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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Thursday's Children: Inspired by Sparks

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

4th of July is no Halloween but it's still one of my favorite holidays. I love my country and can't imagine wanting to live anywhere else (and I've tried.) 

But I've never been a flash-bang firework kind of gal. I don't like poppers or noise makers because I know what they do to my pets (I can only imagine what animal shelters go through during July!) and while I love the gorgeous displays put on by the cities I've lived in, I grew up at Disney, so they weren't really something I associated with Independence Day. 

For me, there's only one image that comes to mind when I think of 4th of July fireworks.

As a kid I was mesmerized. Okay, I still am. There's something magical about that pure, white spark, and the fact that you can hold it in your hand. Even before Harry Potter, it made me feel like a Wizard.

Writing is all about sparks. The spark of that new idea that gets the ball rolling on a new project. The sparks that fly when characters find attraction, or when they experience conflict. The spark of change in the way a reader thinks after experiencing your story. The spark of motivation for your characters and plot. 

"Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark, that left unattended, may grow into an inferno that destroys Panem." ~President Snow, p. 23 CATCHING FIRE

Those are the moments I love most as a writer. Not a full on explosion, just the promise of that first spark.

Happy Independence Day! Let Freedom Ring! (And spark!)

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Thursdays Children--Inspired by Anticipation

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

On Monday, this happened. 

It was just one, the tiniest of steps, after which she dropped to her butt and crawled like a speed demon across the floor, and she hasn't done it since. Dad and Mom were both pretty excited about it, but at thirteen-and-a-half months, Calliope does not seem to be in any rush to walk. 

When I'm not chasing her around the house, I've been working on my revision of my WIP. I'm still struggling with the romance subplot--I can't seem to get the timing of it exactly right. I realized today that what I'm missing is hesitation. Or maybe anticipation is a better word.

I'm not a patient person IRL so writing teases is not one of my strengths. I am far-sighted to the point I sometimes forget to enjoy the climb (thanks, Miley). I can't cheat my readers that way, though. I've got to take my time, build the anticipation and let the story progress organically.

I've got to let Calliope enjoy her crawling days, even if it means lugging 20 pounds around on my hip for a couple more months. At least it's good exercise.

So today, I'm letting mini-me enjoy the climb. Or the crawl, I guess. I am so not ready for her to climb yet.

How do your personality trails enhance or challenge your writing?

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Thursday's Children: Inspired by Gratitude

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

Last week my Thursday's Children post was overshadowed by big BIG news! After two manuscripts and endless queries, I'm still overwhelmed by the concept that I have an agent. More than that, I know I don't deserve all the credit. I had an impressive team of beta readers, some platinum CPs, and an all-star cast of rejecting agents who helped get me and my book, IMPERFECTLY FINE, to the place where we earned a contract.

My beta readers especially are AMAZING. "Hey can you read a 300 page manuscript for me this weekend?" The answer was almost always yes and their insightful feedback was priceless. And unlike CPs, who were also getting crits from me, my betas didn't ask for anything in return. 

So thank you so much to everyone who has supported me on this journey so far. You guys rock my Red Sox and you bet your butts you'll be finding your names in my acknowledgements someday. 

And to my cheerleaders who haven't had a chance to read or are waiting for Skylar to hit the shelves, you get me through the days where I want to quit. Love you, my BH familia.

Most of all, I'm thankful to my incredible husband who puts up with me through good writing days and bad and occasionally watches the kid so I can go to Starbucks and actually get something done. He's my favorite cheerleader of all. ;)

For now, though, I've got a huge ass edit letter from Thao to tackle. I'll be in the Bat Cave if anyone needs me. :)

Who are you grateful for along your writing journey?


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Thursdays Children: Inspired by...Rejection?

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

I know what you're thinking. Dannie has truly and fantastically fallen off the deep end. She's been in the slush for too long, her eyes are bleeding from queries, and well...

There are lots of things to be inspired by, but...rejection? How on earth can having your word babies chewed up and spit out possibly inspire you to keep writing?

Well, a lot of ways. 

Any day of the week and twice on Sunday, a rejection is better than a no-response. We all know that we are not supposed to follow up on queries without good reason, right? Particularly if the agent says on their website that they only respond to queries they're interested in. Which is a perfectly understandable policy in the internet age. Unless you're a writer whose situation becomes a little...grey. Like say you get an offer of representation. Do you assume you're in the "crap I'll never give the time of day" pile? Certainty is always preferable for me. At the end of the day, I just want to know where I stand.

