Like, Totally Radical Words, Man

All my life, my name has been Abby. Not Abigail, just Abby. And up until about ten years ago, this was a pretty uncommon name. In my high school (3200+ students), there was only me and one other Abby. Which I secretly liked, by the way. 

Used to be, whenever I’d say my name over the phone, I’d have to repeat it several times and eventually spell it slowly for whoever was on the other end. So I started saying, “You know, like Dear Abby,” and then the light bulb would go on for them, and we could continue with whatever the phone call was actually about.

Well, a while back, I called a restaurant to order some take-out wings. A young girl answered the phone. When I told her my name, she asked me to repeat it, to which I replied, “Abby. You know, like Dear Abby.”

There was a long pause and then, “Um, who?”

My thought? Holy crap. I’m officially old.

Okay, so the point isn’t that I’m getting old. Even though I’ll be thirty-four one month from today. Ick.

This got me thinking about the language I use in my story. I could go out and research all the slang that’s popular today. Urbandictionary.com would be a great resource. ;) Take those and pack them into my story with a bunch of pop culture references, and I should be totally hip with all the teens, right?

Maybe not. Trendy language has never been my thing, even when I was a teen. And if I could somehow pull it off, it would be totally outdated in a few years, which, to me, is pointless to write. I think it’s very possible to pull off a strong teen voice without it, maybe even stronger (and less annoying) than if I included a bunch of slang.

So what to do you all think? Does trendy language have a place in modern literature? Do you think slang is necessary to create a strong teen voice in YA literature?

Like a Gazillion Contests and a Blogfest

First, I want to say thanks to Laurel at Laurel's Leaves and Sarah McClung at The Babbling Flow of a Fledgling Scribbler. I recently won prizes on both of their blogs. :) Thanks, ladies!

Now for the contests. These really stacked up while I was unplugged, so there are a TON, but some really cool prizes are being given away so be sure to check them all out.

And I think my spacebar is going out on my keyboard (ACK!) so I hope it doesn't crap out on me before I'm finished. Otherwise, things might get a little difficult to read. ;)

1. Christine Danek at Christine's Journey is having a contest to celebrate reaching 100 followers and she's giving away a copy of Hooked by Les Edgerton, a $10 gift card for B&N or Amazon, plus some other really cool stuff. If you're a new follower over there, be sure to let her know I sent you. HURRY! THIS ONE ENDS TODAY.

2. Hilary Wagner is having a contest to celebrate reaching 300 followers and the prizes include a critique or a phone call from her agent, Marietta Zacker! But that's not all. Be sure to check it out. HURRY! ENDS THURSDAY, APRIL 8TH.

3. Danyelle Leafty is giving away a copy of The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy. HURRY! ENDS THURSDAY, APRIL 8TH.

4. Talli Roland is giving away some cool stuff, including an Amazon gift card, to celebrate reaching 112 followers. Ends Monday, April 12th.

5. Jackee at Winded Words is having a Wonderful Won-hundred Followers Party and giving away a gift basket. Ends Saturday, April 10th.

6. And don't miss Lisa and Laura's Totally Epic 500 Follower Contest. They're giving away a ton of awesome prizes, but you have to pick a side. :) Go check it out.

7. Roxy at a woman's write is giving away a $50 Nordstrom's gift card and two $25 B&N cards to celebrate her blogging buddies. Tons of ways to earn extra entries. Ends Friday, April 16th.

8. Susan Fields is having a contest to celebrate reaching 100 followers. She's giving away three gift cards ($30, $20, and $10) to either Barnes & Noble or Borders (your choice). Ends April 24th.

9. Beth Revis is giving away a SIGNED copy of Inside Out by Maria Snyder, plus cool bookmarks. Ends April 10th.

10. The First Novels Club is also giving away a SIGNED copy of Inside Out by Maria Snyder. Ends April 12th.

11. Don't miss Stepanie Thornton's Motherload Contest. She's giving away three books and a Roman coin! Ends April 11th.

12. Shannon Messenger at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe is having a contest to celebrate signing with an agent. Congrats Shannon! She's giving away six book to SIX WINNERS! Be sure to check it out. Ends Saturday, April 10th.

13. Nisa at Wordplay, Swordplay is giving away a cool prize package. Winner announced April 12th.

14. Lady Glamis at The Innocent Flower is having a short story contest. Prizes include manuscript critiques and gift cards. Ends June 1st.

Blogfest: Lilah Pierce is hosting the Last Line Blogfest on May 1st. And don't let the name fool you. It doesn't have to be the last line of your story. It can be the last line of any scene or chapter and you can include a few lines that come before. Be sure to check it out.

Wow. That's a lot.

And Karen's contest at Novel's During Naptime is still going, so be sure to enter if you haven't, and if you're hosting a contest and I missed you, let me and I'll add you to the list.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone! :)

I Think I'm Addicted to Post-its

I am a pantser. Or so I thought. And I don't know if this would work for a first draft for me, but it's working great for my rewrite, and I'll definitely give it a try at the start of my next project.

So first there was this.

Then, over spring break when I was away from my computer, I had some quiet time to think about my story. The 20-hour drive there and 17-hour drive home also gave me some good thinking time. Well, when the kids weren't fighting anyway. :) Plus, Staples sent me my rewards certificate, and based on a recommendation from my awesome friend and crit buddy, Tere Kirkland, I used it to buy this.

It has tabbed dividers and an elastic strap that holds it closed, which helps everything stay tucked inside. I had a green pen too, but I think I left in AZ. :( I love green pens.

Before I left home, I wrote down everything from my whiteboard outline on some Post-it Page Markers and tucked it into the nifty pocket in my notebook, along with a pad of lined Post-its. Isn't that pocket so cool?

