Wait Till Helen Comes

When I was in..oh I think it was about fourth grade the mobile book fair came to my school. I remember the smell of new books mixing with fumes from the bus when I stepped in. I had read a few things before that, I think perhaps a Judy Bloom novel or two. My eyes scanned the rows and I was just about to settle for a unicorn bookmark when the cover of a book caught my eyes. It was Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn. I had to have it.

“It’s going to scare you,” my teacher told me.

And holy crap she was right. It scared the crap out of me and God help me, I loved it. Every second of it. Every word and flip back to the cover to study the little ghost girl’s profile, making sure I had the right images in my head because that’s where the story was playing out. The words were making a movie in my head.

That pretty much did it for me. There was no turning back. I read everything I could get my hands on and yes, I had a tendency to get my hands on the paranormal books. To this day, I can’t pass up the opportunity to be scared half to death, whether it is by a movie, or the movie in my head. If you ask me if I believe in ghosts I will say no. Do I believe in the paranormal sightings people claim to have? No. But I want to and I wish I did.

Maybe that’s why I write about these things. Because I hope that one day, it won’t be fiction I am writing. I’ll be telling a true story, that happened to me.

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My 2 Cents

During the editing process for Emmy’s Heart, I learned that adverbs should be kept to a minimum. In fact, I had so many in my first draft that she highlighted every single word that ended with ly and I had to go back and rework the sentence. I did it, of course. I’m new at this whole author thing and appreciate all the help I can get. But I’m here to ask you, what is wrong with adverbs. I love them. Ask anyone I know, I use them all the time. I use them so much my son has picked them up.

Me: Cam, are you done with your chicken nuggets?
Cam: Clearly.

And now all of the people who think their writing is better than everyone else’s will be saying that you shouldn’t write the way you speak and blahh, blahh, blahh. Last time I checked, writing was a form of expression. A way to put your soul out there, a way to fulfill a never ending compulsion to spill your guts to random strangers. So why can I not add in words that I like? It just gets my goat when I read people smashing the way others write. A great deal of the writing community is what I have classified as writing snobs. So quick to criticize someone for having too many adverbs, or telling and not showing. You want to know what the really funny part is? 99% of the writing snobs that I know, are NOT published. So let me get this straight? You, who are not published want to say there is something wrong with a book that has sold millions of copies? The only time it’s okay to do that is in a crit group where someone has flat out said, help me, I need your opinion. Because, folks, when it comes right down to it, great writing is a matter of opinion. Numbers are black and white. Words are gray. There are fifteen ways to say something and ten to spell it. One person can read something and think it is crap while another will have tears streaming down their face at the perfection of it all.

We all have our opinions and more often than not, they are welcomed and appreciated, especially from one writer to another. But perhaps sometimes, people just need to be encouraged.

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Charlie St. Cloud

As someone who hasn’t read the book (yet, I just got it to read) the movie was amazing. To me, it was one of those move you, deep down in your soul, make you appreciate the things you have, kind of movies. I cried a lot, happy and sad tears but I’m an emotional gal. My husband thought it was okay, he isn’t really into anything that doesn’t involve someone getting drunk, shot, or knocked out so he doesn’t really count. I don’t want to give anything away but know, that you will walk out of the theater happy.

I’ve already started the book and see some major differences. But isn’t that the way of it? That’s what happened with Eclipse. It’s like they (as in Hollywood) think the general American public won’t appreciate the stories that were originally told. Hell, maybe they wouldn’t but if anyone ever wants to make a movie out of my books, they aint ‘changen shit. ;)

Even more noteworthy than the plot was the performance of Zach Effron. Mark my words people, he is the next Johnny Depp. Someone who started as just a pretty face and ended up being this phenomenal actor. I saw him in 17 Again and thought he did a great job in that but this, well…he was Charlie. He has all the makings of the perfect actor. Timing, believability, and a face you would pay money to look at for an hour whether he spoke or not.

