Want more info?  Click here.  And if you have a WordPress.com blog and want an easy way to black it out, click here.

Sporadic blogging will resume Thursday!

Aaaaaanyway, it’s time for YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday. This week’s topic:

If you couldn’t use your own name, what would your pseudonym or penname be?

It’s like these people are reading my mind! I’ve been pondering pen names for a long time now.

If/when I ever get published, do I use my real name? If yes, then which one? I’m legally an Amanda, but I go by Mandy. My last name is Aguilar (clearly Hispanic), but my maiden name is Spain (clearly… nothing?), and I’m white. What about my middle name – does it figure in anywhere?

So, if you do the math (note: not a mathematician), there are at least 12 possible names I could adopt simply by using my first and middle names plus my last name and maiden names.

So many decisions.

I mean, I could just use my Wu-Tang Clan name: Fearless Mastermind.

Or my pirate name: Fineglin’ Wally Bonny.

Or even my Hobbit name: Lila Boggy-Hillocks.

Of those three, I think the hobbit one is my favorite.

Wait, is there a romance novelist name generator??? *Googles*

Ah yes, here’s one. My name: Lavender Garden (I chose “sweet romance”).

Maybe I should stick with Mandy. Or maybe Mandy Boggy-Hillocks. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Well, that.

My life is littered with half-finished projects.  Scarves that are partially crocheted, needlework still on the hoop, a library only halfway cataloged, diet plans abandoned.  And then there are my novels, the things I’ve sweated blood over, that are all in a perpetual state of work-in-progress or still-editing or please-don’t-ask-me,-I’m-too-ashamed-to-say-I-haven’t-worked-on-it.

As part of my non-resolution to “be a better person” this year, I’m setting goals for myself as a writer, hoping that they will help me think positively and stay on track.  Too often, I get off track and then beat myself up over it.  No more of that, says New 2012 Me.

To that end, here are my three major projects and the goals I’m setting:

YA Novel 1: My contemporary YA novel (2008) and its unfinished sequel (2009), which are now being combined into one book.  The first book has been transferred into Scrivener, and I’ve been tinkering with it on and off for several years.  I got discouraged with the rewriting process, probably because I didn’t really know what I was doing, and so I didn’t work on it as diligently as I should.  Then, several months ago, I had a small epiphany about the timeline of the story and decided to incorporate major plot points from the sequel into the first book.  This change will up the stakes and tension, and I think it puts the novel firmly in the coming-of-age category.  I’m in the process of importing those sections into Scrivener and rearranging the outline.  That project was put on hold while I wrote my adult novel, but I’m now very anxious to see how it looks when it’s all put together.
New draft into readers’ hands: January 31, 2012
Query-able draft ready: April 1, 2012

(And you know what?  If it turns out that I still can’t get a query-ready draft out of this thing, I’ll put it in a freaking drawer.)

Adult Novel 1: My most recently finished work from NaNoWriMo 2011.  Right now, the rough draft is in the hands of four readers.  I’ve received feedback from one so far (thanks Kristen!), and it was very positive.  I know I have a lot of work to do fleshing the book out, but my reader thinks it’s got great commercial potential.  I agree with her (by the way, positive thinking is one of my goals for this year!).  I haven’t begun rewriting in earnest yet, but I am ruminating a lot on what I’d like to add while the feedback rolls in.
New draft into readers’ hands:  February 29, 2012
Query-able draft ready: June 1, 2012

YA Novel 2: My semi-paranormal contemporary YA novel, begun in 2010 and currently on hiatus.  I still really love this concept, but I am determined to finish decent drafts of my other two books before diving into this one again.  My goal is to start work on it again mid-year.
First draft into readers’ hands: December 31, 2012
Query-able draft ready: TBA

I don’t know whether these goals are too ambitious, not ambitious enough, or what.  I’m still very much a novice when it comes to these kinds of things.  I don’t want to send a complete load of crap to agents, but I also don’t want my manuscripts to languish on my computer for years and years while I debate whether to change a sentence or not.

The other reason I’m setting these goals is that I want to be ready for the Writers’ League of Texas Agents Conference at the end of June.  I’m determined to go this year, and I’ll have pitches and samples and business cards and everything.  Until then, I’m focusing on networking and learning as much as possible about agents and publishing options.  I’ll be attending book clubs and meet-ups and write-ins.   I’ll even be presenting a moderated talk about YA Fiction through my writing program.  More on that to come, when the details are ironed out.

Sticking to these deadlines will be hard.  There are any number of roadblocks in my path.  I have a full-time job, a husband, friends and family, and other hobbies.  I’m also a pathological procrastinator (is that a thing?  I think it’s a thing).  Like many other writers, I suffer from anxiety and depression (mild, thank God), and while it’s getting better, it’s never really gone.  My roadblocks are certainly not unique, but they are mine.

But like so many of the writers I admire, I will push past those hurdles.  When I fall, I’ll pick myself up and limp along with a bloody knee until the next obstacle in my path.

