Muse Food

I've been making steady progress on the revisions for my Work-in-Progress, and I'm excited. I feel like the new Chapter 1 is the strongest version yet and that I'm definitely getting somewhere.

My muse has been fueled by a playlist of songs I compiled that remind me of my characters and the story they're telling. Here are a couple of the juiciest cuts that get me inspired:

Gavin DeGraw - Run Every Time

I love the overall feeling of this song. Of having something great right in front of you, but being too afraid to grab it with both hands. It captures my main character's inner conflict perfectly.

LeAnn Rimes - What Have I Done

This song is soaked in regret and heartbreak and it just gets to me. I love the line, "Gonna smash every mirror in this empty house, because like you I don't want to see myself." Gah!

Jessica Harp - Over Me

My favorite lines: "She's your growing up, I'm your staying young" While some of these lyrics could be considered wishful thinking on the part of my main character, those two lines describe what's going on so simply: her ex is growing up, moving on. And it hurts.

Matt Nathanson - Kept

I hear this song at the point in my story when my main character does something she shouldn't have done. I love the line "The morning came and it felt like truth."

The last one I'm gonna share with you hit me like a brick the first time I heard it. I love Michelle Branch and I wish we heard more from her. Her new music is fantastic, and this song has inspired many hours of furious typing away on my laptop.

Michelle Branch - Summertime

I love the nostalgic feeling of this. The bittersweet taste of looking back and remembering someone. The parts that spoke to me the most were, "I heard she's wearing a shiny diamond ring, I guess you're finally moving on," and "Kissing underneath the moonlight, discovering things we never thought we'd find." This song is so, so good!

So there you have it. A peek at the playlist revolving inside my head. There are dozens more songs. Maybe I'll share more with you later! Now, back to work!

Do you make playlists for your Works-in-Progress? Or do you write in silence? Maybe instrumental instead of songs with lyrics? What feeds YOUR Muse?

Monday Mixtape: Whitney Houston

Do any of you remember the first time you heard Whitney Houston sing?

If you're like me, this is it:


I loved belting out this song when I was a kid, then as I grew up, I learned to appreciate how well-written the song was and how powerful the voice behind it was.

It broke my heart when I found out Whitney passed away. I was rooting for her to conquer her demons, and it is just so, so sad that she's gone. So, in memory of the woman with the spectacular voice and bright smile, here are a couple more of her songs:





And, a tearful, heartfelt tribute from LeAnn Rimes:


Thank you, Whitney, for sharing your gift with the world.

2011: Year In Review

Here we are again. Another year older, another year wiser?

Well, another year older, anyway.

I'm sitting here, looking back on 2011. I can't believe it's coming to an end in a matter of days. New Year's Eve always makes me sad because another year has gone by. On the other hand, the brand new year is like a fresh start, a chance to make good on the things you said you'd do the year before but never got to.

Which leads me to the tried and true Resolutions portion of this post. Last year, I made a few resolutions:

1. Complete NaNo '10 first draft.
2. Finish revising NaNo '09 novel.
3. Read at least one book a month -- it's less than I read this year, but with school, who knows how much time I'll have.
4. Blog semi-regularly. At least twice a week!
5. Write every day -- even if it's only a hundred words scribbled in my journal!

So, how did I do? Well...I finished my NaNo '10 novel, but I didn't touch '09's. I had less time to read than I anticipated, especially in the summer, but I squeezed a few books in here and there. The last two are epic fails. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I've been more absent than here this year. I successfully completed the A-Z Blogfest, which was fun, but other than that, I posted sporadic updates. And I most definitely did NOT write every day. Nope That didn't happen.

