The Great Big Post of Questions

This time of year is always crazy in our house. My daughters' birthdays are 4 weeks apart and the majority of those weeks happen in February. And most of their friends seem to have birthdays in February too. And several of my friends welcomed little newborns this month.

So it's been birthdays and babies, and babies and birthdays.

And then on Saturday, I turned on my computer to see this...


So I texted my IT brother for help and he responded with this...


(and now you know how my First Campaign Challenge idea came about)

So needless to say between all the planning and parties and broken computers, I got a little behind on answering questions for all the tags I received.

So to catchup here are all 55 questions...

This set of questions is from Daisy at Fresh as A Daisy.

1. Favorite villain and why? Cruella Deville because her hair is cool
   
2. What's the last book you read? Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
   
3. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why? 1996 to tell a few loved ones how much they mean to me before it's too late.
   
4. Would you rather have an unlimited gift card to your favorite bookstore OR a publishing contract but never be allowed to read any other books? Give me the gift card.
   
5. If you were an animal, what would you be? A cat so I could sleep all day.
   
6. What's your very first memory? Reading the Little House books with my Aunt (she was only 5 years older than me so we grew up more like sisters)
   
7. Suzanne Collins, JK Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, Neil Gaiman, Judy Blume and John Green call. They all want you to come to their house for dinner, but all on the same night. Whose dinner invitation do you accept? All of them...we'll just have to move dinner to my house.
   
8. You discover a planet. What do you name it? Pluto The Sequel
   
9. What world/nation/city/place from a book would you most like to visit? Hogwarts.
   
10. Here's a million dollars. How would you spend it? *note, I said spend. It's a fantasy! No saving!* Books, books, and more books.
    
11. On which reality TV contest or gameshow would you be a contestant? Wheel of Fortune so I can spin the wheel.

And these are from Gina at This is Not Your Blog

1. What was the greatest live music experience you've ever had? Casting Crowns as the Iowa State Fair last year.
2. What was your worst date ever? The one where we joined up with his friends and went to a graveyard with a Ouija board.
3. If money is no object, what would your dream vacation be? A cruise around the world.
4. Would you rather live in a crowded city or small town? Small town.
5. Would you be willing to murder one innocent person if you knew it would guarantee an end to all world hunger? Wow...as much as I'd love to end world hunger I don't think I could ever murder somebody.
6. When did you last cry in front of somebody (who is not your partner)? Friday
7. Would you be willing to endure night terrors- every night- for the rest of your life if you were given vast personal wealth to use however you wish in exchange? No I value my sleep too much.
8. If you could choose the manner of your death- but not the timing- what would you choose? Something quick and abrupt that I didn't have time to dwell on.
9. Would you rather switch back to black and white TV with only five channels, or no internet? Black and White TV
10. If you could use a voodoo doll to hurt somebody, would you do it? Ha ha...maybe
11. What if the voodoo doll was only able to annoy them tremendously (for example: causes pervasive itching of genitals while in public, causes slight ringing in ears at nighttime, etc), would you do it? Ha ha...probably...hell yes!

And this set of questions is from Jenna at Finding the Write Way

1. Redvines or Twizzlers? Twizzlers
   
2. With your iPod/MP3 on shuffle, what's the first song that comes up? Justin Bieber Down to Earth (Don't judge - I share an iTunes account with my daughters)
   
3. What's your least favorite book you ever had to read for school? To Kill A Mockingbird
   
4. You're the producer for turning any one book into a movie, which do you choose to do? Divergent
   
5. What's your favorite youtube video? I don't know...maybe one of those funny ones with kids and their dogs..
   
6. Who did you look up to when you were thirteen years old? my grandparents
   
7. Which food do you wish you could rid the planet of? Girl Scout Cookies (because they are too addicting)
   
8. Why did you decide to start blogging? To get over my shyness
   
9. Do you cry over books/movies/TV shows? All the time
   
10. What's one thing you believe in with all your heart? God
    
11. Flowers or chocolate? Chocolate

And this set of questions comes from W. Chaser

1. If you could be any fictional baddie who would you be and why? I'm still going with Cruella Deville because of her hair.

