A Very Happy Thanksgiving

My dad was released from the hospital yesterday in just enough time to make it to our family Thanksgiving Feast. He didn't stay too long, still feeling tired, but I'm very glad that he made it, and felt well enough to come and even tell a few stories.

His main priority is rest for the next few months.
So I'm giving him a few books to read . . .like whole series of books . . .

I hope all in blogland had a very happy Thanksgiving too!!!

Oh, and I won the awesome 500 follower giveaway from Cassie and Tara - Thanks Ladies!

Wreck It Ralph, Road Dancing, and Thanksgiving

from IMDB

Wreck-It Ralph is definitely a movie for gamers who like a redemption style hero's journey.

Yes, it's a Disney movie, but it's just a little different all the way through, and I liked that. I got the sense that most of the movie critics that they didn't really know or understand half of the game references so don't go by professional reviewers opinions.

Altogether, my family thought the movie was extremely clever, and held a few unexpected twists that we enjoyed.

So, Huzzah to Wreck-It Ralph, a Disney movie for 80's gamer nerds . . .and maybe their kids too.


Road Dancing What is that you might ask? Just this thought-provoking fun quote from Tim Hawkins, comedian:

"Make the world a better place today. Instead of responding with road rage, try road dancing. They won't be expecting it."

So, as we go into Thanksgiving weekend in America, with huge dinners, and sometimes long miles traveled, or if we celebrate Black Friday (the biggest shopping day of the year), I suggest we all try a little road dancing, or turkey dancing, or mall dancing. The world won't be expecting it.

If you would like a fresh perspective on Thanksgiving, check out Julie Dao's post, Stuck in Traffic . . .Or a Reality Check!

And . . .this added after I wrote the post - please pray for my Dad. He has pneumonia, a high temp, and will be in the hosptial for the next three days. On a good note, he still has his sense of humor and it was funny hearing him tell the admitting doctor about all of his injuries - mainly because he kept not mentioning them, and the doctor would move on, and then my dad would tell him about another one. I'm thankful that he is in good spirits and he's in good care.

Psalm 69: 30 "I will praise God’s name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 150
"Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord."

An Interview with Nickie Anderson

Way back in May, or June, Susan Kaye Quinn had a post that included a critique partner match up.

Thanks to Susan, I met Nickie Anderson of Here's the Story, and we became critique partners. She's been a huge help to me, and I've had the privelege of reading her book Bright Star.

So, although I posted about her release on Friday, I just had to interview her, to find out exactly what her secret is for awesome writing.

Tyrean: What are the steps you took to create your novel? Are you a plotter or a pantster? Did you create the world first or the character?

Nickie: By nature, I am a total pantser. I first tried writing a novel back in 2008, a YA paranormal with mummies. I just wrote, wrote, wrote, and after about 20,000 words I realized all I had was a hot mess.

I tried rewriting a few times, changing the POV and so on, but each time I realized that what the story was actually missing was a plot. That's kind of important.

Writing fell by the wayside when I was in college, but after I graduated and had some free time I wanted to try my hand again.

For 'Bright Star' the world came first, but the characters took over! In fact, I had to do some major rewrites in the first draft because a few of my characters refused to cooperate with my original plot. (I liked their ideas better, though!)

Tyrean: I loved seeing Sadira grow as a character throughout the book. I was impressed at how you showed her becoming more confident in herself as she uncovered more secrets about the world that surrounds her.

Was that part of the plan from the beginning, or did her character develop as the story progressed?

Nickie: I wanted to show some kind of character growth from the beginning. I feel like I've seen too many YA novels with protagonists who are super strong, deadly, butt-kicking machines. What about the rest of us? It's not a relateable character. It seems like it's almost taboo for the character to be scared.

With Sadira, my goal was to create a more realistic teen, one who would be terrified by the events in the story. Her strength isn't hand-to-hand combat -- it's pushing forward even when she's scared to take another step. And with each successful step, she has a little more faith in herself.