You know you have found an agent who is not the right agent for your manuscript. Even if the agent on paper looks like THE AGENT for your manuscript, or if you cannot imagine a better person to champion your words, if they don't feel the same way, they're not the right agent for your book. Getting a rejection helps you cross that person off the list, let go of the pipe dream (though letting go can involve a lot of crying and wine), and move on. One step closer to finding the agent who really IS right for your manuscript and making your dream come true.

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, they're right to reject you. We are too close to our words to ever look at them objectively. This is a lesson I learned the hard way with my first and second attempts at publication. The second one, in particular, was tough because that book was (and still is) the book of my heart. But ya know what? Those agents that rejected my word baby were totally and completely right. It wasn't ready. It didn't have a strong enough hook. And the voice? The voice sucked rocks. I kind of pride myself on writing good voice, but I was too close to this particular mss to understand that it was beyond the blandest shade of vanilla. I needed other people--professionals, not just lay folks because I'm too stubborn for that ish--to tell me my writing on that particular project blew goats. That was the only way I was ever going to move on from that book. And I'm glad I did. I may come back to it someday though...But that's a different blog post for a different week. 

Occasionally, a rejection can make you laugh. I woke my husband up the other night laughing at a rejection email that came to my phone...which I keep  bedside because I am a glutton for punishment. 

Hold up, Dannie, did you just say you laughed at a rejection?

Uh-huh. It came from an agent for whom I have the utmost respect and who did me the honor of reading my full mss on a super crunched timeline and with enthusiasm. Not only did the rejection give me concrete, personalized feedback I could take home with me to improve my manuscript, it also included this parting line...

I hope you sell the hell out of it and prove me wrong.

I hope I do, too. 

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. This is true in writing as in life. Writing and publishing are gut-wrenching endeavors. And rightly so. I think it's amazeballs to be able to put your ideas out there and have other people read and respond to your work. Writing is a right. Publishing is a privilege. 

Still, it's painful when that response is negative. It's hard not to take it personally. Especially when it's a form rejection that doesn't offer any hints on how to make it better. But the nice part about the form is it leaves the manner of making it better up to you. A personalized rejection can be good feedback, but it can also be misleading. It's hard when it's personalized to remember that agents are human, too, and that their opinions are just that--their opinions. You may get another agent who loves something the rejecting agent hated about your book. At the end of the day we have to get the hell up, brush ourselves off, and keep writing. Take a little time to lick your wounds, but then remember that you're still here. You still have words. And you'll do what you can to make your manuscript stronger for the next agent comes along. Because if you're not willing to do that, you gotta question why you're in this business to begin with.

So suck it up, buttercup. Learn what you can from rejection and then delete it. You've got writing to do.

What inspiration have you been able to take from rejection?

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Sneak Peek: Swoon Romance Summer of Love (A super exciting Thursday'sChildren post!)

A few weeks ago, I blogged about how finding inspiration through the success of our peers. This week in lieu of my usual Thursdays Children post, I come bearing inspiring gifts! Sneak peeks of three new YA titles by Kelly Hashway, Rachel Schieffelbein, and Stephanie Wardrop. As writers, one of the most inspiring things we can do is keep reading, and spread the word when exciting news is afoot. The fabulous people at Swoon Romance have graciously allowed me to share just a smidge of what's in store for us from this imprint of George McBride's Month9Books. Prepare to Swoon along with me, people!

Add Advantage Heartbreak to your Goodreads TBR list!

Author: Kelly Hashway

Book: Advantage Heartbreak (A Game. Set. Match. Heartbreak series #2)

Release date: 5/28/13

Book blurb: Seventeen-year-old Meg Flannigan thought she’d made up her mind about love. But with two guys still vying for her attention, she wonders if she made the right decision. Ash is everything she’s ever wanted in a boyfriend: loyal, loving, and totally hot. But then there’s Noah: fun, sexy, and the more he sticks around, the more Meg wants him there.

What’s a girl to do?

Make up her mind, before it’s too late. Gorgeous freshman Liz has set her sights on Ash, and Noah is beginning to remind Meg of her last boyfriend—the one who broke her heart. Can she figure things out before she ruins not one, but two relationships? Or is she doomed to serve up heartbreak?

