To Be Continued

So, I have cool things happening around here...that I can't really chat about yet. Cruel, I know, right?! And I reached 4,000+ tweets this week on Twitter, which tells me I talk too much. All of this has led me to the conclusion that next week I must do a big giveaway! I'll post a few details on Friday and then have the Giveaway start on Monday. I haven't yet figured out what will be going on, so I must go brain storm now. One thing I will tell you though...people will win (yes, multiple people) and sweet bookly-stuff will be given away.

Are you ready? :-)

Walking Away

As a writer, one thing we must learn to do, is move on from one project to another. Sometimes, it is liberating. Sometimes it is excruciating. Spending that much time on one set of characters, in one world, can be difficult to let go of.

We have to do this in every day life too. We must let go of places, hobbies, jobs, even occasionally people. Have you found ways to make it easier? How do you transition from one situation/project to another? Do you find change painful or exciting?

Happy Monday!

The Fire

Sometime in the last two days, someone started a fire in my throat. I don't know how, I feel like I would've noticed it. Because... OUCH!!!

For some reason, a line from the movie, CLUE, keeps running through my mind:

Mrs. White: "It-it- the f-it-flam-flames. Flames, on the side of my face, breathing-breathl- heaving breaths. Heaving breaths - heathing..."

So, yeah...that's what I'm doing. What are you up to this week?

The Hunger Games Movie Review

I'll start with the movie summary. I'm sure most of you've read the book, but just in case you haven't:

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her younger sister's place to enter the games, and is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy when she's pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives. If she's ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Let me say up front, that I did not see this movie under optimum conditions. There was a ridiculously loud vibrating noise coming from the other side of the wall behind the movie screen. After twenty minutes of straining to hear, several people in the theater went to complain, they told us what it was. There was a jackhammer being used outside...yes, a jackhammer. Seriously.

So I watched the movie I've been so excited to see under these circumstances...

And it was still epic.

The cast was incredible. When I saw the first scene with Liam Hemsworth (Gale) I leaned over and whispered to my sister, "Peeta better be incredible." And he was. Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) comes to life as soon as he's picked as tribute. His personality fits the character like a glove. He won me over before they even reached the Capital. Woody Harrelson (Haymitch) stumbled perfectly through his role and Lenny Kravitz (Cinna)'s performance was poignant and beautiful.

Even with all these stellar actors, they all paled in comparison to Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. She was everything I pictured in my head. Her facial expressions conveyed so much emotion, it was like seeing her thoughts. Loved her. Just incredible.

This is the first time in memory that a movie based on a book I loved inspired the same strength of feelings as the book itself. It is easily the best movie I've seen in a long time, and a strong candidate for my list of all-time favorites.

See it. That is all.

So Freakin' Excited!

I'm going to see The Hunger Games Movie today. I've been excited about this since I saw the first trailer last year. I am so pumped that I pretty much can't think about anything else...so...

I decided to take a poll:

~ How many of you have seen it already?
~ How many plan to see it this first weekend?
~ If so, did you love it so much you wanted to take it home with you? Why or why not?
~ If you're not seeing it this weekend, why not? Have you sworn off cool things? Didn't like the book? *gasp* Have better plans? Do tell.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Being Scared - Part 5

Thanks to everyone who left insomnia suggestions on Monday. I'm doing much better now. A couple of things you mentioned helped. You guys are geniuses! :)

Many of my author friends have been struggling lately. With so many things to do, sometimes it is hard to prioritize and easy to feel overwhelmed.

It started me thinking, if there is one thing that every writer has to learn to do, it's multitask. We have to be many-handed, multiple hat-wearing wizards. We must learn to write, edit, revise, plot, outline, tweet, blog, e-mail, phone, etc. etc...sometimes all at the same time. It's also nice to occasionally have lives outside of our writing careers, not always an attainable goal...but nice.

Here is something important to remember. It isn't possible to do it all, at least not all the time. No matter how hard you try, you can't. It doesn't make you a bad person or a failure, it makes you human and to be honest...robots don't tell good stories.

Don't believe me? Ask Siri to tell you an original bedtime story.

Focus on the things that matter to your goals, do those, and work on the other stuff when you have time in between.

And one more thing, cut yourself some slack. We do hard and scary things all the time. Missing one blog post every once in a while isn't worth dragging yourself over the coals. Give yourself a break here and there, getting to your goals will be much more rewarding if you don't burn yourself out on the way.

And It's Monday

I've had some serious sleeping issues lately. My brain feels a little fried, and I honestly can't think of a thing to write about. So, instead, I'm going to ask you guys a question. Anyone have any suggestions to help with insomnia?

Yes, I recognize the irony.

Happy Monday! *yawn*