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Real Love

I don’t know what the process is for other writers. I don’t know if they plan every word, every situation, but I don’t. In the beginning, I didn’t even outline. Christopher said I should make one, just so I know what I want to accomplish in each chapter. That was probably the best writing advice I’ve had to date. That and to put your work away for a week before you proof it. Anywho, when I am writing, especially dialogue, it is literally a movie in my head. I don’t know what the characters are going to say to each other, it just comes out…pours out sometimes. Here is what came today that I read back and was like, yeah, that’s good shit. LoL Set up – Sarah has just found out that Andres is not who has been saying he is and he didn’t have the guts to tell her the truth so he just let her walk out of his life. His best friend and business partner Abby has walked in on him having a mental breakdown and here is her advice:

“So, I’m leaving,” I told her. “I am leaving this place and this life. There isn’t anything holding me here. Not anymore.”
“Wow, that is some deep shit,” she mused, making me laugh in spite of my misery. “I knew something was going on with you, you’ve been…different.”
“Yes, I’ve been delusional. That’s over now.”
“Could you be any denser?” she asked me. “You’ve been in denial. This pain you feel, this hurt, it’s called love. People say real love isn’t supposed to hurt. That’s bull shit. Real love will rip you apart, eat you for lunch, and spit out the pieces it didn’t like. Real love will tear you apart from the inside out and leave you for dead. And then by some miracle, it will put you back together and make everything right. But you’re not giving it the chance to do that. What you’re doing is giving up. I haven’t ever thought of you as a coward. Not once. Yet here you are, running away like a coward. Running away from what? From the beat of your heart?” She shifted her weight to her knees and scooted closer to me on the floor. I felt her hand on my chest and I looked up to meet her gaze. “You’ve been living this life that you thought was complete but it wasn’t. You fight these battles but you never really win them because battles are won or lost in the heart. Are you so ready to forfeit this battle, Andres? Damnit! At least don’t give up without a fight.”
“What am I supposed to do, Abby? It’s done. It’s over. I lost.”
“It’s not over until someone’s dead,” she said.
“Well…” I started to point out that I was technically already dead but she took her hand from my chest and slapped me on top of the head.
“You know what I mean…”

The part about real love, I don’t even know where that came from but I’ll be damned if it’s not the truth.

~Sarah’s Fate, 9/1/10

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Yeah, I'm kind of in love.

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That, is a freaking lot.

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The Ramblings of a Mad Writer

I am writing. I swear. I now have two windows open and one contains my almost halfway finished novel, the other this blog that will consist of my rambling thoughts. Sarah, the main character in the last installment of the Maldito series, refuses to listen to me. Like, she just keeps showing up in places she shouldn’t be. Shall I explain? I am writing a duel, 1st person POV thing with Sarah as an MC and Andres as the other. I have (had) a chapter by chapter outline and it clearly stated that in Chapter 10 (Andres) Sarah was NOT to be in it at all and yet she shows up at the bar Andres is at, tracking down bad guys, because he didn’t call her back. This, as you can imagine, makes it very difficult for me because God knows I can never hit the backspace key unless my editor tells me to. Like... well… here read this. *Warning*, speaking of my lovely editor, she is yet to see this so shhhhh, I don’t want to hear about the commas. I hate them. She puts them in later.

I was about to turn and leave when I caught sight of her. I felt sick, upset, furious, and hysterical all in the same moment. Stupid human emotions, I thought remembering why I didn’t miss having them. She was standing beside the bar, overtly flirting with the bartender who was eyeing her as if she were a piece of meat. Her hair was different, cut in a short style that exposed her long neck. One side was tucked precariously behind her ear. My God, she was beautiful. I stalked over to her, very nearly knocking several people over in my haste.
“What are you doing here?” I asked her though my clenched teeth.

Though her smile never faltered, I could see the flash of hurt across her face. She took my tone as annoyance, or something of the sort. I rushed to correct her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way,” I began. I was yelling. One had to yell to be heard over the music, but it was still only loud enough for her to hear.

She cut me off, managing to be heard by not only myself but quite a few people in the area. “Well, if you would ever call anyone the hell back I wouldn’t have to beg Abby to tell me where you were but never mind. I can see I’ve made a mistake.”

She flew past me, heading for the door. I would not chase after her. I needed to stay where I was. I wasn’t any closer to finding out about the vamp changing people in my city, or the human trafficking than I had been on Sunday when I witnessed the disgusting scene. Keen’s was the common connection. I was sure of it. Turning my body away from her, I leaned on the counter. And stayed there for a solid three seconds.

Damn this infernal woman.

See what I’m saying? She wasn’t supposed to be there. Reading that back, I don’t like the part about the human trafficking. It’s not flowing right. That’s what it is though. Anyone know a better way to say that? Ughh.

On a personal note, I find myself rather stable in my life. Generally happy and content. While this is good for my soul, it has been reeking havoc on my ability to write. Go figure. Once this book is done, I am going to finish Fireflys I think. Or perhaps Gemini. That one is going to be good. I’ll really have to plan that one though. And since Courtney is the main character of that one (and Timeless Love) she will HAVE to listen to me. Hehehehehehehe.

Sia, My Love. Listen to it. Right now. That is all. ~night~

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