jenniferbrown09

First Line Friday: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

2009-11-20T16:59:09Z

Today wraps up Where Do You Get Your Ideas week, and one thing I've learned for realz is how hard it is to BLOG. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Props to my blogging friends who manage to update every day or even twice a day. I don't know how you do it, but now I'm doubly impressed by you.

I've also learned that I never find typos until I've posted my blog EVERYWHERE in cyberspace. *thunks forehead on desk*

Anyway, so today is all about first lines and using them to inspire a piece of writing. I, personally, love first line prompts!

Here's a little known fact. The very first piece of writing I ever submitted to a magazine was a first line prompt contest entry for Writer's Journal magazine (Write to Win!). I can't even remember now what the prompt was (something about hearing voices). I sent in a short story about a girl hearing her dead grandmother's voice. Turned out, I got an honorable mention in that contest, and that was all I needed to push me to continue writing. Cool, huh?

Since, I've used first line prompts to create several short stories that have either been published or have placed in contests. First lines rock, baby!!!

But it's not always about someone else giving me a first line to work with. Sometimes the first line of a story will just appear in my head. Just one sentence, and it sticks there in my brain. And sometimes that first line is just intriguing enough for me to want to pursue a whole story.

For example, here's a first line that popped into my head one day, and it was enough for me to pursue the story:

The day my dad won the mayoral race, Benjy took me to the abortion clinic.

Another first line that started a short story:

I blame it all on Otis Spunkmeyer.

The first line that got me really rolling on my next YA novel was this:

Dad always said Mom was crazier than goosehouse shit.

Something about that line makes me laugh, and tells me so much about the main character it's not even funny, but alas, that sentence got moved farther down in the chapter and now the first line is:

The worst part about selling soup is the napkins.

Which is not a bad first line, either.

Anyway, you get the point. You get to know a lot about your character in a tasty first line. You also get a hint at some tension or a problem. And you want to know the next line. And the one after that. And what's best about a story being inspired by an intriguing first line is that the first line is, by definition, almost always an interesting one, which is super important in drawing the reader in.

This is one of my favorite ways for a story to come to me (which is why, incidentally, I saved it for last, even though it would have been infinitely easier to have Formula Friday and I wouldn't have had to get my thesaurus out yesterday. But then... I never would've used the word "theorem" yesterday and been all impressed with myself). And, yes, I did say "come to me," because a part of me feels like an innocent bystander in the case of first line inspiration. But I know they're out there and I keep my net ready to catch a good one when it floats by.

I love when I open my net to find all these colorful sentences quivering inside... and I can't help but wonder which ones of them will make great stories.

Theorem Thursday: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

2009-11-19T19:09:28Z

First, let me say how freaking proud I am of myself for using the word "theorem" in my blog title. I haven't used that word since 10th grade geometry class. Go, me!

But on to today's inspiration.

When I first started writing, I found it terribly difficult to come up with ideas of what to write about. I'm not a particularly creative person. I don't have story ideas just popping into my head all the time like some writers do. I needed a formula.

At the time, I was reading Stephen King's ON WRITING (probably one of my top 3 favorite writing resource books, by the way), where he talks about the question "What if?" as being key to creating story ideas. Great advice, but I still had trouble translating it into real practice. How do you ask "What if?" if you don't even have someplace to start?

We're told all the time to "write what you know." Well, I've always rejected that notion. If I only wrote what I knew, you guys'd get real sick of stories on how to get stains out of shirts and what I'm cooking for dinner tonight. Instead, I've always thought you should write what you want to know, but start with what you know.

So I sat down, combined writing what you know with Stephen King's What If, and figured up a formula that I could use to pound out a story idea when desperate. It goes like this:

What I know + What I Wonder + And Then What = Story

In other words, I start with what I know. Add Stephen King's all-important What If. And keep adding those What Ifs until I can't answer the question anymore.

For HATE LIST, it would look something like this.

School shootings happen (What I know) + What would happen if someone stopped the shooting in progress? (What I wonder) + What if the person who stopped the shooting was in love with the shooter? (And Then What) + What if she saved the life of an enemy? (And Then What) + What if she and the former enemy worked together to make a change for healing in their school (And Then What) = HATE LIST!

Probably the genre I most often use my formula with, however, is humor writing. Almost every week the column I've written is the direct result of sitting down and braining out what I know and adding a bunch of what ifs and then whats.

For example, once I wrote a column about ordering coffee at Starbucks (a task I am, embarrassingly, unable to accomplish). A pretty narrow "idea," right? So what do you say? "I can't order coffee at Starbucks because I'm lame and can't figure out what all the fancy terms and words mean. The end." No, that won't work. But I can use the formula on it.

I'm a lamewad when it comes to ordering coffee at Starbucks (What I Know) + Once I stood in the middle of a Starbucks and closed my eyes and listened. I heard the sound of two chimps mating. And Chewbacca ordered a latte. (What I Wonder) + I ordered a plain cup of coffee and the manager had to fly in three therapists from Costa Rica to help the barista with her Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (And Then What) + After five years of Spanish, I can, ironically, order coffee in Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, and Brazil, but not in Liberty (And Then What) = Column

If it helps to switch those What I Wonder and And Then Whats around to questions, the formula might look like this:

I'm a lamewad when it comes to ordering coffee at Starbucks (What I Know) + What would happen if I just closed my eyes and listened to other, in-the-know customers order? (What I Wonder) + I wonder what would happen if I just ordered a cup of coffee? (And Then What) + I wonder how many other places exist where I could successfully order coffee? (And Then What) = Column

When you pose your What I Wonder questions, understand that if you're writing humor, your answers to those questions are your punchlines (the place for exaggeration and silliness). If you're writing fiction, the answers to What I Wonder questions will be... your plot.

