#AtoZChallenge W: Writer
Writer
A lot of us on the AtoZ Challenge are writers in one form or another. We have to be to do this blogging thing. IMHO, it’s even more demoralizing than being an author. How many of us blog without a single response? Again and again, we put up our thoughts to the general public and hope someone out there gives a crap about what we’re writing about.
This has been the fun part of this blog challenge. Random people just might find you. Any time you open your mouth…writerly or verbally…there’s a chance someone will respond to you. But it’s this challenge that puts us out to a whole new slew of people that may have never found us. It’s been a really fun experience for me. And I’ve found quite a few blogs I’ll continue to follow after this is over.
I did miss almost an entire week because of edit hell. Hence my pic up there. LOL It was a learning experience of the highest order for me. I’ve been edited before, but nothing like what my new publisher does. It’s making me think about all sorts of different things when it comes to my work.
Structure, grammar woes, thought process, distancing myself from falling in love with my writing…all of these things have made me reevaluate a lot of things. It actually froze me up for a week during the process as well as another week following. Thank GOD I have this blog. It’s probably a big part of why I’m slowly getting myself back on my feet.
My writerly friends, my bestie, and all the other people in my life have been awesome, but in the end it’s me that has to pick myself up and get back to the keyboard. I have to trust in my own work, my own writing, and my own art again. Obviously it was good enough to get published in the first place.
Anyone else know how this feels?
Don’t forget your blog addy when you leave a message. 
#AtoZChallenge V: The V
The V
It’s a shameless post. Seriously, I know this…but my LORD. There’s nothing so delicious on the male body as that little notch below the abs that arrows down into a pair of low slung pair of jeans.
Heck, for me…it’s even hotter than naked. Because personally, the male bits, not so beautiful. Now, don’t get me wrong, they TOTALLY serve a purpose in sooooo many ways. And just ask my friends, I’m as boy crazy as they come. In fact, my friend’s daughter actually told me I was more boy crazy than all of her friends put together. They’re 16-17 year olds. Seriously.
Sad state of affairs, but beyond true.
That little notch makes my damn teeth itch. And obviously I’m not the only one since men actually go into the gym to MAKE that happen nowadays. And believe me.
I’m eternally grateful.
Anything you like on the male or female of the species that makes your temperature rise?
don’t forget your blog address in your reply!
#AtoZChallenge U: Unsaid
Unsaid
Ahhh. My claim to fame. Sometimes my mouth gets me into trouble. There’s this whole censor thing missing in my brain sometimes. I’m getting better, but I still have to work at it everyday.
Sometimes it’s just a little something funny. Sometimes it’s a little crass and crude. Sometimes I hurt people’s feelings unintentionally. That girl in the picture up there. She’s definitely me more times than I’d care to admit.
Now, some people enjoy my blunt-speak and actually prefer it, but man…there are so many out there that do NOT.
Have you ever needed to take a pair of scissors to your tongue like me?
If you comment leave your blog addy too please!
#AtoZChallenge T : Tattoo
Tattoo
They’re fascinating as well as individual. My tat means something to me. Both a time in my life wrapped in relationships. At 19 I got my first tat with my best friend, Laurie. It was a first for both of us and it was another form of bonding besides the friendship we’d created. Hers was a Celtic knot and mine line art that focused on the colors of creativity.
Years later I got it touched up and added to. It was another bonding moment, but with my brother this time. They are both very important people in my life. When people look at my tattoo, they don’t know those things. And people that don’t have ink don’t really understand the significance of the time and the pain as well as the art left behind.
Some simply look at it as marking the flesh unnecessarily, or look at the future when our skin is older and will change, some simply think it’s silly. But those of us that have been inked know it’s something else. Something personal and something sacred. It might have been pure fun, marking a time and place, or even a way to remember someone that’s passed.
So, the next time you sneer at someone with ink…think about that. There might be much more to the ink than what shows on the surface.
#AtoZChallenge K : Kiss Kakes
Kiss Kakes
My crit partner and I have this idea for a 4bk series about a cake shop set in Salem, MA. We have a deep and abiding love for the area and keep returning there again and again to soak up the atmosphere and the beautiful community. It’s more than just witches and lore. The place is crawling with amazing little shops and quirky side streets and pulls together the new and the old in a way that begs for a story. And not a paranormal story either.
Three friends pulling together to make a business work with all the pitfalls of retail, the seasonal business that does NOT include Christmas for once, and the mayhem of falling in love. Even better, I get to work with moi girl, Cari Quinn, and build a world with her. Of course our lives are complete madness and we’ll have to wait a little while to get our schedules to line up, but we’ll get there.
