Ready. Set. Write!

I'm late for this. I know. And I was SO looking forward to jumping right in, but my stupid computer had other ideas. (Silly thing.) Right now, it's week 4 of this fantastic summer writing group!

Ready. Set. WRITE! 


So, what is Ready. Set. WRITE! ? Well, it’s a summer writing intensive that provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at in our writing—planning, drafting, or revising. This year, your RSW hosts are Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, Erin Funk, and Jaime Morrow.

Thanks you, girls!!!



Every Monday, we. . .

1.  Tell if we met last week's goals

2.  Set our goal(s) for this week

3. Share a favorite line from our story OR one word/phrase that sums up what we wrote/revised

4.  Mention the biggest challenge we faced this week (ex. finding time to write)

5.  Let the world know something we love about our WiP

Since this is my first week, I'm going to have to skip #1.

2)  5,000 more words to my WIP. Hopefully, more, but I'm trying to stay realistic.

3)  Meg glanced over at her little brother kneeling next to her on the window bench--one little push, that’s all it’d take, and he’d crash to the floor.

4)  Finding time to write. Definitely.

5) I'm in the beginning. The whole world is waiting to open up (although I have it all plotted out and know where it's going), and that's exciting.


And that's it! So what about you? Where's your writing at?

Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!

Yay! It's that time of week again! What time of week? The time when we are reminded by Vikki over at Viklit that it's the small things in life which really count. So, stop. Think back at all those tiny (or not so tiny) things this week, which simply made you smile.


I'm celebrating:


1) My computer works again!!! I was dragging my feet about buying a new one, and I'm so glad I did. The other night, my son sat down and figured out what was wrong with my laptop. And he fixed it. *happy dance*


2) Our first cutting (hay) is done and our hay barn is 1/3 full of big rounds (bales).  I thought it would be a great moment to make a new banner for FB + twitter (mine are always so boring). So my daughter grabbed a huge arm full of books, and we went photo shooting. Lol! I'm just glad my daughter didn't take a picture while I was jumping up onto the bale (so embarrassing.)

3) Fireflies are out.  We didn't have these where I grew up in Denver, and I was always so fascinated when we visited my grandparents (south of St. Louis) to find these amazing bugs flying around. I love sitting outside in the evening and watching them blink over the field.

***************

Then, I want to mention that an awesome author personage I know--Donna Fasano--is having a Bye-Buy June sale on her book MOUNTAIN LAUREL over on Amazon for $0.99.

******************

And now, it's time for another. . .

This week, since my brain is still fried from the loss of my computer (Yes, this was an emotional tragedy!), I'm going to hit something a little more simple and fun!


The last four weeks of Grammar Friday have covered semi-colons. And most of you should know by now that I'm quite the comma freak.

But why? Is punctuation really that important?

YES!!! GOSH, YES!!!  (Yes, I had to scream)

Here's a little joke I found, which really shows just how important punctuation is (and then I'll let your brains rest and soak some summer sun before I hit an awesome punctuation rule next week. Sound good?)



An English professor wrote a sentence on the board and asked the class to add the correct punctuation.

A woman without her man is nothing.

The males in the class wrote:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

 

The females in the class wrote:

A woman: without her, man is nothing.

Interesting?


Anyway, what wonderful things are you celebrating this week? Did you get to enjoy a writing frenzy? What bugs/insects do you like? Have any great sentence examples where the punctuation makes a huge difference?

Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!

The super Vikki over at Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember that it's the small things in life that really make the difference. Head on over and sign up. Hop around because it's really a lot of fun. And who doesn't need that extra smile?

This week, I'm celebrating:


1) My cows finally seem to be on the mend from their bout of pink-eye. Yippee! I honestly was beginning to wonder if I was going to end up with a blind herd, but it looks like my girls (and pair of boys) are going to be able to see. (Let's not talk about the amount of herding, medication and care it took to get this far.)

2) Our swimming pool is up and running, so the kids will have some splash-time fun! My adoptive kids  (that's what I'm calling our neighbor boys now with a little sarcasm) joined my bunch yesterday evening for a full-swing pool blast.

