News & Help & YA Highway: Road Trip Wednesday

Before I start YA Highway for this week, a quick piece of news and plea for help:

I have been asked to join a LOVELY bunch of ladies contributing to a blog about writing called The Writer Diaries (also tweeting here). It's not YA specific in case you are wondering, it's a group of fantastic ladies (I am by far the LEAST AWESOME of the AWESOME on offer) hoping to bring fresh ideas and some writerly secrets to the table.

It launches this Saturday so PLEASE come visit us / promote us - help us out ;)

Onto YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday where the topic is: 

Imagine you get to open your own bookstore. What would it look like? What kinds of books would you sell?


Awesome question. Mine would have wooden bookshelves and comfy sofas. There would be a tea shop. People would be encouraged to browse, to sit and read, to put their feed up with a piece of cake and cup of tea. Experts in the genre would be available to help advise people, a walking talking 'if you bought ___ you'd like ____'. I'd sell all kinds of books, but of course have a great YA section.

 I'd have a 'bookswap' section where people could bring and leave a book. I'd run a book club.

I'd encourage people to write reviews on cards and leave them by books. I'd want people to chat about books. I want this bookshop now!

In the meantime, I'm making a tea and putting my feet up. Cheers!

What does your bookshop look like?

Writing Chat: The Sound of Silence

Before I go into my writing chat for the day, if you are interested please go to my post and sign up to 'Celebrate the Small Things' on Friday. With new added badge. Cheers me dears.

I am envious of people who speak with excitement about their writing playlists. What fun it must be making them up, and putting them on to get you 'in the zone'.

See, I cannot listen to music while writing. Am I the only one?

When I focus on something, I REALLY FOCUS. If I am writing, Ryan Gosling (or say Jensen Ackles, or Jack off Revenge) could do the naked highland fling in front of me, and I would not notice. Half an hour later I'd be all 'Huh? Ryan, did you want something?'

If I put music on, I either:

a) won't hear it. This may be the point, you may say. You don't listen to it, but it helps get you in the zone. It's there, informing the words. The atmosphere. Perhaps, but it's more likely it's just annoying my neighbours, or that
b) I will listen to the music instead. The music becomes my sole focus, and I am not writing any more.

Therefore I tend to write in silence. Maybe the TV on SUPER QUIET, also not being paid attention to (Ryan, Jensen and Jack (Nick? I think the actor's called Nick) can watch it, while I'm ignoring them).

This doesn't mean music doesn't inspire me. Of course it does. I listen to a song and it sparks off an idea. Lyrics especially inspire me. I love songs which tell a story (Stereophonics 'Local Boy in the Photograph' gets me every time) or songs which inspire a mood (Florence and the Machine do this I find). I watch or read Twilight and I COMPLETELY SEE the influence of Muse. I can see that she listened to them.

Music inspires me, but I don't listen to it while I write. Maybe I could playlist for inspiration while out and about, but in the meantime the sound of silence accompanies me.

Am I the only one? How does music inform your writing?

Celebrate the Small Things: Join Me

Thanks to all those who voted in my polls regarding a new feature.

I'd like to announce a weekly post to:

Celebrate the Small Things.

How it works:

1) Sign up on the linky list below.

2) Each Friday, post in your blog something you wish to celebrate achieving / doing that week.

It can be writing related: I finished a tricky chapter! I finished my outline!
It can be reading related: I read two books!
It can be life related: I tidied my sock drawer! My child finally ate something green! I cleaned the shed!

Whatever you like.

2A) Use the Badge! :)

3) Hop around other blogs and offer congratulations/a pat on the back to other people. If everyone visits at least a few other blogs, we'll all have some congratulations.

4) Feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I would also REALLY appreciate it if people could please advertise this, at least at first, so we have a few peeps joining in. It should be fairly low maintenance week to week, and feel free to include your celebration item within a post covering other topics.

This is the code for the badge.

Also: let me know how this is going. It was a toss up between weekly and fortnightly in the votes. I went for weekly as fortnightly leads to the 'is it an on or off week' confusion but if it feels better, we can always drop it down to fortnightly.

