Happiness Is...

... having another writer in the house - one who TOTALLY GETS the thrilling possibilities of a blank page in a composition book, the wonderful smell of a new ink pen, my writing inspiration playlists (and has same taste in music, which is the best kind of bonus)....

...too bad it's not exactly convenient when said other writer breaks all concentration with excited sharing of her own brilliant ideas. Hard to focus on my latest shiny idea when thoughts are constantly interrupted with stories of a Princess called Donut...

Such is Friday night. And mine is looking mighty nice so far!

Hope yours is, too. Have a great weekend, folks!

xoxo,

Stress Breakdowns, Short Stories, and My Fabulous Fashionista

 I Will Not Stress Out Art by Kathy Jeffords

www.thedreamygiraffe.etsy.com

I'm not sure if having stress breakdowns can be considered a skill, but it's something I am REALLY good at. Outwardly, I appear normal, I'm sure (although Will might argue that point), but inside.... man. You know those gag toys which look like a can of mixed nuts, but when you open it, a snake made of springs pops out? Yeah, that's how I imagine my brain looked last week. The result: I'm sporting a zombie eye, as stress isn't kind to my eyeball's blood vessels.

Annelie took one look at my eye the other day, scrunched up her face, and informed me that "Ewwwwww, it's gross and red."  (thanks for the love, kid)

But on the bright side - I think I'm coping with my kids growing up waaaay too fast just fine this week!

....although last night, I took the preschool library story time schedule off the fridge, and...   *sobs*

Baby steps. Funny that I've been counting down the days till they are both away at college for YEARS. After last week, I'm pretty sure I'll be that super embarrassing crying mom, who needs to be escorted from the dorms.

In other news, I wrote a short story and entered it into a contest on Saturday, which is definitely where part of my stress comes from. Back at the tail end of December '11, when I was getting all motivated by New Year's resolutions, I went a little overboard and made one of my resolutions: Write 3 short stories, and post them publicly. I'd meant for this to be a way to get over my anxieties when it comes to people reading my creative stuffs, but if my zombie eye proves anything, it might be that this plan is CRAZY.

However, I really really really wanted to enter the Defy the Dark short story contest, and as the rules state that everyone's entry needs to be posted on Figment.com, ie, PUBLICLY, I decided to suck it up and be a big girl. Which means, if you're curious about what a short story by Marisa Hopkins might look like (besides the Princess and the Pea retelling on my sidebar) you can find my story HERE.

(after I posted my story, I found a few typos, which means GAAAAH!!! But as I can't fix them because of the rules of the contest, I shall pretend they don't exist.)

And, saving the best for last, my fabulous fashionista:

 Gracie made this shirt for her first day of school last week, and has since been on a shirt-making rampage.

I found an old size 4T long sleeved turtle neck the other day, and gave it to her to work her fashion design magic. She's really into scalloped edges, flowers, and the Eiffel Tower, so I helped her cut out the neck, scallop the bottom of the shirt, and shorten the sleeves (the shirt is really stretchy, so by cutting off the neck and sleeves, the 4T size fit her size 7 self  perfectly).

Then she helped me adhere iron-on adhesive to the backs of the fabric she cut, so I could sew it on the shirt.

Gracie has been talking about being a fashion designer since she was four. I keep expecting her interests to change... I mean, aren't kids supposed to change their When I Grow Up I Wanna Be plan at least 30 times before age five?

Not this 7-year-old. 

She's pretty cool, if I do say so myself. I think I'll have her design a few shirts for me!

Hope you have a fantastic week, folks! 

xoxo,

Dancing With My Muse

This video pretty much sums up the relationship I have with my muse right now. I finished a draft of a new book last week  - I should be able to rest, right? But my muse just won't stop screaming more book ideas at me. Last night, all I wanted to do was sleep, but she came dancing in, with her wacky little marching band. I tried to beat her off with my pillow, but she refused to let sleep happen.



When I did finally get to sleep at 4 AM, after scribbling my newer-than-new book idea for hours and hours upon hours, I was up bright and early, unable to do anything but listen to great music and scribble some more - I didn't even need coffee, which is saying a lot.

And I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT. Drafting is energizing! It's magical! It makes me feel so young, when the wear of life and kids manages to make me feel so old, sometimes.

Eventually the muse will flitter off, as she's prone to do, and I'm going to crash and burn (or maybe get to that trip-to-Paris blog post I keep meaning to write). But hopefully I'll have the best parts of this new WIP all figured out beforehand.

So tell me, folks - what's the creative process like for you?

Also, if you want to see a random (and fabulous) collection of inspiration for my newer-than-new work-in-progress (code name: G-Con) come say hello to my latest pin board: http://pinterest.com/marisa_hopkins/g-con-some-photo-musical-inspiration/

xoxo,

Breaking Up is Hard To Do (In Which I Talk About the Comma)

(image found on Pinterest)

I'm just going to go ahead and talk about the comma. Or more importantly, HOW MUCH I HATE THE COMMA. (riveting stuff, I know)

Here's something to know about me: I am a comma user, and abuser. In fact, I don't even know if my previous sentence should have a comma or not. Should it? I don't know. I think I use Google for punctuation and spell checks more than anything else.

I was agonizing over my punctuation incompetence with my good pal Jonny a long while ago, and he recommended:

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss.

Which I bought, and began to read, and my eyes glazed over, and.... well, I flashbacked to my school days, when I ignored all lectures on punctuation in order to read the book I was hiding under my desk. Then promptly set Eats, Shoots, and Leaves down, and grabbed a different book.

Gracie ignores punctuation of every sort - which makes following along as she's reading aloud nearly impossible. And it's funny to me that I work with her on it (and by funny, I mean crazy) because when I get critiques from my awkward-sentence polishing crit partners, it's obvious I'm the last person who should be showing my 6-year-old where to place a comma.