3) Little green tomatoes are on my tomato plants. Will they make it all the way? We'll see. I'm hoping to have bushels of those delicious fruits/vegetables (I'm keeping this politically correct so as not to offend those tomatos) by the end of this summer.

4) My daughter has tons of fun picking wildflowers, so I have a small bouquet on my dining room table every meal. That's probably the best thing of all. I love having the pretty colors there.


I'm smiling now. And if you're not, close your eyes and think of those small things which really are wonderful in your own life. Feel the corners of your lips edging up? Good!

'Cause now it's time for another. . .

Okay, mates! We've covered three rules for those awesome semicolons the last three weeks, but we aren't done yet. There's one more. Yep, those semicolons are feisty little things. . .ummm. . .actually, they're not. Or are they?

ANYWAY. . .

This week's rule is:

A semicolon can be used between two independent clauses joined by a connecting word (such as and, but, or, etc.) when one or more commas appear in the first clause.


Okay, I honestly don't find this rule that much different than the first one (Semicolon to combine two independent clauses. . .here, if you've forgotten.) But it definitely helps to keep a clean house...uh...I mean sentence.

Example:

When I finish cleaning the floors, which should only take an hour, I'll sew the missing button on your shirt; and I promise to have it done by this evening. 

Looks a bit complicated, huh? Personally, I usually just drop that second independent clause into a sentence of it's own (it is independent), but sometimes, you might have the feeling that these two clauses just have to stick together; and this is how it can be done.

*takes a deep breath* You know those writing contests where you're only allowed to enter one sentence from your entire manuscript for judging, and you just have to get another sentence in to maintain some sort of sense? Well, this semicolon rule might be your saving grace!


So, what wonderful things have happened to you this last week? Remember something you've totally forgotten about? How long can you make one sentence? Have any favorite wildflowers?

What's Up Wednesday and IWSG

The wonderful Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk sponsor this weekly meme to help us writerly people keep up with each other. Head on over and sign up. Believe it or not, it's a lot of fun.

What I'm Reading:

I wish I could say a lot. My pile is high, but I can't seem to get to anything outside the normal craziness of life this week.

What I'm Writing:

I got a chance to sit down with my younger daughter and tell her my latest MS story from beginning to end (of course, in simplified form), but this is always a milestone for me. When I can do this, it means that the story finally flows all the way through. In other words, it can be written from beginning to end. Time to hit those pages.

As for the rest of my writing life, see below.

What's Inspiring Me Right Now:

Honestly, at the moment, I can't say I feel horribly inspired. Things are going so crazy chaotic that I'm not even sure my head is sitting on my shoulders straight.

What Else I've Been Up To:

Farm life has me on my toes. Weeds are taking over my garden (yes, I'm fighting!), my goats are still battling that cold (although I think we're finally over the worst of it), and three of my calves have pink eye. I'm also getting a ton of visits from the 'local' farmer kids, who seem to enjoy hanging out with us. They're amazed that I bake cookies, we sit down together as a family for meal times and that us adults are willing to mess around with them and talk to them like normal human beings. Makes me really feel sad for their family life. Some of you might remember my goal of someday having a type of ranch for kids who simply need to get away? Well, I was joking with my husband that it's already happening in an odd sort of way - - definitely not the direction we were hoping to head in.

I'm really hoping to get a few quite, writing days in soon.

And now, it's time for the terrific brain-child of Alex J. Cavanaugh! 

This is a super-fantastic chance for us writers to get the support we need and give it to others. Yep, writing is a tolling journey and even us writers need a little love and care every now and then. Thanks, Alex!


This month I have a motto - everything in it's time.

If you happened to see Monday's post, then you already know my news: an agent has taken on one of my manuscripts. YAY!

But did it happen right away? Was it easy? The answer: no.  And the truth, this is also just another step up the long publication ladder - but I'm still celebrating it. I even went out to Dairy Queen for an ice cream. Lol! Yep, I live it up.

The idea for this story hit me over two years ago while pulling weeds in my garden. It took another half a year to get it worked out in my head. When I sat down, it poured out onto the paper within four weeks. Then I made a HUGE mistake. I let that little screaming, impatient man get the best of me and sent it out into the query trenches way too early. I got requests but they all came back with rejections saying the same thing.-- 'writing needs work'.

