And the Winner is . . .

First, I must congratulate Colin Firth for winning the Best Actor Award last night. I am really happy for him. He is such a great actor. Oh, and of course I must say that he makes a gorgeous Mr. Darcy. *swoon*

Now down to business. Last week I held a contest on my blog. I asked for people to send me a photograph of their bookshelf. I want to thank everyone who entered. It was way fun to get to know you and your bookshelves! I am happy to announce the winner.

And the winner of a $20 Amazon.com gift card is:

*Drum Roll*

Kristin Thetford - http://kristinlynnthetford.blogspot.com/

She used every method stated in the rules to promote the contest. Way to go girl! Her bookshelf is well organized (way better than mine). I love the curvature of the design at the top. It shines out as a nice place to house her many books. Congratulations! I will email you with the details of getting your prize.

I would like to give props to Trisha Wolfe - http://yabound.blogspot.com/ for sending me a photo of her aesthetically pleasing bookshelf. Hers is the bookshelf I liked the most. I love how the writing station is situated at the center of her book collection. That would totally be an inspiring place to write. I have got to buy one like it soon.

Thanks everyone! Enjoy your Monday!

My Novel's Inspirational Song

Just a reminder: Don't forget to enter to win a $20 Amazon.com gift card. Just follow this link to get to the rules: Bookshelf Photo Contest Contest ends tomorrow.

A lot of authors these days have songs that remind them of their books or give them inspiration for their stories. I’ve come up with a few songs that a mesh well with my book. Over the next few Fridays, I’m gonna share them with you. It might give you a tiny, minuscule idea of what my book is about. I love the songs and hope you do, too.

While I was rough drafting, my friend introduced me to the first song I’m going to share with you. It's called “Go” by Hanson. Yes, Hanson as in Mmm Bop Hanson. Really, I’m not pulling your leg. Hanson really is producing music still, and the tunes are fantastic. I even saw them in concert last year. Great concert BTW. Pics posted, too! My little “crush” on Taylor Hanson still is there. Pricking at my heart even though I wasn't a huge fan in the MMMBop days. He is so blasted cute, but married with kids. Argh, all the cute ones are taken.

Alright, done with my tangent. Back to the musical business.

One night last year I was driving home from work, listening to "Go". Ok, I'll admit, I listened to it like 10 times in a row. The more I listened to it, the more it rang true to my book. Emotions mounted in my heart. Tears formed in my eyes. And a sweet smile clothed my face. "Go" strongly matches my book, or at least a part of it. I love it for what it is, but also for inspiring me to continue to write my story. I would like to share the music video with you now. Watch the video, focusing on the lyrics; they're beautiful.

Which songs have been inspirational in your writing? Or did you find a song along the way that screamed your book? Uh, not literally, though, I hope!  

What I’ve Learned Wednesday: Critiquing

Thanks to President’s Day I had the day off from work on Monday, giving me tons of time to commence another revision of my WIP. *Yippee* I got some great feedback and suggestions from Sarah and Robin. They edited my manuscript. Thank you girls! I have to admit that this revision is making me really nervous, but it will make my manuscript shine!

In the past, I’ve always been way apprehensive of people reading my work. I avoided it like the plague. This is a way bad idea, my peeps. You must share your work with others. Never feel afraid of the red pen. The problem is that you are so attached to your manuscript that you miss the flaws and/or plot holes. Some hard-core suggestions are the only way that you can get outside of your narrow, blinded box to make your story pop. I’ve worked a little bit with a critique partner, but not as much as I desire. That is a goal of mine—to utilize a critique partner more in the future.

With critiquing, you may get some feedback that is really tough to take—tears may form in my eyes, however, it was a kick in the bum to drive me to a higher level of writing. I grappled for a full two days with thoughts that I was a terrible writer. I was overwhelmed by what was ahead of me in order to make my story *sparkle*. Now I am ready to dive into the deep end of writing with some great direction. I have people supporting me, so I won’t be sailing alone in the vast and sometime scary sea of writing.

What are your experiences with having critiques done of your writing (the good, bad, and the ugly)? Do you use a critique partner? How has that helped your writing evolve?

