Time of My Life

“I carried a watermelon.” Baby did just that and so did I this past weekend in Virginia at the Dirty Dancing Weekend! Remember that famous line in the movie that Baby says to Johnny when they first meet? If you love this movie like I do, you have probably seen it a zillion times like me. How many of you devoted fans know where the movie was filmed? I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t in the Catskills.

Oh the Places our Stories Will Take Us

So, as I begin to hammer out and diligently revise my first draft, I realized my characters were calling out to me that the plot I chose to throw them in needs to more interesting and unique. And they need conflict. Without it, their story would be dull and uninteresting.  And real life certainly isn’t like that. I mean, we all have conflict and goals that drive us at some point in our lives right? Well gosh darn it, so should my characters.

Pennwriter’s Conference

So, this past weekend I attended the Pennwriters’ Writers’ Conference in Lancaster, PA. Being that it was my first conference, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Although a little nervous at first, I didn’t allow that to hold me back from talking to other writers, agents and editors.

New Year, New Beginnings

Here we are in 2012. Another year over, a new one begins. As I watched the ball drop on New Year’s Eve, I wondered what the heck happened to 2011. As I look back at 2011, I can remember it being summer and many areas in the country were hit with two hurricanes, Irene and Lee, and many of us experienced, but survived flooded homes and neighborhoods.  Then autumn arrived along with unseasonably warm temperatures. When Halloween came, a fluke snow storm hit in parts of the East Coast.  In between all the natural disasters and unpredictable weather, were many news and entertainment events that happened. From the death of Bin Laden and Kim Jong-il to the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate, there were also three major trials in the news: Casey Anthony, Amanda Knox and Conrad Murray. On the political spectrum, the main topic of course was the fall of the economy and many of us were asking if and when it would recover and whether we would lose our jobs. As we enter 2012, these questions are still lingering in our minds and we are still faced with uncertainty. As we look back on 2011 and the major world and national events that transpired and impacted our lives, we can now move forward and look forward to new beginnings.  Now that we’re into the New Year, how many of us made New Year’s resolutions?

Bringing childhood back to our lives

After spending a couple days with my sister, brother in law and their two kids I’m beginning to see the joy children can bring to our lives. As I watched my niece and nephew interact with each other and us, it amazed me how much they know and learn at such an early age. And they find happiness and fun in the most simplest things, such as playing with toys and watching cartoons. At one point during their visit, they had toys to play with but instead chose to play with coasters I had sitting on the table and other things laying around my house. It was cute to watch them pretend  and use their imagination with the coasters and just enjoy themselves.

Movie remakes

Last week while checking the daily news sites,  I came to the entertainment section online and noticed one of the top headlines that caught my attention. “Lionsgate to remake Dirty Dancing.” Was I reading it correctly? A major movie studio wants to remake one of the best and beloved movies of all time with Kenny Ortega, who choregraphed the original, as director of the new one.

Borders is closing…is this the end to all bookstores?

Well folks, sorry I’ve been away for so long. I’ve been busy working on my first draft while also working a full time day job and juggling other personal stuff. But I’m back and I will try to update every week or couple weeks if I can. If anyone has any ideas of topics or would like me to blog about something of interest to you, please let me know.

I’m sure most of you have already heard the news. Borders is closing its doors. And by September they will all be out of business. When I first heard about this, part of me wasn’t surprised. I knew it would probably go out of business sooner or later. With competition from Amazon and e-Readers, Borders surviving the battle of retail stores to online and electronic sales, their demise was inevitable.

Which version is best?

Ok, maybe I’m overthinking it, but there are so many directions I can take the story but can’t seem to pick one.

Here are some possible versions or scenarios I’ve come up with? Which one do you like the best?

1) Kaleb comes home and finds his mother beaten on the floor and her boyfriend, Brad dead. Kaleb runs away. He has a history with the police, got into trouble as a juvenile but now is an adult and still feels they have something  against him. Chance arrives to the same scene except he realizes Kaleb is gone. Police target Kaleb as a suspect. Chance begins his own investigation to find out who killed Brad and why and prove his brother’s innocence. Detective plays a major part and has a personal connection to Kaleb.

2) Chance gets a call from his mother, Abigail that Brad is dead and Kaleb is missing. She asks him to come home  right away. Chance and Abigail work together to find out who killed Brad and why while also proving Kaleb is innocent. Abigail wants to repair the strained relationships with her sons at the same time. Brad was abusive to Abigail but everyone else that knew him thought he was a good guy and was well-respected. A politician or local official perhaps?

3) Chance is on his way to see his brother in prison, who he hasn’t seen in quite a while. Kaleb was convicted of killing their mother’s boyfriend, Brad. But he maintains his innocence. Chance works to prove his innocence and find out the truth while also fixing his relationship with his family.

So from these three versions, which one sounds most interesting or unique? What do you like most? Least?

I think I just need to pick one and stick with it. If it doesn’t work later, I can always go back and change it. It’s not set in stone. But I could really use  your help.

This is my current dilemma. Please help!!

Start of my journey

After being stuck for a few weeks or so on where to go next with my story, I started just writing out of order. When I would write chapter by chapter, I would suddenly run into road blocks where I didn’t know where to go next. So far with my new strategy I am able to continue writing more scenes that I will paste into the book in the right places.

In order to keep motivated and not become discouraged, I have adopted the attitude that I shouldn’t obsess about little details right now for the first draft. Whatever doesn’t make sense or needs ironed out I can focus on that on my second draft.

So, that’s where I am at so far. I have about 35 pages done now. If anyone has any pointers to help me stay on track, let me know. I will try and stay positive and not lose confidence in my ability to achieve this goal.

When I post my next blog, I will include snidbits of scenes from my book, so I can get some feedback and constructive criticism from my readers.

Well,  now on to the next phase of my journey.

Journey into my first novel

Okay, so I decided what my next few posts will be. In the next couple months, I am going to give updates on my progress of my first novel  that I’m working on that I hope to turn into a published book one day.  Right now it’s still in the beginning stages, ironing out all the holes and gaps, creating an outline and developing my characters. I want everyone both suscribers and visitors to follow me on this journey to make a dream happen and help guide me in the right direction when I feel like I’m going off course.

It will be a challenging and fun adventure along the way for all of us and I hope you’ll join me in this endeavor. Wish me luck and I look forward to hearing everyone’s feedback during this process!

Part 1 to come soon!