Not to mention the first hand experience of friendship, collaboration, and compromise. Should make for some interesting writing me thinks.
Anyone have any experience with collaborations?
Don’t forget your blog addys with comments!
#AtoZchallenge J : Jewelry
Jewelry
I’ve always been fascinated with it, but don’t tend to wear it all that often. In fact, I loved designing it more than wearing it for a long time. Taking a class in college got me involved with the metal craftsmanship and gave me even more of an appreciation for all the work that goes into each piece.
I love the sparkles, the leather-work (the pic I posted today reminds me of a scene in my current novel. I saw this and had to use it for my little book store owner), metals, and even tiny craft type rings like this one. 
They’re all fascinating to me. It’s pretty much wearable art.
Even though I’ve moved more into the world of word-art, I’ll forever be moved and enamored with what people create. And with the lovely internet world we live in there’s even more ways to get your work out there. I gotta say, ETSY is an evil place created to take my money. All these artists have a new home to sell their wares and a host of clients to sell to.
Sometimes it’s a great time to be alive.
Do you have a little gypsy in your soul? Let me know.
Don’t forget to leave your blog addy with your comments. =)
#AtoZchallenge H : Happy Place & I : Inspiration
Whoops. Had to double up again. Things got crazy yesterday and I didn’t get on in time to do a blog post. It would have been nice and easy too. It was my birthday! LOL But I also felt bad just gratuitously talking about myself. LOL So…here we go!
Happy Place
The beach…any beach…will always be associated with happiness for me. Some of my fondest memories as a child are associated with our yearly trips down to Wildwood, NJ or New Hampshire. As I got older I was drawn there on my own. Whether with family trips or ones on my own. Even as an author, I’m drawn there and do some of my best writing when the roar of the ocean is part of my soundtrack.
A few years ago a bunch of my girlfriends got the opportunity to use a family home that was on Long Beach Island, NJ. I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun with a bunch of girls in my life. We laughed, talked, stayed up, watched videos, wrote, drank a lot of damn wine, and just soaked up the atmosphere. It wasn’t even beach season, but we had the very best time and ALL of us wrote like CRAZY! It was a slice of awesome that has never quite been recreated. We keep trying, but it’s a rare thing to get all the stars to line up, schedules to cooperate, and spouses to take over the children. But damn, we will always have those memories.
Inspiration
So…if you hadn’t figured out, I’m a romance author. LOL Pretty obvious, but if not…there you go. As a female, sexy has a lot to do with the brain more than just the slapping flesh of p0rn. Now, it has it’s place, I’m not going to lie. But in the end it’s a picture like this that will get my imagination flowing more than anything I can find in a video.
Inspiration can come from all different places and Pinterest has been a HUGE source of visual help. From clothes, to hair, to settings, to the characters I build in my stories. A little bit will go a long way in that regard. Even if the final version doesn’t have anything to do with my original inspirational picture, it put me on the path. And I gotta say, it’s usually a damn entertaining path.
Just don’t ask me about edits.
#AtoZChallenge G: Gratuitous #Gandygasm
The Gratuitous Gandygasm
This ones for the girls. Okay, and the boys that like boys. But hot damn that fine man right up there? Holy freaking hell. He’s been the highlight of Pinterest and Twitter and Tumblr for quite some time. He’s the principle model over at Dolce and Gabana. Now, normally I could give two craps about fashion–this girl wears jeans and t-shirts every day that I can get away with it–but him? MERCY. The first time I saw him I was a little stunned. You don’t usually get a touch of rugged with your airbrushed models.
Add in the fact that he’s sweet as hell, has a british accent, is a huge car-nut, and blogs about interesting and well thought out posts on Vogue’s blog…well. Hell. He’s got it all. And he’s the prototype for one of my characters. If you want more, just type in David Gandy or click on that little link on the side…heck…I’ll make it easy. After you click the link, click the beachy pic of him and behold, the Gandygasm.
CLICK ME
Oh and if that wasn’t enough…he’s the posterboy for Battersea. DOGS and HOT guy? SWOON.
Don’t forget your links in the comments!
#AtoZChallenge F: Frenzy
Frenzy
One of the best and worst things to have happen is a frenzy when you’re writing. While you’re in it you feel a little out of control, a lot like you might be on a narcotic, and sleep is pretty much a non-entity. At least when I get in one. I’ll lose like 8hrs of a day and get wrist cramps from writing via notebook as well as keyboard work. For me it usually happens when a particularly intense idea takes hold.
