To Quit of Not to Quit, That is the Question

     Ok. I'm about to admit it. Here it comes. Cue the face-scrunching...

     I'm thinking about giving up.

     Well, ok, not really. I'm not going to give up writing- no way! And I'm not giving up querying Daze and Knights... yet (although I'm on a temporary hiatus while I wait for a query critique).
     What I'm thinking of giving up is the sequel to Daze and Knights- as yet untitled. Here's the thing. I'm almost done. I know I can push through to get it finished. So why quit? Well, I have the ending planned out. I know what I want to happen. But while doing my research I've realized that I have a couple of weeks before this event can take place. So I had an idea to put Jessica right into the war, but that means a lot more research and a lot more writing- more to the story than I had planned in the first place. A part of me wonders, why bother? Because if Daze and Knights never goes anywhere then it doesn't really matter if I get the ending written. But then my controlling obsessive side argues that I can't leave it unfinished.
      Here's the other problem: I've got a completely different story idea stirring in the back of my head, just waiting for me to get it started. I'm practically itching to start writing it. It would be so much easier for me to quit the hard research/ending writing, to start something brand new.
     So what do I do? Take the easy route? Quit what I've almost finished and start something that I could actually query when it's done? Or should I take the harder, less-rewarding route. Finish Jessica book 2 just for the fact of finishing it, even though I won't be able to do anything at all with it?
     Any advice? 

Music Tidbits

     Have you ever listened to a song and thought, meh. Or you hated it. Or maybe you just didn't even notice it at all. Well, duh- of course you have. Nobody likes EVERY song. But I'm getting somewhere, I promise.
    Anyway, then you hear that song somewhere else- maybe live. Maybe you see the singer actually perform it on TV. Maybe a friend points out how much they like it so you really listen to it and find out its a great song.
     For me, it's usually seeing the song in context. For example, I didn't think much of Secrets by One Republic until I saw it on The Sorcerer's Apprentice (you know when dorky but charming Jay Baruchel makes the song out of his Tesla coils). I loved it after that. I probably wouldn't have liked Jar of Hearts but seeing it danced on So You Think You Can Dance totally changed it for me. Actually there's lots of songs that once I've seen danced on that show, I fall in love with them (Your Guardian Angel, No Air, Bleeding Love). Also a lot of songs I've come to love were on The Vampire Diaries. I think it's seeing the emotions the actors are portraying while the song plays in the background.
     I've recently come to love Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" after I saw it on DWTS and then on Gossip Girl. I'd heard the song on the radio before but never payed it any attention. Now I can't get enough. If you've never heard it, you can listen to it on my playlist (at right). Forgive the cheesy rhyme, but it's an awesome song and I wanted to pass it along!

Writing Bliss

     I have this problem. When I know I have to do something hard, or unenjoyable, or just plain something I don't want to do, I stress about it beforehand like crazy. Or I imagine just how awful it will be. Or I imagine that I just won't be able to do it. Basically I totally psyche myself out. I do it with random things like exercising, with scary things like giving a talk in church, and with hard things like writing.
     I'm near the end of Jessica Book 2, and I'm going through this same problem. Because I'm writing it during a very specific time in History (Sept/Oct 1781), I have to strictly adhere to what was going on at the time. Up until now it hasn't been too hard. Sure I've tried to be accurate with clothing, food, daily life and speech, but I could pretty much make the characters do what I wanted them to with very little restrictions.
     Now though... yikes! I'm freaking myself out! Because very specific historical things are happening and Jessica is a part of them. They are things that are standing in her way, making life more difficult for her.
     Let's just say it makes me nervous. So yesterday I sat at the computer wondering where I was going to go, how I was possibly going to work it all out. I was at one of those times when a week has passed in the book but nothing much has happened so you describe it in a few paragraphs. After I got that done, I stared at my word count hoping that I could somehow come up with a measly 300 more words to make it an even 65,000 words. Instead I found myself doing those things I do when I'm not getting those wonderful strokes of genius: staring blankly at the computer screen, messing around with my iTunes list, or getting distracted by Gnomeo and Juliet (see below).

Old lady Red Gnome: "You're illiterate!"

Old Man Blue Gnome: "I'm not illiterate. My parents were married!"



     And then somehow, I had it. I had something. And I was writing. And before I knew it, two hours had passed. And I'd written more than 2,000 words. I don't even know how it happened. One moment I was barely slogging through, and the next, I was a super-writer. A genius. I could scream out, "look Ma, I'm a writer!" (I didn't.)
    I just love those moments. I know, I know, I'm not really a genius. But it's such a great feeling to suddenly have something there in my brain, something I didn't even know was there before and suddenly it has appeared on the page. It's like magic. It's writing bliss. And it makes me so very, very happy. 