I know formulas aren't very romantic and certainly don't scream creative abandon. They're not nearly as mystical as a single word (Montana) creating a story. Not nearly as poetic as a trigger song ("If Everyone Cared") or poem inspiring a long piece of work. Not as fun as writers groups. But, believe me, the formula works when you're fresh out of mystical, poetic, and fun. I have three years' worth of columns to prove it!

Now go out there and get all theoremy on someone's ass!

Writers Group Wednesday: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

2009-11-18T15:58:28Z

Although I've belonged to several writing groups over the years, both online and in person, I actually have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, I think it's very difficult to find a group of "writers" who are all equally excited about writing, while at the same time not being smug and self-important... but on the other hand, I've gotten some really good story ideas through my writers groups.

For example, my sole surviving online writers group (five ladies from literally around the globe, writing together for... wow, I guess about 9 years now) recently issued a challenge to take on a particular member's story idea, in whatever form is most comfortable to us (short story, chapter of a novel, etc.) and send it around to one another for inspiration and comment. Cool! Writing practice!

Another online writers group I once belonged to included a Monday check-in every week. One of my Monday check-in posts was actually the roots of the essay that won me the first Erma Bombeck award.

My live writers group (which dissolved several months ago when three key members decided to take major non-writing paths in their lives) used to hold Saturday Slams, where we filled a bowl with slips of paper, each of which containing a writing suggestion. We'd sit around the table, pull out a random slip, write for 10 minutes, read aloud for 5 mintues, and do it all again, over and over for two hours. These were my favorite of all our meetings, because I always came away with several beginnings or promising ideas I felt I could use in a future story.

For example, the writing suggestion, "Love Is," at one of those slams, inspired THIS BLOG.

And another suggestion -- "Write about an umbrella" -- turned up the beginning of the novel I'm currently working on (a grown-up novel, by the way):

Of all days to forget my umbrella, today wins the award for Worst by a Gazillion Miles.

For starters, it was the first day in about six months that it didn’t just look like it was going to rain, but went ahead and did it. The weathermen were probably all out popping corks at Bucky’s because they were all, for a change, right about the rain. Although I guess it stands to reason that if you predict rain every day for long enough eventually you’ll be right. Of course, that would be true if you predicted bowling balls, too. If you stood on a street corner every day for like, your whole life, saying “The bowling balls are coming today,” somewhere someone would drop a load of bowling balls off a truck and somewhere nearby would be a weatherman saying, “See? It’s all about the science.”

Anyway, so it was raining, which made the walk from my apartment front door to my office front door thirteen blocks away something like a fully-clothed shower, which would normally suck in and of itself, but today…it was Suck times a thousand. Like having your annual viewed by a class of interns kind of suck. Like one of those interns being your cousin Jerry. That kind of suck.

Not that it surprised me to have a cousin-Jerry-in-the-nether-regions sort of Suck day, because that’s about all I’d had ever since I lost my Elvis bracelet.

Yeah, I know. I’m not really all about The King, either. But I had this bracelet that I found at a garage sale on my first trip back home for like, 50¢. I bought it because it had this really cool retro telephone charm on it and because it jangled when I moved my arm. Then I found out that the bracelet was worth way more than 50¢ the very same day I got the job at Fager Studios and next thing you know my 50¢ charm bracelet became my good luck charm.

I don’t know when or where I might have lost it. After searching two solid days for it, I determined that the clasp must have fallen off while I was out. I gave up, which really stunk. No bracelet = No good luck = No umbrella.

Right. The umbrella. I forgot it...

So despite my occasional misgivings about writers groups in general, I'm going to give them props for being a source of inspiration for me.

Trigger Tuesday: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

2009-11-17T17:01:05Z

It's Day Two of Where Do You Get Your Ideas week, and I'm really excited about this one, because I get to talk about Hate List and am even going to post a little snippet of a chapter for you.

In some ways, this idea-generating method is very similar to the Montana Monday method I described yesterday, where a single name created such a strong a character in my head, the character actually created the story.

But where Trigger Tuesday is different is that I'm using the story in a poetic piece of writing to trigger a story of my own.

The first two sentences in Hate List are the following:

"We'll show the world they were wrong

And teach them all to sing along."

You may, of course, recognize that as the Nickelback song, "If Everyone Cared." And you may have heard me say before that in many ways that song was the inspiration behind Hate List.

Well, I don't know if it was so much "inspiration" as it was "trigger," in that the story told in the song triggered a story in my head. I could almost "see" the young lovers in this song as I listened to it, and was overcome with such a strong image of who they were and what they wanted, I simply had to write it down. What resulted was a story of two outcast kids who, when alone, wanted the world to be different. Kids who, at their heart, were glad to be alive and hopeful to make changes.

First, read the lyrics of "If Everyone Cared" here. As you read the lyrics, try to envision the story in your head. See the two lovers staring at the stars. Feel their pain. Their desire. Their feeling of invincibility. It's not just a song; it's a story. Or at least the beginning of one.

You can actually "see" the scene that the song evoked in my mind in Hate List. Check out the following snippet:

Nick reached out and grabbed my hand, leading me to the field behind my house. We found a clearing and sprawled on our backs in the grass, looking at the stars, talking about... anything, everything.

"You know why we get along so well, Val?" he asked after a whille. "Because we think just alike. It's like we have the same brain. It's cool."

I stretched, wrapping my leg around his. "Totally," I said. "Screw our parents. Screw their stupid fights. Screw everybody. Who gives a shit about them?"

...He turned to face me, propping himself up on an elbow. "it's good that we have each other," he said. "It's like, you know, even if the whole world hates you, you still have someone to rely on. Just the two of you against the whole world. Just us."

At the time, my thoughts had been so consumed with Mom and Dad and their incessant arguing, I'd just assumed we were talking about them. Nick knew exactly what I was going through -- he called his stepdad Charles his "Step du Jour" and talked about his mom's ever-changing love life as if it were some big joke. I'd had no idea he might have meant us against... everyone. "Yeah. Just us," I'd answered. "Just us."

