Writing a Slow-Burn Romance

If you're looking for a little instant gratification, fiction is a good place to find it. I watch police procedurals where murders are solved in forty-five minutes and read books that chronicle life-changing epiphanies in only two hundred and fifty pages. It's so satisfying to see fictional problems resolve quickly--plus, it's a lot more entertaining when we can cut out the weeks of waiting for test results and months of planning and rescheduling before a court date.

There's one place in fiction where it's more fun to slow down rather than speed up: romance. A lot of our favorite fictional couples start things off at a snail's pace. After ten chapters (or ten seasons) of tantalizing will-they-or-won't-they romantic tension, the moment when we see a couple finally get together is that much more satisfying.

Like Harry and Sally from When Harry Met Sally.

Temperance Brennan and Seeley from Bones.

Luke and Lorelai from Gilmore Girls.

Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary (and Anna and Mr. Bates...and Tom Branson and Lady Sybil...and Carson and Mrs. Hughes...okay, pretty much all the romances) from Downton Abbey.

See what I mean? These are the couples we agonize over. I spent all ten seasons of FRIENDS crossing my fingers, hoping that Ross and Rachel would find a way to make things work. I wanted Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley to end up with each other from the beginning--even though it took several books before they got together for good. A long-running romance requires a lot of commitment and a lot of emotional investment from the audience. Takes a fair amount of tears and vicarious heartache, too.

When it comes to writing romance, it's hard to fight the urge to speed things up. I love my characters and I want them to live happily ever after, but I can't let them have it right away. In my current work-in-progress, it's a constant battle to keep the characters' love for each other at a slow burn, without letting things flare up or fizzle out.

Although many love stories focus on the couple finding each other and falling in love, romance doesn't end after the vows are said and rings are exchanged. Happily-ever-after is a journey, not a destination (click to tweet!). There are ups and downs along the way. We hope that our favorite couples will have smooth sailing over the waves, but there are waves nonetheless.

In my work-in-progress, the story begins after the main characters are already married. Mara and Will have already survived so many struggles together--a tragic shooting, permanent injuries, chronic pain, and PTSD, just to name a few. Still, they have more challenges ahead of them: when they're offered the chance to go back in time and un-do the shooting that changed their lives, it shakes up their marriage in a big way. Giving the shooter the chance to go back in time and make things right feels like justice at its finest, and why wouldn't they jump at the chance to re-live their lives without the tragedy? When Will and Mara start to pick apart all the ways this shooting shaped their lives--and guess who they might have been in another timeline--it reveals the good and bad of who they are and how they came to fall in love.

I can't promise that Mara and Will are going to get it right or that they'll make the same decisions I would make in their place. Some things in their story move fast--faster than Mara or Will (or I!) were ready to handle. But when it comes to romance, their love for each other burns long and slow.

Stay tuned :)

Behind The Scenes of EVERY LAST MINUTE

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since I'm currently editing Every Last Minute, the first novel of my time travel romance trilogy, I thought I'd give you a peek behind the scenes. Will and Mara Sterling are newlyweds and the main characters of my story. Here they are in one of my favorite scenes from Chapter One:

Will had already set out dinner on the coffee table when Mara emerged from the bedroom. Even though she was ninety-eight percent sure Will had been kidding earlier, Mara was still a little relieved to see a cup of tzatziki sauce on each of their plates.

“We’re not just eating out of the containers tonight?” she asked. “Fancy.”

“Only the best for my girl,” Will said, offering her a paper napkin. “Now get ready—there’s something playing on TV I think you’ll like.” He pressed the power button on the remote.

Mara squealed when the familiar Spanish-style mansion appeared on the screen. “They brought it back for another season?”

“I cannot believe you got me to start watching this,” Will said, as the words “Engaged or Enraged,” appeared on screen. The voice over began:

“While most engaged couples are shopping for wedding gowns and picking out favors, these ten couples are taking the ultimate challenge. They’re putting their marriage to the test before they take their vows. Will extreme sports, team challenges, and unbelievable drama bring them closer together? Or will their relationship shatter under pressure? It’s an all-new season of ‘Engaged or Enraged!’”

The theme song began and Mara hummed along. Each of the ten couples appeared in turn, dancing a little and pretending to shoot each other with fake bows and arrows when their names flashed up on the screen.  

