected, I have received some rejections, but the others I figure no news is good news. :D

Every once in a while, I have been flipping back and forth between two writing projects. In other words, whichever one piques my interest at the moment I focus on. My laptop had to go to the computer doctor to get rid of a nasty Trojan virus, so it was out of my hands for a week or so right when I was on fire with my projects. Drat, huh? Slowly but surely I will get there.

If you've read my sidebar's "About Me" section, you will know I'm sort of (well, totally am) a TV junky. I have been rewatching The X-Files series. I'm on the downward spiral of this madness by being in the 8th season. I grew up on this show and still loveth it to deatheth. Plus, the Mulder eye candy is an added bonus. hehe

I've been staying up on Once Upon a Time and Downton Abbey, too.

I've settled in nicely in my new apartment in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately, I will be moving again in May with the lease being up. That'll be four moves in a year and a half. Crazy-town all the way. I really wish I could just settle myself into a place, but that seems to be a far distant goal. No prob. Life moves forward regardless. If anything, I look forward to having a bathtub again!

In addition to all of that fun jazz, I've read Endlessly by Kiersten White--loved loved loved it! I'm currently reading Reached by Ally Condie. The Salt Lake City County Library system has been my BFF lately. It has supplied me with audio book listening pleasure for weeks on end now (I love me some audio books). The list has included all of the "Shiver" series by Maggie Stiefvater; "Finale" by Becca Fitzpatrick; "Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian" by Eoin Colfer; and the first two books in the "Leviathan" series by Scott Westerfeld. Oh, how I love his books. I started "Goliath" today and am enjoying it already.

Well, these are the haps in my life over the past while. What have you been up to? Have you read any good books? Are you a TV junky like yours truly?

Writing Jewels

Month of October Goals

Wow! Has September already come and gone? How is that possible? It just barely started. And that means that October is here and I have to report on my goals from last month. I felt far better last month than I did during the summer. What a relief!

Anyway, here's how my September goals panned out:

• Finish beta'ing my sister-in-laws book CHECK and by golly it's a great book. Be ready to read stuff by Robin LuBean King, kids
• Read Insurgent  by Veronica Roth SUPER CHECK and wow, what a great book! It's official, I'm back into reading.
• Keep pluggin along with my new project, SPHERICAL (a dystopian novel) CHECK. I didn't do much but it's coming along
• Edit one of my own works No check, I am waiting to get my second book BOUND back from a CP
• Be social CHECK. I even went on two dates with the same guy. No interest there, though. And I spent time with friends, so that's great
• Go camping with my sister CHECK Refer to the blog post I wrote about the camping trip

So, here's looking October straight in the eyes. But I have to tell you that I started a new job. Today is my fifth day on the job. I will be learning this job, so I might be overwhelmed with it all. I hope my goals won't stress me out more. Anyway, here are my goals:

• Read BEYONDERS: SEEDS OF REBELION by Brandon Mull
• Finish listening to DIE FOR ME by Amy Plum (audio books are awesome)
• I'm going to save writing more of SPHERICAL for NaNoWriMo, especially with all I'm going to be doing this month
• If I have time, I'll edit some or all of another project
• Start my new job, love it, and learn it fast
• Find a new place to live in Salt Lake City before I'm driven mad by the long commute
• Enjoy my half birthday tomorrow, October 6, 2012. Yes, I celebrate my half birthdays. What can I say? I love birthdays!
• Recuperate from spraining my ankle. Silly me

What are your goals for this month? Have you read any good books lately? And how is life treating you?

*Mwah*

    Writing. Jewels.

Settings

Instagram Pic by Julia King

When I was eighteen, I traveled by chartered bus with a group for three weeks across country and back again. During that time, I hit up seventeen U.S. states. Supercool. And way fun! I enjoyed the entire trip, however, there was one city that stuck out to me the most: Boston, Massachusetts.

The strange thing is that I spent all of maybe four hours there. But, the essence of the New England state penetrated my soul in a way that has drawn my heart back there ever since. Yes, for twelve years, I've been itching to get back there but have yet to make my pilgrimage back. I'd love to live there. The thing is I'm too practical to up and move without securing a job. I'm a planner, you see. I've got to make sure I can survive. :D But the adventure is so desirable to me. And, of course, scary too!

Anyway, because of this intense pull to this beautiful area of the United States, I set my second book, BOUND, in a city near Boston called Wrentham. There is a scene that takes place in Boston, and the beginning and end takes place outside of Dublin, Ireland. Intrigued yet? You better be!

Although I spent a brief period of time in Boston, I didn't know anything about it other than I know it's gorgeous. I spent a a fare amount of time researching Wrentham and Boston. I don't know what I'd do without the internet. Sheesh, I'd be lost. Luckily, I've been to Dublin, Ireland, so I didn't have much of a problem there. Plus, the scenes set in Ireland are supernatural by nature, so I used my creative license to build the setting/world there.

