GUTGAA Meet and Greet

A shout out from NYC. I've joined in on the fun of Gearing Up to Get An Agent run by Deana Barnhart on her blog. You can sign up there too, or through the Linky at the end of this post. Have a full manuscript just waiting to be seen by agents? Jump in! It looks like it will be a lot of fun and could end with great news.

For the first day of this event, Deana posted some questions for us to answer. Fun! So, here's a bit about myself.

-Where do you write? 

I write on my laptop most often on my couch, sometime in bed while my husband watches a movie. When I'm in the concept stage, I use a Composition Notebook (I like purple best, but the color varies) and a Pilot pen (also multiple color choices), because the ink flows smooth and quickly to keep up with my brain. I can take those anywhere, and I often write while my dog plays in the dog run in the park across the street.

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

My fish tank with a ton of fish. Our convict fish had babies a while back and now the fish tank is quite full and active. Anyone want some fish? UPDATE: A pair of convicts have had another batch of babies. Are you sure you don't want some fish?

-Favorite time to write? 

I don't really have a favorite time, I have time when I can write. That is to say I get to write during the week after I've finished my day job, which is designing toys and products with my husband. My weekends are big writing days.

-Drink of choice while writing?

Coffee, if I get to write in the morning. Otherwise, it doesn't  matter. The occasional beer will do for writing in the evenings after work.

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

Ha! This one cracks me up. In my house, we pretty much always have movies playing or a TV series (Star Trek -- all of the different series, Battle Star Galactica -- the original, Babylon 5, or on those more light-hearted days the cartoon series Avatar, to name a few). We have almost 1,000 movies. 

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

My fist novel is a middle grade historical fiction set in in the early 1900s in a small coal mining town in Utah. I got stuck on my second novel and couldn't find the ending. So I put it aside. I started a fantasy novel based on Native American legends (which I'm still working on). One day the first novel ran into the fantasy novel inside my head and, bam! the second story became unstuck and transformed into something different -- a small coal mining town, Thunderbirds, mystery, adventure, and a girl trying to find her place in all of that. Perfect. This new idea came just in time for me to participate in my first NanoWrimo and win. About six (thousand, ha!) drafts later, it is done and now known as, Thunderbird Dreams. Most of the time I have had a ton of fun writing it and hope others will have fun reading it.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?

Hmm, I guess I'd have to say, don't worry about sucking. Get that first draft down and have fun with it. Hey, if you're not having fun at least some of the time, then why are you doing it? Also, as the title of my blog says, celebrate the little things. I personal rejection is a good thing. It means you're making progress. Keep going.