Saying Goodbye to My Youth

I'm 29 years old today! Which means I only have one year left before I'm shoved into the 30 and older box and no am longer considered "young" "hip" or "in the know". Why not take this once in a lifetime chance and live it up?

There are a few things I'd like to do before I turn 30. Writing related things are high on the list, but life is on there as well. I think we all need to take time every once in a while and share our dreams with those around us. Therefore, here is a short list of things I want to do before I'm 30.


1. Hike to the top of Lone Peak. I've only hiked to the top of one other mountain - Timpanogos. It's been twelve years since that happened. I think it's time to do some more conquering.

2. Ride a zip line. I'm terrified of heights. I've totally chickened out each time I've been given the chance to ride one. I will conquer it this year!

Even this picture freaks me out a little.

3. Practice the piano at least three times a week. I'm terrible at playing the piano. It's been years since I've practiced faithfully. This is the year to change that.

4. Take my kids camping. I'm doing this, this weekend. I'm even taking the baby. I want to get over my hesitations of always needing to be comfortable. I'm almost 30! It's time I gained some courage.

There you have it. This is the year to conquer my fears and hesitations. What's on your bucket list?

Fraction of Stone!

Some of you may remember a book review I did a couple of months ago for Fraction of Stone. If you don't here's a reminder. Well ladies and gentlemen this book is now available for purchase! Don't know what it's about? Here's the blurb:

Goodreads

Wind tunnels, torrential rains and earthquakes tear apart Casden. The cause of the world’s imbalance is unknown, but the mounting occurrences suggest there’s little time before life ceases to exist.

Rydan Gale and Akara Nazreth are the only humans with the ability to wield magic. The tattoo on their necks and the discovery of an ancient book, dictate they are the key to the world’s survival.

But the greatest obstacle for saving mankind isn’t the bizarre creatures, extreme betrayals and magic-fearing men hunting them.

It’s that Akara doesn’t believe the world is worth saving.


 

Here's where it can be purchased:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

And because Kelley's awesome, there's also a giveaway going on. Check it out :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


About the author:
Eventually the day came when the voices in Kelley Lynn’s head were more insistent then her engineering professor’s. So instead of turning to her Thermodynamics book, Kelley brought up a blank page on her computer screen and wrote. Somewhere along the way she became a Young Adult author.












Go buy it now and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did :)  

Writers: A Different Breed

The other day I had a neighbor call me asking about writing advice. Apparently she's been keeping a series of picture books to herself and wondering how on earth to get them published. I proceeded to explain to her about agents, small presses, self-publishing, and Query letters.

When we hung up, I laughed to myself thinking about what a strange breed we writers are. I'm sure my neighbor's head was spinning. The next day I sent her 20 billion websites to look up in hopes of helping her further. It hit me then how much work this writing thing really is.

It's not like I haven't had this revelation before, but this time it really stuck with me. I wrote a picture book once (ages ago) thinking it would be no big thing. I let one person read it before I realized that it was a big thing.

A lot of you reading this have pushed on even though you know what it takes to get a book published. I spend time every single day doing something writing related. My husband once related it to a high powered corporate position with no pay, and I couldn't help but agree.

Does this mean I'm going to let the dream die? Never! Writing is about so much more than just getting published, it's about improving myself as a person and living my life knowing I tried to make something of it.

There's a power to following your dreams, whether or not you succeed.

Top Ten Movie Blogfest!

Major props go to Alex J. Cavanaugh for hosting yet another epic blogfest! It's time for the

Here's my picks-

10.  Ocean's 11 - George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt. Very Clever and lots of eye candy.

 9. National Treasure - the tension is amazing. I'm still on the edge of my seat when I watch this. 

8. A Walk to Remember - This was my first experience with Nicolas Sparks and it stuck with me for a long time. I still listen to the soundtrack.

7. Never Been Kissed - I love Romances. I love Micheal Vartan. Nuff Said.







 

6. Austenland - I did a review of this one here. I plan on seeing it as soon as it comes out in theaters and I WILL own a copy for my home





 

5. Pride and Prejudice - I've spent many a sick day in bed watching all six hours. Love me some Darcy.

4. Spider-man - This is the only movie that I've seen more than three times in a theater. I had a huge crush on Tobey Maguire in High School. And duh, Spider-man!

3. The Princess Bride - The most quoteable movie on the planet earth. The genius of the writing is bar none.

2. The Lake House - A mailbox that sends letters through time? I  really need to get me one of those. 

1. Hitch - I don't what it is about this movie. Maybe it's one part Will Smith and one part Kevin James mixed with a whole lot of romantic and funny. Still my favorite movie of all time.