“Every time I watch this crap, I die a little inside,” Will said.

“We don’t have to watch this,” Mara said, shooting him a mischievous grin. “I did say you could pick anything you wanted.”

“No, I know you really like it. I don’t mind,” Will said.

“Uh-huh. Plus you’re the one who looked up spoilers for the finale last season because you couldn’t wait to find out who won.”

Will pretended to be too busy eating his dripping gyro to respond.

Mara nestled back in the deep sofa cushion. On screen, the couples had been issued their first challenge. They were going to play some type of capture-the-flag game on an obstacle  course complete with fences, rope courses, and rock walls.

“There’s one more twist,” the host said, pausing over each word for dramatic effect. “One partner in each couple will be blindfolded.” The couples groaned as the host passed out bandanas emblazoned with the show’s logo.

“We’re going to win this, no question,” said one man as his fiancée nodded happily beside him. “Our communication is on point. We’re just like…I’ll be talking and she’ll just know…”

“…exactly what he was going to say!” the fiancée finished sweetly.

Mara nudged Will’s leg. “Hey. How come we never finish each other’s…”

“Fries? Don’t mind if I do,” Will said, hovering a hand over her plate. Mara swatted him away and he grinned.

The show switched to a commercial. As a businessman deplored the effects of his chronic dry eyes—just in time to discover a drug that could help—Mara took the first bite of her gyro. Good. Better than the ones that were served by the sub place that catered their last company luncheon. Not nearly as good as the ones she and Will used to get from the food trucks when they were in college.

“So how much grading are you going to be doing tomorrow night?” she asked Will.

“I’ve got two teacher workdays. I have plenty of time to get grades in.”

“You’re going to be up working all night tomorrow, huh?”

“Basically.”

The dry-eyes commercial ended and the next began. As the camera panned over a dimly lit room, Mara watched Will from the corner of her eye. The foreboding music came to a crescendo and there it was—a sudden flash of light, a blood-curdling scream, and a half-hidden ghostly figure. The voice-over intoned the title of the horror movie due out in theaters next month.

Will kept nonchalantly eating his fries. If he was triggered by anything onscreen, he didn’t show it. Hopefully that meant he really was okay. Even after eight years, it could be hard to tell with Will.

Mara reached over and squeezed her husband’s hand. He squeezed back.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“How much money people have to get paid to be on reality shows.”

“Probably not much,” Mara said. “Some people like the spotlight.”

“Fair enough. I’d need at least a million to consider it.”

“Only a million? There’s not enough money in the world to convince me.”

The commercial break was over. As the camera panned in on the couples lining the obstacle course, Will nudged her. “Your turn. What are you thinking about?”

“That if we were on this show, you’d be wearing the blindfold,” Mara said. “I give better directions.”

“Not a chance,” Will said. “I’m not banging my head on every dang obstacle because you can’t see around me. Tallest guy plays navigator. Always.”

Mara laughed and tucked her legs up under her. They fit together so neatly, his arm around her, her head on his chest.

All in all, it had been a good day.

Scratch that.

It was a good life.

I'm still editing Will and Mara's story, but I'm planning to release the trilogy later this year! If you'd like to receive news and updates, sign up for my mailing list in the blue bar at the top of the page!

Literary Love Quotes for the 21st Century

Valentine's Day is almost here, and the book lovers among us are looking up love quotes to share with our sweethearts. As wooing methods go, sharing the literary love is a pretty effective strategy. (It worked in Beauty and the Beast!)

However, now that we're in 2017, some of the standbys just don't have that modern vibe to them. You know, like:

“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

— Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Or:

“He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Or:

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind. ”

— William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Don't get me wrong, these quotes are from some of my favorite books! But if you're looking for something a little more updated, modern literature is ripe with swoon-worthy lines to share with a significant other. These are some of my favorite literary love quotes for the 21st century:

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“So much of love is chance. There’s something scary and wonderful about that.”

— Jenny Han, P.S. I Still Love You

“As long as I’m with you, I know exactly who I am.”

— Blake Crouch, Dark Matter

“Love was a rare thing, easily confused with a million other things, and if anybody knew this to be true it was him. ”

— Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight.”

— Nicola Yoon, The Sun Is Also A Star

“Love is about the good moments, but it’s about holding on to each other during the difficult ones, too.”