2. If you could go back in time and stop someone being born who would it be? Hitler

3. When do you get your most inspirational ideas? In the shower

4. If you had to live without either books or music, which would it be? Music

5. Who provides the most encouragement for your writing? My husband

6. If you could have one wish, what would it be? To be published

7. Do you remember your dreams and do they influence your writing? Sometimes and yes (when I do remember them)

8. What word do you frequently misspell? Separate...I always want to go with seperate

9. How much influence in your writing do you take from other people’s opinions? I try to take enough to make my writing stronger but not so much that I lose what makes it mine

10. If there is one book you wish you’d written, what is it? Well at the immediate moment it's Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood since I just finished Book 1 and I'd really like to know what happens next.

11. Starter or Dessert? Dessert

And these questions come from one of my favorite CPs Amber at amberafterglow

1. Pantser or Planner? About 70% Planner, 29% Pantser, 1% WTF-This-may-have-been-written-after-drinking-alcohol.
2. Favorite book, movie, and TV show?
Book-The Bible, Movie-The Lion King, TV Show-Roswell
3. Would you rather have free Starbucks for five years or free itunes for life? iTunes (I spend way more there than at Starbucks)
4. What inspires you more, music or visual (ie: photography, scenery, etc)? Music!!!!!
5. Are you also addicted to Pinterest? Not yet...haven't quite figured it out.
6. The question for the ages, Edward or Jacob? Charlie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. Would you rather be able to talk to animals or to be able to speak and understand any language? Speak and understand any language.
8. Would you rather be kidnapped by terrorists or abducted by aliens? Aliens (after all they may be cute..see favorite TV show)
9. What is the genre(s) that you write for? Young Adult
10. *Warning stolen question* If money were no object, where would your dream vacation take place? Cruise around the world
11. Did you cry in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part two? Was one of the times when Dumbledore asked Severus, "After all this time?" and Severus responded, "Always. " And if not, are you sure you have a soul? Yes...I think I bawled through most of that movie.

And the last (but not least) set of questions is from Rena over at Doctor Faerie Godmother

1.If your luggage got lost on vacation, would it ruin your vacation? No because I'd have an excuse to buy new clothes.

2. If you could publish any of your trunked novels right now, no questions asked, which one and why? Um, none of them because they are really, really bad.

3. Who is your hero? Who is your villain? Hero - my husband :) Villain - the insecure voice in my head!

4. Speaking of Villains, who is your all time favorite villain? Hair aside (ahem Cruella Deville), I will go with Voldemort this time for his neverending persistence.

5. Disneyland or DisneyWorld? Never been to Disneyland so I'll have to go with Disney World.

6. If someone told you that a book you hated writing would go on to be a bestseller for months, but in the mean time you had to rewrite it another 6 times, would you? Rewrite it...I just may fall in love with it during the process. Sometimes the best loves started out hating each other.

7. Kirk or Picard? (and I meant he Shatner Kirk. The Chris Pine Kirk is a whole new creature).Kirk

8. What was your favorite book in high school? The Talisman by Stephen King

9. Is there anything about your life that you would change? Nope

10. You are offered an opportunity at true immortality, do you take it? No

11. What is the hardest thing you have ever done in your life? My youngest had multiple health issues with her kidneys that let to a rather involved surgery when she was 4. There were a lot of options and alternatives and it was tough to always try to decide which would be the path for her.


If you're still reading, thanks for sticking around! And thanks to all the lovely bloggers who tagged me with such awesome (and sometimes difficult) questions. Hmmm...now I must come up with some of my own.

21 Questions

Just a few days into the campaign (for me anyways) and I'm already "it" several times over in the 11 Questions game going around. Growing up I was always the slow kid on the playground who was easy to tag so this is eerily familiar to me.

I'm planning to answer all the great questions, just not all in one post (I don't want you to get sick of me). So for now here are the questions from my first two tags.

These are from Sarah over at The Trewand Pen.

1. What setting best describes you?
Where I live in the good ol' Midwest. I don't stand out like a big city. I lack the beauty of the mountains and the drama of the oceans. But if you stick around long enough, you'll find I'm not that bad.

2. What was your favorite childhood book?
I Decided by Miss Frances. There's a girl in the book who goes shopping with her mom and must decide between a toy, a doll, and a book. She picks the book. Smart girl :)

3. What genre(s) do you write?
Young Adult. I would like to give MG a try too.

4. Besides reading and writing what are at least two of your favorite pastimes?
There's more to life than reading and writing???? Really??? Um...er...does playing Bejeweled and watching Vampire Diaries count as pastimes?