Now, that looks like it would be awesome if your world revolved around writing like mine does. And believe me, it’s pretty awesome when it happens. But the letdown when you get out of the frenzy? Whew. It’s like a damn hangover. The kind of hangover that you forgot to drink water for three days so you feel like you slammed into a wall at 90mph.
Sometimes the frenzy gives you a great story. And sometimes it gives you the teaser of a great story then pitters out to a ho-hum story you may or may not go back to. (I hate that 2nd one) As a pantster that’s just the way of things. And a lot of the excitement of writing for me.
So, anyone else know of this phenomenon? Had experience with it themselves?
Don’t forget to put your blog in the comments so I can find you!
#AtoZChallenge D: Downtime
Downtime
is essential to keep a writer moving. I used to think that I had to just keep working. Keep going even when the words were crap. And you do have to do that…to a point. But what writers REALLY need to do is walk away from the story and find other outlets for themselves.
In the end it only makes us stronger writers. Even if it’s just watching TV like above. Hi. Um, I want to dive into that theater pit with about nineteen pillows and watch a Dr. Who marathon on my Netflix streaming. Sad, but true. I love immersing myself in a genre outside of what I write. In the end, the storytelling is the same. The goals are similar, just the way of telling the story is the difference.
It also helps me get out of my own way. Self doubt is an evil and insidious thing. It sneaks in just as you think you’re really doing all right on a story. I just destressed with a few mindless action movies and now I’m going to go back and see if I can put my characters back to rights.
How do you destress? What’s your favorite thing to do in your downtime?
#AtoZchallenge : C is for Creativity
Creativity with a bonus topic, Crit Partner
Pinterest became an inadvertent star of this little challenge. And since I’m such a visual writer it’s really no surprise. The storyboards and inspirational pics have really sparked my writing lately. It always amazes me the creativity that others have. Case in point. That crazy room with the circular library.
One of my long-term dreams was a tower room to work in. A huge circular desk and bookcases that would hold my favorite novels and craft books. (I’m addicted to writing how to’s.) This room took my little dream and folded it on its ear and came up with something even more amazing.
For me, this happens all the damn time when I’m working with my critique partner, Cari Quinn. (She’s amazing. SERIOUSLY. Not just because I’m biased! If you like sexy, sexy romance then give her a try.) She can take a mundane idea and twist it all around until I’m staring at my screen like this: o_O
And not for a bad reason. Just because I’d never think of things her way. Well, I’d never HAVE thought that way. A lot has changed since we became writing partners and best friends. Not only does she know me inside and out, but she makes me work harder on my stories. Push for more, take more risks with my characters and plot.
And she does it without tearing down my work. Without even uttering a word sometimes. We’re slowly learning to call each other on stories that are taking the easy way out…pushing each other for more than just the support aspect that we needed when we first met. This is exactly what a crit partner should do. I got damn lucky when I found mine.
#AtoZChallenge : Art and Beauty
Soo…I’m going to do this AtoZ Blog challenge thingie. Yep. Probably a dumb move with my killer April, but Roni Loren posted about it and how it might just push her out of her comfort zone and help with the writing. I think she’s right. And I haven’t done any writing exercises in a long time. What the hell…I’ll give it a go. I’m behind a day, so I’m going to combine A and B today.
A
Art has been as central to me as writing. When I went to college I thought for sure that I’d end up illustrating children’s books. I love the look and the feel of a really well done book. My only problem? I’m not really a kid at heart. Even as a kid I wasn’t. So I started moving into a more graphic design based program. The nerd in me was incredibly attracted to the design of menus and logos. The deeper I got into the curriculum, the more I wondered if it was actually for me. Being the superstar of your HS is much different than actually going away and being dropped into the general population of amazing artists. And one place that I saw that I was severely lacking was my 2 dimensional design classes. I caught this picture on Pinterest and it dragged me right back to those days. The lust I have for creating wants to do something like this. The reality of what I got on the page…yep. Not so much. It doesn’t make my love for art any less, it was just a wake up call that my original plan might not be the one for me. Thankfully it seems that words have never failed me. Not as an innocent teen, and not as a life-can-beat-you-down adult.
B
As a writer beauty takes on a lot of different forms in my mind. I like to twist it around and bend it to suit me and sometimes I’m the one that gets educated by my characters. Traditional beauty is fine. I’m as susceptible to it as anyone out there. But when I see a picture like this, it’s the striking dynamics of the subject that make it beautiful. Some people would only see the tats and wonder why someone would do that to their body. Me? I know there has to be a story there. And the story sometimes comes out of me. This is very much like my character, December, from Vintage December. She’s vulnerable and beautiful, distant and hard sometimes. But one thing she never is…boring.