On Operation Awesome Today

I'm over on Operation Awesome today with a post on finding inspiration for fictional settings in real-life places. Places like this:

 

Go check it out! And don't forget about the Mystery Agent Contest on Operation Awesome May 1st!
More interior pictures of the castle in my gallery here.

More Photo Inspiration for Crow's Rest

Whenever we travel, it just makes me love where we live even more. Not because traveling is such a nightmare, but because we live in a place with beautiful vistas: rivers, lakes, mountains, rolling hills, quaint historic towns, and only a few hours from the Pacific coast.

Makes perfect sense that I would choose to set my WIP in a Sierra foothill town, albeit a made-up one. Crow's Rest is a thinly-veiled amalgam of several foothill towns, some of which can be surprisingly urbane. Not urban, mind you, which is part of their charm, but with fabulous restaurants and impressive locally grown wines.

One such town is now a state historic park, and I used to be a docent there about a decade ago. We went back recently and the pictures I took are the perfect subjects for a photo essay (click on each one to see it bigger):

An overview of the town nestled along the American River

Detail of the oak trees with their woolly fall coat of moss

One of the historic churches

A springhouse along the trail

 And my favorite foothill find--historic cemeteries!


Hope you enjoyed this vicarious trip!

RTW: Photo Essay Question

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What images inspire/ represent your WIP or favorite book?

We did one of these for our RTW in July 2011, so I'll post different inspiring pics this time:









And that's enough inspiration for one post! Don't forget to go to the comments on the YA Highway RTW post to see everyone else's answers!

P.S. I'm still taking donations for the Pens for Paws Auction, so press that purple button in the sidebar to check it out. Thanks!

RTW: Double Take

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors and followers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on their blogs. You can hop from destination to destination through the YA Highway site and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This week's topic: What SNI (shiny new idea) were you psyched to work on, but discovered it was too close to something already done?

The instance that really made me worry was when someone on Absolute Write made a comment about how my Spirits from the Vasty Deep description sounded like the Bloody Jack series--I rushed over to Amazon and read the blurb, which only deepened my worry into panic. There were some major similarities in their maritime adventures . . . But once I got my hands on Bloody Jack, it was obvious that the two books were completely different in tone, scope, and language. Whew!

They share a 19th century setting and a clever, sometimes saucy main character, but that was about it. Not even really enough similarities to use it as a comp title (the two I use are The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and the Blossom Culp books), but I think readers that enjoy one might enjoy the other.

But my teenaged attempts at novels were definitely straddling the line between an homage and outright fan fiction, though I couldn't see it at the time. I think that's part of finding your voice, trying on other people's to see how they fit, and for a while I was Piers Anthony, Robert Asprin, Sheri Tepper, Tanith Lee, Robin McKinley, and so on. And all in one book, I might add. Ouch.

What about you, have you ever poured your heart and soul into a book, only to discover someone else beat you to it? Don't forget to go to the comments on the YA Highway RTW post to see everyone else's answers!

Return to Preston Castle

I talked up the inspiration, Preston Castle, for the setting of my current WIP so much that our YA crit group decided to take a road trip there. And one junior member accompanied his mom, as you can see.



(Photo courtesy of Christina Mercer)It was a rainy, gray day, the perfect weather for a haunted castle. There were way more people than I expected, and I kind of longed for the days when I've been in there by myself, or nearly by myself. I'd never taken an official tour before, though, so it was nice to see that side of it.

Afterwards, we drove up to the graveyard where my WIP, Crow's Rest, starts out. Too wet to get out of the car, so we moved on to another little foothill town and did some shopping and had lunch.

These are the days when I know that I've made lifelong friends from our little crit group! And watch for an interview on next Monday with one of my crit partners, and I'll also be giving away a copy of her first book to a lucky winner!

Here's a bonus video of the interior of the castle:

A Neurotic's New Year's Eve

Having previously offered a glimpse into how my mind works/dreams, I thought I'd offer up what keeps me awake at night. You know, like on New Year's Eve when I got woken at midnight by neighborhood revelers (after not even attempting to stay up past our Long-Married Couple's Customary Bedtime) and then couldn't get back to sleep right away.

Here is what I thought about:

Remember that episode of "Friends" where you have a list of 10 celebrities that you can sleep with if given the opportunity, without it being cheating on your partner? So what if I ever did get the opportunity to sleep with Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman, or Vampire Bill Compton (uh huh, fictional characters totally count) and they're in a relationship?

What if I'm not on their list? Would it be considered stalking behavior or charming behavior if I sent them a tweet right now that says, "I will rock your world, or at least skew it slightly. Add me to your list RIGHT NOW." I'm kind of afraid I'd end up on some kind of banned list instead.

And then I did get back to sleep, only to be woken later by a slithering sensation across my feet--exactly like a giant centipede would feel if it was step-step-stepping across them. I sat bolt upright in bed, to see my bleary-eyed cat stretched full length (he is approx. 3 ft. long in that position) across the foot of the bed, with his front paws over my feet.

Whew, it's just the cat. I can lay back down and go to sleep. But then it occurred to me, what if it really was a giant centipede and the cat's paws were over my feet because he'd sleepily batted at its retreating pincers? And what if the centipede is just waiting for me to drop my guard so it can lay eggs in my belly button?

I tell you, a writer's imagination is truly a blessing and a curse.

Inspirational Silliness Explained

Thought this would be a good time to explain the Inspirational Silliness on the sidebar. First, it should be said that some of the content on both the sites is for mature audiences.

The reason why I read them on a near-daily basis is that they are so stimulating to the writing part of my brain. How could you fail to be inspired by such gems as these from Sleeptalkin' Man (I picked some cleaner ones):

Stop the cows! They're licking everything!

Ninjas in stilettos. Fashion assassins! Not so stealthy, but oh so stylish.

Oh, I could be rummaging around in here for ages, I'm never going to find some zebra ears!


And then with Cake Wrecks, some of the cakes are done well but not well thought out. I love to imagine the thought processes of the person that ordered the cakes (0r made them, for that matter). And what kind of conversations would you overhear at a wedding where the bride demands a day-glo Beanie Baby cake like this one ?

Try a writing exercise with the Beanie Baby cake--what does the groom really think of that cake? And what words did the bride use when she was trying to describe her vision to the baker? Was the result exactly what she wanted?