Commas are hard, yo.

When I was in college I volunteered in a 6th grade Core class (language, literature, social studies) a few hours a week. I loved it. The kids were awesome, the teacher was awesome, and I can barely go a single day without remembering Mrs. T's lesson on the dreaded COMMA.

"Breaking up words is hard to do," she told her students. "There's even a song about it."

The kids looked at her like she was insane, so she put a tape in the tape player, and the music began.



Mrs. T sang along, all the way though, emphasizing the comma comma down doobie doo down down part in the background, and the chorus. The kids giggled, and the braver ones joined in. And I have had this song stuck in my head every day that I have corrected a misplaced comma in one of my manuscripts since.

Which means this song is constantly stuck in my head.

I've decided I need to add a new goal on Marisa's Great List of Goals for 2012. Make it all the way through Eat, Shoots & Leaves, and actually apply the information.

Because my comma woes are bad... but don't even get me started on the apostrophe...

Also, I might need to begin with the illustrated kid's version first - maybe I'll be less likely to set it down.
How about you, folks? Are you a punctuation lover, or hater?

xoxo,

Friday Flashback: Short Story Loving

It's Friday, folks, and about time this blog had another flashback... so today the file cabinet of curiosities has coughed up a little gem dating all the way back to 1992, when 11-year-old Marisa discovered the world of short stories.

The other day I mentioned that I'm a short story lover - LOVE them. Well, I've had short stories on the brain lately, more so than usual because on Marisa's Big Fat List of Goals for 2012 we have:

#4 - Write 3 short stories and post them on my blog
(ie be a big brave girl in public)

Which isn't a huge deal, other than the fact that having my fiction read by anyone other than my trusted crit partners makes me feel like I'm standing in front of the world in my undies - which isn't something I imagine I'd enjoy.... but as I'd love to be an author with a whole world reading my stuff, it's about time I get over my issues - or at least make sure I'm wearing super cute undies!

When I was in 6th grade, my English teacher passed out a short story for dissection, called Midnight Snack by Diane Duane. (part of an anthology called Sixteen, which you can find HERE)*

Unicorns, people, UNICORNS.

(squeeeeeeeeeeee!)

Aura - baby unicorn by R. Wake
SovaeArt on Etsy

I love unicorns.

I do.

I really, really do.

But not only that, Midnight Snack was a YA urban fantasy, which tickled the fancy of middle school Marisa more than any other genre (yeah, things haven't changed much), and sparked a whole slew of urban fantasy stories in my notebooks - though none about unicorns because I was still too much in love with the ones in this story to attempt writing unicorns of my own.

And because of this story, I fell in love with the entire world of short stories. See, before this one I had only experienced the short stories found in our class textbooks - stories so boring I didn't even read them all the way through, and would instead turn to the back of the book where the longer stories, such as Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, could be found.

(oh man, I remember reading that one in class when I was supposed to be doing anything other than secretly reading ahead in the textbook, wiping and wiping and wiping at my never-ending stream of tears)

Not too long ago, I picked up the short story anthology Zombies Vs. Unicorns -

(click to add to your Goodreads list)

- Which is filled with awesome short stories by a whole slew of my current favorite authors, like Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Carrie Ryan. (I love zombies, but I'm totally Team Unicorn)

And I liked it - it was a quick, fun read.... but not a single unicorn story grabbed hold of my heart quite like Midnight Snack did.

Short story lovers out there, tell me, what stories hold your heart? I'd love to know!

*if you google it, you can find it on teaching sites online - though I hope you'll pick it up from your library or purchase it for your bookshelf, too!

Happy Lucky Friday the 13th, folks!

As I was born on Friday the 13th, I refuse to believe it is anything other than lucky... despite what this previous flashback might tell you.

xoxo,

Writing a Hot Mess (in 14 years or less)

"Born from the Mess"
by jb0xtchi on Etsy

The story I'm working on now is one I've been working on - well, on but mostly off - since I was 18. It began as a short story - my best friend from my high school days said to me in the summer right after high school, "Hey, I found a short story contest and the theme is 'Magic.' Let's enter!"

To which I replied, "OKAY!"

Well, me and short stories aren't really friends. Oh, I love them - reading them is a bit of an addiction of mine - but writing them is a different story. Every short story idea I have tends to fizzle into nothing or blow up into something much bigger (like my newly finished and currently being queried book, SLEEP, which began as a short story almost 3 years ago)

After about 6 pages of writing my 'magic' short story, I knew I had something much bigger on my hands. So, in usual Marisa fashion, I grabbed a notebook and worked on it through college when I was supposed to be listening to my teacher's lectures. I even brought it to England with me when I studied abroad, with big intentions of finishing it and finding a crit group and finally getting my dream of being a real live WRITER started.

(but the cute Welsh boy I met was too distracting, and I only managed a couple pages before I packed my book up and decided to finish it when I got home.... But then came love, and then came marriage, and two little babies in the baby carriage...)

I picked the book up for NaNoWriMo in '08, and my awesome blog readers cheered me on as I wrote the world's sloppiest pre-draft. (Which blinds me whenever I attempt to read it, because it is just. so. AWFUL, and the only fate it deserves is being stabbed with the tooth of a basilisk)

And then I picked it up again during NaNo '10. And ... well, the first couple chapters I managed to write weren't AWFUL, but they certainly weren't as good as I wanted them to be.

So here I am, back together with these characters who I have LOVED for almost 13 years - and their story, which has changed a lot in 13 years, but which still follows the same magical backbone I imagined for it when I was 18.

And I figured that all my experience in the last couple years would make all the difference - that I would pick it up and suddenly know exactly how each scene needs to go, and exactly what every character is thinking and saying when they are tossed together in the bathroom of a taqueria, or the basement of a crack house (two of my favorite scenes. Yup).