5. What is the coolest/strangest thing you've ever done?
A few years ago while on a cruise in the Caribbean a waterspout hit our ship. My husband and I watched the whole thing from our balcony. It only knocked around some deck chairs and dropped a lot of water, but after living in the midwest all my life where I'm used to the constant storm warnings all summer long, I find it ironic I had to travel over 2000 miles to finally see a tornado up close.

6. Whose writing inspires you the most and why?
I don't think I can pick just one. From Laura Ingalls Wilder to Stephen King to my kids, I have been inspired by so many.

7. If any character from any book could be your best friend, who would it be?
Luna Lovegood.

8. What is your favorite book/author/tv show?
Book - The Bible/Author - JK Rowling/TV Show - Roswell

9. If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do?
Drive around by myself in the car, go visit my friends and family and move stuff around...in general I'd try to freak everybody out.

10. What famous person (dead or alive) do you consider a role model for your own aspirations?
I can't just pick one. I'm a sucker for stories of authors who never gave up...John Grisham, Shirley Jump, JK Rowling, Kathryn Stockett

11. Is there anything else we should know about you?
I like syrup on my eggs

The next set of questions are from Julie Daines.

1. Hero or Villain?
Hero...because you know they're gonna win.

2. What is your least favorite part of writing?
The first draft. Seriously hate it. Everything comes out like verbal vomit (and I hate vomit).

3. Who has influenced your writing the most?
My family

4. What is your favorite climate?
Warm and sunny and no snow!!! Oh why do I live in Minnesota?!

5. What kind of stories do you love?
Stories that make me laugh or cry (or both!). The ones I can't put down, am sad to finish, and I find myself thinking about long after I read the last page.

6. What kind of stories do you hate?
Stories I can't relate to. Stories I can't get into or lose myself in.

7. If you wrote an autobiography, what would it be called?
Random Craziness

8. If you could put yourself in any book, which would it be?
Any of the Chronicles of Narnia books.

9. If you could time travel, where in time would you go?
To 2015, well the 2015 in Marty McFly's timeline. I want flying cars...and a hoverboard.

10. What is your favorite TV show?

Currently Airing - Once Upon A Time. Long Gone - Roswell.

I will post my questions and tag everybody and then some back in my next post. Now to come up with some questions that nobody has asked yet...

10 Random things...

Well I'm barely into the Writer's Campaign and all I can think is wow! I am overwhelmed with the sheer awesomeness of creative, funny, and inspirational blogs out there. I'm having a blast meeting everybody.

I'm also loving Google Reader. Very very much.

So there's the fun little blogger game going around where you post 10 random facts about yourself. It's a fun way for the Campaigners to get to know each other. If you want to play too, post a link to your blog in the comments.

1. I was nearly born on a Friday the 13th.

2. I once was legally blind (2 corneal transplants changed that).

3. I'm extremely shy (until I get to know you and then I have trouble shutting up).

4. I'm not a big fan of ketchup, mustard, tomatoes, or cheese--yes I eat boring hamburgers.

5. Despite having a former airplane mechanic for a father, I am afraid to fly. Yeah, I'll do it when I have to, but it usually requires a Xanax or a trip to the bar before takeoff.

6. I've always wanted to go to Iceland. (I will need lots of Xanax for that flight).

7. The only other dream job I've ever wanted (besides writer) is to be a Meteorologist.

8. I hate making phone calls. If I have to make a doctor's appointment, I'd rather to drive down the road and make it in person (I really don't do this, but I've given it some serious consideration before - yeah I'm a freak sometimes!).

9. I met my husband online in 1995..long before it was cool. We met on something called Prodigy (think caveman version of Facebook).

10. Not a big sports fan - except for baseball. Baseball is slow, easy for me to follow...unlike hockey which gives me heart palpitations.

BTR

So on Saturday the husband and I took the girls to a BTR concert at the State Fair.

BTR?

Big Time Rush. They are a boy band with a TV show on Nick. Imagine what you would get if you mated The Monkees with the Jonas Brothers...



Awww aren't they cute? The thousands of screeching girls on Saturday night sure thought so. I admit I like them too. Their TV Show is fun, their songs are catchy, and my daughters LUUVV them (and there are a lot worse things they could LUUVV).

But as they began to play, I noticed my 13-year-old glancing around in hesitation. Young girls all around us were standing and bouncing, hands flailing, jaws open wide as high-pitched screams pierced the air. My daughter stood awkwardly as she tried to shield the homemade T-shirt she had made with her crossed arms. The mom alarm in me immediately sensed the problem. She was easily the oldest girl in our row.