And here's our sneak peek!

I stop at my locker, dropping my books inside and grabbing my uniform and racket. Ash’s arms slip around me, and I spin to face him. Before I can even say hi, his lips are on mine.      

My heart races. My hands abandon my gear and find Ash’s face.

“Just wanted to wish you luck, not that you need it. You’re going to do great.” He leans his forehead on mine.

"I think I figured out her weakness.” Thanks to Noah. “I should be able to use it to my advantage.”

“That’s great. I’ll get there as soon as I can. I told the guys that when we go on our run, we’re circling the courts so I can cheer for you.”

Ash will see Noah there. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to get you in trouble. Come by when you’re finished.” Maybe I can convince Noah to leave before Ash sees him.

He lifts my chin. “I’m going to do everything I can to be there for you. What’s the worst Coach can do to me? He’s not going to bench his best player this close to Saturday’s game.”

I force a smile. “Great.”

Ash walks me to the locker room and kisses me goodbye. “I love you, Meg.”

“I love you, too.”

He kisses me again before turning in the direction of the guys’ locker room. I stare after him, but Noah is standing in the gym. I’m sure he heard everything. Heard me say the L-word. Our eyes meet, and all he does is smile. Strange. I turn and head inside the locker room to avoid the awkwardness.

Click on the book cover above to add Advantage Heartbreak to your Goodreads TBR list. You can find out more about Kelly and her books on her Blog  Twitter  Goodreads  Facebook  Amazon     

Add to your Goodreads TBR list here!

Author: Rachel Schieffelbein

Book: Secondary Characters

Release date: 5/28/13

Book blurb: When Mabel's best friend, Amber, drags her along on a double date she finds herself falling for Lance, the obnoxious class clown whom she swore she'd have no interest in. The only problem is, she's not sure if she's really the girl Lance is into, or if, like every other guy she knows, it's really Amber he's after. One thing is clear, if Mabel wants to be the lead in her own love story, she needs to start acting like it.

Check out this sneak peek!

It’s a beautiful fall day, the sun is shining, and I’m stuck sitting here on a float wearing a suit and a football jersey with a plastic crown on my head like a freaking idiot.

I’m supposed to be waving at the crowd, but Mabel is sitting in front of me in a sexy teal dress that totally shows off her smooth, tan skin, and all I can think about is asking her out. I’ll ask her if she’s going to the game tonight, which I know she is, and then I’ll ask her if she wants to hang out afterward.

Should be easy enough.

So why is it so damn hard?

Okay, quit being a wuss and just do it. I lean forward. She smells like lilacs and I can already feel my heart racing. Without thinking, I reach up and grab the back of her folding chair and pull her toward me.

You can find out more about Rachel in here books on her   Blog    Twitter   Facebook. And don't forget to click on the cover above to add Secondary Characters to your Goodreads TBR list!   

Author: Stephanie Wardrop

Book: Charm and Consequence

Release date: May 28^th, 2013

Book blurb:  One superior smirk from Michael Endicott convinces sixteen-year-old Georgia Barrett that the Devil wears Polo. His family may have founded the postcard-perfect New England town they live in, but Georgia’s not impressed. Even if he is smart, good looking, and can return Georgia’s barbs as deftly as he returns serves on his family’s tennis courts. After all, if Michael actually thinks she refuses to participate in lab dissections just to mess with his grade, he’s a little too sure that he’s the center of the universe. Could there be more to Michael Endicott than smirks and sarcasm? If Georgia can cut the snark long enough, she just might find out.

Add on Goodreads!

And now for our sneak peek!

On the list of Good Things about Michael Endicott: dark eyes that are kind of like melty chocolate chips and hair with all of these curls that he just can’t keep down. And when he laughs it sort of erupts up through his throat in a surprised rumble and makes you want to laugh, too. Plus, his report on Chaucer helped our group kick butt on the English presentation last week, so I guess I find him much more tolerable these days. Attractive, even. That’s a pretty solid list, right?

I give him a little wave as he reaches the edge of the grass, and ask, “Where were you in bio today?”

“Dentist appointment,” he explains, then smirks and points to my hemp lunch bag. “So, Georgia, you brought your ethically acceptable lunch out into nature today? What’s on the menu—braised tofu, mashed yeast, turnips sprouts?” On the list of Bad Things about Michael Endicott? The fact that no one finds my veganism more hilarious than he.