But writing it now makes me feel just as awkward and stumbly as I was when I first attempted to write it back in 1999. Which has brought on all the "WHY do I think I can actually be a WRITER?!" angsting I have been doing for years now.

-insert head banging against keyboard HERE -

Today my friend Dianne Salerni, author of We Hear the Dead (Sourcebooks 2010) and The Caged Graves (coming from Clarion), blogged about her latest project, saying:

"If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past couple years of writing, it’s that my first draft is usually a rambling, maze-like monstrosity. Kind of like the Winchester Mystery House in California."

And it made me think that maybe I'm not too terrible at this after all. That maybe it's just the way writing is for some people. I thought I accepted long ago that I'm not a writes-a-book-and-snags-a-top-agent-in-six-months-TOTAL kinda gal, a la Stephenie Meyer.

I'm more a writes-a-rambling, maze-like monstrosity kinda gal, like Dianne. Only instead of accepting that part of my process, I've been pretending that I have, but really angsting hard.

There's a little thing called the internal editor that I have been advised to turn off while drafting. But I also think the internal self-hater needs to be turned off, too, because that's the one that keeps me from turning the hot mess I've been working on for years into something finished I can pass on to my crit partners - who I KNOW will help me turn it into the shiny, queriable gem I believe, deep down, it will one day be.

In the words of Joseph Chilton Pearce, "To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." - a quote I love, love, love. Not a quote I always live by, but hey - it's a new year.

And maybe if I lose my fears, if I can turn off the internal self-hater who tells me often that I'll never make it as a published author, I just might have a finished first draft of this sucker - in 14 years or less!

Only then will this hot mess be the story that made my fingers itch to write when I was a teenager, with visions of magic dancing through my head.

xoxo,

JanFebMarNoWriMos - Let the Writing Begin!

Self Starter Necklace
by Lisa at The Empty Nest

At the start of November, when I was super bummed about not participating in NaNoWriMo this year, a few of my writing peeps who did not do NaNo this year either - or who did but now want to finish those books - were chatting about taking the months of January, February and March to write a book.

And so JanFebMarNoWriMos was born.

The rules are simple: Write a book (or finish another project, if that is what you need to do) by the end of March.

That's it.

And the other day, when I was all like, "Yay! I wrote a book and now I'm going to write another one during JanFebMarNoWriMos!" a bunch of other peeps were like, "Oh! I want to do JanFebMarNoWriMos and write a book, too!"

So here we are - 2 days into January and I have read through my unfinished NaNo project from Nov. '10, and am now super pumped to finish it. I forgot that I love these characters and their adventures EVEN MORE than the one's from the story I just spent the last 2.5 years writing. Which hopefully means racing to the end will be awesome - or at least with less head-bang-against-keyboard moments than I had with the last book.

JanFebMarNoWriMos-ers, are you still out there? Who is up for finishing a draft/project by March? Shout it loud and shout it proud!

And of course, you'll have to hold yourself accountable, but if you shout it in my comments, and want me to crack the whip to keep you going to the end of March - especially if I see you tweeting or Facebook status updating non-stop instead of writing - just say so! (although if I'm catching you doing it, it probably means I need a whip cracked, too)

*cracks whip*

Let the JaNo games begin!

*UPDATE - the fantabulous Heather Kelly just let me know there is a site called A Round of Words in 80 Days (best name EVER, imo) where you can have more structured meet ups and whip cracking if you need it - check it out: http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/blog/

xoxo,

Marisa's Adventures In Writingland

Write or Else Art Print by Kathy Jeffords
www.thedreamygiraffe.etsy.com

I thought writing a 92,000 word complete novel was the most complicated thing ever.

Then I thought figuring out what my novel was about, and rewriting it as an 86,000 word novel, was the most complicated thing ever.

Then I received book-splittingly HUGE critique and had to find the backbone of my story and gut the rest, rewriting it as a 72,000 word novel. My brain melted several times along the way. I figured it was the most complicated thing EVER.

Well, I was wrong, folks. It wasn't at all.

The most complicated thing ever is taking what used to be a revoltingly bloated 92,000 word novel and condensing it's essence into two paragraphs.

TWO.

PARAGRAPHS.

SHORT ONES.

That need to sparkle more than Edward Cullen's chest.

You guys. I'm dying here. Writing a query is so darned hard.

But on a brighter note, I finished my book! The Book That Never Ends finally ended!*

So what's next on the Marisa Wants To Be An Author When She Grows Up agenda?

Querying agents. *gulp*

Then I'll be finishing the book I began for last year's NaNoWriMo. I was SO INSANELY bummed that I didn't finish SLEEP before this year's NaNo. But I have wrangled up a handful of writer friends and we're going to attempt a first ever JanFebMarNoWriMos (in which we write a complete first draft in 3 months - which to some is easy peasy, but to me - who takes a year to hack out a draft - this will border on epic)

Any one up for hopping on the JanFebMarNoWriMos train?



*okay, mostly, as I still have a light round of touch ups - and maybe rip and restitch a couple scenes - which feels like child's play at this point

xoxo,

NaNo '11: 18 Days and Counting!

Let me get this straight - we are thirteen days into the month of October and I haven't yet posted about NaNoWriMo '11?

STOP THE INSANITY!

You see, I'm a mighty big lover of the month of November, which is the only month that brings 30 days of rabid writing craziness AND pumpkin pie at the same time.

But this year... I'm not quite ready for November to come. My BRING IT attitude when it comes to NaNo is more like, Um, could you just give me a few extra weeks? Which is no attitude to have when you intend to write 50k words in 30 days.

But YOU GUYS.

You know the Book That Just Won't End, Dang-it! that I have been slaving over for the past two years? Well, this baby is getting very close to query-ready and by golly, if I can break my fingers and push my brain to get it finished in the next 18 days, I will be so pumped... but until then, my NaNo plans are on hold.