National Wormhole Day Bloghop

Tomorrow is Albert Einstein’s birthday. In celebration Stephen Tremp, Laura Eno, and Luanne Smith have put together the National Wormhole day blog hop.

The premise is simple. In 100 words or less tell What you would do or where would you go if you could traverse a wormhole through space or time just once?

Personally, I'd love to go to the future. My husband and I have been watching Star trek: The Next Generation and it's been really fun to see what they predicted as future technology. In some ways, we've passed up the technology on The Enterprise and in other ways we have a long way to go. If I could jump through a wormhole, I'd like to observe how the people live. Then I’d write a book about it passed off as fiction. I’ll be laughing in my grave as all of my ‘predictions’ come true.

***

If you could make up one piece of technology for the future what would it be?

February Mini-Reviews

Last month I really struggled to find time to read, the first two and half weeks of the month, nothing. The last few days of the month, 3 books. One of them was really long. So I'm counting it as two. I can do that, it's my rules.

Goodreads

Cragbridge Hall: The Inventors Secret by Chad Morris. In 2012 I brushed up on the latest time travel books that were sweeping the market. I did so because Time Travel was what I wrote and wanted to sell. I was sorely disappointed with most of the books out there.

This book blew everything I read out of the water. The way Chad incorporated history and made the time travel so subtle and brilliant, it was perfect. The tension was high, and the adventure so fun. This is one of those books I'll be saving for my kids to read when they get a little older. Loved it!!

Goodreads

 Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. I'm always hesitant starting a second book in a series, and I was especially nervous about this one. It seems as of there is one truth about the second book in a series, and it happened in this book, almost immediately. If you haven't read Shatter me, do. You'll fall in love with Adam, then Adam will be ripped from your life in this book. But that's okay, becasue there's also a second universal truth about book 2. The character finds themselves for real. Before they can finish the job, they figure out who they are. Thank goodness that was also true for this book.

In short, the prose left me breathless again. She's amazing! Even though I knew this book would be the bumpiest part of the 3 book road, I still enjoyed reading.

Goodreads

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. When I admitted on my Facebook page that I was converted to Brandon Sanderson, I was met with immediate shouts that The Way of Kings was Brandon's crowing achievement. I admit, I was skeptical and it took me quite a while to get into the story. There are so many characters and takes a good portion of the book just to get an idea of the true setting. But once all of that is behind you, it's intoxicating. The people, the land, the magic, everything is amazing. By the end of it all your mind is so blown, you forget that a real world is around you, needing your attention. Dang that real world! I could stay in The Way of Kings all day.

IWSG: Doubting yourself

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. It's time for another round of the Insecure Writer's Support Group created by the genius Alex J. Cavanaugh!

This month I wanted to talk about doubting yourself. We've all done it. In fact, that was the entire reason this group was started. Even Alex, whom we all look up to, has had his moments.

Today, rather than talking about my insecurities I simply wanted to share a message of hope.

This too shall pass.

We all have moments where we think we aren't good enough to write the kind of story we really want to. Maybe we've even written a story and now we see that it isn't going to work like we hoped.

I'm here to tell you that I've been there. I've come through it. I'm getting stronger with each mistake. I know someday I'll get where I want to be. Why? Because I didn't quit trying.

All those doubts haven't passed for me, but I do have moments where I can see a sliver of who I can become with hard work. That's enough to keep me going.

Keep your chin up and your fingers on the keyboard. This too shall pass.

Editing: Everyone is Different

When I first started blogging almost two years ago, I got a lot of advice thrown my way. Most of it was excellent. If not for the blogging community, there might have been a very poorly written and badly done self-published book from me. I'm grateful for how much I have learned from all of you.

But, I also realized that even though the tips were excellent and even though there were proven testaments to those tips being effective, not everything was exactly right for me and my journey.

Take editing for example. When I first heard someone say that you should let your book rest before editing, I agreed immediately. The English teacher that first got me writing taught me that a good nights rest on a paper made it that much better. Why would a book be any different?

I tried it with a couple of novels, but I struggled for two reasons.

1. All those things that I KNEW were wrong keep hitting me in the back of the head. It was hard to stop thinking about my book and giving it the rest it needed.

2. When I went back to my book I'd look over it and hate everything and want to start from scratch.

As I was writing my current WIP I was thinking about how nothing ever worked out for those two reasons. Then I remembered something. In High School, before I let those papers rest, I would do one quick edit just to make sure I got all of my thoughts across. That way I had no problem letting the paper lie as long as it needed.

Because of that remembrance I'm doing one quick edit on my book before I take my rest. I can't tell you how much peace of mind it's brought me. I'm sorting out all the details and I know when I go back for a second edit it will be all the better.

Has anyone else had the same doubts about a piece of writing advice? If so, please share!