The Movie Bloghop

What's this? Two blog posts in one week? I must be ill, right?

Nah. I just stumbled across this very cool bloghop this morning and, even though it is happening RIGHT NOW, I couldn't resist. It's just too fun.

The Movie Bloghop, hosted by Kyra Lennon at Write Here, Write Now and Rachel Schieffelbein at Writing on the Wall, is just what it sounds like. You write a post about who you'd cast in the movie version of your current Work-in-Progress. Awesome, right?

My current WIP is about Tierney, a late-20-something woman who finds out her ex-fiance is marrying someone else. Well, what's a girl to do but get him back, right? Only she didn't count on the sexy best man standing in her way.

The lead role of Tierney is played to perfection by the lovely Katharine McPhee:

Jack, the too-sexy and all-knowing best man, is Ian Somerhalder AKA OMG THE HOTTEST GUY EVER!:

Wes, Tierney's ex-fiance and all-around good (though slightly boring) guy, is James Van Der Beek:

Wes's fiancee, Sam, the bubbly, perfect blonde, is Kellie Pickler:

There you have it. The cast of beautiful people that are playing out this story in my head -- er, on the big screen.

As for the music, this is a vital part of my process. I will listen to the same song on repeat until I finish writing a particular scene. I've got a huge playlist, but I'll narrow it down to a couple, just for you.

Run - Matt Nathanson, Jennifer Nettles


I Hate You, Don't Leave Me - Demi Lovato


Had It All - Katharine McPhee


Come Clean - Tristan Prettyman


Make sure you check out the other posts in this bloghop. How can you resist? It's such a fun idea!

So, who would you cast in a movie version of YOUR WIP?

Part of the Process

A few days ago, I sat down at my desk determined to write. Get that damn Chapter Four revised once and for all. Write an all new Chapter Five. Get Words Down.

What I did instead could easily be called procrastination by some. I prefer to call it Part of the Process.

I spent the next forty-five minutes Googling pictures of my characters and various elements of the story. Then, I downloaded a simple collage program and proceeded to mesh all these pictures together in pictorial representations of my story.

Here are the results:

If you're curious about the cast, they are:
Katharine McPhee as Tierney
Ian Somerhalder as Jack
Paul Walker as Wes
Julianne Hough as Sam
Isla Fisher as Macy

Though I didn't get any words written that day, I did end up with a clearer view of the story I've been trying to tell and its characters.

So, tell me: what's YOUR process? Have you tried collage before? Was this pure procrastination? Isn't Ian Somerhalder dreamy?

Monday Mixtape - The American Idol Edition

This is the last Mixtape of October. Next Monday is officially November. AHHHH!!

Every Monday next month, I'm going to share songs from the playlist I've put together for my NaNo project. Some fun stuff on there. Today, though, is the American Idol finalist edition:

As I've mentioned before, I have watched every season of American Idol. Kat is pretty much my favorite finalist. Her new cd is amazing. Here is one of my favorites -- although, it's hard to choose since they're all so good!


Kelly Clarkson. Such an incredible voice, such an infectious personality. I adore this song. The lyrics are beautiful and Kelly's voice is...well, just take a listen!


I have a soft spot for guys who can sing like this. David Cook's voice is super sexy and this is, by far, the best cover of any song I've ever heard. I mean, it's Mariah Carey for God's sake!


I hope you guys enjoy these songs as much as I do. I have the sneaking feeling this won't be the last American Idol edition of Monday Mixtape...

Alright. I've got to go make dinner and get a few things organized for NaNo. I am under strict orders from Dana that I am not to do anything NaNo-related on our day off, so I want to get everything ready before Thursday! All you NaNo-ers out there, how is your planning coming along?