A Little Inspiration

This speech is a little under twenty minutes. You can watch...or not. Up to you. 

One of several things I took away from this that has me excited about life is...

With my confidence as low as it is now, I'm not sure I can write a good novel. So...I'm going to pretend I'm someone who could.

And if you've never seen this...or maybe just forgot it existed. You're welcome.

P.S. I'm also going to pretend I'm someone who *loves* cleaning and packing for the next few weeks. *sigh*

Freaking Fabulous Friday - Pretty Little Lies Cover Reveal!

So...my AMAZING friend Jen wrote a book, *inserts linkage love here*

Website – http://www.jennifermillerwrites.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JenMillerWrites 

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17692810-pretty-little-lies 

Follow me on twitter - https://twitter.com/JenMillerWrites

Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/jenmillerwrites/

...and even though I have not had the pleasure of reading it yet, I now get to drool over the cover. *points down to cover*

Gorgeous, right?!?!?!

Pretty Little Lies is an adult contemporary romance set to release *squee* on June 12th of this year. Anyhoo, here is a brief synopsis -

A little lie can change the course of everything. . .

Like every other eighteen-year-old in love, Olivia has dreams of spending forever with the love of her life. Luke is all she’s ever wanted – until she overhears something she was never meant to. In a matter of seconds, Olivia’s heart is shattered. Olivia handles it the only way she knows how - she runs- leaving behind her family, friends and the boy she loves.

Seeking comfort and an escape, Olivia finds it in resident bad boy Deacon. He’s everything Luke isn’t – and that’s fine with Olivia.

Now, seven years later, Olivia is older, wiser and headed back to Chicago looking forward to a fresh start and reconnecting with her best friend Pyper. What she doesn’t expect, is to come face to face with the boy she left behind and discover that even though she may have left, her feelings for him didn’t.

Can Olivia put aside the pain in her heart and trust Luke? Will the ties to her past ever let her go, or will she continue to let her life be affected by pretty little lies?

Mmm...sounds delectable. I, for one, can't wait for a taste. I mean, look at that cover!!! It's freaking fab :)

Picking A Project

I spent a looooooooooooooooooong time looking for the exact photo that I wanted and then I realized something...I am fairly sure that each and every one of you...(like all four of you :P) have amazing imaginations, so...

PICTURE THIS!

A police line-up with five of your favorite hotties. For me this would include: Johnny Depp, Jared Leto, Jensen Ackles, Matt Smith (no judgement :P), and Emma Stone (just kidding...maybe :P).

Now, imagine choosing one of *your* five.

Yeah...

Not so easy, right?

That's how I'm feeling right now. I have lots of shiny book ideas to choose from. None of them are tugging on me. But I do need to write. NEED to.

So, what's a girl to do? I'm so lost right now. I'm sure I have that same dazed look on my face that I get when I finish a project and don't know what else to do with the rest of my life. Even if my muse were to suddenly show up on my doorstep with a forgiving half-smile and a pocket full of inspiration to push me through this slump...I'd have no idea which direction to go.

What do you do when faced with a bazillion shiny ideas and the intense need to write? How do you choose?

Freaking Fabulous Friday

So...this week for Freaking Fabulous Friday I am featuring Timespell. *swoon* Look at that cover...and the title? *doubleswoon* If both the cover and the title do not convince you to snatch this amazing book off the shelves, then you must be off your nut want to know what lies within. Well, here is a brief synopsis...

Basically, you got your two average girls, Angie and Julia, trying to make their way through the shark-infested waters of high school. They are bound by magic as daughters of fate, each possessing unique powers entrusted to them by the fates themselves (okay so...not-so-average...sue me). BUT there's a problem (of course there's a problem :P). They will lose their magic if they don't find the third daughter before Angie turns 17 (which is like superfast!). Luckily, Julia stumbles upon her quite by accident and (OMG!) it's Kaitlyn, the biggest shark in their high school. If this isn't enough, it's obvious history is crumbling apart. Angst. ANGST! What to do? Save the world or give Kaitlyn the finger? Hmmm... *strokes beard* But wait there's more! 

