Mood: Happy

What I'm Listening To Right Now: "Why Georgia" by John Mayer

Besides the fact that I'm listening to John Mayer, the other reason I'm in a good mood is that I'm flying through the "restructuring" of the book. As you all know, I' started over, although I was chin deep in the old version of my book. I felt like the point of view needed changing, so I changed it. Ahh, the power. Anyway, I've realized that A) I liked how my story was going the old way, so changing it over is getting easier because I only need to change "she to I" and stuff like that and B) I like the point of view I'm working with now. I think I'm doing things a little bit different from what everyone else has done with first person writing, or as I've learned it's sometimes called "deep point of view." Either way, I like it.

Another reason I'm in a good mood is because it's absolutely beautiful outside. Mid 70s and perfect, just the way I like it. Oh and I ate Taco Bell for lunch... Always a good thing. I got some errands done earlier today and spent most of the afternoon writing, I love feeling productive. I think I'm going to reward myself by reading for a few hours outside, or maybe inside. Either way, a few hours reading is enough of a reward for me.

I've just started reading the "Shopaholic" series by Sophie Kinsella. Who actually makes me read and think in a British accent, that's how cool it is. I read another one of book of hers called "Can you keep a secret?" and it was fantastic, so I'm going to read the rest of her books. Then I'm moving on to Ally Carter; I read her blog and I love it, so I'm reading her stuff next.

Back to the book, I think I can actually finish the "restructuring" in the next few days. I have about 35 pages done, that's a little more than six chapters, and I've done most of that this week. So there's no reason that, if I work hard, I can't have the next 30 some pages done by Monday. That's my new goal, done by Monday. Then I can actually go back to writing new stuff; I miss it.

Okay, that's all for me. I'm going to read. :)

Have a great day everybody.

Mood: Good but tired... and a little icky.

What I'm Listening To Right Now: "Hypnotize" by Notorious BIG

Today has been a pretty successful day for me. I read another writer's blog a few days ago and she was giving pointers on writing novels. I love stuff like that, I'm soaking up info all over the place... but anyway. I took a lot of what she wrote to heart, including something that I knew but wasn't focusing on as much as I should, and that is my characters.

I'm a very "in my head" type of person. I keep secrets, thoughts, feelings and so on trapped in my head. So, apparently I've approached my book in the same way, which is that I can "hear" my characters talking in my head. I can hear how they are different from the others but I'm not translating that into words. Like she reminded me, a writer should be able to cover up the names in their story and still be able to know who's saying what. I need that.

So today I went to Barnes and Noble, (yay!) on a $25 budget, because I tend to let spending get out of hand in there, and picked up an astrology fact book. Just personalities of each sign, element and so on. I'm going to take a lot of what is in there and apply it to my characters, to understand what makes them tick, and was ticks them off. I'm loving it so far.

Add to that, one of my characters and their birthday is spot-on in the way they act, and just the way they are. My book has an astrology background anyway; I know that doesn't make sense, but someday it will. I have the birthdays and so on for every single character mentioned in the book, so I know their signs, and that's a huge help to me.

Plus, I got to go to Barnes and Noble (always a huge plus). I got the normal JANE magazine, a fitness magazine and a good chick lit book to take my mind off things. In other words, I'm happy, happy, happy.

Here's the icky part, I don't feel good... at all. It's finally warming up here in NC and my sinuses are taking a whooping for it. My head is about to explode, and that may just make it feel better. So I've given myself the rest of the night to not work on my book and to only think about it if I can't help it. I'm going to take a Nyquil, sit, relax and read. I feel better already.

Have a great day.

Mood: Cold... and grumpy because of it. (I live in the South and it's almost April, it really shouldn't be this cold)

What I'm listening to right now: "Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert

Frost bite. I'm pretty sure that my fingers are on their way to be frost bitten. It's so cold here in NC this week! We got so spoiled with the nice 70 and 80 degree temprature in Febuary and early March that now it is unseasonable cold, and I can hardly deal. I was driving along I-77 today and noticed that it wasn't rain hitting my windsheild anymore; no, it was freezing rain. Ick.

I'm from Delaware, that's where I was born and raised, but the last year and a half in NC has warmed my blood and I can hardly stand cold weather; unless it's Thanksgiving or Christmastime. Then I can deal with it.

Okay, enough complaining about the weather.

I haven't gotten any writing done today, I've been too busy surfing the internet; My new procrastination tool for just about anything. I will make up my mind to get offline and off of the computer, but just as I'm about to hit that "shut down" button, I think of something else I need to look up. Something I need to work on, I suppose.

I've also started taking myself off of Coke Zero. It's a slow process which I hope leads me to not drinking soda at all. I'm now drinking Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi. Let me tell you, it's no Coke Zero, but there is no caffeine. This will hopefully lead to a more rested, productive, less jumpy, not-so-freaked-out, de-stressed, maybe-a-little-grumpy-but-I'll-deal, Brandy. We'll see.

I was up late last night dealing with some issues of combining the two versions of my book. I'm finding it difficult to write some things in first person. Maybe it's just me, but I keep getting my past and present tenses mixed up. It's probably something I just need to get used to. I mentioned before that I've written half of a book in first person, but I started that in first person. It's hard to get my mind to switch when I've been writing the other book for so long. Again, something else I need to work on.