So I listened and headed back in for edits and revisions, added another 10,000 words to it and entered the first pages into a few contests.  See, lots of revisions, edits. . .not quick and easy. Writing takes time, a lot of it.

When I finally sent it out again, more requests rolled in. But that's when my 'real' life started turning upside-down. My hubs' company announced it would be down-sizing. . .sometime. . .probably. *sigh* They continued to say this repeatedly for a year before it happened. I did several more edits, but it took forever as in months and months. Then, one of the requesting agents said she was interested. Yippee! She wanted some changes on the first chapter first, which I did. She loved them and was going to take me on when. . .Presto!. . .she changed positions in the agency. The new children's book agent was unfortunately more interested in contemporary. They offered to review another manuscript I was working on when it was completed, but I was so caught up in preparing for our move half-way across the world, that I simply didn't have time to get it buffed up for them.

Life got hectic, and I laid my writing aside. Game over? No way!  Because that's when it happened.

Do you love your CP? Well, you should! They are the most valuable companions a writer could ever have.

While I was stranded on an internet-less farm in Nebraska, fighting to keep at least a small connection through occasional visits to McDonalds (they were one of the only places with a solid and free connection), it happened. I logged onto twitter and saw that only 20 mins. before, my CP had recommend my MS to an agent. Seriously, what are the chances that this would happen? I was amazed. And on top of it all, the agent wanted me to query her! So I scrambled like an idiot to get my stuff together and sent off some sort of half-decent query. (Two trips to McD's that day - oh, and it was over a 30 mile drive away from the farm. Talking about burning gas!)

The agent loved it and suggested some revisions. And it took off from there. Three rounds of revisions, the story is amazing (I love it!) and the agent offered representation.

So, see. It happens when it's supposed to happen. No matter how impossible it might seem or the situation is (seriously, I wasn't even looking for an agent at that time), when the time comes, it will happen.

Lol! Just don't let that stupid, tiny impatient man get the over-hand on you like he did on me. It's definitely not worth it.

Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!!!

The wonderful Vikki over at Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember the small things in life. Yep, it's those tiny wonders which happen every single day that make life worth living.

This week, I'm celebrating:

1) Goats. Yep, our new friends on the farm. I mentioned these Wednesday, but thought you'd like at least one picture. This is one of the babies. Isn't it cute?

2) Candied apples! Since the kids are now on school break (YAY!), we have to find fun things to do. So one of our 1st activities was making candied apples. They were delicious.

3) My son changed our spark plugs and wires! It's his pre-father's day present on my husband. I'm so proud of him. Guess those kids do grow up after all.

4) My daughter is finding tons of four leaf clovers. The other day, she even found a six leaf one. Double the luck? She seems to think so. Now, I have a whole tiny vase full of the wonderful luck bringers.



And now, before you go out into the field and search for your own four leaf clovers, it's time for. . .

As you may (or may not) know, we're stuck smack-dab in the middle of semicolons. We know they're used to combine two independent clauses. We know we can use them in lists to help against comma disasters. Is there more?

You can bet your momma's britches there is!

Today, we're looking at a third rule (yep, let those little jiggers of excitement roll through you.) Did you know that semicolons can help you introduce a list into a sentence?

You didn't! Well, then you're about to find out how!


Sometimes, we want to combine two sentences, the second which has a list of things directly related to the first sentence. I know, that sounds awful confusing, but as usual, an example will clear it up.

When George goes camping, he needs to take several things with him. A tent, sleeping bag, food, rope and a flashlight are necessary.

The 2nd sentence is directly related to the first, so I want them to stick together like glue. To accomplish this, all I have to do is add a semicolon and a cute, little introductory word.

Like this:

When George goes camping, he needs to take several things with him; for example, a tent, sleeping bag, food, rope, and a flashlight are necessary.

Notice, there's our buddy, the semicolon! To help him introduce the 2nd sentence, we use an introductory word or phrase like namely, however, therefore, that is, i.e., for example, e.g., or for instance.

These introductory words are ALWAYS set off with a comma.

Got it?

Here's one more example to make sure.

There are many different types of tea. Cylon, Assam and Orange Pekoe are among the most popular.

There are many different types of tea; however, Cylon, Assam and Orange Pekoe are among the most popular.