— Aisha Saeed, Written In The Stars

“Sometimes it amazes me how much these defining parts of our lives hinge on chance.”

— Curtis Sittenfeld, Eligible

“I don’t know what brought us together...but I do know that nothing can keep us apart.”

— Ellen Smith, Every Last Minute

Did you catch the surprise at the end? The last quote is from my work-in-progress! Since EVERY LAST MINUTE is a time travel romance, I've had romantic quotes on the brain. Check back on the blog this Valentine's Day--I'll be sharing a scene from my book as a sneak preview for you!

First Aid for Novel-Editing Emergencies

At the beginning of this month I started the long, arduous process of editing the trilogy I wrote last year. It's been fun to go back to the beginning and revisit these characters where their story starts--but I'd be lying if I claimed it's been all fun and games. I've actually run into all kinds of issues that plague authors in the middle of an editing project: lack of motivation, character inconsistencies, and wobbling plot lines, just to name a few. Sometimes I feel less like I'm editing and more like I'm putting out one fire after another!

So what have I learned from this process, one month in? I don't have a finished project yet, but I have come up with a first aid kit for novel-editing emergencies.

Coffee

Editing and rewriting isn't nearly as fun as drafting the story for the first time. The biggest challenge is just getting my head in the game.

I'd love to have a pithy answer for what it takes to get motivated, but honestly, I drink coffee. A lot of coffee. Judging by an informal survey of my author friends, they drink a lot of coffee too. Why re-invent the wheel? If I need motivation, coffee is always a good choice.

Research Binders

Back when I was planning out these novels, I assembled entire binders with character sketches, D.C. maps, job descriptions, and apartment layouts--just about everything else I could possibly need to know about living and working in D.C. Despite my organized approach, I abandoned my binders completely about halfway through the rough draft. I got so carried away by the story that I just kept typing. 

Throwing out your notes and pounding the keys is great if you're trying to write 50,000 words in 30 days. When you go back and start editing...well, let's just say there are some inconsistencies. For example, one of my main characters changed height five times. The apartment he lives in changed floors even more often than that. So frustrating--until I remembered that I already figured out how tall my characters are and where their apartment is. Back to the notebooks!

Whew. Fact-checking crisis averted.

Music

The editing process is so slow and nit-picky that it can be hard to remember exactly what story I'm telling. Instead of "can't see the forest for the trees," it's more like "can't see the overarching theme for the plot holes." Some novelists have told me they stay on track by trying to relate every part of their story to one word, such as "redemption" or "justice." I go back to the song that inspired the story idea in the first place:

When I first heard this song, I wondered, "But...what if the road hadn't been broken? Would they have met anyway? Can you be both sad and grateful for a painful life story...or do you have to choose between bitterness and joy?" Voila! A story idea was born. Every time I listen to this song, it brings me back to those questions and reminds me how my characters are feeling.

Chocolate

Editing is a long process (so says the author who has now gone over the same chapter three times...) Along the way, it's important to celebrate the successes. Sometimes it's a big win (like getting the whole book ready to send out!) Sometimes it's a little victory (like finally nailing a tricky line.)

Some authors reward themselves with stickers or checking off their progress on a list. I prefer chocolate. Like coffee, chocolate is always a good choice.

Creative Distractions

If you see my Instagram feed, you know that I've been dabbling in making origami models. I got the idea from one of my main characters, Mara, whose love of precision makes her perfectly suited to this kind of hobby. I have a perfectionist side, too, but it's a real challenge for me to focus on getting every fold just right--one wonky corner early on can throw off the whole model!

I started doing origami in order to give myself a creative break that didn't take me too far away from the storyline of my novel. They don't take more than ten or fifteen minutes to make--I can do some in less than five--and it's a refreshing change from staring at the computer screen. Plus, taking up the hobby of one of my characters gives me a little insight into who she is and how she approaches problems. Win/win.

Remember the Dream

This is probably the biggest motivation of all to push through the editing process and finish the books. I don't want this story to live forever in my head, or on my computer, or on the bookshelf. I want this story to get in the hands of a reader who will love it as much as I do. (tweet this). So that's what's fueling my latest editing marathon. It's going to fuel the next one and the one after that, too.

Oh, and coffee. A lot of coffee.