It's not terribly unusual for a writer to use a piece of poetry or a song lyric or other piece of writing to trigger a story all their own. Poetic pieces are so full of imagery, it's almost easy to see the scene set, and very tempting to "finish" the story as you see it playing out.

Think of the songs or poems that most move you. The songs that tease up that little lump in your throat, bring tears to your eyes, make you think about things deep and feeling. Probably there's a story in that song for you. Probably you should tell it.

Montana Monday: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

2009-11-16T17:07:03Z

I don't know about all writers, but I would guess a fair share of us get this question every once in a while (try every single time someone finds out we write):

Where do you get your ideas?

And I would guess we all answer that question differently, because it makes sense to me that the creative process is just a tiny bit different from writer to writer, and maybe (as is the case for me) from project to project. Sometimes the ideas just come to us; sometimes we have to search them out. Sometimes they come to us in bits and pieces, needing a little glue. Others, they just pop up whole.

So I thought it'd be fun to give some insight into how my creative process works. Show you a few techniques on how I got some story ideas, which is why I'm declaring this week Where Do You Get Your Ideas week. Today is Montana Monday, where I'll show how sometimes one word will kick off an idea for me.

I was leading a workshop for teens a few weeks ago, and in my group of 8th graders, a couple of the girls mentioned another girl by name: Montana.

"Is that your name?" I asked, the class coming to a screeching halt.

She nodded.

"What a beautiful name," I said.

"Thanks," she said, blushing and kind of sinking down into her chair, which was my cue to leave the poor girl alone and move on with teaching the class how to do character sketches.

But before getting back on topic, I quickly blurted out, "I'm totally going to steal your name." And then I moved on.

And I came home and wrote this:

We always thought Montana's parents were too dumb to understand the irony of their daughter's name. Figured they fell in love on a mountain or something and when their bouncing baby girl arrived, it just sounded good to name her after romance. Cute, even. So I figured they named her something big and foreboding out of ignorance.

Everybody knew she was born weeks early, coming fast and determined, all two and a half pounds of her, in the very back acre of the family pumpkin farm where her mom had been filling the back of a tractor with pie pumpkins. Screamed into the world all wrapped up in vines, taking her throne as Queen of Halloween. Or at least that's how I imagined it. I wasn't there. Obviously.

Two and a half pounds. Seemed like at her size, Montana should've been named something smaller and more fragile. Like Lacey or Sprite or Pebbles. But, nope. They gave her a giant of a name.

Montana was no mountain. But she was earthy and dark-eyed. Like someone who should wear corduroys and fibrous sweaters year-round. Like someone who could tell a bird by its song or a tree by its bark or a city girl by the way she squealed when stepping in a cowpie. A girl who ate biscuits with gravy on them instead of salads with dressing on the side. A girl who liked the smell of dirt and the feel of snow on her cheeks. A girl who knew how quiet it gets at night in the country, and who liked it when the silence was occasionally broken by the shrill screams of an animal meeting a predator somewhere out in the fields.

It never occurred to us that her parents were well-aware of the irony of their tiny daughter's name. That they knew, just by looking at her red, screaming baby face, smeared with pumpkin seeds and dirt, that she was going to be a mountain of a girl. A wall of granite. Hard. Dark. Immovable.

But after she did what she did... and after their reaction... it was clear. They knew exactly who Montana was from the day she was born.

It's rough, for sure, but it feels like a beginning to me. Where would the story go from here? Well, it about could go anywhere. She could win an Olympic medal in weightlifting or go on a killing spree. She could lead a campaign for human rights in a foreign country or become the toughest judge in the county.

The important part was getting off the starting block. And all it took was a name that stood out to me in a Saturday morning workshop. This name came with a character attached, and the story will follow her. Sometimes that's all it takes to get a story started: a single word. I just had to be tuned in enough to recognize that word and go with it.

And no matter what I have this poor girl do in the story she'll eventually end up in... I still think her name's beautiful!

Do You Need to Go to College to Be a Writer? Well, No, But...

2009-11-13T17:58:24Z

It never fails. Every time I talk to a group of teens, I get asked if I went to college to be a writer. And when I tell them, no, my major was Psychology and I only took the minimum required amount of English classes, they follow up with, "Well, then, do you need to go to college at all to be a writer?"

Ah, how do I answer that question? Personally, I feel that most if not all of my writing skills are skills that I had mastered by the time I left high school. Some of them I had probably mastered in elementary school. Most I had mastered by being a constant reader throughout my entire life. And, yes, some are just... there.

But if I'm being honest, there are also non-writing skills I learned in college that come in very handy in a writing career. For example, research skills. And organizational skills. And the ability to finish long projects. Responsibility. And maturity. Just happened that several of my college courses, especially toward my senior year, were Independent Study courses, which basically means you create your course and are pretty much on your own throughout the entire semester. This taught me a lot about time management and scheduling. It also taught me how to find answers myself and how to know when to seek help from someone else who has the answers I need when I can't find them.

Not to mention there's the confidence gained in college, and self-reliance -- both important when it comes to being an introvert stuck in a career that requires much extroversion -- and also the opportunity to have your work critiqued, sometimes harshly. And then there are the books read in college -- the great literature in addition to other textbooks which give you a working knowledge in a broad range of subjects. Who knows when you might want to write a book that makes references to, say... Calculus? (don't say never; it might happen)

So, yes, college is useful to a writer... even if you're not majoring in writing.

But what if you didn't go to college? Or what if, like me, you went to college, but you majored in something other than English?

It's true, when you step into the writing world, you feel a bit behind the curve. There's so much to learn! So many tricks of the trade and written and unwritten rules about submitting and publishing and writing for various genre (genres? This is a sheep/sheeps thing. I never know what the plural should be), you feel like you'll never catch up. I get a lot of emails from adults who want to write, but don't know where to begin. And it's made even tougher by the fact that, while you're learning, you're not getting paid a penny.