Tyrean: Do you feel your book falls under one category more than another? YA, Dystopian, SciFi, Adventure, Fantasy?

Nickie: I feel like 'Bright Star' straddles a few categories. It's definitely YA, but has hints of all these other sub-genres, especially dystopian and sci-fi. One of the most fun trends in YA today is the mashup of different sub-genres, the mixing of different ideas to create entirely new worlds. For example, 'Blood Red Road' was an awesome blend of dystopian, action, and fantasy. I hope that trend continues.

Tyrean: As a writer, who/what encourages you to write?

Nickie: I've always enjoyed writing, but until this last year I never really considered writing a novel. But here's the thing -- it isn't a chore at all. Those characters have come alive for me, and they're constantly giving me new ideas, encouraging me to share their story. We'll be seeing more of Sadira -- she still has a few more stories to tell me.

My biggest inspiration, though, is being a part of the age-old tradition of story telling. It doesn't matter if it's a book, movie, TV show, play, or song -- we all love hearing a story, love that moment of being able to step outside ourselves.

It's bad enough that Sadira Pascal's father doesn't make it home to celebrate her fifteenth birthday. He might be a busy hovership engineer pulling overtime on a new design, but he's always been home for the important things. It's worse when she discovers her father decided to ride on the maiden voyage of his newest ship, the CAS Bright Star, without even telling her. But things really fall apart during Sadira's field trip with her class to observe the hovership launch. Instead of a successful flight, she watches the Bright Star fall out of the sky.

The Central government confirms her father's death, leaving Sadira to pick up the pieces of her former life. While she struggles with her loss, Private Baruj Haddad tries to convince her that her father and the rest of the Bright Star crew are still alive. At first, Sadira doesn't believe there's any hope. But then she stumbles across a message that makes her think maybe, just maybe, her father is still alive. As she digs deeper into the Bright Star's crash, Sadira uncovers secrets about her father's work, secrets that put her and everyone she loves in danger.

 

Bright Star can be found at: Amazon B&N and Smashwords

 

You can also put it on your to-read or read shelf at Goodreads

 

Nicke is running an Indie giveaway of Bright Star this week on her blog. Go check it out at Here's The Story!

 

 

Thank you Nickie for being an awesome critique partner!

 

 

If you haven't seen it yet . . .I also have to give a huge shout out for this awesome blogfest for the most encouraging blogger I know:

Details can be found at several sites . . .I don't have time to list them all at the moment, but you can stop by the very embarassed Alex's blog and find out more.

 

 

I Miss You Blogfest, Bright Star Release, and Jousting!

It's here, the Oh How I Miss You Blogfest, co-hosted by Ninja Captain Alex Andrew and Matthew.

Three bloggers I really miss:

Melissa from Through the Looking Glass hasn't blogged since May 2011, but I still haven't taken her off my blog roll list. Why? Because I miss her humor, her wonderfully fresh and honest posts, and her sparkling personality. I don't know what happened to her, but I miss her presence in blogland.

Carissa Taylor is a blogger I found just last year near the end of A to Z. I felt like I just started to get to know Carissa and her sense of humor, and then she disappeared. Come back Carissa!

Nikki at Inspire Nordic dropped off the blog-sphere unexpectedly in September. Again, I was a fairly new follower. I admit I probably didn't stop by often enough to let her know how much I liked her Nordic, family, and writing inspired posts.

One of the many bloggers I would really miss if he stopped blogging:
The Amazing, Spectacular, Always Encouraging Ninja Captain Alex!
I know this is a given. Every blogger I know could name Alex. Why? Because he is always supportive, always upbeat, always encouraging, always helpful. His posts are witty, and he always takes time to highlight other writers and bloggers. He rocks the word encouragement like no one else I know in the blogworld.

Thank you Alex, Andrew, and Matthew for hosting!!!

and in other news . . .news that I wish I had released earlier in the week . . .


Bright Star Book Release
My awesome critique partner Nickie Anderson released her newest book Bright Star.