I spent my cold, wet and icy afternoon in my comfortable chair watching Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire on dvd. That movie is just fantastic. It was nice to focus on someone elses magical world for a little while. Then, because I have no sense at all, I got a sundae. That's right, I ate ice cream after I've been complaining about being cold all day. It's was good though, really good.

So that was my totally unproductive day. I'm off to climb under my covers and wish for warm weather.

Have a good night everybody.

Mood: Pretty Optimistic

What I'm Listening To Right Now: "Your Man" by Josh Turner (LOVING this song right now)

OK, so there are a few things that I think I should let you all in on. First, I'm addicted to Coke Zero. It might actually be the caffeine that I'm addicted to, but either way, it's getting out of hand. It's also making it very difficult to figure out what is keeping me up at night, the book or the soda. It's a toss up, it really is.

Second, I'm re-writing my book. Crazy, I know. Especially since it took me so long to get this far, but it needs to be done. The story is basically staying the same, with some minor tweaks, but I'm re-writing it in first-person. As soon as the idea hit me, I fell in love with it. I love first-person books, they seem a little lighter, and with a story like mine, a littly lightness (word? not a word?) never hurt anybody. Also, I really wanted to get into my main charactor's head more. It may be my lack of skill on my part, although I hope not, but I was having a hard time keeping up with what she was feeling. But now with her telling the story, you have it right in your face and I love it. The nice thing about that is that she isn't the type of person to just spill her feelings to others, or to herself. She's a little guarded, okay, a lot guarded. So I think making this book in the first-person will be interesting as she learns things and starts to admit things to others and herself.

Third, the internet doesn't help when your writing a book. I've spent the last hour on the internet looking up other writer's blogs, NASCAR stuff, tennis stuff, football stuff, sports stuff in general. All of that adds up to NOT WRITING. So, as soon as I finish this blog, it's back to work for B. No more wandering around the 'net aimlessly. No more. Not one more minute. Really...

Oh, and another big event today... I let my mom read my new first chapter. This may not seem like a big step, but it was really huge. She hadn't read a word of the old, half-finished book, so this was a small peak for her. That's how excited I am about it though. I really like the direction I'm going and I feel like the story is just flowing right out of my fingertips. So, I should really get them back on the keyboard... well, obviously they are on the keyboard, but they should be writing a book, not a blog. Okay, now I'm just delaying. I should go... now.

Have a good one everybody.

Mood: Confused but good

What I'm listening to right now: "The Suffering" by Coheed and Cambria

So, last night I sat down and sketched out a timeline for my book. I have a series of things that happen in this book and I really needed to sit down and make sure that A) it would all fit into a nine month period and B) that is all still made sense. I've been planning this book forever, I can't remember what I wore yesterday, much less what I planned four months ago. Anyway, it worked out and everything fits. It's a funny feeling when now I know that I am ready to write this and finish it. There is nothing really in my way. I know what is going to happen to who, and when. It's nice, but scary.

So after I got all that figured out, I had my normal freak-out session, where I worried about whether it was good enough or not. I still am, but more than all of that, I just don't want this to be looked at as a Harry Potter rip-off. I know I've talked about this so much already but I'm really worried about it.

When I decided to write this book, it was because I thought it would be fun to write and work in the world of magic. There is a lot of possibility, obviously, when working with magic. It just seemed limitless, so I went for it. Here's my issue. In order to have any sort of young adult, school has to be included in their life, and if there is anything crazy going on in school then they can't go home everyday-- their parents or guardians wouldn't let them go back. So you sort of have to put them in a boarding school situation. It's weird I know, but sending your character off to school makes life easier all around. So I have a witch who goes to a magic school. I know, I know.

The thing is, she's not Harry Potter. There is no bad guy who killed her parents. She doesn't have two friends that go everywhere with her. She doesn't have a horrible family life, none of that. But I know when I say, I'm writing a book about a witch who goes to magic school, that everybody is going to say, "Oh like Harry Potter." Ugh.

Did I mention it's also going to be a series? See! You right there... yes, you. Your judging me. It's only four books though, and I already have them planned out. I actually like the next three better than the first, which is bothersome. The first one is just so old in my head though, I think I just like the next ones because they are new and exciting.

So, last night I started thinking of ways to un-Potter these books. This is exactly what I didn't want. I didn't want the HP books to affect my books at all. I didn't want them to influence my characters or my magical world, but I also didn't want those books to make me change mine just because they may run parallel to each other. But I thought about it anyway. I didn't change anything yet, but I have it all in my head and it may happen. I'm not sure.

Okay, I'm babbling. I'm really going to it down and write tomorrow. Maybe I'll feel better then.

Have a great night everybody.

Mood: Cautiously Optimistic

What I'm Listening To Right Now: "Take It On The Run" by REO Speedwagon

The full moon has been messing with me. That's the only excuse I can come up with. It's that or caffeine. Either way, I have been a mess for the entire last week. It hasn't even been a normal mess, it's been more of a bi-polar mess. I've been up and down, up and down. It's getting old.