You can click on the cover above to add Charm and Consequence to your Goodreads TBR list. And find out more about Stephanie via her Tumblr   Twitter   Goodreads or   Facebook. 

Congrats to Kelly, Rachel, and Stephanie on their book birthdays this week! I don't know about you guys, but I am adding all of these titles to my summer reading list! Who's with me??  

Thursday's children is a blog meme where writers blog about what inspires them. Click here to join the blog hop!

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Thursday's Children--Inspired By Community

Thursday's children is a blog meme where writers blog about what inspires them. Click here to join the blog hop!

I had promised myself I was going to take a blogging break until school got out because I am up to my eyeballs at work, but some things are occurring at the moment and I'm too inspired to resist participating in Thursday's Children. Which, really, you should all be doing, too. Blog memes are an awesome way to engage in a supportive community of people going through the same stuff we are, and there's strength in numbers and whatnot.

Speaking of which...

This week I'm inspired by community. Not the TV show, which I've never seen because I watch TV so frequently that I haven't had cable since literally the last century. But by the writing community, which I feel so incredibly blessed to have found a home in over the last couple years. For me, a big part of that has been participating in blog contests and memes/hops like this one. I've met some amazing writers that keep me going when I feel like my words suck or my husband is sick of hearing about Connor or Cole or I feel like the world will end if I get one more form rejection. Because sometimes you just need someone to say...

So this post is a thank you to Kristina and Rhiann for hosting this hop, to Kim and Brenda for their awesome contests, to my CPs for getting me into the whole community to begin with, and to all my tweeps who keep me going when I'm struggling to do that for myself. Sorry I'm a little MIA lately, but I'll be back with a snarky vengeance come June 12th when my office is packed and ready to move into our brand new school next fall.

Until then, in the immortal words of my dear friend Joe Mac,
Keep Writing.

And thanks for reading. :)

Check out the other Thursday's Children and join us! I promise it will be the best blogging decision you ever make.


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Thursdays Children: Inspired by Others' Successes

Thursday's children is a blog meme where writers blog about what inspires them. Click here to join the blog hop!

There has been some good karma on the writerly interwebz in the past couple weeks. Last week, fellow Thursdays Children participant Stacey Lee announced the sale of her book to Putnam which made us all squee like, well, writers who want to get book deals. Since then, a lot of people on my timeline have been sharing good news!

Krista Van Dolzer and Dahlia Adler both announced upcoming book deals. (BTW, if you haven't liked Dahlia's book on Goodreads, you're missing the opportunity to catch mental herpes from her...or something.)

Brenda Drake, goddess of all things interweb pitch related, has joined forces with the incomparable Peter Knapp for new project shenanigans, after her recent cover reveal for Library Jumpers, which I cannot wait to get my grabby hands on!

Megan Miranda, who I still want to be if I ever grow up, announced a new book deal with Walker for 2015 because she apparently does not have enough going on with all her other best-sellers. ;)

AND while I'm writing this blog, I see on Twitter that my "real life" friend Abby Cavenaugh has also gotten a book deal! Abs and I met as non-writers and only learned after the fact that we both have the write stuff. We still have yet to read each others' work, but not much longer now!

As for me, I've been in a holding pattern for a while...it feels like a lot longer than it's actually been. So in times like these when I have to force myself to keep writing, and editing, and contesting, it's exciting to hear things are going well for The Familia. I know that there is light ahead, even if it's merely a pinprick at the moment. In the meantime I have a very growing collection of notes for one doozy of a "how I got my agent" blog post for whenever that might be, and I'm sucking up the inspiration from the rest of ya!

Anyone have good news to share? What's good in your neck of the writerly woods?? What keeps you writing when you feel adrift?

Speaking of success, please drop by again on Friday and join me for the cover reveal of the amazingly talented S.M. Johnston's upcoming New Adult Speculative work, SLEEPER!!

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Thursday's Children: Photographs that Inspire

Thursday's children is a blog meme where writers blog about what inspires them. Click here to join the blog hop!

My father is an amazing photographer. He hasn't photographed professionally since before I was born, but it's still one of my favorite things about him. I don't have the patience or talent to pursue the art professionally, but I do love taking pictures, and I have a whole collection of photos I keep in a file on my desktop labeled "Inspo pics". Here are some of my favorites.