Anyway, have you ever set a book in a city you've never been to? Or one in which you've only spent a short period of time there? How do you go about researching your setting? Internet? Library? Actually going there?

Writing. Jewels.

PS: Happy Wednesday!

Month of July Goals

It's reporting times, folks. Yay and a few woots all around! Here's how I did with my Month of June Goals:

• Read The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare ---> Getting there...
• Complete an edit of my wip: BOUND ---> Super Check. Oh, I love this story
• Hand off BOUND to one more round of betas ---> I'm pretty confident with where it's at right now. I'll hand it off to my agent soon
• Beta a friend's book ---> I've started going through it
• Continue forward with my no sweets diet. ---> I went an entire 22 days without sweets as per my detox plan.
• Exercise three times a week ---> Check. I'd like to thank the gym facility where I work and having an hour long lunch break

Here are my Month of July Goals:

• Beta a couple books
• Start reading Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull 
• Continue exercising three days a week
• Only have one treat a week on Fridays
• Start the first draft of BOUND's sequel. I so can't wait

As always, I ask: what are your Month of July goals? You can voice your successes from last month as well.

Writing. Jewels.

Month of June Goals



Well, guys and girls, I'm really glad I'm posting my goals on my blog. It's helping me to accomplish them. I'd suggest you do likewise, for sure.

Well, here's how my month of May goals went:

• Go on a much needed vacation to Washington State Check and Check
• Give myself some R&R for two weeks before I doing anything related to writing Check. I did get sick the week I was supposed to start editing again, so I technically took three weeks off. But then I had a bout with editor's block (writer's block but only when editing). I'm finally back in the game now.
• Read The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter Check and Check. I loved it so much that I've already finished its sequel, Goddess Interrupted. My holy crap, this series is incredible. Read it! Now!
• Catch up on blog commenting Check but this is an ongoing goal.

Well, on and upwards I go. *Drum Roll*

Here are my Month of June goals:

• Read The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
• Complete an edit of my wip: BOUND
• Hand off BOUND to one more round of betas
• Beta a friend's book--Ashley, I'm so proud of you!
• Continue forward with my no sweets diet. I've done 12 days for 21. Woot!
• Exercise three times a week

Well, what are your Month of June goals? Or what's new in your life?

Writing. Jewels.

Writers by Design

The past two weeks, I've taken a break from writing. It's good to take breaks, especially after a serious revision . . . at least for me. It helps me to tackle the upcoming project of writing or edits with greater motivation. Last Saturday, I started an edit of my WIP, BOUND, as per beta suggestions. It should be fun.

While I was taking my break, I not only went on vacation, read The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter, relaxed, etc., but I watched the full first season of the TV show Jane by Design. Yes, it sucked me in after 10 minutes; TV shows have the keen ability to do that to me. Ok, I'm so in love with this series that I've decided to redesign, re-envision myself through clothing. Yes, my pocketbook didn't like me for it. Sorry, bank account.

At any rate, I've taken some fashion tips from Jane to alter my outfits from that of a trendy librarian to a punky librarian. Uh... I have no idea if that makes sense at all. But, I'm liking the new me who splashes funky styles together to build a nice outfit.

This has to do with writing, too. Building a story is all about combining different elements (plot, characters, tension, setting, etc.). Some work and are beautiful, to die for. Others, not so much. Like in one episode of Jane by Design, Jane strings this rather ugly belt around her waist that definitely did not look good, and people told her, too. She quickly discarded it.

As writers, we compose a story and go back through it and have to get rid of certain parts, maybe even a full chapter(s) because it doesn't help the plot to progress. I've had to do that... my first book was about 100K when I finished the first draft. I remember one chapter that I loved so, so much. A critique partner suggested that it had to go. I dragged my feet, but eventually took the scene out. Now, the book is at 67K. Lots of deleting took place.

But with all the world-building, character development, and everything else that goes into writing a good story, it's all about designing it into something priceless, polished, gorgeous--like pulling together a fashionable ensemble of clothing.

Well, what are your thoughts on this sort of rambling post?

Writing. Jewels.

Month of May Goals

Hello, dear followers. Man-o-Man, it was a crazy April. I'm sort of exhausted with all I've done, especially writing-wise.

I'm going to start off this post with some questions up front:

So what are your Month of May Goals? How does goal setting help you when it comes to writing? What are your methods of setting goals? Do you write them down, have them in your head, or tell someone? Or maybe all of the above?

Having started to blog about my goals has been beneficial. Because I put them out there for the world to see, it gives me that extra push to ACCOMPLISH them.