And as I do not like to put my plans on hold, I am seriously pushing to finish this thing in 18 days so I can participate.

Now, the rational part of me says, "Oh heck no, this isn't possible! You still have two-thirds of this revision to sort through!"

But here's something to know about me. The irrational part of me is WAY MORE FUN and she's like, "I triple dog dare you!" and there is just no way I can back away from a triple dog dare.

Besides, if there is one thing that's really driving me to finish my WIP by Nov. 1st, it's the fact that I'm so sick of my current main character's indie Baroque and folk alternative music choices, and the music for my GLITTER-BLINGING NEW IDEA (which is way better than a Shiny New Idea, I'm telling ya) is so much more fun.

For those who are curious about my NaNo '11 music, here are my main drafting songs, which helped me set the tone, create the world and characters and sort out the plot of my book -







So, folks, I'm ready to throw off the emo-sounding tunes and bring on the awesome.

Who's with me? Any other NaNo-obsessed fools out there, ready for a month of sheer crazy? Let's harass each other with our daily updated word counts! You can find me {HERE}

And if I don't finish my current WIP in time, you are welcome to throw tomatoes at me and flaunt your word count. I promise to cheer you on!

xoxo,

Getting Work Done (Or Not...)

Long ago, my kids decided life is BORING without Mommy devoting 99.9% of her day to their non-stop amusement. In addition to the usual daily domestic activities (ie, the super lame stuff, like cleaning and grocery shopping and endless laundry) I used to be able to get my creative work done with the girls underfoot. This was when I was an artist and my days consisted of sitting at the table with colored pencils all around and my diapered kiddos sitting next to me, scribbling in sketchbooks of their own.

Then I stopped drawing and started focusing more on writing and my kids decided I didn't need to get anything accomplished ever again.

Nap-times ended after age 1 when both girls decided sleeping is overrated and they wouldn't have anything to do with it.

Quiet-times ended after age 1.5 upon discovering they were being used for tea parties with fresh cups of pee, instead of for resting quietly. (And when the girls weren't doing that, they were ripping their sheets, cutting their hair and eyelashes with purloined kiddie scissors, or pushing toddler mattresses up against the window of their room so they could climb and then pull the curtain rods straight out of our apartment walls. Yep)

Let me just say, using my brain to write intelligible things is impossible when said brain is exploding from children shouting in my ear, 30 thousand times a day, "LOOKIT ME, Mom! I have a CUP ON MY HEAD! (and such)"

If I don't get this dang book finished and begin querying agents soon (very soon!) this girl's gotta put the kids in daycare and get a proper job to help support the family. So... when do I get my creative work done? When do I find the time to write when every free minute sounds like this -

ME: Okay, Annelie. We've played 600 games and read 600 stories and you've had 600 minutes of computer time and now it's MOMMY'S turn for a little bit of work time, okay?

ANNELIE: Okay.

ME [types]: ....

ANNELIE [stares at me]: Wouldn't it be really funny if I had glasses and I opened the dishwasher when it was still going and it fogged up my glasses and then my hair turned yellow?

ME: Yes. Now go play and let me get some work done, okay?

ANNELIE: Okay.

ME [types]: ....

ANNELIE [stares at me VERY INTENSELY]: I'm doing my laser eyes on you. Do you want me to do my hot laser eyes on you or my cold laser eyes?

ME: How about instead of doing any kind of laser eyes, you go and play outside? Or play in your room? Or watch a movie? Or draw?

ANNELIE: Okay.

ME [types]: ....

ANNELIE [stares at me]:....

[time lapse 7 seconds]

I wrote you a song, and here is how it goes.

[sings]
I love my mommy
she is the best
and her cupcakes are yummy
and I love my mommy
then you would be the best for me and you
and the day will be as white as meeeeeee.

ME: That was lovely. Now go PLAY.

ANNELIE: Okay. But first I have to play my new song on the guitar for you, okay? [whips out guitar]

ME: *BRAIN EXPLOSION*

(this video is from last year... but it's pretty much exactly how I'm entertained on a minutely basis even now)(and when I say now, I literally mean THIS VERY SECOND)

Well, I'll tell ya when I get my creative work done ... Lately, I've resorted to printing out my pages and editing them whilst sitting on the bathroom floor until "MOM, I'M GOING TO WET MY PANTS IF YOU DON'T LET ME IN!" is shouted from the hall.

Creative work-at-home peeps out there, enlighten me, please - how in the world do you manage your household, spend time with your kids and significant others, cook, clean, AND get creative stuff done!?* Because as much as I love laser eyes and serenades from 4-year-olds for 14 hours a day... I also need to finish this book!

*besides taking it away from TV time - that time pretty much ended for me years ago.

xoxo,

Friday Flashback: My 7th Grade Horror Fiction

(Today's Friday Flashback is highly influenced by the blog posts of both Kathy aka The Dreamy Giraffe, who shared one of her 7th grade stories today, and Tessa Gratton (author of Blood Magic) who blogged her new collection of 90's teen horror books today - Christopher Pike fans in da' house say "hey!")

Middle School Marisa gobbled up 90s teen horror faster than cones of Baskin Robbins Gold Medal Ribbon. That's saying a lot considering I eat ice cream when I angst and my 12-year-old self lived to angst. And, as I wanted to be a writer, my file cabinet of curiosities had it's own file labeled: HORROR STORIES.

This sample is pretty typical of a 7th grade Marisa story. It contains everything my 12-year-old self loved - an historical preface, a modern-day (circa 1993) tween girl who declares she hates her life in a super dramatic way, evil porcelain dolls, and death angels.

This is fiction that should never see the light of day, you guys. You have been warned. Yep. Here we go.

