not your ordinary princess: March 2012

Thursday, March 8, 2012

coming soon!

I don't think it's a secret anymore that I'm attempting to be a writer. I guess that's not true. I AM a writer, I'm attempting to become a published author.

For the past two years, I have particiapted in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and last year was awesome because I met some really great people. Those of us who are really serious about getting into good writing habits have decided to stick around in the "off season" to support each other. Last month we decided to do a mini NaNo and write 20,000 words of fiction. I completed that challenge.

This month we are giving writing prompts each week and then writing a short story based on the prompt we chose. Last week, a girl posted a prompt asking to write a story about a girl's summer vacation during 1969. I loved the idea and immediately started looking for a story to tell. Unfortuantely I couldn't quite come up with anything that I was overly thrilled with. So I decided to ask people who were actually alive in '69, and let the idea simmer in the back of my brain.

I then turned my attentions to a short story I started last year after a good friend of mine issued me a personal challenge. She asked me to write about the perfect relationship or an ideal relationship. It's grown and evolved since then and I now have a working plot for that story. With a new direction, I am excited to go ahead and finally finish that one.

After I finish this older short story, I will start my research for my 1969 piece. My dad gave me the great idea of highlighting the death of the idealistic 60's and the free love movement. It's an idea that is right up my alley and I am super excited to start it in the next couple of days.

After that I am either going to start working on my novel again, or I am going to do some plotting/planning for last year's NaNo piece. I think it could be turned into a relatively good contemporary romance series. I want to flesh out my characters and my fictional town of King's Mountain.

I have so much I want to write. Sometimes I wish I could just think it and it would be on paper because my hands can't keep up with the ideas flowing in my brain.

Health, Peace, & Happiness
lindsayallison

Saturday, March 3, 2012

new year, new look

Well, I decided it was time for another facelift for the blog.

I had decided to expand the colors in my wardrobe this year as I start buying smaller sizes. I wanted more bright colors in my closet. So in keeping with that frame of mind I chose this much brighter, cleaner, and easier to read format. I had tried to make this thing look "cool" and like it had a lot to offer with multiple columns and stuff. But when I sat down to update this tonight I felt like it was just too much. I'm a simple kind of girl (okay, so not really but we can pretend, right?) and so a simple look is what I need.

I think I am going to like this a lot. I hope that it's easy to navigate and that you can really get a feel for who I am and what I'm up to. I think with all the side bars you can easily keep up with what I'm working on as far as reading and writing goes.

I don't have a lot more to update you on than that. New year, new look! I've changed my hair color, I'm losing weight, and I'm powering through with positive thinking!

Until next time!

Health, Peace, & Happiness,
lindsayallison

What I'm Reading...

Here is the complete honest truth: I have not read a novel in some time. I have a pile of books I want to read. Most are old titles of Karen Hawkins (What did you expect?) that have been collecting dust and diet coke cans for a couple of months.

As I bought three more books today, I realized that I need to actually read these things. It’s important for writers to spend time reading as well. You have to be caught up on what the market is trending, what readers are reading, and what is making and impact and what isn’t.

I have been so bad about this. It’s appalling really.

I used to bring a book with me to work to read during my lunch break. It was great. THEN I got a smart phone and started spending time on that during lunch instead of reading. I think this needs to stop. I really need to spend my time appropriately and reading some of these novels I keep spending money on.

So that’s the new plan then. I am going to pick up that novel I’ve started three times and keep putting down and actually finish it. I think it’s also time that I expand my favorite authors list. I need to read more than two authors on a regular basis I think.

What I'm Working On...

I have been working on lots of different things lately.

January I was working on some old projects that I don't care to spend a lot of time talking about.

As part of a writing group that was formed during last year's National Novel Writing Month, I was part of a writing challenge for the month of February. We came up with a 20K challenge. Yes, that's right. We wanted to write 20,000 words in the little month of February.

I spent most of February working on THE novel, "The Curious Tales of Lost Girls." This novel is a dark piece and it's really hard to get these words out. So the fact that this thing is about half done is quite a huge relief to me at the moment. I have a love/hate relationship with this novel at the moment.

Because it's so dark, that once I completed the 20K, I moved on. I edited/revised an old short story entitled, "Far Away." You can find the short story in its entirety posted on this blog. It's a sappy, romantic piece that I wrote a couple of years ago. I am so pleased with the final product.

After that I moved on to a "novellette" that I started a couple of years ago called "Home for the Holidays." I am happy that it's finished. I am NOT happy with the words it contains. It's currently a piece of crap and so I will let it simmer for a bit before I start the editing/revising process on that one.

Now that March has started, the group has come up with another challenge. Short stories from writing prompts! One per week! I'm currently finishing an old short story (it only had 400 words) while I let my "real" short story for this week form in my head. The first one is another sappy, romantic one about soulmates.

I haven't completely decided on what this new short story is going to be about yet. The writing prompt was "It's 1969, you're 17 and normally quiet and reserved. How did you spend your summer vacation?" I think the title is going to just be "1969". I like the simplicity of it. I know I want to write about a young woman, but I'm not sure where to go beyond that. There was so much going on that year! But what to throw her into?

Character of the Month

Kallista James has been on her own for pretty much her entire life. When Kallista was born, her parents had not been ready for a child. They had been very young and wanted to continue their partying ways, so they did.

At the age of five years old, Kallista met the girl who would become her lifelong best friend, Jade Bennett. It didn’t take long before Jade’s parents realized Kallista’s home life left something to be desired and they took her under their wing. Kallista flourished like never before in the Bennett household. She was close with the whole family, including Jade’s older brother, Chris.

When Kallista was sixteen, her parents were killed in a car accident. In a moment of intense grief, she found comfort with Chris. After sharing an intense kiss, Chris confesses his feelings for her. Before the teenagers can explore their feelings, a fight with his parents sends Chris packing, swearing never to return.

Kallista moved on. She dedicated herself to her schoolwork and to her photography. After graduation, she made a name for herself as a photographer. When she goes home for a summer vacation, she finds herself face to face Chris once more. Now all the feelings she thought she was over have resurfaced and she must find a way to deal with them and him before disaster strikes.