"Those girls over there have to be in high school," I said pointing a few rows down from us to a group in matching homemade T-Shirts dancing and singing along. I noticed her shoulders relax and it wasn't long before she was jumping along with the rest of them.

I couldn't help but think how much she is alike me. How often when it comes to writing I have a fabulous idea that I am ecstatic about only to let my eyes drift to those around me. I start comparing myself. They are younger than me. They are smarter than me. Their blogs are better. Their writing more polished. And like a deflating balloon the excitement and passion I had for my idea leaks out of me and my writing.

I don't want that. I want to be like the little boy in the row in front of us who was dressed to the nines and sang the words to every song, despite the rows and rows of girls surrounding him. I want to be like the little girl behind us who screamed over and over "I love you guys", even though the stage was too far away and the band would never hear her. I want to be like the dad who stood up and danced right along side his little girl while all the other parents sat in their seats.

I want to be me. To be excited and passionate and not give a hoot about what everybody around me is doing.

Whoever thought I could learn so much from a boy band concert?

BTR. Be Totally Real. That's my goal this week.

Happy Writing!

My Awkward First Time (Blogging that Is)...

Okay so I've been blogless until now, and it was highly recommended I change that.  So, here I am.  Up until now, I have resisted joining the blogging world until now for two very big reasons:

1. Although I love to write, I am deathly afraid of the idea of having to come up with something interesting to write several times a week.
2. I'm pretty sure the only follower I'm going to get is my mom...and I'm not entirely sure she'll even read it.

 I still fear those things, but I'm plunging ahead anyways.

My story begins many many years ago. ( I'm not saying how many!)  The first book I remember falling in love with was a Ding Dong School Book by Miss Frances called I Decided.

I made my parents read and re-read this book so many times.  It's about a little girl out shopping with her mom who allows her to choose something for herself as a reward for being so good.  After three different choices (and a lot of thinking), the little girl decides that what she wants most of all is a book.

I could relate.  I was the child who asked for books for birthdays and Christmases.  I was the girl who loved going to the library.  Even as a teenager, my nose was always buried in a book.

I read my way through Ramona Quimby, the Little House books, Anne of Greene Gables, The Babysitter's Club, the Sunfire Romances, Sweet Valley High, and more.  When I was 12, I discovered the Diary of Anne Frank and longed for more than just the latest happenings in Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield's world. So, I started sneaking my mom's romances.

16 year old me reading Sidney Sheldon

It was during those years I read A Knight In Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux.   I couldn't get enough of time-travel or paranormal romance.

Writing was just a natural extension of my love for reading.   My childhood is riddled with journals, notebooks full of poetry, and many many pitiful attempts at writing a novel.  I knew without a doubt that all I wanted to be when I grew up was a writer.

Then I grew up.  I met my husband.  I had two daughters.  And somewhere between the bills and the diapers, my dream disappeared.   But not the stories. Not the voices.  They arrived in whispers in the quiet moments just before I fell asleep at night, in the tune of a random song on the radio, and in the wind as it whipped across my skin whenever a storm blew in.  They were there just waiting for me to reach out. And sometimes I did.  I read writing books.  I made several false starts.  I even took a writing class.   But nothing ever came from it.

Then three years ago I found myself at a crossroads.  Out of the blue, I recalled that first childhood book I had loved and I felt like that little girl again.  I needed to make a decision.  So I did.

I decided.  I decided to go for it.  I decided to make the time.  I gave up the tv programs, the facebook games, and nights out with friends.  I read dozens of books on the craft.  I wrote.  I researched.  I wrote.  I googled everything.  I wrote.  I stalked author blogs, agent blogs, etc.  I wrote.   I lurked on all the writing forums.  I wrote.

After three manuscripts (two were buried very very deep), four months of revisions, and countless hours of studying up on agents, I am nearing the querying (and rejection) phase.  And I'm scared out of my mind.  In my everyday world, my friends are wrapped up in their love lives, having babies, or their latest diet.  The writing world is a foreign and uninteresting concept to them.  So this is me, jumping in, hoping to reach out and find others who understand.

So Hello Blogosphere!   I am happy to be here.

P.S.  This first post is wordy and probably sucks.  I apologize.  Like a first draft, it can only get better from here :)