-------------------------

Preface: 1898, Williamsburg, Virginia

"Oh! Momma!" I cried as I threw open my last birthday gift. It was a doll with pale blonde curls, a soft silk blue dress, cremed rose painted lips in a scary, mocking grin. The doll had clear blue eyes, so clear it almost showed the inside of this fragile doll. I glanced up at Momma. "Thank you, Momma, Poppa. It's a beautiful doll," I said, but I didn't mean it. Not all that much, anyway. Something about her features made me shiver. It was the way she seemed to watch me as I looked at her. "I'll call her Anna-Elise," I said blankly as I set the doll down to continue with the wonderful party given to me.

***

That night, when the party ended, I took Anna-Elise onto my lap and spun her crank to make her say, "Momma!" When she said "Momma!" I smiled. She had a voice sweet and innocent, not like the wicked doll of her appearance. "Momma!" Anna-Elise said again. "Momma!" Slowly I set her down in my doll chair and climbed into bed. A few minutes later, there was a knock at my door.

"Catherine? Are you still awake?" Momma asked me.

"Yes, Momma. You can come in," I said. Momma opened the door to kiss me goodnight.

(insert a page of blah, blah, blah, how did you like your party/doll, I loved it, you're the best Momma ever, shivering because the doll is creepy, goodnight, goodnight, ect... here)

***

The morning came quickly and I got dressed and walked over to pick up Anna-Elise who had fallen over from the night wind which seeped in from my open window.

"You are one gruesome doll," I said to Anna-Elise. I turned the crank in her back. All of a sudden, her clear blue eyes turned red and she smiled at me in a frightening way.

"Mommaaaa!" Anna-Elise laughed. "Mommmmmaaaa!" I dropped Anna-Elise and backed away, only to see her climb up onto her stubby legs. "Come here, Cemitrum!" she said. I backed away. "Come here, Cemitrum!" she said again. I didn't respond. "Raycastra, Floorum, Cristornien, Traichitum, Clagrium, and Opian!" the doll chanted.

From the window, six flying skeletons dressed in shabby robes with flying skeletal birds appeared. I tried to run out of the room but the door seemed stuck.

(insert a half-page of helpless screaming, here)

"Come to me, Cemitrum. Be one of my death angels. Come to me." Anne-Elise's voice was scaring me. I couldn't bear it. I took a step toward the doll. "Good girl," she said. I took another step then grabbed Anna-Elise and flung her out the window. "Aggghhh!" she screamed, then all was silent. As quickly as they came, the death angels disappeared.

From down below, Poppa yelled, "Catherine Alexandra Castrone! Why is your new doll laying on the ground in hundreds of pieces?"

CHAPTER ONE - New York, 1993

"I can't believe you want to move to Williamsburg! I bet they make butter and soap for fun! It's not fair!" I yelled at Momma and Poppa. I was so mad. I hardly even noticed the hurt look on Momma's face.

"Catherine Alexandra Castrone! If you are going to argue then go to your room!" Poppa told me. "Gramma Susan invited us to live in her old house since she is so old, and now we're going to live there! It wouldn't hurt you to learn a little about family history. Anyway, Auntie Maria and Uncle Johnny's kids are going to live there, too. You'll like having Angela to play with. She's twelve, too."

"But Poppa! It's 1993! No one lives in an old town! Believe me!" I whined helplessly.

(insert three pages of Go to your room! I hate you and I'm not moving! You have no choice, now stop whining! But all my friends are in New York and Angela is a spoiled, conceited brat and I hate her! plus helpless crying x10, here)

The End.

------------------------

That wasn't really the end. It went on for another several pages, including a scene in which Catherine moves to Williamsburg and makes fun of "the most ridiculous hat [she has] ever seen!"

Invigorating stuff, eh?

But that's not all, folks. My notes come with a family tree. Too bad I didn't think to include a death angels name pronunciation guide.

Sadly, I was more of an ideas + first-10-pages girl and lacked follow through to the finish, so I don't know how this story ends.

Though I'm sure the final fight between middle school drama queen and evil doll and death angels would have been epic, with lots of blood and plenty of helpless screaming, helpless crying, and helpless whining.

Have a fabulous weekend, folks!

xoxo,

Bringing Out the Big Guns

So. You know how I've been blogging about how I am ->thisclose<- to finishing this dang draft of The Book the Never Ends for, oh, I don't know, about a MONTH now? Well, I'm still only two measly scenes away from being done, but for some reason... it's just not happening.

This does not fly with me. I want to be done, dang it, and I want to be done NOW. So, much like the little donkey who needs a carrot on a handmade fishing pole dangled in front of his adorable little face (I really love donkeys), I needed to get myself a carrot.

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta = BEST CARROT EVER.

Show of hands - who has never read a book by Melina Marchetta?

*looks around*

Hey you with your hand up: Run, don't walk, to your nearest library and/or bookstore and check out/buy every book by Melina Marchetta you see. And that is an order!*

When it comes to Melina Marchetta's books, I am a fangirl of epic proportions. This book has been at the top of my to-read list since it came out, and yesterday at the bookstore I swear it sang to me like a siren luring my ship to crash upon the rocks (hmmmm... I wonder if my lame simile usage has something to do with why my book is taking so long to finish writing... the delete key is my BFF)

Actually, that's not far from how I feel after reading a Marchetta book - like I've been in a shipwreck. A really freakin' great shipwreck, but a shipwreck nonetheless. And since torturing myself with AMAZING books by Melina Marchetta is one of my favorite pastimes, I absolutely had to buy this one.

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Here is the Goodreads blurb -

Melina Marchetta's brilliant, heart-wrenching new novel takes up the story of the group of friends from her best-selling, much-loved book Saving Francesca - only this time it's five years later and Thomas Mackee is the one who needs saving.

Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget parents who leave and friends he used to care about and a string of one-night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

But when his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at the Union pub with his former friends. And winds up living with his grieving father again. And remembers how he abandoned Tara Finke two years ago, after his uncle's death.

And in a year when everything's broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them.

