The Internet is a Time-Suck

I don't know about you guys, but I have been feeling extremely overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the internet and what it has to offer lately. There is just so much information. And I find myself wanting to know it ALL. Obviously, I don't have the time to sit and read everything. I don't even have enough time to read much of anything, but still, I try.

Most of what I research and read is related to writing:  industry news, author blogs, agent and editor wishlists, AND tons and tons of information about the craft. There are tips for writing openings, tips for writing better romance, plot outlines, how to hook a reader, inspirational quotes to keep you motivated; the list goes on and on. The problem is trying to sift through what is helpful and when to decide that it's time to stop reading and put it to use.

It's easy to get caught up in the internet and forget why you opened the browser page in the first place. It's even easier to put off something extremely difficult by sticking around on said internet. That something difficult being writing.

It's gut-wrenching to open a Word document and stare at the white space. Watching the blinking cursor and hoping something beautiful might flow from your mind and through your fingertips. Most of what I write feels like junk. But what I'm finally coming to terms with is that it is okay to write junk. Because at least I'm writing. Plus, I have some of the most amazing and helpful writing friends. They aren't afraid to point out the things that need work or highlight the better parts.

Without the junk, I can't find the beauty in my words. Writing is rewriting. I've read and said those words before, but it seems they are just starting to sink in. Slowly.

This wasn't at all the post I had in mind for today, but I guess it's what my subconscious wanted to put out there. I do, however, want to leave you with two links (because that's how I started this post--wanting to share some of the random and informative).

The first is completely amazing, and completely random, information that everyone should know. It's about the mantis shrimp.

The second is a blog post by the amazing Jennifer L. Artmentrout. Yesterday, she posted about receiving 139 rejections before someone finally said yes to one of her books. If you guys don't know her, you should really check out her blog. Amazing doesn't quite cover it. She puts out an insane amount of books in a short amount of time, and the really unbelievable part is how good those books are. I asked her about her daily word count, and she said she averages about 3K a day. She also just sold a book that she had previously self-published in a three book, six figure deal to HarperCollins. Really, check her out if you don't already know about her. 139 no's before hearing 1 yes. That's determination. That's believing in yourself and your writing. 

He believes in your writing, too.

Ramblings

You know that time when you sucked at keeping up with your blog and intended to post but never really got around to it, and then you probably lost all of the very few readers you had? Yeah... That's where I'm at now. It's no one's fault but my own. Every bit of advice regarding social media out there tells you to pick one or two platforms that you're good at and stick with those. For some reason, I keep trying to prove this advice wrong and instead prove it right. But I will not give up! One day I will find a balance between updating this blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and you know...writing, parenting, school, and editing.

I may start to look a little like this:

But you guys (Is anyone there?) will still love me, right? I mean, I'll be on top of things by that time, so someone will still love me. Right? Right?

Okay, insane Jessica is taking a break. I want to share baby pictures because he's FINALLY here! I really felt like I had been pregnant for years by the end of it. And one more thing before the picture-sharing commences. Remember how I said being pregnant was creating some sort of mental block for my writing? Well, it's gone! I'm full swing back in it, and I had a wonderful, shiny idea surprise me shortly after returning home from our hospital stay. I'm having so much fun writing again. I'll share more soon. Trust me. I will because I'm having a hard time not talking about this work-in-progress all the time. :-) 

Okay, now for the cuteness.

So sweet! I have TONS more, but that's all for now. :)

October Magic

When I posted on my FB page that I was going to blog again last weekend, I really meant this weekend. At least, that's what I'm going with.

The end of the month is almost here, and I'm wondering if your October was as beautiful and magic-filled as you hoped it would be. Personally, there have been a few super stressful issues I could have gone without, but for the most, it's been really, really nice. October is my favorite month of the year for all the reasons you can probably guess and then a few more. The pumpkins, the changing weather, the colorful leaves falling all around, the excitement of costumes, and decorating with spooky, scary things--these are a few of the reasons why I love this month so much--it also brings about a sort of magic and hope. It's almost as if October is the month that begins a new year for me. All the old is swept away, and something new is coming. I can feel it in the crisp morning air when I step out onto the porch.

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The extra bonus is now that I have a toddler, I get to participate in little kid Halloween! The very best part of the holiday in my opinion. Carving pumpkins is new and exciting, and a costume is enough to put him in the very best of moods. Speaking of, I actually managed to make his costume this year. I'll post pictures soon because he's wearing it to a party today.