I have a thing for Ferris Wheels. It's kind of a long story, but whenever I see one I have to take pictures of it. This is my view from the bottom of the Wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago, which I visited with one of my best friends, Kristie, on an epic summer road trip. There was so much win during those two weeks, but I think this was probably my favorite day--nothing on the agenda but bumming around, in what was otherwise a insane schedule.






The loves of my life. I semi-retired from writing for a long time before I fell in love with another creative person who encouraged me to dust myself off and get back in the game.

He's my hero. She's the best thing either of us will ever create.This is my favorite photo I've taken of them together.

My brief stint as a Russian. I did a study abroad program while earning my Masters in Clinical Social Work. We toured Moscow and spent a couple weeks in Volgograd learning about the adoption and juvenile justice systems. It's one of the bravest things I've ever done--leaving my country and my family and going to a world completely different from my own for a few whirlwind weeks one summer. I was violently ill and more violently homesick the entire time, but the experience made me stronger at a time in my life when that was exactly what I needed to learn to be. Russia has yet to find its way into one of my stories but it will. My experiences being dropped into a foreign land where I couldn't read the alphabet, much less the language definitely will.

Symbolism on the side of the road. Another image from that epic summer road trip. I think at some point shortly before our trip there must have been a hurricane, which is nearly impossible since I took this picture in Memphis, Tennessee. So maybe it was a tornado then? Either way, this gaggle of signage was legitimately located on the exit ramp we took to our hotel and I felt like it was so symbolic of my life at the time. A little bit twisted, a little misdirected, but somehow still in the right place.

The evolution of literary pen pals. I wouldn't know any of these women if it weren't for the interwebz, and I don't really know what I did before I "met" them. I know I wouldn't be writing without Dawn (far left) and Suzanne (far right) who have been two of my first, most vital beta readers and my head cheerleaders through the fires of hell that is querying. I think they champion my manuscripts more than I do. My cheerleaders, my sisters, and proof positive that the intewebz bring special people together who are meant to leave imprints on each others lives. Pictures of my readers and CPs keep me writing, even when the form rejections scream for me to give up.

Beyond these standards, I have files for each of my manuscripts--pictures of what I think my characters might wear or settings might look like. Funny memes that seem like things characters would say or think.

Do you use photos or images to inspire your writing?

Visit more of Thursdays Children and join us!

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Thursday's Children--Inspired by Boston

Thursday's Children is a meme where writers join together to blog about the things that inspire them. Click here to find out more and join the blog hop!

I had another post planned for this week but it's just going to have to wait because a real life villain hurt people I love on Monday afternoon. Physically everyone I know is okay. And their families are okay. But my city is wounded. People are dead. A child is dead, his family injured. And my heart goes with them.


I spent most of Monday night angry. And scared. Because that's what anger always is at its worn and broken heart. But I refuse to spend another week on the couch, staring at the news like I did on September 11, 2001. Or December 14, 2012. Not to say that I'm not horrified and scared and angry and indescribably sad. I am all of those things. But Boston, my city, is a city that fights back. We are, as a dear friend said earlier this week, the city of
Revolution.

There is so much about Boston that inspires me.

Its Unified Spirit. There are lots of jokes about Boston culture. My family pahks our cah in Havahd Yahd. But the jokes stem from the fact that there is an undeniable feel and flavor to the city and its boroughs. We're just a little bit scrappy. Like my mother always says we, "tell it like it is." There is pride in our rich history, spirit fueled by kick-ass sports teams, and fierce loyalty to the artists, athletes, etc who call themselves Bostonian. It's a wicked awesome thing to be a part of, even from a distance. Even when my characters aren't from Boston, they are sprinkled with that spirit, that strength and solidarity. The feistiness and fearlessness. The city itself is my absolute favorite character to write.

On the field at Fenway with dear friend and CP, Dawn

Those Kick-ass Sports Teams I Mentioned. I've been a Red Sox fan since before I started Kindergarten. My grandfather took me to every spring training game growing up, since the Sox trained near my family's home outside Orlando. (We left New England when I was really little.) The first time I saw a game at Fenway Park (against the Yankees no less) I cried. The first time I saw a concert at Fenway...there are no words. I picked up the Celtics while serving as a Ball Girl for the Orlando Magic in elementary school. And once I learned to like football in high school, it was pretty convenient that my school's mascot happened to be the Patriots, also. There's little opportunity to fully appreciate hockey down here in the Dirty South, but I cheer the Bruins on every year. You can take the girl out of Boston, but you can't take the Boston out of the girl. The L.I.'s in my manuscripts are almost always Boston sports fans, and as often as possible the heroines are, too.