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My bookshelf is thanking me. I, however, can not believe I have a Marchetta book in my house that I am not reading at this very moment. Clearly I am bringing out the big guns.

I WILL NOT READ THIS UNTIL MY BOOK THAT NEVER ENDS IS FINISHED.

*shuts off internet*

*opens Word*

*writes like a maniac*

Hope you are all having an awesome week, folks!

*if the first book by Melina Marchetta you pick up happens to be Jellicoe Road, do not return it to the library until after you have passed the first hundred pages. I did and lemme just say, BIG MISTAKE. So glad I gave it another go - this book has been my #1 most favorite book EVER WRITTEN (excluding Persuasion, naturally) since I first finished it a couple years ago. And it gets better with every read, I'm telling ya.

xoxo,

Running For My Life

Remember two weeks ago when I was like, "Will I finish draft 2 of my never-ending work-in-progress while my kids are at their Grandma's for a week? Will I? WILL I?"

Well. I didn't finish. But I've got wings on my heels, yo, and lately I've been looking like these guys (especially the really intense ones):



So. Close. To. Done.

(and seriously ready to begin draft 3!)

Hope you're having a great week so far, folks!

xoxo,

In Which I Say, "YAY for ME!" and then Leave for Vacation

You Deserve a Rip Roaring Fiesta 5 x 7 doodle print

by Aimee of Artsyville

The time has come for me to throw a handful of biodegradable confetti up in the air and shout "YAY! I HIT THE 2/3rds MARK ON MY 2nd DRAFT!"

Why would Marisa be doing that? some of you may be asking yourselves.

Well, I'll tell ya - BECAUSE I HIT THE 2/3rds MARK ON MY 2nd DRAFT!

*throws confetti*

Okay, when it comes to successes worth celebrating, the 2/3rds mark on the second draft (and I'm pretty sure I have a minimum of 3 more drafts when this is done before my never-ending beast of a book is query-ready) might not seem like a celebration-worthy milestone. But you guys, I'm a really slow writer. And as it turns out, a really, really, disgustingly slooooow editor. It certainly doesn't help that I've been stuck editing the same two chapters for the last 2.5 months. But those pages that were the bane of my existence on paper (but so good in my head!) are done! And better than when they were in my head. SO I'M CELEBRATING, BABY!

*throws more confetti*

This book is seriously taking it's toll on my sanity - just this morning I found myself standing in the kitchen, looking at the microwave, thinking, "Wait - did I really just shut a wet dish towel in the microwave for no reason and start to walk away?"

Yes, yes I did.

But I'm going out of town this weekend with my BFF - who I have been friends with since we looked like THIS:

(Sorry Jenni, I totally had to post that again. Bwah-hah-hahahaaaa)

and I am SO ready to put this editing hoopla out of my head for a couple days and relax with our families. And when I get back, my mom is taking the girls for an ENTIRE WEEK. Life is truly wonderful!

Which brings me to the questions that are on everyone's mind (well, on MY mind, at least):

Will Marisa Hopkins rise to the challenge and finish her entire 2nd draft while her kids are at their grandmother's house for a week? Will she be temporarily DONE with the beast that is her free-time's #1 life-suck? Will she finally be able to work on her other WIP, which has been whispering sweet nothings into Marisa's ear since the last NaNoWriMo?

dun-dun-dunnnnn.....

Tune in, in a week and a half, for the pleasant - or unpleasant - reveal!

Enjoy the rest of your week, folks!

xoxo,

How I Write: On Inspiration and Perseverance

Vintage Pink Olympia DeLuxe @ Brooklyn Retro

The other day, I had a comment with a question from Jamie, and I thought I'd it share it here:

I have dappled in fiction writing a little bit over the last few years but I have a hard time developing an original idea, sticking with it, and turning it into a legitimate work in progress.

I was wondering if you could share how you find inspiration for the main ideas for your books and how you continue to enhance those ideas over the course of multiple years.

That's a great question, Jamie, and I'm going to answer it in two parts - how I find my ideas and develop them and how I turn those ideas into a legitimate WIP (work in progress).

First, I have to say, the more writing friends I meet, the more I learn that everyone writes differently! Some plan their books in detail, some fly by the seat of their pants while they write (I plan much more than I pants). So if you're interested in writing, and haven't already started, keep in mind that what works for me, might not work for you AT ALL! I'm just sharing.

1.) How I find my ideas and develop them.

I'm going to go ahead and admit that finding ideas and inspiration has never been a problem for me. When I'm bored or need a break from thinking about a project I'm stuck on, I pass the time by challenging myself to come up with ideas based on things I'm interested in learning more about. That's in addition to the ideas that fly at me when I least expect them to.

If you're really stuck on the finding of ideas, try this game which I used to play for fun in high school:

Pick a non-fiction book with lots of random information (I like using encyclopedias or dictionaries for this). Grab a pen and paper and open the book to pages at random and write down at least one thing that mildly (or totally) interests you, and a couple notes on it - just a couple! Do this about 12-15 more times until you have a bunch of random stuff on a page that all interest you.

Do any of them inspire you to learn more about them? Do they remind you of other things you love that you might want to learn more about? If so, write down those notes, too. Can you make connections between any of these items? Even randomly weird connections that might turn into plot, setting, or interesting characters? If so, take what is useful to you from this exercise and stick it in a notebook in case you want to develop it further.

Every time I have a potential story idea, I write it down. I'm a notebook junkie so I have spare notebooks everywhere (at back-to-school season, you can usually grab coiled notebooks from places like Office Max for as little as $.12 a book!) and for each idea that I want to develop further - not necessarily to write a book, but to at least see if I want to write it - I give it it's own notebook.

If I'm already working on a project, I only spend an hour here and there over the course of a few months, or even years, writing down small ideas and inspirations along the way - usually in the form of songs or poems that mesh with the characters or tone of the story, so I can recall them when I am ready to work. Also, if characters pop into my head, or dialogue or subplot ideas, I have a place to put them before I forget.