But let's take a look at what DID happen (if only to make me feel better about myself):

1. I revised the novel from NaNo '10 - twice. AND shipped it off to beta readers. I'm really proud and excited about this. This particular novel has been stirring around in my brain for upwards of 5 years. I wrote a couple previous drafts and let them fall by the wayside because something just wasn't quite right. But I chose it for NaNo last year, changed the POV and pushed through it. And what I ended up with is the best thing I've ever written. I've seen what I can do and I can't wait to take what I've learned from this story and apply it to something new. Also, I'm excited to polish this one up and maybe dip my toes in the waters of submissions.
2. I completed 3 semesters of school and now I'm two classes short of my Associate's (finally). AND I'm holding down a 3.89 GPA. Not too shabby, right?
3. I decided what I'm going to school for. Once I finish up my Associate's, I'm getting my Bachelor's in Communications. God knows where I'll go from there, but at least I've got a general idea, right?
4. I conquered my fear of driving and am ready to finally get a gosh darn driver's license. I refuse to be a weirdo any longer!

These last ones aren't accomplishments, but they did help make 2011 a fantastic year:

5. I attended the best concert of my life and got to meet the most amazing singer ever:



6. Remember this post? Remember how I decided to wait and tried to satisfy my Techno Lust with the adorable pink netbook? Well, I have the most amazing significant other a girl could ever ask for. Dana surprised (and I mean SURPRISED) me with a MacBook Pro for Christmas. I'm still in utter disbelief. And I have to resist the urge to hug my new, shiny computer super tight and never let it go!

So, all things considered, 2011 was a pretty great year for me. For once, I'm definitely looking forward to the next year!

What about you? How did 2011 treat you? Do you have any resolutions?

NaNoFail & LeAnn Rimes

It's official, folks. NaNoWriMo wiped the floor with me this year. It's the 21st day and my word count sits steadily at about 3500. It SHOULD be just over 35k. I'd need a miracle to catch up now.

I think my problem was, I just wasn't excited about my idea this year. For the last two years, I couldn't wait till November first to start writing. I was so excited I couldn't stand it. My ideas, my characters, were screaming to be written. This year...I had a couple of ideas whispering for my attention, but none of them fought hard enough for my ear. So instead of one idea with a ton of energy and strong characters, I had half-developed characters and lackluster ideas.

That's not to say the ideas themselves are lackluster. Just that I didn't have them fully-developed enough to really dig in on November first.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm bummed. I really wanted to win for the third year in a row. I wanted that Shiny New Idea to mold and shape throughout next year.

Ah, well. I can brush up my current novel and get it all pretty and shiny instead.

Anyway, if any of you are friends with me on Facebook or Twitter, you've already heard (and heard and heard and heard) about this. If not, then you're hearing now.

This passed Wednesday, we attended the LeAnn Rimes concert I received tickets for on my birthday way back in June. Now, if you know anything about me, you know that LeAnn Rimes is my absolute favorite singer, ever. I've been a fan since I was 12. We've practically grown up together. I've seen her in concert twice before, but this time I had FRONT ROW SEATS! I've never been that close at any show, ever. So you can imagine my excitement, right?

Anyway, we got to the venue and there was a booth outside that the local radio station had set up. Enter to win a meet and greet, the sign said. I entered, of course. I knew I wouldn't win. I never win. So my hopes weren't up. Dana also entered and then we found our seats.

Just before the opening act came on, Dana's phone rang and she took off to answer it. Ten minutes and lots of confusion later, she came back to get me, saying that we had won the meet and greet.

I'm still in disbelief. I'd met LeAnn once before, back in '05, but I didn't think it'd happen this year. Standing in that line to meet her, I was just like a teenager waiting to meet the Backstreet Boys or a preteen meeting Bieber. I could NOT contain my excitement.

Sadly, I don't have my picture yet - I have to call the venue this morning to get it. But it doesn't matter. LeAnn was very sweet and gave me a hug. She told me happy birthday and then mentioned our meet on stage.

The show was amazing. I was fascinated by the fact that I could hear her boots clicking on the stage, I was that close. Like, six feet away from LeAnn for the whole show. I'm still in disbelief. I mean, really?







So, what about you? How's your NaNo coming? Is there a singer you'd go all Bieber-fangirl to meet?