What about you? What is your favorite type of tea? Do you love to go camping? Going to roast marshmallows? What wonderful things happened to you this week? Is there such a thing as 8 leaf clovers?

What's Up Wednesday

This is a weekly meme sponsored by the lovely Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. It's purpose? To help us writerly people keep in touch with each other and say 'What's Up?'


What I'm Reading:

Not much. I stopped by the library yesterday and picked up the first book in Rick Riordan's THE 39 CLUES series (THE MAZE OF BONES) and Donnie Lemke's first book in her TONY HAWK'S 900 REVOLUTION series (DROP IN). Both are middle grade. . .see if I get to them this week or not.


What I'm Writing:

I've had some new ideas for my WIP, so I'm pulling leaves off my tree, reshuffling and putting on fresh buds. That also means I'll have to flip things around in my first 10,000 words before I continue, but I always shove and push and erase and change a lot on the first chapters of a WIP before I really know where the book is headed and can dive into it full swing.


What Inspires Me:

Life. Nature. Everything. I love to go outside and breathe it all in. At the moment, everything is so vibrant and full of energy. It's wonderful.


What Else I'm Up To:

This last weekend was C.R.A.Z.Y!!! My brother and his new wife stopped by for a visit, which went really well. . .I guess. His wife is a huge animal person. We took them with us to the goat auction on Saturday (I need goats so desperately to eat all of our weeds!), where we ended up getting 11 goats. Ug! So many more than I planned!

1 mama with 2 babies (so cute!)
1 mama with 1 baby (he's handsome)
4 half-way bottle babies
1 pregnant goat
1 normal goat

I got carried away and now have more work than anticipated. . .especially since one had a cold and infected all the others now. So today, I have to figure out how to treat all of them.

AND another sister of mine pulled a surprise visit, which was really adventurous since she drives a 53 ft semi trailer. She honestly brought it down the dirt road to our house (took half the trees with her, I think). It was quite the sight (and she almost didn't make it out again). At least, the neighbors had something to gawk at.

And what about you? What are you up to?

Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!!!

The awesome Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember that it's the small things in life which make the difference.


Lol! I hope this post comes over right because I'm running low on sleep this week - just too many things to celebrate, I guess.


I'm celebrating. . .

1)  A shoe rack for my mud room. I found a cute little shop downtown yesterday with all sorts of 2nd hand treasures, and one was a black metal shoe rack which holds 20+ pairs of shoes. I was pulling out my hair with our massive shoe pile so far, and now, my worries are gone. Yippee!

2) I took an evening walk through our forest last night. Alone. It was so peaceful. I just sucked it in. Umm. . .so did the ticks (I found four crawling up my leg when I got back home), but no harm done. It was still great.

3) Hubs found a job! It's right in town (which is a major feat for one this size), so we'll get to see a lot of him still.

4) My daughter got a summer job too. Not a big one--just mowing a little lawn. But it gives her some extra spending money. Plus, the man wants her to ride his horse 2-3 times a week. She is SO excited.


And now, it's time for. . .

Last week, we learned that semicolons can be used to join two independent clauses. Independent. That's the important thing.

This week, we're going to see how semicolons can bring order into comma chaos! YAY! Think of it as a grammar version of Spring Cleaning!!! (That calls for excitement, doesn't it?)


RULE 2:


Semicolons can be used to separate units in a series, where more commas are used.

Huh?

I know. That sounds totally confusing. But it's not.



Example:

Joe has lived in Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; St Louis, Missouri; and Phoenix, Arizona.

Look at those semicolons. If we were to use commas instead, it would be a gigantic mumble-jumble! But with the semicolons, it's much easier to see where the breaks in the list are.

Easy?

See, now you can head into the weekend without a headache and a ton more organized!

What have you been up to this last week? Any wonderful little things happen which put a smile on your face? Do you hate ticks as much as I do? How do you handle comma chaos? Any great plans to keep this weekend cool? 

Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!

The amazing Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember that it's often the small things in life, which make the biggest difference. Go on over and sign up because everyone could use an extra smile on their face.

As for me, I'm having a pretty hectic week (hence, no Wednesday post), so I'm glad Vikki's making us stop to think. Thank you!