There's kissing.

Serious, knees-turn-to-jelly, suck-the-breath-from-your-lungs kissing. 

And monsters. Blood-curdling, creepy monsters. Mua ha ha ha ha ha! Granted...not as good as the kissing, but awesome nonetheless.

Much love. So much love for this book.

The pacing is perfect. The threads of honest-to-goodness historical fact interwoven into the story so seamlessly...wow. I cried. Actually cried. Teared up. Grabbed a tissue. Blew my nose. *nods* And Julia's love interest, delish. I could go on and on, but it would really be better if you read it. Trust me. It's freaking fabulous.

Summoning the Muse

I've been pouring over old texts (surfing internet articles :) searching for the precise ritual that might summon my muse back to me. It seems there isn't just one way to do it. And now I'm overwhelmed. So far this is what I've found -

1) Write.

Apparently, if I just write she might feel the tug on her heart and wander back to me. I have to turn off my inner-editor ( freakishly heartless bitch that she is) and just write.

2) Listen for her whisperings.

I'm sure we all have those brilliant ideas that come at the most inopportune times (i.e. driving, showering, sitting on the toilet...or even just as we are in that relaxing abyss between waking and sleeping). I need to keep something with me, nearby, and write things down as soon as I can. Muses are gods, afterall, and they like to mess with us humans now and then. I must be ready.

3) Banish stress.

Even the littlest things can keep the muse away. An unpaid bill. A pile of laundry. In fact, anything involving responsibility that might niggle at the back of my brain and interrupt her time with me will cause her to meander off. So, if I find my mind constantly wandering to this task or that task, I should do myself a favor. Take care of it/them and come back to her with a clear head. The muse demands my full attention.

4) Move.

Sometimes, the muse wants me to get a bit more blood rushing to my brain. She expects me to keep up with her when she's rushing me with glorious ideas. So, I have got to get out from under my laptop and take a walk. Perhaps a bit of strength training. A good stretch. Some yoga (find my center? :). It doesn't matter really. Just get the blood pumping. She needs me on top of my game.

5) Read.

Believe it or not, my muse like to be fed books. If I'm not reading enough, I am not stimulating my own mind OR feeding her. I am a writer. I should always be reading something. But I've let life get in the way and have neglected reading...a lot. I need to set time aside for myself. Make it a priority.

What about you? What do you do to summon your muse back to you?

Help!

Artwork courtesy of Sam Sandoval

On a dark and stormy night (cliche, I know :) in the spring of 2011, some dark creature entered my home and made off with my muse. I'm positive you all can imagine how it's been for me. Sleepless nights. Days spent wearing a hole in my carpet as I pace back and forth, waiting for word. I don't know if she's alive or dead. I don't know if it still has her, huddled in some dark corner of a musty basement, cold and hungry. Or if she's now free and too frightened to return. I did not protect her as I should've. I did not keep her close as I should've. I failed her.

If any of you, my sweet and dearest friends, know of her whereabouts or anything connected with her disappearance, I am pleading with you now...please, tell me where she might be or what happened to her. And if you happen to see her, crossing some bright sunlit street in some faraway place, tell her I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so careless with her. I need her. And I want a second chance.

We had such beautiful times. We rode horses through the forests of Luminor, where one tiny breeze could blow the blossoms from the trees and surround you in a fragrant vortex of pale pink and white flower petals. We boarded a giant ship and watched the Earth perish, consumed by fire. We learned secrets of the spirit world and fought a demon together. 

And I know there's so much more. So much more that we are meant to do. 

I tried doing it alone, but trying to open up these places in my mind without her is like trying to travel through time and space without a Time Lord and a T.A.R.D.I.S. 

Impossible.

So please. If you can help me, I would be most grateful.