When I first began trying to figure out this writing thing, I whined to The Hub about the fact that all I was ever getting was rejections and that it'd been months (years?) since I'd gotten a paycheck, and surely this was insanity, working so diligently with no monetary reward.

"I have a degree, for goodness sake," I'd say. "I should be out there earning money."

That's when The Hub gave me some of the best writing advice I've ever gotten:

"You're not in the job market yet," he said, "because you're still in school. Consider this your graduate program. You're not earning credits, but the knowledge you're gaining now will result in you getting a career in writing just the same."

He was right.

I started studying writing as if I were in a college course. I read (and examined closely) literature. I read more books on how-to write, how-to submit, how-to prepare a manuscript than I can count. I took online courses and asked questions. I wrote and submitted and learned from rejections. I went to conferences and workshops and picked up ideas.

I went to school.

So my best advice to teens who want to be writers is... yes, you should go to college and learn the things that writers need to know, even if it's not, technically, writing. And to adults who want to be writers but didn't study writing in college... create your own graduate class. Go after it doggedly. Treat it like you're being graded.

In a way, you are: Pass or Fail. You either break in or you don't.

Now, go study!

The Calm After the Storm

2009-09-08T16:04:05Z

Last week was a week like none other I'd ever experienced. I knew it would be wild, and tons of work, but I really had no idea the brand of crazy it was going to be. Good crazy, but crazy just the same.

I thought surely by the end of the week I'd be one giant ulcer, unable to put a full sentence together my hair white and fingernails chewed with worry. So it began to feel like the Best Idea Ever to just... get away. So I did.

I unplugged. Packed a couple pairs of shorts and a swimsuit in a backpack. Grabbed the Hub, the kids, the tents, and the bug spray, and headed south to Noel, Missouri. The laptop stayed home. The cell phone stayed off. I didn't check my Facebook, didn't update my status, didn't obsessively check my Amazon sales rank, didn't tweet once.

I did a lot of looking into a fire contemplatively. Riding in a car silently (came up with a new story idea that I'm dying to pursue!). Laughing with friends. Paddling a raft down the Elk River. Swimming with the tadpoles and crawfish and, yes, even the leeches in said river.

My friends seemed to sense that I needed a break from it all. We only had one (very short) conversation about the book. We didn't talk projects or signings or writing at all.

Gah, it was wonderful!

And now I'm back, and I'm totally recharged. I'm dying to get some fiction-writing in. I'm motivated to work on promoting Hate List some more. I'm psyched for a some workshops I'm leading this weekend.

Sometimes the calm after the storm is all you need to be ready to face the whipping wind and the pelting rain and the thunder and lightning when it comes back again. Bring it on, baby!

My Very First Book Signing!!!

2009-09-03T16:46:31Z

Last night was my very first book signing, and it was such fun! The crowd snaked through KC indie, Rainy Day Books, and out the door onto the sidewalk! We ran out of books, and thank goodness once again for the Debs, who taught me to always bring extra books to a signing. I'd brought all of my author copies, and had Hub running out to the van to bring them in so we didn't have to turn anyone away.

My family made a great showing, as did the ladies from Mom2MomKC.com, and even some neighbors drove all the way from the Northland, caravan-style, to support me (Northland neighbors, you get extra love for making the trip!).

A couple people brought gifts, and my agent sent flowers, but the best gift of all was just seeing my book in a bookstore and knowing that it's all REAL!

Here are some photos:

Signing my very first book at my very first book signing...

My first customer was a Mom2Mom friend. How cool is that?!

With my long-time writer friend and winner of the 2009 Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award (fiction), Nancy Pistorius

The crowd was awesome! And, of course, the family made a great showing! Thanks, Mom! Thanks, Dad!

I can't wait to do this again!

Lookit! Lookit! LookawhatIgot!

2009-09-02T16:46:53Z

Hub brought me a shiny new present:

Everybody knows that any present that comes in a Mickey Mouse tubey boxy thingy is gonna be good.

So I opened the box and

*GASP!!!* It's a pen! A shiny, bee-yoo-ti-shush faboo BOOK SIGNING PEN! And just in time for my very first book signing!!!

*strokes the top of Hub's head*

Good Hub. Such a good Hub.

Hate List: The Playlist

2009-08-31T22:34:40Z

One question I've been asked a lot is what songs I would include on a HATE LIST playlist. The truth is, music and creativity are so intertwined in me, there really was a "soundtrack" of HATE LIST going through my mind during the writing process, and even beyond. Below is the unofficial soundtrack of HATE LIST, and the songs that inspired the story, kept me writing, and even reminded me of the story after it was written.

Create a playlist at MixPod.com

1) "If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback -- This was the song that inspired HATE LIST, with the simple lyric, "Amen, I... I'm alive."

2) "Love Story" by Taylor Swift -- For the obvious references to Romeo and Juliet, which is how I saw Valerie and Nick from the beginning.

3) "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult -- Even though my first thought is "cowbell," my second is that it helped bring Nick's thoughts clearer to me... and also that I grew up loving this song.

4) "World Full of Hate" by Dropkick Murphies -- Mainly because I just love the song. And do "corrected mistakes in a world full of hate" really change anything? Hmmm (I think so!)...

5) "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley -- Ran through my head on a loop while writing the hospital and therapy scenes.

6) "I Am a Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel -- Come on, just read the lyrics. That's Val, through and through. ...Or is it?

7) "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day -- Ahhh, I love Green Day, and it was, admittedly, a very tight race between this song and "Jesus of Suburbia" for the playlist.

8) "If I Ever Leave this World Alive" by Flogging Molly -- Because Nick and Val were Flogging Molly fans!