The Music that Books Are Made Of. I make soundtracks for each of my characters as I'm brainstorming and pre-writing manuscripts, so that when I dive into the sea of drafting I can use the music to guide me back to shore, to keep me focused on the story and emotions I'm trying to convey. The anti-hero of the manuscript I'm querying is a big Dropkick Murphys fan while my protag is more of an Aerosmith kind of gal. And yes, those boys I mentioned in my first Thursday's Children post do find their way into my playlists every once in a while. But there's so much good ish on the Boston music scene.

Oh the Places We Go. People probably think of a lot of places when someone mentions Boston: The Old North Church, Harvard Yard, the Back Bay, Fenway Park. These are the famous, history-rich places to love about Boston, but there's so much more to be found in the little local spots, too. Mike's Pastry in the North End--home of the best cannolis you will find in America--is one of my favorite places to write sensory details about. The quiet, tree-adorned shops of Newbury Street inspired an entire manuscript. The Frog Pond at Boston Common is a great place to do your writing in the summer, and in the winter it is a wonderland; the stuff all things romantical are made of.

Me and my homegirl Roxi--Boston Public Garden, August 2011

It's been too long since I've been home now. Almost two years. I want to take my family there this summer, and if Jet Blue keeps harassing me by email, I just might cave in and book the flight. Until then, I'm going to write about all the things in Boston that inspire me. I'll let the wonderful, brave, heroic things about my city serve as inspiration because there is so much good there, even in the midst of one of the city's bleakest moments.

If you'd like to help those most affected by Monday's events, please visit The One Fund. This is the charity that has been set up by Boston officials to directly benefit the families who need our support. 

To the monster responsible: May you find yourself in Roxbury in a broken down convertible with the top down at two in the morning. And in the immortal words of Will Hunting and the entire cast of The Departed, "Go Fuck Yourself."

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Thursday's Children: 14 Things I'm Glad I Didn't Know at 14

Thursday's Children is a Meme where writers join together to blog about the things that inspire them. Click here to find out more and join the blog hop!

Earlier this week #14me was a trending topic on Twitter--messages people would send to their teen selves or things that they wish they knew when they were fourteen. But I think that one of the best things about being a teenager is the newness of it all. The first kiss, the first love, the first time behind the wheel of a car....well, for me that happened a smidge before I was a teenager, but that's between me, my dad and the parking lot of Lake Brantley High School

The bad stuff was important, too, though. And I think the growth that occurs through learning during painful times is probably the most important part of being a teen. In the immortal words of Alanis Morissette--goddess of all things angsty and teenage--You live, you learn.

So instead of listing the things I wish I'd known, here are some things I'm glad I didn't know when I was fourteen.

1. Bullying doesn't end when you leave high school.

2. Your first love will not be your greatest love.

3. Related to #2, you will never love anyone the same way as you love your first love. Not that you will love everyone else less, just differently.

4. Look to your left. Look to your right. Ninety percent of these people will not be your friends in five years. The ones who will aren't the ones you expect, and you will be grateful for that.

5. That thing you totally know your parents are completely wrong about? Yeeeeah, they're right.

6. The dream job that inspires you to bust your ass in high school, apply for every scholarship possible, and kick ass and take names in college so you can get into a good graduate school? You will be completely burned out on that job thirteen years later and ready to move on to an entirely different career that your ass-busting in no way prepared you for.

7. Your life will not end if you don't go to that party/dance/adventure/concert with your friends. (This is a lesson I still struggle with sometimes.)

8. You think you're tired now...

9. That thing you and your friends used to do where you'd take two cassette recorders and put them face to face so you could copy a bootlegged concert for yourself? There will be far less ghetto ways to do that in the future. Too bad you will REALLY frown upon it and come to believe that it actually is stealing.