While the kids swam at Grandma's (yes, the water was freezing, but it was 90 degrees outside), I used the page markers to divide up the pages and jotted down some quick notes about what I wanted to happen in each scene, plus anything else that came to me--dialogue between the characters, emotions I want to come through. The lined Post-its are awesome for adding in notes when the pages are full or just when I have multiple ideas for a scene. Then it's out of my head and I can think clearer.

It's nice too, because as I'm writing, if I have an idea for a future scene I can jot it down in there and continue with what I was working on before. This method would work great without using an outline too. Just write random scene ideas in no particular order and mark the pages with Post-its. Then when you're ready to write that particular scene, you have all your ideas there.

Doing this has helped me see the end of the story much clearer. I'm still not set on the details, but I have a few versions written down in my notebook. :) This also helped clear my head so I could figure out the purpose of one of my new secondary characters. His presence was a little pointless before, but now his role is key to the story.

So now I'm anxious to write some new words. I spent yesterday cleaning my house and doing recovery laundry from the trip so I could get some words down today without any distractions. Then I woke up to this.

Five fresh inches of snow and school cancelled. So I don't know how much I'll get done today, but hopefully this info has been helpful to some of you.

Have any of you done anything similar to this? Any of you pantsers out there willing to give it a try? Any recommendations?

*I'm still working my way through the First Page Blogfest posts. If I haven't gotten to yours yet, I will soon. I'm determined to read all of them. :)*

Motivational...What? But it's Monday--And This Monday Sucks!

I'm back! Missed all of you. :)

I've been trying to come up with something inspirational to say but my brain is too distracted this morning. I've been dealing with CRAP all morning--literally. This last week while I was unplugged, we went to AZ to visit family, get the rest of our stuff we didn't have room for in the moving truck, and get our wandering dog, Terk. So, what's Terk's first present to me for driving 1000 miles to get him and another 1000 miles to bring his stinky butt home? I'm sure you can guess by now, so I won't go into the details, but he's a Great Dane and he was in an empty garage, so why not get it EVERYWHERE?

And somehow, our mop stayed in AZ, which up until now hasn't been a bad thing. Making the kids mop the kitchen floor on their hands and knees builds character. But Abby mopping the disgusting mess off the garage floor on her hands and knees only builds murderous thoughts. Ultimately, that would just lead to more mess, though...

So, anyway. Not feeling terribly motivated this morning. Actually, the negativity I'm radiating is epic--you know the kind where you want to spread the sunshine to everyone around you? It's been a fabulous morning. :-S I'll stop now and spare you any more of my special brand of "sunshine".

On a more postive note, thanks to everyone for your kind words about my first page on Friday. I tried to read and comment on a few others that were posted but Blogger and my phone hate each other and after Blogger ate my comment for the third time (same comment typed three times on a teeny tiny keypad), I gave up. So I will be going around and reading those today in between doing laundry and cleaning my kitchen so I have a nice clean slate to work with tomorrow. I got some awesomeness done over my "vacation", and I'm super anxious to start writing again and don't want any housework distractions. I'll fill you in on all the details of that tomorrow. I'm sure it'll just be more of me patting myself on the back, but it's outlining stuff, so it might be helpful to some of my fellow pantsers out there.

And to all my new followers, I've been slacking last few weeks, but I will be coming around to check out your blogs soon. I try to follow everyone who's following me, so if you're not new a follower (within the last month) and I'm not following you, let me know. And if you haven't set up your email for your Blogger profile, please do so. I'm trying to respond to comments that way and if your email isn't set up, I can't email you. :) And if you need more convincing of why this is a good idea, read this post.

For now, I will say, I hope you're all having a better Monday than me. If you need something motivational, be sure to check out these posts by Ali Cross.

And if you feel like griping about something in the comments, feel free. You know what they say--Misery LOVES company. :)

First Page Blogfest

It's blogfest time! This is the first page of my novel, Embrol. Be sure to follow the link below to Kelly Lyman's blog and check out the other posts. :)

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1 The End

Three seconds. That’s how long it took for my life to end.

Well, it was an end of sorts. And it might’ve taken longer. I suppose it depends on which point was the actual end. Some might say it was the first or second or third time I died. For me, it was the moment I saw that truck barreling toward us. A girl really should have better memories of her eighteenth birthday.

The day started gray—beautiful and dark. A rare occurrence in Mesa, Arizona, and my absolute favorite kind of day. Okay, so it actually started with a stomach ache, but I did my best to ignore the lump in my gut as I walked to my locker after second period. I always had that something-isn’t-right feeling on the days I officially became a year older, but something about this year was different, though I couldn’t figure out what.

“How’s my favorite redhead on this lovely December morning?” Trevor hooked his arm around my neck and gave me his cheesiest grin. Fat drops began to fall from the sky, drumming the metal roof and muffling the chatter of the students filling the outdoor locker area.

I popped two more antacids in my mouth and slammed my locker shut, catching the tip of my finger. “Dang it! Lovely December morning?” I said, sucking on my finger. “What are you? Forty?”

“Not cool, Livy. You make me promise to be nice and when I do, all I get is crap from you?”

“Yeah. Nice for one day. That’s it. Not a complete personality change. I love you just the way you are.” Those words came out more from habit than anything else, but I regretted them as soon as they left my lips.

“Heh. That was way easier than I thought it would be.” His hand curled around my upper arm, and he let out a high-pitched whistle that made me wish I didn’t have ears. About a million heads swung toward us.

If only I could melt into the concrete on demand.

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That's it! :) Check out the others here.