Curious to know more about this story I'm editing? Sign up for my newsletter for news and updates! (Sign up is in the blue bar at the top of the page)

How Much Science Should Be In Science Fiction?

I'm about a quarter of the way through editing my current work-in-progress, and believe me, it's slow-going. I'm checking every detail for consistency, ironing out the tone, and rewriting the scenes that I raced through during my marathon drafting sessions. At the same time, I'm trying to balance big-picture considerations. Who am I writing this story for? What readers will enjoy reading it? Just what genre is this story, anyway?

My current work-in-progress is a time travel romance that blurs the lines between science fiction and...well, romance. In the beginning of the novel, I introduce Will and Mara Sterling, a twenty-something couple starting off their new marriage with old scars:

Will and Mara first met six years ago. They were freshmen in college: young, ambitious, and full of plans for the years ahead. Within seconds, the actions of one gunman changed both of their lives. Although Will and Mara survived the campus shooting, the attack left them with permanent injuries, chronic pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The last six years have been challenging to say the least, but Will and Mara count themselves lucky. After all, they have each other.

So far, this story has the romance covered: while Will and Mara have struggled through horrifying circumstances, they're deeply and genuinely in love with each other and the life they share. Enter the science fiction elements, neatly disguised as their call to adventure:

A new initiative from the Justice Department offers Will and Mara the chance of a lifetime. The shooter has been rehabilitated and his crime qualifies for an event modification. With the consent of his victims, they can all travel back to the original scene of the crime, giving the gunman a chance to undo his deeds and put things right.

Event modification is my idea of how time travel would be used today if it existed. It's not fancy, flashy, or even a lot of fun. It's a heavily-moderated, overly bureaucratic system intended to give both offenders and victims a second chance. Since the criminal is rehabilitated, why not give him the opportunity to go back and undo his crime?

I know what facing this decision will mean for Will and Mara, and I know how the possibility of event modification will affect the culture around them, the justice system, and the gunman himself. Here's what I don't know: how much of an explanation do I give on how event modification works? How much of the mechanics of time travel would readers really want to know?

In other words: how much science should be in science fiction?

The answer to the science-to-fiction ratio lies with the readers. Who would be interested in Mara and Will's story? Why would they pick up this book, and what would they expect to find?

"People who like science fiction," is an easy answer, but it's not the whole answer. Some sci-fi readers are into hard science fiction. They'd like a detailed description of how time travel works, along with the timeline for how it was developed and the blueprints to the machine. If I gloss over the mechanics of event modification, these hard sci-fi readers might stop reading for a minute and think, "Okay, Will and Mara went back in time, but...how did it work? What was it like? What makes that possible?"

On the other hand, some readers prefer soft science fiction. These are the people who read about a new technology and think, "Ooh, and what will happen next?" rather than "Whoa! How did that happen?" They don't want to spend time in the engineering room of the Event Modification Division of the Justice Department, learning how it all works. They want to be up in the observation room, finding out just how people react when they're offered an unexpected second chance.

At its core, my work-in-progress is a combination of romance and soft science fiction. Time travel is a big part of the story, but it's not the center of the story. The focus needs to stay on Will and Mara, two characters that struggle to understand who they are and how the events of their lives have changed them, for better or for worse.

So...how much science should be in science fiction? I know my answer:

Just enough to cause a reaction.

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Revamped Home Office (and FREE printable!)

On the last Saturday of 2016, I opened my weekly e-newsletter from Sagan Morrow. Sagan is a great resource and inspiration for freelancers, so I always look forward to her newsletters! This newsletter was particularly inspiring for me because Sagan asked what word would inspire our careers in 2017.

That question made me pause for a bit. I really like where I'm at currently in my writing life. I've been freelance writing for three years and I've already published a novel and a short story collection. However, I have big goals for this coming year: I'm planning to grow my freelance business and release a trilogy of novels as well.

Finally, I wrote back to Sagan and said "confidence." I've already laid the groundwork for my freelance career and my fiction writing. I just need to keep moving forward with the confidence to take on bigger projects and aim for higher goals. 

The first step in my move-forward-with-confidence plan was to create a space dedicated to my writing career. I'm lucky enough to have a home office already, but, if I'm honest, over time it started to become a catch-all place for household bills, magazines, and craft projects. I decided to kick-start 2017 by reclaiming and redecorating my home office.