10. Everything you think you know about government and politics is wrong. Everything. No, that, too.

11. People your age are mere mortals and just as susceptible to death as your grandparents.

12. Oooh, honey. The perm and the poofy, poodle-looking bangs? It's not nearly as attractive as you think.

13. There will come a time when standing up for what you believe in will cost you a lot of friends and it will hurt like hell.Championing underdogs can sometimes make you an underdog yourself.

14. Some questions have no good answers, no matter how hard you search for them.

Random side note: I was looking for pictures of me at 14 to include with this post and decided to google my maiden name. This was the first picture that came up, which is hilarious if you know what a complete John Green fangirl I am. (And no my maiden name is not John or Green or anything remotely related to John Green.)

Of course, this image also came up...

So...yeah.

What are some things you're glad you didn't know when you were fourteen?

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Thursday's Children: Firsts

Thursday's Children is a meme where writers share their inspirations. Click here to learn more and join the blog hop!

For Spring Break, we went on our first family vacation since my daughter was born. We explored Savannah and took her to the beach for the first time. The most fascinating part of motherhood so far is watching her experience all these firsts. Her first word ("hi!"), her first smile and giggle, her first taste of each new food (and all the hilarious faces that follow.)

I think that's why writing for children is so much fun. You get to explore life's firsts in depth, maybe even in a way you never bothered to appreciate them yourself. You can even write about firsts you never had, for whatever reason.

In my new Camp NaNoWriMo WIP, my MC is a fiercely competitive collegiate swimmer. I've never participated in any sort of competitive sport myself, so researching this projectallowed me to imagine all sorts of things I never personally got to experience as a teen. If you write sci-fi or fantasy, you're writing about things no real person has ever experienced. And as she gets older, I'm sure some of Calliope's firsts will find their way into my pages, too. 

For now I'm just a happy sidekick in all her new baby experiences. And next time when we take her to the beach, hopefully it won't be so cold. Be gone, actual tears! Be gone!

What are some firsts you've enjoyed writing about, even if you never experienced them yourself?

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Thursday's Children: On Inspiration

Thursday's Children is a blog meme where writers come together to talk about what inspires them. You can find more information and join the blog hop here.

There were important writerly folks who first inspired me to be a reader: teachers, family members, famous and well-respected authors, whose books I devoured like a fat kid at an All-You-Can-Eat-Dessert Buffet...or, ya know, my husband at an All-You-Can Eat-Dessert Buffet...But what first made me pick up a pen and decide I was going to write a novel? That didn't have anything to do with books, really. No, my first inspiration to write came from five boys, who happened to be in a band...of sorts.


No, really. Stop laughing.

I have fifteen spiral notebooks dating back to the fifth grade that are full of long fiction I wrote about these guys. (*whispers* I still have that poster, too.) The first "novel" involved a group camping trip and five girls who looked suspiciously like twenty one year old versions of fifth grade me and my four best friends who were ever-so-conveniently the girlfriends of the New Kids. The story included a long-anticipated albeit very chaste kiss with a certain boy-bander who turned out to be gay--thus setting a precedent for many of the boys I would lust after in high school and college.

They were the first "characters" I ever felt I knew well enough to write about. My first crushes, they inspired all sorts of delicious fangirl dreams. The words flowed effortlessly from my four-color batgirl pens to the wide-rule, lined paper in my trusty NKOTB Trapper Keeper (I went through two of those.)

Cuz I was all like..

Beyond inspiring the characters in my first attempts at writing, my adolescent musings surrounding my favorite boyband are symbolic of the things I cherish about that time in my life. Looking back at this poster and pictures of my friends and I back then, the memories I have surrounding this band and my experience with them is the pinnacle of my adolescence. Their music spoke to everything a teen girl wanted in the late 80s/early 90s. They were the centerpiece of every kick-ass slumber party I ever attended. It reminds me of everything that was fun about being a teen girl, experiencing crushes, love and heartbreak for the first time.

I could go on and on, but really, Alex Gaskarth said it best:

I think everyone has that band or artist that reminds them of the music they loved as a teen. The songs that remind them of epic moments of adolescence. For me, these memories are also intertwined with the moment I became a writer.

So, now that the forefathers of Justin Bieber and One Direction look like this?

Yeah, there's some inspiration to be found there, too. Although, perhaps, the days of fantasizing about camping trips and chaste kisses are a thing the past. ;)

Coincidentally, their new album, 10, hits stores and iTunes next week. Check it out. Me and my TrapperKeeper have a date to see them in concert this June.