Road Trip Wednesday

     Over at YA Highway they do this thing every Wednesday called "Road Trip Wednesday". I've wanted to participate in the last few but didn't for... some reason. Who knows. So I decided to start because I love the questions they ask. This is what they do if you don't know. They ask a question and you answer on your own blog and leave a link to it in their comments section. For example- a few weeks ago they asked who would we want to narrate our book in CD format (Anne Hathaway- you available?).
     So this week the question is, Who in your life has most inspired your writing?
     And the answer to that would be, well, me. Okay, I know- haha! But still true. And it's not that I'm all that inspiring, honestly. But a lot of me came out in Jessica- totally unintentional I swear. It was different stories that I constantly daydreamed about that inspired me to come up with the whole idea behind Jessica and all the places she could go.
     I think this would be a good time to give a shout out to all those who encourage my writing. There are so many people who tell me to keep at it, don't give up, keep trying, don't stop writing. I appreciate that more than they know. On the days where I do just feel like the biggest crap writer ever, it's nice to know that people are rooting for me. So thanks all you people- you know who you are. This is my gift to you- a good laugh. Bazinga!

 

The WOW Factor

    
     I'm starting to get it. Really. I'm starting to understand just where agents are coming from and why authors receive so many rejections.
     I've read a lot of books lately. Like- ALOT. The main reason is because I'm reading mostly YA now and YA is just faster and easier to read than adult books. Also I've been reading a lot because I've simply lost patience for TV unless it's one of the few shows I watch. But that's a post for another day.
     With all this reading comes a loss of the WOW factor. Wait, did I sound like Simon Cowell just then? (Shudder). Most of the books I've read have been GOOD. There have been very few I haven't liked and most of those because they just weren't my thing. Example: I'm not into the whole zombie apocalypse thing for books (or movies or anything at all for that matter). I don't think I've read a really TERRIBLE book. But have I been WOWED lately? Ummm, welll... maybe. Sometimes. Not really.
     Ok, so I was wowed by Laurie Halse Anderson. But those weren't books that I'd read again. I want to read something that I just LOVE, like Harry Potter. I want to read about a world that I wish to lose myself in over and over again. I want a book that I have to force myself to wait to reread but all the while I can't wait to pick it up again. Holy Moley- I sound like an agent!
     Hence my inner glimpse into an agents job. They get piles and piles of books to read- books that haven't gone through the extensive editing that happens before a book is published. They probably spend countless hours reading and reading and reading, just waiting to be wowed. It's not wonder that with all that reading, the wow-ing doesn't happen that often. I mean, if it doesn't happen for me that often and I'm reading books that have already been published (and therefore wowed others before me), why would it happen that often for an agent?
     So I get it. I know I will never fully understand what it's like unless I was an agent myself, but I'm starting to understand. The thing is, I'm already TOTALLY WOWED by my own book. I mean, duh- it's awesome. So I guess I've gotta find someone else who is wowed by it as well!

Random Thought Thursday

    
     1. I really love DWTS (hence the picture). Chelsea should win. And one day I'd like to dance the Argentine Tango.

     2. Speak the book is waaaay better than Speak the movie, although kudos to Kristen Stewart who does a great job with hardly any lines.

     3. My keyboard totally sucks. Sometimes it won't acknowledge certain letters and sometimes it will just randomly go in CAPS even though I never pressed the button. What the heck? (This is an exple ofwhat mysentences look like nrmally becaus the stupid keyboardwont do it properly- and I swear it's not JUS BAD TYPING.) ***My husband just informed me he ordered me a new keyboard. Hallelujah!***

     4. I really wish I could be one of those skinny girls who just eat and eat and eat and never get fat. That would really help with my supreme love of (almost) all food. No such luck though. Instead I'm back on weight watchers (solo) to try and lose those unwanted pounds I gained this last year. Sigh- goodbye Swedish berries. I will miss you.

     5. Laurie Halse Anderson is simply incredibly. I just read Wintergirls- it's about anorexia. I so couldn't write books about such heavy subjects.

     6. Writing a book around actual historical events is EXTREMELY difficult. Trust me.

     7. I have absolutely NO patience whatsoever. I hate waiting and I seem to be waiting for everything. The last Harry Potter movie, the next Boys Like Girls album, the last books of The Wheel of Time series and about a zillion other books. Oh and let's not forget those queries I've got out there.

     8. I have a disease my sister-in-law diagnosed as: Gettheheckawayfrommeitis. Luckily, it's not fatal for me. But it can be fatal for others- just a warning.

     9. Why do my kids always insist on jumping on me? I'm sitting on the couch- they jump on me. I'm standing- they run and jump on me. I'm laying down in bed- they jump on the bed and then jump on me. If I'm on the floor in any position- they take a flying leap at me. What is the deal? It's like I am the quarterback and they are the tacklers determined to get the sack.

     10. Success comes from CAN's not CAN'Ts. Thank you Hines Ward for that one.

     11. Fantasy is my first love. It feels great to be reading it again and so far Ranger's Apprentice isn't disappointing.

   

Speak

     There are some books that really make an impact. They are powerful, unforgettable, incredible. These books are usually the kind that I only want to read once. I'm glad I read the book, I'd recommend it to EVERYONE, but I would never read it again because it deals with subject matter that is difficult to read about, sometimes disturbing. The Kite Runner is one of these books. Another, which I read last night, is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

     The book completely caught me in its iron grasp and I couldn't let it go, even though I told myself I needed to get to bed and could finish it tomorrow. I couldn't do it. I read until it was done and then I laid in bed thinking of it, unable to fall asleep. This is the kind of book I will never forget. It taught me things. I hope my girls will read it when they are old enough so that they will learn from it as well. If you haven't read it- do. Now. Trust me. It's just one of the books you MUST read.