Happy Birthday, December IWSG, and a Movie Review!!!

Hey everybody! So it has been a crazy awesome week! Yesterday was my 22nd Birthday! I got to celebrate with family eating cake and ice cream, topping it off with a night at the movies. Woohoo! ^^ :D I have to say, I don't feel much older, but I've heard that doesn't start to set in until later. Lol :) So for my birthday movie, my brother and my sister-in-law took me to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire for the second time (My mom took me to see it the first time on the day it came out lol). It was really sweet too, because the lady running the concession stand sang Happy Birthday to me. ^^

                And I have to say, it was AWESOME!!! Frances Lawrence did an excellent job! He created a world so intricate and detailed that even though it passes by in short little bursts, you really get a good sense of it. And the characters I feel got a whole lot better and deeper. The costumes were so great and some totally outrageous (lol Effie J). The first half felt just slightly rushed, but for the time they had, they covered a lot. There were a couple parts that made me giggle…really loudly. :] If you’ve seen the movie or read the books, all I have to say is. Johanna. Hehe. ^^ Of course there were a couple parts that had me tearing up. If you've read the books you know what parts those probably were. It was pretty funny too, because at the end where the big hurrah takes place, my brother and I were both pumping our fist saying Yeah!  

You can really tell the difference between fans of the books versus those that have only seen the movies too because my sister-in-law kept leaning over to explain little nuances to my brother because he hasn't read the books yet. Key word: yet. Between the two of us, I'm sure we'll have him reading them in no time! ;D

Overall, I would give Catching Fire 4.5 stars only because I felt like there was just a smidge where they could've done a little bit more, but like I said: Fantastic job. I'm so glad Frances is doing both Mockingjay part 1 & 2. And after seeing the second one, I'm really glad they split the movie into two parts because that will really allow them to dig into the story and honor those parts that really need it and are huge parts of the overall arc. In my opinion, Suzanne Collins is a genius. I also haven't read any of her other books yet, so I might be biased, but Hunger Games is my all-time favorite book series. Ever.

 

Anyways, before I go all Fangirl over you guys, today is the first Wednesday of December, which means it’s time for another IWSG! The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a wonderful place where writers can share their worries and failures as well as their successes and advice. Led by our fearless leader Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG meets the first Wednesday of every month and you can join on his site here. There's also a brand new website now so be sure to check it out here.  

 

So every year at the Central Oregon Writer’s Guild, we hold two annual readers showcases where members can volunteer to read their work to the guild and on December 19^th is our next showcase and I volunteered! I’ve never been able to read my work out loud in public before so I’m super excited and absolutely terrified! I’m not a great out loud reader. I tend to skip words and mix up letters within words. I don’t want to read too quickly or slowly especially since I only have eight minutes to read, but for those that have had the opportunity to speak before groups and share their work publicly, what have you found works best and helps you present better? Let me know in the comments below and thanks for stopping by! J

 

Happy Writing! ^^ :D

November 2013 IWSG

Happy Wednesday everyone! And seeing that it’s the first Wednesday of the month, that means it’s time for another IWSG!

 The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a wonderful place where writers can share their worries and failures as well as their successes and advice. Led by our fearless leader Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG meets the first Wednesday of every month and you can join on his site here. There's also a brand new website now so be sure to check it out here.

So I’ve got something on my mind I want to ask all of you out there. I am almost finished with a short story that I have been working on for what seems like ages. I’m thinking it’s going to end up being somewhere around 10,000 words and it is a Science Fiction piece that is very close to my heart. Since I am almost done, I’ve been going back and forth on how I want to publish it; traditionally or self-publish. If I go with traditional publishing, I won’t have to worry about paying for a cover or the editing (I don’t think so anyways. Please correct me if I’m wrong). BUT I also don’t have anything else published yet which means that it could be a little bit more difficult to place than I’m anticipating. Since it is such a long piece for a short story, I’m also worried about where I would publish it, because it would be way too long for a magazine. Maybe an anthology, but I don’t know.

My second option which I’m leaning towards the most right now is self-publishing. If I self-publish, I will definitely need to spend the money to pay for a professional cover as well as an editor. I’m liking this option more because I will have more control of my work on this particular avenue, but here is the crux of the matter. I don’t have anything else out there yet so I am currently an unknown and I don’t have a decent work sample I can offer for free yet. Should I let this be my free piece or should I put a price on it? I’ve worked so hard on it and right now I could really use the money, but with paying for a cover and editing, I don’t know how much to expect or if I should expect any returns all. I don’t know.

What do you think? How did you publish your first piece and if, like me, you haven’t been published yet, what avenue are you planning to use?

 Thanks for stopping by and Happy Writing everyone! ^^ :D

September 2013 IWSG

Hey everybody! So today being Wednesday means it’s time again for IWSG!

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a wonderful place where writers can share their worries and failures as well as their successes and advice. Led by our fearless leader Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG meets the first Wednesday of every month and you can join on his site here.

So this week I want to ask all you lovely folks out there about creativity, and to put a twist on a used and abused question we writers get all the time, I want to ask you, not where you get your inspiration, but where you get your creativity. Or rather, how do you feed your creativity? At a writer’s group about a year ago, I got talking to a gal about getting those creative juices flowing and she said that she loved pottery and that when she worked on her pottery that she found she had more creativity to put towards her writing as well. I suppose you could translate that into something along the lines of: Creative things breed more creativity. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen, but I wanted to see what all of you found helped you tap into your creativity and apply it towards your writing. Let me know in the comments below and thanks for stopping by and reading! ^^ J

June 2013 IWSG

Hey everyone. Happy June! I still can’t believe May is over and June is here. And being that today is the first Wednesday of the month it’s time again for IWSG, which is hosted by the amazing Alex J. Cavanaugh so be sure to check out his site and say hello.

So yesterday I joined a brand new critique group. I loved the group I was in before and they gave me great feedback, but after I started at my new job, my full time schedule did not allow me the time I needed to meet with them during the day and thus I have been without a group for about six months. Well just yesterday I met with a great group of gals forming a new group and I’m proud to say, I have a critique group again!!! XD The only problem is that it’s been sooo long and I’ve been sooo out of practice critiquing that I find it hard to articulate what it is I want to say. What do you find helps the most when starting a new group?

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a wonderful place where writers can share their worries and failures as well as their successes and advice. You can view the list and join the group on Alex's site here.

Happy Writing! ^^ :D

February IWSG 2013

Hey everyone! I hope you're all doing well. Happy IWSG!!! January has been a crazy month so I'm sorry I haven't been around much. My grandmother had a stroke two days before I started at a new job and in less than a month, my brother will be getting married! Lots and lots going on, which kind of brings me to this month's IWSG topic: Time. I'm finding that when I get home from work, I'm tired and mostly just want to crash and call it a night. A lady told me today that it can take some time to adjust to working full time versus part time, but my question is: what are some of the ways you balance your time when you don't have a lot of it.

I also just enrolled in another Institute of Children's Literature class on writing books for children and teens. After my first class with them, I learned a lot about short stories and articles, but I'm really looking forward to working on a good length novel one-on-one with my instructor. The way the class is structured is similar to a writer-editor relationship, so I'm very excited to get started. :) If anyone is looking for a good class on writing for children and teens, I would definitely recommend the Institute especially because you send in your assignments so it doesn't matter where you live; it's basically like an online class.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a wonderful place where writers can share their worries and failures as well as their successes and advice. Led by our fearless leader Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG meets the first Wednesday of every month and you can join on his site here.

I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the New Year so far. Do you have any plans for Valentine's? Tell me about them in the comments below! ^^ :D