9) "Untitled" by Simple Plan -- Because Teen Goddess, after reading HATE LIST, declared this Valerie's theme song.

10) "Haunted" by Kelly Clarkson -- Lyrics so perfectly suited to HATE LIST it almost freaks me out a little.

11) "Let it Be" by The Beatles -- Because... well... the part about "broken-hearted people"... isn't that sort of what it's all about?

The Question Nobody Asks.

2009-08-27T20:46:54Z

Blog originally posted at www.JenniferBrownYA.com

Today I spent the bulk of my day filling out blog interviews. I don't know how many I filled out (roughly, I'd say... a LOT), and some with some really fun questions (my favorite: "Legs or Pudding?") and some really tough questions ("Why do school shootings happen?").

But it occurred to me that there's one question I was never asked.

"Did you keep a hate list in high school?"

Did I keep a hate list in high school? You know, a place where I wrote down the names of all the people who were cruel to me and the injustices that I faced and the irks that got under my skin and my pet peeves and homework I hated and... and...

Well? Did I?

No. I didn't.

But I probably could have. I was bullied. I was often on the fringe. I was tripped in the hallways and then laughed at when I fell. I was called names and ridiculed publicly (once, even in front of my family, at the mall). I had nasty things written about me on stairwell walls and on the backs of the bus seats. I was a target.

But I never had a hate list.

And sometimes even I wonder why I didn't have one. I wonder what makes the difference between someone who just keeps plodding through, hoping each day that the day will be uneventful, and being glad the day's over when they get home at night... and someone who just... snaps.

I have no answer for that.

But I know one thing. If I were to create a hate list now... there would be only one item on it:

HATE.

Love List Tuesday! Week Nine!

2009-08-25T16:10:52Z

***NOTE: Only comments posted on www.JenniferBrownYA.com are eligible for entry into this contest!

Yesterday started me off on what I would initally call a bad week, but now am just seeing it as a "behind" week. A "speedbump" week. I spent the morning trapped in my local WalMart, locked down due to a possible shooter in the parking lot. Made for a day of deep introspection, which, while it may have made me spend the rest of the week merely catching up, really helped give me direction for this week's Love List Tuesday.

By the way, this is the last week for the regular Grab Bags O' Love. Next week, September 1st, HATE LIST will be released, and Love List Tuesday will be part of my Virtual Launch Party (details later, I promise)... the entries will be open for the entire month of September... and the Grand Prize Grab Bag will include things that I love, including an autographed copy of HATE LIST!

Don't worry if you haven't played along with us every Tuesday -- you can still enter to win the Grand Prize Grab Bag. But if you've happened to play along every Tuesday for all ten weeks... you get TWO extra entries! Awesome!!!

Review the Love List Tuesday Rules by clicking HERE.

Let's get Lovin'!

JB's Love List:

(These are the things I was thinking about while waiting and wondering if everything would turn out okay)

1. My husband, Scott, who is amazing and kind and generous and smart, and who came home during lunch hour yesterday just to "look at" me and make sure I was "really here."

2. My daughter, Teen Goddess, who makes me laugh and always has my back.

3. My son, Speed Demon, who is a far better son than I deserve, and whose kindness runs so deep it certainly had to take more than one lifetime to achieve.

4. My son, The Destroyer, who is my mini-me.

5. My mom, Bonnie, who is tougher than she knows.

6. My dad, Thomas, who cheers me on unrelentlessly.

7. My brother, Steve, who inspires me with laughter and who I still, all these years later, look up to.

8. My sister, Lynn, who has more talent than she'll ever know what to do with.

9. My friends, who don't let me throw myself pity parties for too long, but who are always the first guests to arrive with hugs and prayers and jokes when I do throw them.

10. My uncle, Ed, may he rest in peace.

Okay, it's your turn! Who or what are you loving this week?! Love. Post. Win.

Confession of a Booknerd. So?

2009-08-12T14:40:16Z

I don't know why I suddenly and randomly start thinking about things like this, but sometimes I just do. Maybe it's because I stayed up late last night to see the Perseid meteor shower (And you know what I saw? You know what I saw? You know what? You know what? ...Neither do I. What? I'm a writer, not an astrologist.) and my usually very thin thought-filter is sleeping it off and unavailable at the moment. Whatever. That has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm blogging about.

So I was thinking I'm probably the definition of Booknerd. And always have been. And I totally identify with it and think it's cool. So just in case you feel all booknerdy and your booknerdiness, for some strange reason, makes you feel bad about yourself (It shouldn't; constant readers are smart.), I'm going to offer up a confession of my own booknerdiness, in hopes that you will see that you are not alone.

Are you ready? Here goes.

When I was in 6th grade, I picked up a copy of Pet Sematary by Stephen King. Whoa. This book rocked my world. It was creepy and engaging and haunting and edgy and...

...had a whole bunch of words in it I didn't understand.

Thus began my years-long habit of always carrying with me a dictionary (I don't do it anymore... but I would if I needed to... and I would do it unabashedly). I would literally read my Stephen King books (I have officially read them all. Okay, I'd officially read them all years ago, and gone on the Yearly Maintenance Plan, otherwise known as the You-WILL-Get-Me-the-New-SK-Book-for-Christmas-or-Else plan), with said Stephen King book open on one knee, and a dictionary open on the other. Every so often, I'd mark my spot in the book with my finger, and turn to the dictionary to look up whatever word was tripping me up. Back and forth like that I'd go.

My brother heard about this and called me a nerd.

Yeah. So?

Love List Week Five Winner!

2009-08-03T14:06:27Z

This week we loved an amazing 186 things! You have no idea how cool I think that is, and I just love reading everyone's posts (Hey, something to add to the Love List!). But today is Monday, so that means someone's post wins an awesome Grab Bag O' Love. And that someone is...

Susan Tretter!

*cue dancing ponies*

Congratulations, Susan! Now reach on down in there and choose your Grab Bag!