I'm celebrating:


1)  Kittens. We found two baby kittens in our old milk barn. The mother must have carried them in and is still taking care of them. We've been putting out milk and food (which they've been eating) in hopes of bribing them to stay. Every farm needs its farm cats.

(This is right after we found the 1st. We had to figure out what was going on first, but she was set free a few minutes later again. Hope they stay!)

2)  My cows/calves are eating out of my hand and come stampedeing when I call 'Morning, Girls!'. I just hope they always stop their charge in front of me and don't plow me over someday. (would they?)

3) The kids had their book fair yesterday evening. It was so strange to walk through it and say 'hey, this book has been a best-seller for ... many weeks', 'I know that author', 'Oh, I remember when this first came out. It's a series now?' I think I drove my kids crazy. Living in Germany, I watched most of this stuff from afar via internet, and out here, there aren't any bookstores. So this was really a new experience for me. I think I got giddy! The best was when I pulled up a book and said 'Hey, the agent that reps this one has my full at the moment, and this one has been on the best-seller list . ... weeks!'  
Amazing, what a tiny book fair can do for the spirit!



Before we head into the weekend though (and may it be a sunny one!), it's time for another. . .

This week, I'm going to step away from commas and head into a new form of punctuation. Are commas done? Gosh no! But those guys do getting irritating at times, don't they? So, we're taking a vacation this weekend and heading over to. . .

*drum roll*

SEMICOLONS!!!!

Now, isn't that exciting stuff? *hahaha*


Have no fear because semicolons are actually really easy. Honestly, they are. And by breaking it down into a couple week post, you won't feel like you're on brain-overload either.

(Week 1)
RULE 1:

Semicolons are used when combining two independent clauses instead of a conjunction.
The key here is 'independent clauses'. Both clauses must be able to stand alone as complete sentences.



Example:

The tea was hot; I couldn't drink a sip.

The flight landed in New York as scheduled; it should have been no problem for the passengers to make their connections.

So, what about you? What wonderful, little things happened in your life this week? Are you a semicolon fan (I heard that they are in Britain)? Do you like book fairs? Did you ever miss a flight connection (dumb, question; I know!)? Are you going to semicolon through life this weekend?

Cover Reveal!

A fantastic woman is celebrating her cover reveal today, and I have the honor of helping her share her gorgeous new book. I love it when writer buddies get published! So today, instead of sticking to my usual kid book end of things, I'm bending the rules just a little bit, and presenting something maybe more for mommies (although this does still fall under YA).

Ready?

Set?

Here it is!!!

Life’s. Little. Surprises.

The last thing seven-year-old Carrigan "Ace" Casper foresaw was an eight-year-old Heath Lovelly walking into her life the day her mother died. From that moment on, Heath sticks by her side, slowly becoming her strength, her confidant, and her entire world. What she doesn’t know is, she's his saving grace, too.

Ten years later, Ace is handed another crippling challenge that threatens everything in her almost perfect life. Only, this time, she doesn't turn to Heath, hiding the truth instead. But Heath knows Ace too well and won't back down easily. He's ready to do whatever it takes and will stay by her side until she accepts that their love is the kinda love worth fighting for.

Will he be her forever triumph or her unexpected downfall?

Two lives.

One story.

And an unexpected journey to falling in love.

Isn't it beautiful? It was designed by Regina Wamba at Mae I Design & Photography.
This mature YA Contemporary Romance (17+ please, due to language and sensual scenes), will be released on:

AUGUST 15TH!!!

and will be available at:

Kindle | Nook | Kobo |Smashwords |Paperback 

Of course, you can already add it to goodreads (I'm sure Clara (Priya) won't cry if you do!)

Let me guess, you'd like to meet Clara *aehm* Priya?

Priya Kanaparti lives in the beautiful city of Boise, ID. Unlike what most believe about Idaho, it’s more than a sack full of potatoes. When she’s not writing, you’ll catch Priya reading YA and NA books, mostly romance, and enjoying time with her family. She is a proud CW TV addict. She also write Mature YA and New Adult romance under the name Clara Stone. She is published through Reuts Publications.

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**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content.

GENRE: Mature YA Contemporary Romance.