Thursday, July 11, 2013

Thursday's Children: Like a Virgin Blog Hop

Thursday's children is a blog meme where writers blog about what inspires them. Click here to find out more and join us.

This week is a special edition of Thursday's Children in celebration of the upcoming Like a Virgin Pitch Contest. Click here to find out more about the contest. I am looking at several of you in particular, and you know who you are. Why? Because blog contests ROCK. 

So today we're breaking the virtual ice by answering questions about some 'firsts.' A source of inspiration I've blogged about previously for Thursday's Children. The Like a Virgin blog hop will be on Friday, however, I will be engaged in shenanigans with my CP who is visiting from Toronto this weekend so I'm posting mine here. Also because I am wholeheartedly incapable of following directions. 

Okay, so here we go...

1. How do you remember your first kiss?

Smurfette was a witness. And that's all I'm willing to admit to online. LOL

2. What was your first favorite love song?



3. What's the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?

Check my social networking sites. Really, if I don't get it out of the way before I start writing, I'll never get anything done. Then? I turn off my internet. Then I write. And pray the kid takes a loooooong nap. 

4. Who's the first writer who truly inspired you to become a writer?

Harper Lee. I wrote before I read To Kill a Mockingbird, but my ninth grade English teacher is the first one who made me believe I could make a career out of it, and that is the book we were reading at the time. So it was really a combination of Harper Lee and Marty Gartell, who, really, everyone should be so lucky as to have an English teacher like him.

5. Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?

Hell no. It was like the fifteenth chapter. But it is relatively intact from its original draft. 

6. For your first book, which came first: major characters, plot, or setting?

Characters. I always begin with characters. It's their story after all. Often I'm not totally sure what my plot is until after the first draft. I'm a plotter, but sometimes my characters lead me in a different direction from the one I intended them to go. They're badass rebels like that. 

7. What's the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone's tongue when they think of your writing?

Authentic. Even if the world is fantastical I want it to feel real. Because otherwise, what's the point?

Alright, now it's your turn. Follow THIS LINK to get the questions and post your answers! If you don't have a blog, feel free to share them in the comments below!


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And here's the link for the Like a Virgin Blog Hop when it opens on Friday:

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13 comments:

  1. Those were fun answers! I'm apparently equally incapable of following directions - at least when I'm trying to move house several states away and doing a contest at the same time. Smurfette, huh? Weird.

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  2. I like your list. Mine would be similar. It's a fun exercise.

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  3. NKOTB foreva!!!!! I was a total Joey groupie... until I turned 13, did a total 180, and totally disowned my B-boys for Depeche Mode and The Cure. Yeah, I was *that* girl who wore all black.

    And Smurfette, eh? Heh...

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  4. Smurfette? Hehehe.... sounds interesting!

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  5. New Kids and Smurfette. I smell a child of the 90s! Thanks for joining in!

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  6. Can't think of a better inspiration than Harper Lee. One of my all time faves. ANd I love your shout out to your English teacher.

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  7. Smurfette? I love it. I always wonder how she survived living with so many freaking boys.

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  8. Haha, I was a NKOTB fan too. Although it wasn't my absolute first favourite ballad. Definitely in the top five, though.

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  9. Hi- I am Marty Gartell's daughter, Sarah. I can't tell you how happy I am to learn that my dad influenced you. I was googling his name today, which marks 10 years since he left us. It's so nice to know a little part of him lives on in you.

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    1. Hi Sarah,
      Thank you so much for your comment! I think about your dad all the time. He was an incredible teacher and an invaluable mentor for me and my friends. Every kid should be so lucky to have a teacher who challenges them to think, create, and strive against the odds!

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  10. I have yet to read Kill a Mockingbird... will put it on my list right now!

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