*rustle rustle*

You've chosen:

Editor Love!:

I've been blessed over the years with so many incredible editors. My current and past editors at The Kansas City Star -- Tim Engle, Jesse Barker, and especially Richard Espinoza -- have all been amazingly kind and supportive and fun to work with. They've gone to bat for me and have joked with me and have worked hard to keep my column alive. In my opinion, the Star editors are top notch all the way.

And then there's T.S. Ferguson, my editor at Little, Brown. I almost have no words for how much I love T.S. He's smart, funny, supportive, and no doubt about it... a rising star! Here's the thing about T.S. -- he can edit wicked good, and do it without making you want to fling yourself off the nearest highway overpass. Whole chapters of Hate List were changed, ripped out, characters removed entirely... yet I never had a feeling of... this is a mistake, he's wrong about this, I should fight him on this... T.S. forced me to get even deeper into my characters' heads (when I didn't even think that was possible, honestly), and he's always been there to answer my billion questions. So in honor of Editor Love week, I'm giving away some stuff T.S. collects (I learned this by stalking his blog, by the way):

* An "I <3 Troy" (Zac Efron) travel mug (because T.S. does heart Troy)

* A Voodoo Baby (AKA: string doll) called "Love Hunter," of course

* (Not pictured) A pack of my favorite editing pens (the ones that the kids will NOT leave alone and have me turning the house upside down trying to find a hundred times a week) -- Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball, extra fine, color red.

* A rose pin, magnet, and bookmark from author Michelle Zink, whose novel, PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS officially debuted over the weekend (Go buy it! I hear it's incredible!)

* An autographed bookmark from Leigh Brescia, author of ONE WISH. Also, a coupon for a free chapter preview of ONE WISH, which doubles as an entry into a contest to win an autographed copy of the book!

* A Hate List goody bag, including a blinged-out, autographed Hate List bookmark!

Congratulations, Susan!

We'll get back to lovin' tomorrow! Good luck!

Announcing the Love List Week Three Winner!

2009-07-20T13:03:16Z

Note: Originally posted on www.JenniferBrownYA.com

Monday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week. It's the day I get to read over all the awesome Love List Tuesday lists you guys have written, plug the numbers into Random.org, and choose a winner of a Grab Bag O' Love! Fun!!!

So today I've done just that, and the winner is...

Daffny

*cue streamer*

Congratulations, Daffny! Reach down in there and choose your grab bag.

*rustle rustle*

You've Chosen:

Agent Love!:

I adore my agent, Cori Deyoe at 3 Seas Literary Agency for so many reasons, but probably the reason that I love her most is because she's so... calm. I'm such a wired person, especially when we're talking about something I've written, talking to Cori makes me feel like everything's going to be okay. Cori took a chance on me. Cori appreciates my humor. Cori believes in what I write. Cori goes to bat for me. Cori doesn't mind telling me when something I've written doesn't work, and she does it in such a way that I don't take it personally. Cori cheers me on. Cori doesn't yell at me when I tell her I'll have something to her on Monday and it's more like Friday when she gets it. Cori lets me bounce ideas off of her. Cori is amazing.

So in honor of my amazing agent Cori, your bag is stuffed with:

*A Zibbies sorrel horse (Because Cori, an animal lover, loves horses best!)

*A hardcover copy of C. Lee McKenzie's SLIDING ON THE EDGE (*ahem!* I do believe there's a horse ranch involved in this book!) (Also, C. Lee McKenzie is a fellow Deb, and again I must ask... why aren't you a Debs watcher...?)

*A special gift from C. Lee herself (a horse bookmark)

*A bookmark, rose pin, and magnet from Michelle Zink, author of PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS.

*An autographed bookmark from Leigh Brescia, author of ONE WISH. Also, a coupon for a chapter preview of ONE WISH, which is also an entry into a contest to win a copy of ONE WISH.

*A HATE LIST gift bag and an autographed, blinged-out HATE LIST bookmark from yours truly!

Thanks for playing, Daffny, and enjoy your loot! Don't forget -- anyone who participates in every week of Love List Tuesdays will receive two extra entries for the final Grand Prize Grab Bag O' Love, which will include an autographed hardcover copy of HATE LIST!

If you didn't win, don't give up! There are still seven weeks of Love Lists to go! We'll start up a new one tomorrow! See ya then!

I'm the BAMF on Devyn's Blog (and I didn't even need my Urban Dictionary this time)

2009-07-15T18:57:44Z

Even though today I'm not blogging here, to not blog at all would be so un-BAMF of me. So instead, I'm guest-blogging for one of my favorite YA book bloggers in the world, to help celebrate his birthday month.

So check out my guest blog on the fabulawesome Devyn Burton's blog:

THE FAERIE DRINK REVIEW

(psst! click here!!!)

Debsness!

2009-07-15T12:03:54Z

Love List Tuesday! Week Three!

2009-07-14T12:13:14Z

NOTE: Only comments posted to the original blog at www.JenniferBrownYA.com are considered for entry!

Wow! Already we're at week three? Hard to believe! That means there's only

8 weeks till HATE LIST's release!

(yipes!)

So, before I post this week's list, I have a couple of housekeeping items to mention.

First, because people keep asking... no, you don't have to have 10 items on your list. 10 is great, but so is 5... or 3... or even 1.

Second, if you post about this contest somewhere else, such as Facebook, Twitter, or your blog (or someone else's blog) (sidebars are fine, by the way), be sure to post a separate comment with each URL to get your extra entry. I've been trying to go through and do it for everyone, but I don't want to accidentally miss somebody.

Okay! *brushes hands* Let's get lovin'!

To review Love List Tuesday's Rules, click here.