So anyway...the biggest news around here is my new editing position over at MuseItUp Publishing! Officially, I'm a line editor! I don't have the time to express my insane excitement about my new job this morning, but I promise I'm still jumping for joy more than a week after being offered the job. :)

Between the new position, the baby boy growing inside my belly, a super cute toddler who is currently running around in circles in his Halloween costume, the semester and my degree wrapping up, and this beautiful month, I have to say that things are pretty good right now. My husband is pretty awesome, too. Can't leave him out. Like I said before, some things are overly stressful at the moment, but with so many other things to be grateful for, I'm feeling thankful and content.

I wish it ran over with tea!

Hope you guys are enjoying life at the moment! I'll see you soon!

Cereal Killers and Serial Killers

Good Morning, lovelies,
I honestly cannot remember if I've already shared this story or not, but I'm going to tell it anyway because I just saw this picture...

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and it completely reminded me of it. When I was a little girl--maybe five or six--I was watching television with my parents, and the people on TV were discussing a serial killer. I had never heard this term before, but I didn't ask any questions. I sat on the floor, and my mind created what I imagined was a CEREAL killer. I didn't think of people devouring their breakfast cereal. Instead, I saw a giant red fruit loop that had sprouted arms and legs and was carrying a gun while stomping down the street shooting people. 

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This little guy had become a murdering machine in my mind as soon as I heard those words used together. Not long after, I asked my mom if a cereal killer was, in fact, a murderous red fruit loop, and she laughed and assured me this was not the case. I remember the feeling of disappointment when I learned the truth. A serial killer was much less interesting and far more horrifying than my cereal killer. Thinking back, I wonder how many other fictional truths I made up in my childhood. Creating and crafting the world into a more interesting place has always been in my genes apparently.

How are you guys? I'm having one of those days where I'm on the verge of getting sick, and I keep dropping or spilling everything. Little Dude started preschool a few weeks ago, and he's finally got the cold to prove he hangs with other little people on a regular basis. The bad news is that he won't be able to go back to school until he's better, and in the meantime, he's infecting me and J-D. My eyes are continuing to droop closed no matter how much caffeine I've had. It's going to be a napping sort of day for us. I've also got to finish revising my short story and get it to the publisher. I'm running really late on this, and I'm afraid she may hunt me down and strangle me soon. The anthology is set to be published in early December, and as soon as I know more, I'll share all of the details. I'll post the cover soon too! :-)

Have you ever misinterpreted a new term? What did your childhood brain invent over the years? I'd love to hear that I wasn't the only over-imaginitive child!

A Glimmer of Hope

My summer began with so many hopes and goals of the things that I would accomplish while I took a few months away from my masters' program, but when hormones and morning sickness took over my body, all of that was quickly squashed. I couldn't begin to make myself sit in front of the computer and opening a book was pure torture. Horrified, I forced two books down back to back hoping I could return to my former state of mind. I've been a reader all my life, and I can think of no other time when reading a good book was akin to pulling a splinter from my foot. 

But, it was no use. My brain was not in the right state of mind for fiction. There was no reading and there definitely wasn't any writing. I beat myself up about it and stopped opening Twitter where all of my friends were happily writing and reporting word counts. I let myself fade out of the writing community. 

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On a happier note, I have spent a lot more time focusing on my toddler who will soon give up his throne as an only child. We've spent every single day playing cars and trains and finding adventures to keep him busy. We also started a weekly play date routine with another mom and toddler that has been beneficial for both of us. Regular outings with friends are good for the soul (and promotes sharing among the two-year-olds!). 

Overall, it hasn't been a bad summer. How could it be when there is a new life growing inside of me? And when I think about it that way, I realize that maybe giving life to this new person took precedence in my brain over giving life to fictional characters. That statement alone makes me feel so, so much better. 

But there is another small glimmer of hope. I read a book last week because I wanted to, and with that book, my spirit lifted just a little. And then, a character danced her way into the forefront of my mind and has not stopped telling me about her life yet. Every morning when I wake up, she is there talking and telling me of the things that happened to her. She's there every time I left my mind drift from the task at hand, and I can't ignore her any longer. Let's be honest, I don't want to ignore her. Today when the house is quiet and I have a few minutes of alone time, I will open a notebook, and I will begin to write a new story. I'm finally beginning to feel like myself again, and it's awesome!

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Cover Reveal!