It's bad enough that Sadira Pascal's father doesn't make it home to celebrate her fifteenth birthday. He might be a busy hovership engineer pulling overtime on a new design, but he's always been home for the important things. It's worse when she discovers her father decided to ride on the maiden voyage of his newest ship, the CAS Bright Star, without even telling her. But things really fall apart during Sadira's field trip with her class to observe the hovership launch. Instead of a successful flight, she watches the Bright Star fall out of the sky.
 

Available at Amazon B&N Smashwords and listed on GoodReads

I highly recommend this book. I've read it twice, and I plan on reading it again! Nickie has created a new and interesting world with compelling characters with secrets to uncover.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! This is the last day to participate in M Pax's Jousting Tournament. Pray tell if you have stopped by and given a loud Huzzah to your favorite knights this week. Knight Light has been flickering in and out of action, but I'm still on the field (I think). Pray tell is the phrase you need to double each Huzzah!

And Tara Tyler and Cassie Mae are having a 500 follower giveaway with awesome prizes!

Thanks for your Prayers . . .and other news

Thank You for your prayers for Jessica!

Jessica's surgery went well, and she is recovering in the ICU (as expected). She has a four month long recovery ahead of her, with at least a month of it in the hospital. Your continued prayer support would be awesome.

I had the privelege of sitting with her parents yesterday for a few hours, and I am, as always, amazed by their strength and their faith. They had to wait two hours between each update from the surgical team, and the surgery went for 8 and 1/2 hours. With the two hours Jessica spent with the doctors and nurses pre-operation, and the time she spent with them post-operation, her parents had to wait 12 hours before they could be with her again. Even after running that marathon of waiting, they took the time to update their caring bridge site and give thanks to everyone for all their prayers.

So, again, thank you!

In other Thanksgiving News, Angie from Notes from the Writing Chair is hosting a Thanksgiving blogfest called Putting Thanks and Giving into Thanksgiving.

 

Also, this Friday, Ninja Captain Alex Andrew and and Matthew are co-hosting the Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest.

 Be sure to check it out!

 



Plus, Jessica Bell's book, Show and Tell in a Nutshell is out!
Available at Amazon US Amazon UK and Kobo
In Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing you will find sixteen real scenes depicting a variety of situations, emotions, and characteristics which clearly demonstrate how to turn telling into showing. Dispersed throughout, and at the back of the book, are blank pages to take notes as you read. A few short writing prompts are also provided.

Not only is this pocket guide an excellent learning tool for aspiring writers, but it is a light, convenient, and easy solution to honing your craft no matter how broad your writing experience. Keep it in the side pocket of your school bag, throw it in your purse, or even carry it around in the pocket of your jeans or jacket, to enhance your skills, keep notes, and jot down story ideas, anywhere, anytime.


In NaNoWriMo-land, I struggled to get any writing done. If you look at my word count meter on the right side, you'll see that I'm far behind. I'm ok with that on the days when I feel like my writing went well, but yesterday was one of those days, when nothing seemed right. For instance, even my characters were realizing that they were out of character yesterday.

“That horrible parrot?” said Telli. “That thing could bite off her finger, and dwarvans don’t have puny fingers.”

“He’s actually a very nice bird, if you treat him right,” said Doug.

“You’re definitely going to have to work on getting into character,” said Reyla. “Captain Wrath would never describe Mr. Polly as a ‘very nice bird.’”

Doug sighed. “You’re right.” He went to run his hand through his hair, but stopped when he touched the greasy wig. The glue was still itching him, or maybe it was just the nasty hair.

In NaNoRevMo-land, I revised three measly paragraphs worth of writing. On the upside, I don't think I need to revise those three paragraphs again.

 And Knight Light is still jousting at M Pax's Jousting Tournament - so please stop by and give me a Huzzah and a Pray Tell!

And Julie Luek put together a post full of revision tips, and one of mine made it into the post! However, I think you want to go to her post here, and check out what all the other awesome writers had to say about revision.

And my awesome critique partner Nickie Anderson released her book, Bright Star. More info on Friday and next week when I host her on my blog.