PS: I have made some great headway revising my manuscript over the past two days. I feel it is going to be even more amazing. :D

PPS: Don't forget to enter to win a $20 Amazon.com gift card. Just follow this link to get to the rules: Bookshelf Photo Contest

Bookshelf Photo Contest!

My Read Books

One of my Twitter friends posted a picture of her bookshelf the other day. I told her I would send her a picture of my messy bookshelf. As you can tell I totally need a bigger shelf to house my pretty books. Buying the books I read is one of my obsessions. If I read a book that I’ve purchased, it becomes a part of me. I feel accomplished looking at my books because I know I read them. They have my fingerprints on each page. It's delicious to me. My obsession with purchasing the books I read started with the Twilight series, and has only escalated since.

One day I would love to have a room in my future home with a library filled with all my books. I hope to encourage my children to love reading. By starting my own collection now, they will have it later. It’s a great investment. And not only that, but it helps support the authors, too.

Now for the contest details:

Its pretty simple, take a picture of your bookshelf and send it to me via my email writingjewels@gmail.com  If you win, you’ll get a $20 Amazon.com gift card to help you buy more books for your bookshelf.

Rules:

You will get points according to the following breakdown:

+1 point if you email me the photo

+1 point if you follow me on Twitter - @writingjewels

+1 point if you share this contest via Twitter or Facebook

+1 point if you share the contest on your blog

+1 point if you follow my blog - you must show up on my sidebar followers list

+1 point if your bookshelf photo is my favorite

Comment on this post tallying up your points. Make sure you include your Twitter name, email, blog link, and/or Facebook link telling about the contest. If you’re already following me, you automatically get that point. If you do not have a blog, you may email your friends with the contest info (I'm taking your word on this one). You’ll win if you have the most points.

My To-Be-Read Books

The contest ends on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 10:00 p.m. MST. The winner will be announced on Monday, February 28, 2011 here on my blog. I will show off your bookshelf photo, too.

Happy Contesting!

Book Cover for Supernaturally Revealed

I'm exploding with squeals and giggles and everything above that would qualify as an extreme euphoric state. As I was updating my GoodReads this evening, I noticed that there was a cover for Supernaturally by Kiersten White. I almost died--literally--when I saw it. My heart almost stopped. Actually, it started racing so fast that I thought I was going to explode or implode, whichever came first. Luckily I didn't. Phew, that would have been terrible. I wouldn't have been able to read Supernaturally or the third book in the series.

I clap with ecstatic joy for Kiersten getting another BEAUTIFUL cover. Congratulations. Supernaturally will be released on August 30, 2011. I wait with great anticipation to read it in like a bleeping day. If you haven't read Paranormalcy, the first book in the trilogy, you must. Do it now or I will be extremely mad at you. Ok, I won't, but I was really tempted to be in such a state of anger toward you. Tehehe. Anyway, with all this excitement, I am going to step away from the computer and cool down.


Before I go, though, I will be announcing a contest on my blog tomorrow morning. You could be the proud winner of something to add more books to your bookshelf. More details to come tomorrow! 

Treasure Island Book Review

During my journey to read 15 books for the Off the Shelf Challenge, I decided it would be wise to throw some classics in my list. One of them is Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. During the first few chapters, I wasn’t as enthralled as I would be with modern literature. But after a few more chapters, I was hooked. If you haven’t read older literature, it may be difficult to get used to the old language style. It’s worth it, though, to invest your time in reading the classics.

My favorite character in Treasure Island turned out to be the one-legged, Long John Silver. He was by far the most dynamic character—stealing the show. I loved how Stevenson developed Long John’s voice. It made me giggle when Long John said things like, “Shiver me timbers” and “By gum.” He is elusive in where his loyalties lie, but regardless, he’s a fun character to get to know.

My favorite sentence in the entire book is, “I could hear hails coming and going between the old buccaneer and his comrades, and this sound of danger lent me wings.” The imagery I felt in this sentence is almost tangible. How it says, “lent me wings” is breath taking on so many levels. You can literally see in your mind how quick the character, Jim, is fleeing from danger.

I’m really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It turned out to be really fun to read a pirate book. The thrilling adventure made me unable to put it down. I hope that you have the same experience if you chose to read this scrumptious book.

Have you read it? What is your opinion of Treasure Island? And what are your favorite classics?