1. George, my long-haired black cat. He's extremely cool. He writes with me every morning.

2. Coffee, with milk and Splenda.

3. Covergirl Outlast Lipstain (and, yeah, I tried it after seeing it on America's Next Top Model, what of it?)

4. As a matter of fact... I love America's Next Top Model! (when's the next -- short model -- season start, anyway?)

5. Gloria Hey (my bestie's mama) (I miss her)

6. THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z by Kate Messner (so cute!)

7. Harry Potter books (who, besides me, is going to the movie tomorrow?)

8. Two new anniversary dresses.

9. Avon!

10. Bobby Flay

Okay, now it's your turn! Who and what are you loving this week?

Love. Post. Win, win, win!!!

Love List Tuesday! Week Two!

2009-07-07T12:27:46Z

Note: Only comments on the original blog at www.JenniferBrownYA.com will be considered for entry in the contest.

I was so impressed with the response to last week's first-ever Love List Tuesday, I can't wait to get the next list going! Congrats to the week one winner, but there are still plenty of chances to win (and, yes, the Zac Effron mug is still up for grabs), so if you didn't get picked in week one, here's your chance to try again.

Here's my Love List:

1. My Disney trading pin collection

Extremely small sample of collection. Yeah, it's bad.

2. The neighbor who spontaneously watched the boys so I could do the grocery shopping alone.

3. The Ting Tings.

4. Speed Demon, who literally shielded my desk with his body during a flood in my office this week (Long, dramatic story. Are there any other kind?)

5. The new sparkly dress I got for anniversary dinner.

6. The scent called "Paige" that Megan Crewe uses to promote her book GIVE UP THE GHOST.

7. The new Indiana Jones game for Wii. Seriously cool time-waster.

8. And old women's fiction manuscript I've dug up and started re-working.

9. The July 4th fireworks show in Gladstone, Missouri. Or maybe just "traditions." I love traditions.

10. Homemade potato salad.

Now it's your turn. Comment with what's on your Love List and be entered to win this week's Grab Bag O' Love. Remember... post on your blog, Facebook, or tweet about the contest and earn an extra entry for each! And those who participate every week for all 10 weeks will get an extra two entries in the Grand Prize Grab Bag on September 1st!

Review Love List Tuesday rules here.

Good luck!

What are You Working On?

2009-07-02T16:16:53Z

Three times this week I've been asked that question. It's a natural question to ask, after all. Hate List is complete. I'm obviously still writing. So... what are you working on, JB?

And three times this week I've kind of stammered and stuttered and scratched my neck nervously and hemmed and hawed and looked really uncomfortable when (not) answering that question. Because the truth is, I'm working on a lot of projects. And I don't know which one to talk about, so I end up talking about nothing.

It's never been easy for me to decide on a story. At this moment, I have six partial novels on my computer, along with a 3-page list of story ideas. Coming up with ideas and concepts and stories and characters has never been difficult for me. Completing a story isn't a problem. Deciding which story to fall in love with enough to complete it first is the problem.

I love them all. I want to get to know all the characters of all those stories equally. I want to find out what happens to them and I want to see them win (and some of them lose) and I want to watch their problems resolve and I want to spend my days thinking about them and wondering what they'll say next and... and... well, you see why it's so hard for me to announce that I've got one project on my mind.

It certainly doesn't help to be a multi-genre writer. On any given week I'm not only working on a couple Big Projects, but am also writing columns and blogs and having to switch gears from humorous to serious and maybe romantic and back again.

So yeah, I'm working on some projects. I have a novel that I'm focusing a lot of energy on right now (I've written 5,500 words on it this week alone). And I've another novel in another genre that I'm revisiting... revising... and re-loving. And I'm so happy to be visited by all these lovely characters and lovely stories every day. I'm just not ready to talk about them yet.

But keep asking! Because asking gets me thinking. And thinking gets me writing. And writing gets me... happy.

Love List Tuesday! Love. Post. Win!

2009-06-30T12:58:18Z

[NOTE: ONLY comments on the original blog at www.JenniferBrownYA.com will be considered for entry in the contest.]

I'm so excited! I can't believe it's finally here! My first Love List Tuesday, which can only mean one thing:

10 WEEKS TILL HATE LIST'S RELEASE!!!

And in case you've missed previous posts and have no clue what Love List Tuesdays is all about, click HERE and read the official rules. Who will be our first Grab Bag Winner? And what will be in the bag? The only way to find out is to post your addition to my Love List in the comments section below.

And now let's jump right in! Here are the things I am totally lovin' this week:

1) 21st Century Breakdown (which I've been listening to pretty much nonstop since I got the CD almost two weeks ago. American Idiot is still my favorite, but dang, this one comes real close!)

2) New blinged-out bookmarks with the "love" charms and the tassles and the -- oh, yes -- sequins. For LL Tuesday winners only!

3) John Anderson and John Henson, the Wipeout commentators. Just 'cause they make me laugh with all their big balls jokes.

4) Laser tag.

5) Air conditioning.

6) Dan Simmons, whose book "Drood" is like a master class in fiction-writing.

7) New grocery store in Liberty, even though it makes me sound old and lame and way mommish to say so. 'Sokay, I am old and lame and way mommish. And that grocery store is flippin' sweet.

8) My neighbor across the street who always brings me cookies.

9) The commenter named "swissmom" on my Saturday blog, whose comment about single parenting literally brought tears to my eyes.

10) Kidlit Central News, where some of the nicest writers I know hang out.

Now, how 'bout you? Who/What are you lovin' this week? Post your comment below and get entered to win a Grab Bag O' Love item. A winner will be chosen and announced here on Monday, July 6th.

Good luck!

Building the Love List Tuesday Grab Bag

2009-06-25T15:39:44Z

The Love List Tuesdays Grab Bag O' Love items are trickling in and piling up now. Here's a sneak peek at some of the things already up for grabs:

And there's so much more to come!

Plus! Each of my Grab Bag winners are going to receive a bag filled with Hate List goodies, including an autographed, blinged-up Hate List bookmark! And don't forget... someone will win a Grand Prize gift bag on September 1st!

