I Swear I'm Not Dead . . .

. . . I've just been at a writer's camp all week!!!!

I promise I'll post lots about that very soon, but for now, I'll just post two links to blog posts I wrote (one is for "The Write Practice" and the other is for "Positive Writer").:

"How To Stop Procrastinating Before It's Too Late"

"How To Stay Focused On Writing"

Blog About a Quote

I'm doing this blogging exercise as a practice for Bryan Hutchinson's guest post on The Write Practice. For the exercise we need to pick a quote and blog about it. Here's the quote I picked:

"Only in the darkness can you see the stars." -- Martin Luther King Jr.



The reason I picked that one is because, well, there are a lot of reasons. First off, I just love the quote. I think Martin Luther King Jr. had a lot of great things to say. Secondly, in my current WIP, Cosmo, I always have a quote at the beginning of a chapter. The quote always has something to do with what happens in that chapter, which is difficult a lot of the time. There's a chapter where something truly awful happens--I won't give away what--and this quote is at the beginning of the chapter.

So what does it mean?

Well, one could take it literally and say, "It has to be dark outside for you to go stargazing." And while that's all good and true, I don't think that was what Dr. King was going for when he said this.

To me, this quote means that in your darkest and most awful times, you can find something good. It might not pop up right in front of you, singing a TV jingle, and dancing in a sparkly dress, but you'll find it eventually, and when you do it'll be great.

Here's a chapter excerpt from that particular chapter (don't worry, there aren't any spoilers):

     Celeste hugged me even tighter.
    "I'm so sorry."
    Celeste didn't ask me any questions. She just sat there next to me on my bed for hours while I cried, holding my hand. I got up to blow my nose in the bathroom and when I came back, there was something written on Celeste's hand.

     Only in the darkness can you see the stars.

    "I can't see any stars at the moment," I said quietly. Celeste gave me another hug.
    "Maybe the city lights are blocking them out."
    "I wish they wouldn't."
    "Give it time. Maybe by then you'll see the moon."

The Story Cartel

For all you writers out there, here is a link for something I found called "The Story Cartel." (Click HERE). I've gotten some samples of "The Story Cartel Course" and it is awesome. It's very detailed about things you can do to make your story better, but it's also to the point. Joe Bunting, the guy who runs "The Write Practice," is the one who does "Story Cartel." I highly recommend you check it out.

Happy writing! :D

My Second Post Went Live!!!! :D

Sorry for not blogging much lately. Our family went on a week long beach vacation that was AWESOME! It was so much fun. Even the dog enjoyed it. :)

Anyway, this past Thursday my second post went live on thewritepractice.com! :D It's called "Six Ways to Make Your Readers Hate You." Click HERE to see it. It currently has 58 comments, so comment and make it 59. Or 60 or 61 or . . . ;)

My New Job

As I said in my "Encyclopedia of Me-W" post, I got a new job at thewritepractice.com. It is the best writing blog ever! :D

My first ever post on there just went live. I am so excited to get comments and have people read my post! Each post on this blog tons of comments.

You can check out my post by clicking on THIS. My post is called "Just Write" and for those of you who love writing but can never seem to find the time, this post should help. ;)