I have put the linky list as open for the whole year, but will revisit after a couple of months, see if anybody is joining in.

I vote we sign up this week, and begin next week!

Please do join in, let's celebrate those small achievements! :)

Here's the sign up:

RT Wednesday: Goals for 2013

Today I am joining in Road Trip Wednesday over at http://www.yahighway.com/. The topic is: 

What are your goals for the new year---for reading, writing, or other?

My goal and word for the year is positivity. I refuse to sweat the small stuff.

My goals writing wise are to finish the revisions on this WIP and complete my draft/WIP of my YA Contemp + 1 other draft. We'll see how I go there. I usually write YA but I have an idea for an adult thriller which I may have to try and plan or draft at some point. We'll see. I want to focus on the YA in progress first.

I read quite a bit last year, so I want to carry on doing that.

How about you? What are your goals?

New Blog Schedule incl. Plugging You and Celebrations

Hello Dear Peoples of the Internet.

As part of my blogging this year, I want to keep to a regular schedule. I will know when I'm posting, and hopefully people will know when to visit.

The aim therefore, will be as follows:

Monday: Chit Chat about Writing (including WriteMotivation in months where I have time to join in).
Wednesday: BlogHop posts for IWSG, YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesday and other bloghops which happen. Also joining in other people's launches etc.
Friday: Celebrate the Small Things Blog Hop: Weekly, launching this Friday) and thanks to those who voted.

I hope these posts feel like things people will read, and I hope they prove useful/interesting. This won't be a strict schedule - if an ace bloghop happens on a Monday obviously I'll join in that, and there may be some Wednesdays where I am not able to join in anything. However, I will keep to it as much as I can!

For the Wednesday bloghop, I like joining in IWSG and YA Highway, so will endeavour to do that but also: if you, dear reader, have a book launch, or new blog launch, or blog tour, or cover reveal, let me know. Even if it doesn't quite fit in with my Wednesday schedule I'd be happy to move that post for the week to help plug! Just drop me a comment and we can organise.

I hope this will be interesting for people to read, I'm excited to get started! I have seen people discussing their word for 2013 and mine is 'positivity'. I blogged about positivity for IWSG this week (here) and decided that will be my word of this year! Let me know yours.

Anyway I choose to be positive that this will be a good blogging year!

New Feature: Celebrate The Small Things

I am going to have a new feature on my blog: Celebrate The Small Things.

This was the winner of the poll to select a new feature - thanks everyone who voted. The idea of this is that we all celebrate the small achievements: finishing that chapter, or clearing out that cupboard!

This could work a number of ways, but I envisage that we post what we achieved this week, and congratulate each other so we share each other's joy. I would not have to be writing related. It could be I finished a tough piece of work at work, or got my child to eat something green at last. Any of the small achievements in life worth celebrating! :)

I would love it if you could help me decide how often this should be: every week, fortnightly (every two weeks), monthly.

Also is it best if it works in the comments to my post - so we all comment what we achieved and hopefully come back and congratulate others too, or bloghop around a few blogs congratulating each other? In which case we post what we achieved in our own blogs.

Please vote for what you think would work best below, if you think you'd join in...and thanks very much in advance if you think you might.! I'll be back next monday announcing my new schedule!

Celebrate the Small Things:

IWSG: Positivity for 2013

The first posting of the year for Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

This year I aim for positivity. I have my insecurities, and I accept them. I doubt that I'm good enough, creative enough, generally enough. Instead of kicking myself for those insecurities and trying to get rid of them, I am going to use these doubts positively. If I worry I am not good enough, I'll work harder. I'll write more. I'll take advice, give advice. The only reason to let those doubts in, is to let them fuel improvement and pushing me forward, not pulling me back.

That's my resolution for 2013: I'm going to be positive. I'm going to celebrate the small achievements (and I'll have a post about that as a regular feature on my blog tomorrow.) I'm going to celebrate when I make a chapter work, when I overcome a worry.

What are your resolutions? Are you going to join me in positivity and celebrating the small things this year?