Once in a while I get to do something really fun on my blog, and it just so happens that today is one of those days. Are you wondering what it is? Are you on the edge of your seat with excitement yet?

Well, here it is...

I get to reveal the cover of Anne Riley's book SHADOWS OF THE HIDDEN set to be published in December by Compass Press!

Don't you love the title? It sounds so mysterious and awesome and guess what? It is! I just finished reading it, and I loved it! Also, I love Anne. If you aren't familiar with her, let me just tell you...she's one of my favorite people! She's not only snarky and full of funny, random things to say, but she's also the genius founder behind the Magic City Literati--which I also love. I'm apparently full of love today.

First, let me send you here to find out more about my friend and the talented author of SHADOWS OF THE HIDDEN! Also, I encourage everyone to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, and especially Twitter (there you just might get a glimpse of the funny!) The links for all of these can be found on her website.

The Lady Anne

Now, I'm sure you're all real tired of my chattering at this point, so I'm going to zip my lips and let the book description speak for itself before I show you the gorgeous cover.

Natalie Watson doesn't believe her parents are dead, even though they disappeared five years ago. Discovering the truth about their fate is one of the only things that gets her out of bed in the morning. But after moving from her home in Georgia to her aunt's boarding school in Maine, solving the mystery of her parents' whereabouts is just one of several challenges she must face. When she's not fending off attacks from the popular kids, she puzzles over the rumors about a strange boy in her math class--one with fiery red hair who rarely speaks.

Despite suspicions that he murdered his sister a year earlier, Natalie finds it impossible to stay away from Liam Abernathy--especially when he confesses to knowing something about her parents. Soon she's following him into the forest, where things happen she doesn't understand...things that shouldn't be possible. 

Natalie soon realizes her connection to Liam is deeper than she ever imagined, and not everyone she counts as a friend can be trusted. When she finds herself at the center of a centuries-old quest for immortality, she must work with Liam to stay alive--even if it means facing a truth about herself and her family that will not only shake her perception of herself, but of the entire world around her.

Amazing, right?

I hope you'll all put this on your To Be Read list because it's definitely worth it! Check out more about the book, other upcoming projects, and Anne herself at www.annerileybooks.com!

The Ghost Cow

Today I want to share a funny little phenomenon that's been going on in our house for quite some time. Let me start by asking you this- do you believe in ghosts? It's a tough question if you ask me. It's definitely something that brings up a lot of other questions. For example, if there are ghosts, why are they here and what are they doing? But I bet I have a question that doesn't immediately jump into your brain at the mention of ghosts. Can there be ghosts of animals wandering around too? Maybe some of you have already pondered this, but I can honestly say I never once thought of the possibility. That is until one entered our lives...and our house.

Introducing the...

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GHOST COW!!

I'm sure some of you who've known me for a while are thinking Jessica has always loved cows. And I'm positive all of you guys are thinking I've lost my mind. I can promise you that this wasn't my idea or my vision (is that what you call it when you see a ghost?). Anyway, the Toddler Man came up with this all on his own. It began not long after he started talking. He has always loved animals, and he picked up on the names of them pretty quickly. Cows interested him from the beginning. He loves the sound they make, and he's always fast to point them out if he sees any. 

One day he pointed to the room connected to my bedroom and said, "Cow!" I looked into the room we were using as an office/catch-all and didn't see any stuffed cows or anything else resembling a cow. 

"Where? Where's a cow?" I asked him. 

Again, he pointed to the room and proudly shouted, "Cow!"

Confusion. A cow? In the office? He was clearly making this up. Or maybe something looked like a cow. I looked around the room again and still found nothing. The next step was to just distract him from the supposed cow and move on, but a few days later, he was back to talking about the cow in the back room. It's been months and months of him talking about the cow. I wish now that I had documented the date of that first cow experience. He's much better at talking now, and he regularly tells me about the cow which wanders from the back room to the porch according to my toddler.

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 J-D and I named our cow friend the ghost cow, and he's been a topic of laughter in our house for a while. But then a few days ago, Toddler Man pointed to the hallway and said there was another cow! Can you imagine our house having not one but two ghost cows? I've started to wonder if this neighborhood used to be a cow pasture. That sounds crazy, but maybe kids can see ghosts, and maybe we do have cows wandering around. I have no idea. Maybe ghosts are real and maybe they're not. I'm just glad that our supposed ghosts are cows and not people.

Do you have any ghost stories? I'd love to hear them especially if they involve a kid seeing a ghost.