The first step was choosing a paint color, which is always difficult for me. I love looking at paint chips, almost as much as I love reading all the different color names. I wanted a bluish-green, but I couldn't decide on which shade. Did I want an office painted in Tahoe Blue or Ocean Boulevard? Clear Pond or Clear Vista? (If anyone's looking for a freelance writer to name paint colors, by the way, I'm game. What a fun job that would be!) After staring at my top four choices for a few days, I decided that none of them would work. I headed to the paint store to look for more ideas.

That's where the word "confidence" popped up again. Three separate times, I reached for the same paint chip, thinking, "Yes! This is the color I was thinking of!" only to realize that it was Ocean Boulevard. Which I had already decided wouldn't work. It was too bright. Too blue. More "tidal" than "robin's egg."

Then I thought, "Wait. Why am I trying to talk myself out of doing something I love?"

That did it. I bought one gallon of Ocean Boulevard, a new set of paint rollers, and headed home.

And you know what? I do love it.

The newly-painted left corner of my office. Isn't this a happy color? The blue-green tint changes with the light, which is neat to watch throughout the day.

I already owned and loved my office furniture, with one exception: my standing desk. I sit at the rolltop desk for smaller tasks, but if I'm working for long periods of time, I work best at a standing desk. For the last few years, I've made my own by balancing a large piece of wood over two filing cabinets, which was almost (but not quite) the right height. My husband surprised me with this beautiful desk for Christmas:

The standing desk on the right side of my office, pulled up to its full height. I don't get a lot of natural light in the office, so I'm afraid this is the best I could do to avoid shadows and glare in the picture.

The top lifts up to the perfect standing height, and lowers back down if I need to sit. I love it!

With the new wall color and the furniture in place, I just made a few decorative touches. Some things I kept, like my clipboard for inspiration pictures.

My inspiration board currently holds photos from my research trip to Washington, D.C. They definitely help me get into the setting of my story!

Some things needed a little change. For example: like everyone else that had a Pinterest account in 2015, I jumped on the chalkboard bandwagon. My office used to feature a very large chalkboard where I wrote my to-do list. It worked just fine, but I didn't like the mess all that chalk dust created. I decided to change things up and use a dry erase board instead. Actually, make that three dry erase boards:

Did you know you can use a regular glass picture frame as a dry erase board? I happened to have these three frames already from another project, so I just popped some pretty paper into them and hung them up.

When all that was finished, I had one blank wall left. I wanted a piece of artwork that would make me smile (and inspire me to get to work!) whenever I came into the room. I scoured the Internet for a while before I remembered: hey, I make graphics for my blog and Instagram all the time. Why not make my own poster?

So I did. I chose one of my all-time favorite quotes, and it's perfect for my 2017 theme of "confidence." Bonus: since I made the poster myself, I can offer it as a free download for you, too!

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You can download the pdf for the 16 x 20 version or the 8 x 10 version below. You're welcome to print it out and use it however you like in your home or office. Just please don't chop off my watermark and sell it as your own. Thanks! :)

16x20 poster

8x10 poster

There you have it: a little tour of my revamped home office, ready to start off a new year and plenty of new projects--with confidence. Thanks for stopping by!

4 Literary Quotes on New Beginnings

I love January. After the December holidays are over, I feel ready to start the new year off on the right foot. I clean up my workspace, break out a new calendar, and imagine all the things that could happen in the new year.

This January, the season of new beginnings coincides with where I am in my writing life. Last year I drafted all three novels of the trilogy I'm working on. I took a break from writing for the holidays--it's good to recharge--and rang in the New Year by going back to the beginning of Book 1. As I edit and rewrite, I'm starting to feel really connected to these characters and excited about putting the finishing touches on their story.

Well, I'm mostly excited. Editing a rough draft is a lot like looking back at old pictures of yourself. Sometimes you look back and think, "Wow, that was a really great day. I love this picture." Sometimes you look back and think, "Really? Those jeans? That lipstick? What was I thinking?"

So as I'm beginning this new year and taking a fresh look at my work-in-progress, I decided to look for a little inspiration. Here are four quotes on new beginnings from some of my favorite writers:

T. S. Eliot

Eliot seems to have the words for every occasion. He was one of the most influential poets of the 20th century, even though we're still trying to figure out what to make of him. Case in point: he wrote both The Hollow Men and The Triumph of Bullshit. Didn't learn about that second poem in Literature class, did you?