It didn't help that I went to the movies tonight and saw V for Vendetta. Movies like that freak me out. Don't get me wrong, it was fantastic, a real thinking movie. It just freaked me out. I think it's a lingering affect of having severe panic disorder for four years, but it seems like that if I see something that bothers me, it will bother me for a while. Then, anything else within that next few hours will bother me too. I compare it to throwing a rock in water. When it ripples the first time, it's because of the rock. The next ripple and all that follow are just ripples from the ripples that came before. I know what your thinking... I'm crazy. While that may be true, you'll be glad to know that I'm recovering from those ripples of the night and as you can see, I'm cautiously optimistic.

One of the reasons I'm feeling better tonight is that I've found some fantastic agents and author blogs that have really inspired me. Don't get me wrong, they've freaked me out too, but for the most part, they've helped a lot. Most of the author blogs are chick lit authors, but I'm okay with that. I actually love chick lit. I'm not writing a chick lit book right now, but I've always thought about it. I actually have a half-finished chick lit book saved on my old computer. Maybe I'll finish it someday.

Anyway, these blogs have really given me some great information on the publishing/writing/agenting business. That was something that I was worried about because I really had no idea how it really worked. You can find article upon article about it online, but there is something about hearing it from the people that actually do it, that makes me more comfortable. Not to mention, I've fallen in love with one agent who seems very smart, cool and savvy. I shouldn't have started reading her blog because now I know when I send out my queries, I'll be waiting for hers. That's okay though, it gives me something to shoot for.

So it's back to work on the book on Monday. It's weird but my creativity has been coming in spurts lately. I'll spend days and days writing and making good progress, then I have days where I look at the screen and know that I have nothing to add that would make the book better, so I leave it. Monday is the day though. I'm trying not to impose a deadline on myself but it might be needed if I keep going. I have a lot of pages and not a lot of story yet. I need to get to the point. I won't limit myself though, I'm just going to get it all out and let the editing process take care of the rest.

Whew, I'm babbling. I'm done now.

Have a good one everybody.

Mood: A little stressed

What I'm Listening To Right Now: "Wait" by Something Corporate

So, as you all can see, I've changed things around today. I was bored with the old template and wanted something a little more... I don't know, green I guess.

I've always liked this blogger template, so I said, "What the hell?" and went with it. You all probably see that I've added some other little touches here and there (mood and music) to give you a glimpse into who I am. I talk a lot about my book on here, (that's what this blog is for, after all) but I also want people to get to know me and the things I like and don't like. I think this should at least make this place a bit more entertaining.

So I hope you all like it! I've been a little distracted from the book today, with getting this place ready, watching racing, working out and so on. It's no excuse, but I write better when the sun goes down anyway, so I should be fine.

I'm going to pry myself away from the computer for a little while. I hear it's bad to stare at a screen for hours and hours at a time... I think I might be in a bad line of work.

Have a great day everybody.

Writing is going pretty well for me these days. That's one of the main reasons I haven't been able to update here, I've actually been getting some good work done on the book. I'm really happy with what I have so far, I feel like I'm writing too much but that's okay. I'm just letting it all flow out, and I'll edit out all of the stuff I don't need later. I'm still in the very beginning stages of my story, which is crazy since I have a lot written already. Apparently, I'm writing a brick of a book. That's great though, I think, I mean I love reading long books. Why not write one?

I've also been putting more thought into opening my own book store someday. If I had the money, I would do it now. I can't think of a better place to be, than in a room filled with books. I also know that I went to college and learned how to build, market and run a business, so I should put my skills to use. I think I'm going to try to get some general facts about how much everything would cost and how it would work. I know I can't do it in the near, near future but why not start planning now? I'm tired of waiting for life to happen to me, I want to make it happen.

Add to that, I want to go back to school to get another degree that will help me in racing. I know, I know, I'm a little ambitious but I can do it and I'm young. So anyway, that's where I am today. I have a lot to get done, huh?

As always, send your comments straight to me at racechick1@adelphia.net

Have a great day everybody.

So I'm writing again, and I have to tell you, I like it. I just felt like I needed to dive in there again, which is good because for a while, I didn't think I had done enough planning. Now I know that I can't plan everything. Seriously, that will just be boring and will probably restrict me. So I'm writing... again...

It's gone pretty smoothly. I think my first draft is going to be way too long, but that's just how it goes, I guess. What I have now should equal out to around 80 book-sized pages... and I'm only on the first day of the real story, granted there is a back story but still. I'm comfortable with that though, because I know the editing process will kick my ass and take a good amount of useless things that I think are so important now, out.

So I'm entering the stage of the book that I've labeled "The Grind," which I've mentioned before. I just need to get in there more and grind this thing out. My first instinct is to write overnight, which makes sense for me because I'm such a night-owl. The thing is, I also don't really like to sleep through the day and, well you know, things need to be done while the sun is up. It's common sense vs. creativity. I don't know which is going to win yet. We'll see.

OK, time to get back to it.

As always send all of your comments straight to me at racechick1@adelphia.net

Have a good day everybody.