Well, here's how I did with my Month of April Goals:

• Have a super awesome 30th Birthday! Check Check Check! What a fabulous day!
• Try not to get depressed for not being married by my 30th Birthday. Check. I actually feel supercool being 30! Woot!
• Finish Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Super Check. What a super great book. Can't wait to have the cliffhanger resolved.
• Finish a revision of my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND Check-o-my-Check. Finished it just a couple days ago. I took my time to make this revision COUNT! *BAM*
• Complete an edit of my WIP, BOUND No Check but I don't care. It was more important to work on my first book.
• Will not buy any clothing ---> I'm going to say I half accomplished this. All I bought was a supercool Doctor Who tshirt. And it is beautiful.
• Read Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon Check. An enjoyable book with a great premise. And it takes place in Ireland so it has to be good, right? Bring on the hot Irish accents.

Not half that bad, if I do say so myself.

Now on to my Month of May Goals:

• Go on a much needed vacation to Washington State with my brother's family (Time to have some quality time with my nephews and niece)
• Give myself some R&R (Say 2 weeks) before I dive back into anything related to writing
• Beta a beta's book
• Read The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
• Catch up on checking out blogs in the blogoshere (I've pretty much sucked at this in April because of revisions--Sorry guys) 

Loves to you all!

Writing. Jewels.

Overload: Too Many Ideas

So, I've got the following writing projects planned for the future:

• WIP: Urban Fantasy Trilogy, BOUND
• YA Distopian
• YA SciFi
• YA Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
• YA Paranormal

And yes, all the ideas are festering in my brain, begging and pleading to be born. Ugh! Like last Wednesday, the idea for my YA Distopian bloomed from a basic premise to the major conflict that will push the story forward. With all my soul, I'm eager to start writing it.

But, first things first... FÉLICITÉ FOUND and BOUND (No relation--both are separate ideas.  FF is a stand-alone).

I can push the thoughts away, but when a huge breakthrough for a book surfaces, as happened last week, I want to place my current projects on the back burner to enjoy the creation of a new world. Stuffing the desire away, I drive my focus back to the important project--the current one. Because if I don't get it perfected, then I will never progress to becoming an established author.

I look forward to the future when I can write full-time. Then, I'll have more time to dedicate to a current project so eventually I can dig in deep to future projects.

The trick is to keep your eye on the present--that beautiful creature you are/have developed. Otherwise, you'll never finish it. On your shelf will rest half written stories. So, as the saying states: keep your eye on the ball . . .

Or, umm, story in our case.

So, I pose the question, do you fight against ideas that desperately want to be written? Do you have only one idea to write at a time? Do they make you go crazy because of their tempting power to type them into reality? How do you suppress them into the recesses of your mind?

Writing. Jewels.

Month of April Goals



First of all, I need to give you the update of how my Month of March Goals panned out!

March Goals:

• Finish another round of edits/revisions of my WIP and hand it off to CP's CHECK (Went well. I'm on my way with my WIP--BOUND)
• Participate in the second I'm a Platform-Building Campaigner Challenge CHECK (This turned out to be sooooo fun. The flash fiction I wrote has actually inspired a future writing project--bring on some sci-fi. Check it out here!)
• Finish reading Forest Born by Shannon Hale CHECK (Great book!)
• Read Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (Still working on it--Pretty far in though)
• Go see The Hunger Games on March 23 at 8:30PM (yes, I've already got tickets) CHECK (Loved it)
• Have a supercool St. Patrick's Day party. It's my favorite holiday. :D I'll call this one a check even though I cancelled the party due to feeling sick. Phooey!
• Not go crazy while waiting to hear back from editors as my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND, is on submission No check... what kind of person wouldn't go crazy waiting for a pub deal? Anyone? haha

Now for my Month of April Goals:

• Have a super awesome 30th Birthday!
• Try not to get depressed for not being married by my 30th Birthday
• Finish Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Finish a revision of my book, FÉLICITÉ FOUND
• Complete an edit of my WIP, BOUND
• Will not buy any clothing *crossing fingers*
• Read The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon

How are your goals going? What are your Month of April goals?

Writing. Jewels.

WIP Name Title Revealed

I figure it's time to reveal the name of my WIP. For some reason, I hold off on the big here's-the-name-of-my-book announcement for a while. I think it's because the project is my baby. I like to have all the books control in my hand, so I keep her hidden for a while.
Now, I've gotta be brave and let her go, at least her name. I'll for sure let the pretty princess go on submission sometime this year, though. *crossing fingers*

Until then, all you get is the name of my book...

*drum roll please*

BOUND

Yes, a simple one-syllable name with more meaning than meets the eye when it's placed in the context of what my WIP is about. I have the other names of the books in the trilogy picked out already. You'll find them out later. I can't wait to write those books, that's for sure.

How do you go about releasing the name of your book? Right off the bat? Wait for a while? Or not tell anyone until it's actually published? Do tell...

Writing. Jewels.