Troy, iTunes, and bookmarks... what's there not to love?!

Love List Tuesdays are Coming!

2009-06-23T21:13:09Z

Blog originally posted on www.JenniferBrownYA.com. To participate in the contest, post your comments there.

So the plan was to post this early this morning... you know, start the 11 Weeks Till Hate List Release Day off all supercharged-like, but turns out I spent my Monday in Branson with my two little boys, riding rollercoasters at Silver Dollar City. For those who're rusty on their Missouri geography, that's a 4-hour drive, each way, with 7 hours of amusement park sandwiched in between... in 95+ heat (Nobody said I was smart. Or sane.).

So I've spent the bulk of my day today shuffling around like a mummy (or is it a zombie? I never can remember if mummies shuffle and zombies ramble, or if zombies shuffle and mummies ramble...?) and am just now getting around to making my announcement about

LOVE LIST TUESDAYS

[insert smoochy noises here]

So here's the deal. Starting next Tuesday, every Tuesday on my blog will be Love List Tuesday. I'll get us started by blogging my list of things, people, concepts, ideas, products, I love. Whatever I'm groovin' on. And you, my readers, will post in comments something you're groovin' on. Even if what you're groovin' on is a person that nobody else knows or something that makes you feel a little lame, that's totally cool. Just post a comment with your addition(s) to the Love List.

Why, you ask?

Well, besides being all awesome and spreading the love... by reading and commenting on my blog you will immediately become someone on my Love List, and I'm going to reward you. Yep, it's not only your chance to be all lovey dovey... it's also your chance to win cool stuff from my Grab Bag O' Stuff Loved by People I Love.

Each week I'll randomly choose someone who posted a comment on that week's blog and that person will win something out of the grab bag. Could be a Zac Effron travel mug, could be a Mickey Mouse watch, could be an iTunes gift card. The only way to find out for sure is to add to the Love List every Tuesday and try your luck.

And on the last Tuesday... September 1st... Hate List's official release day... yep... Grand Prize Gift Bag of Stuff Loved by ME (trust me, it's gonna be a good one)!

So you have one week to wrap your head around who/what you want on your Love List. And keep checking back here for hints and lists of what might be in the Grab Bag!

What a Writer is Doing When She Looks Like She's Doing Nothing.

2009-06-16T14:50:42Z

Blog originally published on www.JenniferBrownYA.com

Let me just say this: OMG, I ~~love hate love hate love hate~~ am totally in summer mode. As always, my writing is virtually nonexistent while I do the mom thing and I'm really frustrated and ugly and snarky and feeling like there's all these antagonists just piling up in me. Internal Antagonist Piles can't be healthy, I tell ya.

But this summer it only looks like I'm doing nothing. Behind the scenes (read: early in the morning, late at night, and every time I can squeeze in an extra second where a mom chore used to be) I'm working hard on getting ready for Hate List's release, which is in... gulp...

JUST 12 WEEKS!

Here's some of the stuff I'm working on:

1) Designing and ordering promo stuff like bookmarks and postcards. Okay, to be fair, I didn't design them. Fellow Deb Saundra Mitchell (author of SHADOWED SUMMER) did (she's so amazing on so many levels). And it's a good thing, because I could have never come up with anything nearly as awesome as she did. But I did order them. And I can't wait for the stuff to just get here already! *makes grabby hands*

2) Contacting local bookstores to set up signings. Okay, to be fair, I've only contacted one. But I have more in my sights and as soon as I can get away (and locate my Nice Pants and Going Out Shoes), I'm totally going to drive to some places and shake hands and kick tires or rattle trees or whatever it is people do when they want to get something done. AND! I heard through the grapevine that someone in charge of stuff at Rainy Day Books has a copy of Hate List and has it on his to-read list. *makes googly eyes at LB's publicity department*

3) Setting up a Virtual Launch Party. Okay, to be fair, I've really only set up one (totally fun and I'm totally excited about it) interview. But I have ideas for all the other stuff. I just have to find the technical skills to make it all happen. (This is what happens when you grow up in the Dark Ages and don't learn how to use a computer until you're 25, children.) (What is RSS anyway?)

4) Interviews!!! Okay, to be fair, I'm sort of behind on these. I think I'm sitting on three, just finding the time when the kids are halfway silent and I can sound sort of coherent in them (as coherent as one can sound with an Internal Antagonist Pile mucking up the brain). But I love doing interviews, and if anyone out there reading has a blog and an inkling to interview... please contact me at zoise30@gmail.com.

5) Guest blogging -- see #4.

6) Researching and writing a humor-writing class to be presented at the Fall KS SCBWI conference. Oh! And there'll be an autographed copy of Hate List in their giveaways basket this time. Is that totally awesome or what?! And also awesome (any first-time published author will understand why this is awesome)... there will be Hate List promo material on the promo material table! That's right, take that bookmark, baby! Here, take another! (I wonder if they'll kick me out if I "bark" the promo material table. You know, like they do in carnival midways)

7) Creating a Facebook Fan Page for Hate List. If you're on FB, check it out!

8) Putting together a contest for my blog. Well, actually, a whole slew of contests to take place right here on this blog. And, to be fair, I'm all over this puppy! You guys are going to LOVE this contest (that word... LOVE... was a hint... hee hee...), and it's going to kick off in just a couple weeks. So now you have something to do, too -- check in every day so you don't miss out one some very fun bloggy contestness!

So I'm off to "do nothing" now. Heading to the swimming pool. Okay, to be fair, I'm meeting a writer who is just getting started and wants some advice on how to get her career kick-started. See? Work! Just work that involves sunscreen and goggles.

Should I tell her about the Internal Antagonist Piles or should I let her find out about those on her own?

Debsness!

2009-06-15T19:20:32Z