Shiny new ideas are shiny! But if you are already working on a project, don't set it aside! Finish it first and then take on those shiny new ideas.

The most important thing about finding ideas and writing about them is that you write for YOU. My next project, which I'll begin in November for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) combines my interest in the French Revolution and the ethics of cloning, with this as my theme song (picked as inspiration for tone and pace):



Do I think anyone else will give two hoots about a book like this?

Well, I hope so, but if not, that's okay - I'm so excited to write it that the idea of waiting until November to begin is brutal. Don't be afraid to tell the story you are insanely excited to tell regardless of whether you think it will be marketable. If I worried overmuch about the marketability of of my stories, I'd be too timid to write them!

2.) How I turn my ideas into a legitimate WIP

If you haven't guessed that outlining is important to me, I'll just go ahead and tell you: OUTLINING IS IMPORTANT TO ME.

That doesn't mean I fence myself in with an outline. Oh no, I certainly don't. If I did, the end of my fairy tale WIP would be drastically different because of a character relationship I changed halfway though the first draft (and frankly, that original end would have sucked).

I outline because I need to know the beginning, the middle (including several scenes I am excited to write), and the end. I need to have something I am excited to work toward or else I struggle to find the motivation to get me there!

If you are a pantser, outlining might hold you up. If you aren't sure what you are, grab a few books on writing craft and experiment! I only know my process because I've taken the time to figure it out.

Only after I have outlined and researched until I've reached the point where waiting even one more hour before sitting down to begin my story is too excruciating to handle, I open up my word doc and write.

And that brings me to the number one most important piece of advice when it comes to writing:

WRITE.

There are days when I love my book and my words flow and the sky is blue and the birds sing, and sitting in my chair and working is fun and easy and my book loves me and there are rainbows and sparkles! You guys, I love sparkles!!

There are days when I hate my book and my words won't come and the sky is dark and hateful and the only bird around is a mocking bird and it's ME he's mocking, that little bastard! There are no rainbows and definitely no sparkles. Writing is hard, yo.

But I stick my bum in that chair anyway and I write. And I also delete. And smash my head against the keyboard like that guy from Sesame Street who bangs his head against his piano. I stare at the wall. I cry because I'm frustrated and I always cry when I'm frustrated. I also eat lots of carbohydrates and then hate myself for being a stress-eater. But still I write.

So many people say they want to write a book more than anything but they don't have the time...

Guess what? Me neither! Therefore, I sacrifice in order to have that time. Because being a writer is important to me, I know that in order to be successful, I have to write when I want to, but most importantly, when I don't want to. I have to write when there are better things to do. When it's an awesome TV night. When my muse is being a jerk. When I should be folding the laundry. When my hubs and daughters are at the movie theater watching Gnomeo and Juliet, which I really want to see, but which if I don't see, I'll have two hours to write without interruptions!

Only by writing will you see those shiny ideas to completion!

This post is long, but hopefully helpful?

Happy Monday, folks! Hope you have an excellent week!

xoxo,

SLEEP Theme Song: Rabbit Heart

I've blogged before how much I love (and need) to write to music, and my current work-in-progress, a modern Sleeping Beauty retelling (which I call SLEEP) is no different.

After blogging my love for The Lady of Shalott yesterday, I thought it appropriate to share the #1 song I listen to whenever I need to get into my main character's head:

Rabbit Heart by Florence + the Machine

(click the picture to be magically transported to the video on YouTube)

I've been writing my book for a year and a half now and in that time I've listened to this song over 400 times (according to my iTunes). And the rest of Florence + the Machine's LUNGS album I've listened to close to that much. Oh man, Florence is just so great and this album never stops being amazing.

Also, it amuses me that my other work-in-progress has a bit of an Alice in Wonderland theme to it (only instead of mad hatters and angry queens my character finds herself in a world of gods, monsters and virgin sacrifice. YAY!)

Happy listening, folks!

xoxo,

Love Notes and Writing Critiques

When author Maggie Stiefvater posted a writing critique partner loooove connection on her blog the other day, I thought, "Too bad I'm not done with my revision. This would have been a good opportunity to meet other writers and receive unbiased feedback on my story."

And then I thought, "Stop being a big fat baby, Marisa. Your first 50 pages of this draft are ready to go and that's all you're supposed to share anyway. You're really just scared that the only people who like your book are your friends - who only tell you they think your story is good because they like you too much to watch you fling yourself off a cliff." *note: I will not fling myself off a cliff.

And then I thought, "Yeah, that's true. And life is all about taking chances. Besides how else will this story get better? Let's do this thing." So I held my breath and posted an ad. My mind has been whirling ever since.

In the last week, I've read some great manuscripts by other writers - stories that I'm excited to watch these writers grow into something so amazing they get agents and book deals and I'll stand in a long, long line to get my copy signed.

I've also received critiques that have renewed my faith in the beast that has consumed my life for the last year and a half. (Not to mention a critique in which the reader did not like one. single. thing about my book. Ouch.) And though the critiques have been at times overwhelming, I'm relieved to have feedback I connect with and direction for making my story even better.

I know my kids have been picking up on my stress this week. Gracie has been slipping me more love notes with big fat kisses on them than usual.

How much do I love my kids? There aren't enough words in the world to answer that question.

Enjoy your weekend, folks! I'm going to be drinking lots of coffee, listening to lots of music, going on lots of walks with the girls to feed my muse, all the while thinking long and hard on how to tame my beast of a book.

It's going to be a great weekend!

xoxo,

Um. Whoops.

Two things to know about me:

1. I'm as easily distracted as a two-year-old.

2. I'm big into paper recycling.

(item number 3 would be that I'm irresponsible, but my list is only two things long, so I'll just go ahead and leave that little tidbit off...)