Anyway, here are his (PG-rated) lines about welcoming the new year:

Mary Shelley

We all know Mary Shelley as the author of the horror story Frankenstein, but her own life wasn't too sunny, either. Her mother died shortly after Mary was born, her father remarried a woman who didn't care for her, and she met and started a relationship with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was just a teenager. Whatever may have inspired this quote, it's a great reminder that every day is a chance to begin again.

Annie Prouix

Prouix's Pulitzer-prize-winning novel The Shipping News is entirely about new beginnings. Quoyle and his two daughters relocate to the family home in Newfoundland, where they each try to make a fresh start during the cold, stormy winter. Maybe that's why this quote strikes me as especially lovely at this time of year:

L.M. Montgomery

I love L.M. Montgomery's novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne is imaginative, headstrong, tempermental--but most of all, she's hopeful. No matter how many times Anne gets into trouble, she's always ready and willing to learn and try again. This line is spoken by Anne to her adoptive guardian Marilla:

It's a new year--and even better than that, today is a new day. Write on.

What Are You Reading in 2017?

This week, I had planned to share a list of books I read and loved in 2016. One small problem: there were too many. Seriously. I could not narrow them down to a manageable list. I couldn't even pick a Top 10, much less a Top 5. I'm still trying to catch up with listing/ reviewing them all on Goodreads!

This is literally my favorite problem to have.

Instead, I'm going to share my list of books I can't wait to read in 2017!

Love Fortunes And Other Disasters

You know the old saying "You can't judge a book by its cover?" Maybe you shouldn't, but you can definitely decide you want to pick up a book based on its cover! I saw this adorable book on Instagram, read the description, and decided I had to read it.

Here's the book's synopsis:

Love is real in the town of Grimbaud and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Dupree's have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita's famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It's a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love. Fortunately, Fallon isn't the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian.
 

Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita's tyranny and fall in love?

Love Fortunes and Other Disasters

By Kimberly Karalius

Stardust

This was recommended to me on Amazon based on other books I've bought. That's no surprise when you read the description: this sounds like a fun Southern fiction novel with quirky characters, new beginnings, and a spunky protagonist. What's not to love?

From the book description:

Shortly after burying her unfaithful husband, Georgia Peyton unexpectedly inherits the derelict Stardust motel from a distant relative. Despite doubts from the community and the aunt who raised her, she is determined to breathe new life into it. But the guests who arrive aren't what Georgia expects: Her gin-loving mother-in-law; her dead husband's mistress; an attractive but down-on-his-luck drifter who's tired of the endless road; and an aging Vaudeville entertainer with a disturbing link to Georgia's past.

Can Georgia find the courage to forgive those who've betrayed her, the grace to shelter those who need her, and the moxy to face the future? And will her dream of a new life under the flickering neon of the STARDUST ever come true?

Stardust: A Novel

By Carla Stewart

The Magnolia Story

I love watching the Fixer-Upper show on HGTV. Chip and Joanna Gaines seem like a really sweet couple and they have an amazing ability to create homes that are just right for their clients. I can't wait to read more about how they got started!

From the book synopsis:

Are you ready to see your fixer upper?

These famous words are now synonymous with the dynamic husband-and-wife team Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. As this question fills the airwaves with anticipation, their legions of fans continue to multiply and ask a different series of questions, like—Who are these people? What’s the secret to their success? And is Chip actually that funny in real life? By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper, they have become America’s new best friends.

The Magnolia Story is the first book from Chip and Joanna, offering their fans a detailed look at their life together. From the very first renovation project they ever tackled together, to the project that nearly cost them everything; from the childhood memories that shaped them, to the twists and turns that led them to the life they share on the farm today.

The Magnolia Story

By Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines, Mark Dagostino

The Sun Is Also A Star

I saw people posting about this book on Instagram and decided I had to add it to my to-read list! I'm always up for a good love story, so I was hooked as soon as I read the synopsis.

From the book description:

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

The Sun Is Also a Star

By Nicola Yoon

The Five Warriors

Remember my interview with Angela J. Ford? Her love for books is infectious! Plus, she's a great writer: everything from her tweets to her blog posts to her online course is well-written and engaging. It's no surprise that I'm eager to read the book she wrote! Bonus: The Five Warriors is the first in a series. I love starting a good book knowing that there's going to be more to follow!

From the synopsis:

What if...

your best friend started a rebellion in the middle of a war?
your lover awakened a deep evil and helped it grow?
your people were too cowardly to face a battle?
you stole an ancient power source?
you gambled with the fate of the world?

Join five powerful warriors each with a unique ability and magical weapons. Their quest is to discover where the transformed creatures are coming from and put a stop to it.

Along the way they run into treacherous immortals, sea monsters, powerful beasts of the air and talking animals.

Each has their own reasoning for joining the quest, but one carries a deadly secret which just might be the destruction of them all.

The Five Warriors (The Four Worlds Series) (Volume 1)

By Angela J. Ford

What books are you planning to read in 2017? Want to recommend a book to add to my to-be-read pile? Leave a comment and let me know!

*Note: the links in this post are affiliates. All opinions expressed in my blog are my own--including why I can't wait to read all of these books in the new year! Using affiliate links helps me stay well-stocked in fine-point Sharpies, post-it notes, coffee and other writing essentials.

5 Fun Visual Blogs for Creative Minds

I spend almost all of my downtime reading and writing. No complaints here--I could happily spend my entire life in the "word world!" However, since I'm trying to grow and change as a writer, stretching my creative side is a big part of my day. I almost always leave my alternate creative time with new inspiration.

I'd love to say that I make regular time to actually do extra creative projects but honestly--I have deadlines to meet. Thanks to the Internet, I can easily take a few minutes to enjoy other people's artistic forays. These are five visual blogs I especially love to visit. Some are collaborative, some are quirky, and some are thought-provoking. All of them are a great way to find inspiration and take a fun, creative break!

1. Things Organized Neatly

Just like it says. Every photograph submitted to this blog is beautiful and (for you perfectionists out there) incredibly satisfying.

2. Design Cloud

This is a fun collective of designs from around the world. It's divided into plenty of subgroups, including typography, sculpture, graphic design, and illustrations. Lots of fun to peruse if you're feeling a little creative block!

3. Plenty of Colour

This design blog is a visual treat of gorgeous, colorful images. What I really enjoy about this blog is that you can filter the images according to a color range (I usually pick "blue, turquoise, cobalt...") and enjoy!

4. Creative Roots

This is a collection of visual art from around the world, from architecture to graphic design. At the top, you can filter the results by continent and country--such a cool way to get a glimpse of another culture!

5. Where They Create

I'm always incredibly curious about other people's home offices and studios. Most of us will say that we draw at the kitchen table or type on our laptops in the living room...and for most of us that might be true! I like to imagine otherwise, and for this, Where They Create is a great blog to peruse. Photographer Paul Barbera photographs artists and other creatives in their workspaces, and let me tell you, some of those spaces are pretty incredible!

What are some of your favorite creative blogs? Leave a comment and let me know!

So It Begins...{again}

I've mentioned before that my current work-in-progress centers (loosely) on the concept of time travel. The main characters are given the chance of a lifetime: to go back in time and undo the crime that changed their lives.

I think I know how my characters feel. The process of writing this story makes me feel like I'm doing a bit of time-travelling myself!

When I first started writing this story (back in 2011...) it was one book. When I went back and tried my hand at writing it again, I realized that it should really be three books: a trilogy that explored three distinct time periods in my characters' lives. Despite my better judgment, I blasted through drafting all three books this year. I needed to really go through a rough draft of each book in order to get a sense of how the characters thought and felt about each twist and turn.

So that's what I did in 2016. I just wrote. No stopping to re-read, edit, or tinker with character development. Now that I've reached the end of Book 3, there's only one thing to do: go back and start re-reading Book 1.

Let me tell you, it’s rough. There are abandoned characters dangling over plot holes, loose threads flapping in the breeze, and a veritable highway of run-on sentences. It’s a mess out there. I'm plowing through it slowly but steadily, correcting and rewriting as I go.

This is the messy part of writing, but it's a hopeful kind of mess. With the end in sight, I have a pretty good idea of how the characters talk and act at each point in the story. I’m hoping (but not holding my breath) that I’ll reach my goal of publishing the trilogy in 2017.

I just have to keep working through it...as many times as it takes.