I was digging through my notes the other day, searching through piles and piles of messy, scribbly junk for a tiny snip of dialogue which I wrote down after it passed through my head months ago... and though I didn't find that dialogue, I did find this paper amongst my notes: A cable disconnection notice covered in ideas for one of my stories. (using the Spanish side in case the English side had, you know, important information I might need.)

Yeaaaaah. *facepalm*

This paper sums me up perfectly, I'm afraid. Seriously, my poor husband deserves a Husband-of-the-Year Award. He deserves an award every year - heck, every month. This notice was from back in October, and I'm pretty sure things went down just like this:

Scene I

WILL [holding mail]: Marisa, did you pay Suddenlink?

MARISA: Yup, I just paid it. Last week, I think.

WILL: Sooooo.... why do we have a disconnection notice?

MARISA: Um... let me see that. [studies notice] Wait, maybe it was last month that I paid it.

WILL [raises brow]: ....

MARISA [weakly]: I'll go pay this now.

Will leaves room, Marisa reaches for phone. SUDDENLY a story idea flies into Marisa's head. After scrambling for a pen, Marisa writes idea over the most readily available paper item. Smiling and patting herself on the back, Marisa then files paper away for later reference and leaves her studio.

End Scene

Scene II

Several days later.

WILL: OUR CABLE ISN'T WORKING!

MARISA: Um. Whoops. [reaches for phone]

End Scene.

Maybe one day I'll write the book that the disconnection notice notes are for. And maybe that book will be super awesome and publishable, and I'll sell it and make back the money for all my disconnection fees. That would be nice.

In the meantime, I have three bills that must get paid this week, so I think I better be responsible and grab that phone before any more story ideas come into my head...

xoxo,

Celebrations and Angst

(Here's ch. 8, scene 1 of my book in pretty word cloud form
Ooooh, pretty!)

I hit a milestone in my book revision the other day and I'm still high off the fumes.

I am 1/3 of the way done with my revision!

YAY! *throws confetti*

*runs around in it*

*falls down, exhausted*

It's a good thing I write YA, because it's really easy to channel my inner teen in order to write my characters - the more time I spend on this book the more like an uncertain, emotional fifteen-year-old I feel.

I knew revision was going to be hard. Heck, writing my monster of a book was hard and when I was done, I could already see just how much of the beginning needed to be run through a shredder and rewritten. And the salvageable parts were begging to be hacked up with an ice pick.

Not to mention I'm slow. Sloooooooow. I often find myself pulling out my hair, drinking too much coffee, my eyes, bright red, bugged out of my skull as I focus all my attention on one stupid paragraph for hours and hours and hours, days and days and days. And then deleting it when I'm done because it still isn't right.

I'm trying to accept the fact that I'm a slow reviser. Just as I'm still trying to accept the fact that I'm a slow writer. So many of my writer friends can whip out 8o thousand word books, tear through their revisions, nail their query letter, and dance as their inboxes fill with agent request for full manuscripts, all in the time it takes me to angst over a couple of measly chapters. Ones that I'll probably end up deleting anyway.

It's amazing how easy it is to get discouraged. When I let myself think about how much time I've spent on this book and how little (it feels) I have to show for it, I just want to curl into a ball and scream, "WHY! When will this END?! Am I INSANE?!?"

This is usually when I decide to take a break and step away from the computer before I start smashing things... and this is also usually when I have an epiphany or two, and 3.5 seconds later, you'll find me dancing around the house, shouting, "I figured it out!" Followed by me singing the Hallelujah chorus (which is more frightening than it sounds, as I am a little tone deaf).

And what helps keep me going the strongest on the days when I just want to toss my book into an incinerator and never look at it again: seeing my writer friends tearing though their books, celebrating their own writing and revision milestones, not quitting when their goings get tough. I'm excited for them, and I can't wait until I'm that excited for me. And the idea of future agent full manuscript requests - well, I try not to focus too hard on that, especially as I'm only just revising, but you better believe it's the light at the end of the tunnel and I can't wait to get there someday.

*throws more confetti*

For now, I'm going to take a few more minutes celebrating my 1/3 complete milestone.

And then it's back to work, because this book certainly isn't revising itself. Although I'm still hoping it one day will.

xoxo,

First Impressions & Not Being A Big Fat Chicken

You Can Handle Anything - 8.5 x 11 art print
by Kathy R. Jeffords of Think About Rainbows & The Dreamy Giraffe

So... I decided in January, that 2011 is the year Marisa stops being a big fat chicken. BA-GOCK!

It's not easy. I'm really great at being a big fat chicken. But when it comes to writing, putting on my big girl pants and stepping outside of my comfort zone is kinda necessary... especially as I'm trucking through the revisions of my book, knowing that querying agents is just around the corner (eek!).

So, when Dianne Salerni (author of WE HEAR THE DEAD) and Marcy Hatch announced that they'll be doing a series of First Impressions posts on their blogs - taking the first pages of volunteered manuscripts and critiquing them publicly - I thought, "Oh, how BRAVE are all those folks who send their first page!" Then I thought, for only a second, "Hmmmm... maybe I should be brave, too." And before I could think on that and lose my nerve, I copy & pasted my first page and emailed it to Dianne.

And as soon as I pressed send, I thought, "Nooooo! Abort abort! Give me my email back, I changed my mind!" BA-GOCK!

Well, my email wasn't aborted, and today is my First Impressions day, so if you're interested in seeing two critiques of the prologue for the YA (young adult) urban fantasy story I've been pecking away at for the last year and a half, head on over to Dianne's blog In High Spirits and Marcy's blog Maine Words, and take a look.

Am I glad I put on my big girl pants and sent my first page to Dianne and Marcy? YOU BET.

A huge THANK YOU to the both of them for taking the time to critique my first page!

xoxo,