And please, in a few days or weeks or months, ask me how my book is coming along.  I promise not to bite.*

*much

This Week’s Topic

Describe your dream writing retreat. Where would you go? Who and what would you bring?

Road Trip Song of the Week:
“Holocene” by Bon Iver

This is a timely topic, as I’ve been thinking about a writer’s retreat a lot in the past few days.  Mainly, I’ve been pining away for one, since I can’t have one.  No vacation days.  That’s one of the downsides of switching jobs twice last year.

Well, dare to dream, right?  So, here’s what I’d like for my retreat:

First and foremost, I would like my retreat to be somewhere wooded and beautiful.  A cabin in the mountains, perhaps, with beautiful scenery to inspire me to write beautiful words.  Something rustic, with no television.  I’ll have my computer with me, and I’m assuming this cabin will not be so isolated that I won’t have internet access.  That being said, I want some sort of parental lock on my internet access that will keep me from whiling away the hours on Twitter or Buzzfeed.  I’m assuming my time at this retreat is limited, so I can’t afford to get distracted.  Research-only internet, please.

And as secluded as I would like to be, I probably should have some other people around to help provide a little structure (and to keep me from going insane from lack of contact).  If someone was available to help me set and keep goals, to be accountable for my writing, that would be very helpful.  Fellow writers nearby to talk through ideas with me would be great.

I’ll need comfy clothes, an endless supply of tea, and headphones.  I’m assuming there’s food as well.

Who would I want with me?  Maybe my dog.  He’s a good writing buddy, and he would keep me from getting scared at night.  Any of my writer friends would be nice to have along, though I would probably get the most done with Kristen.  She and I have written together at each others’ houses from time to time, and I’ve always gotten a lot accomplished.

If I can’t have a real retreat, how about a writing shed in the backyard?  I remember salivating over this Re-Nest post about famous writers’ writing sheds and cabins.  I would take any of those, but Roald Dahl’s is probably my favorite.  I mean, it matches my house already!

Roald Dahl's adorable shed, from Re-Nest

My house. Notice the resemblance? Can I go ahead and just have Dahl's shed now? KTHXBAI.

Does it help that it was Dahl who got me into reading, way back in 3rd grade?  I mean, I read before, of course, but it was the reading of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by my third-grade teacher that really made me hungry for books.

No?

Well, I’ll keep hoping.  And at least I have a cozy room inside my house to write in, with a desk and huge window and tons of books and a comfy couch.  That’s almost like a retreat.  Except that it’s totally not.  But it will do for now.

Someday, though, I’ll make it to a cabin in the woods.

Oh, and P.S.:  Totally love that Bon Iver song.  Though, we know that already from my 2011 Top Ten Albums list.

Didn’t lose those 40 pounds?  Better get on the treadmill!

House still a mess?  Call an emergency maid service!

Novel still unfinished?  Ice your fingers and start typing!

Still stuck in old job?  Better get out the want ads!

No boyfriend or girlfriend? Match.com that shizz!

Resolutions, schmesolutions.

For me, 2011 was both a blessing and a curse.  Some really great things happened.  We sold our house and moved into a lovely new house in a wonderful neighborhood.  I screwed up the courage to get out of not one but two jobs that weren’t right for me and found one that is.  I finished a first draft of a new novel (!!!).  I had several epiphanies about the YA book I’ve been writing since time began.  I started leading a local Forever Young Adult book club, which has introduced me to new books and a lot of nice new people.  I read good books and saw interesting plays and attended fun concerts.  I traveled to weddings of people I loved and revisited some of my favorite cities.

It was also a rough year.  Switching jobs is hard.  Selling and buying a house is really stressful.  So is major surgery.  And death in the family.  And a home break-in.

So, I’m glad to see the end of 2011.  It’s been a rollercoaster year, and I’m ready for a little more peace and quiet in my life.  I can only believe that 2012 will be better.  I have a lot of hopes and aspirations and dreams that I plan to work toward in the upcoming year, but I’m old enough now to realize that it doesn’t mean that I failed if they don’t materialize.  It’s the trying that counts, no matter what Yoda says.

I’m also old enough to count my blessings.  While 2011 was rocky, I’m still alive, still have friends and family, still have a (lovely) roof over my head.  There are many out there who are not as fortunate.  The last day of the year is a time of celebration, but it’s also a time to eke out a last donation to charity in the 2011 tax year.  So, if that’s an impetus for you, go ahead and make life better for someone else.

And please, be careful out there tonight!

Published in 2011:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor. This was a Forever Young Adult book club selection, and man am I glad they chose it! This book had exotic locales, intricate world-building, a badass heroine, and a new book boyfriend for me. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel, because she ended the book with a huge cliffhanger.

Divergent - Veronica Roth. I was so impressed by this debut novel. Most of the things I said about Daughter of Smoke and Bone apply here as well. Great characters and world-building, fast-paced, plot-driven, and just all-around fantastic.

What Happened to Goodbye – Sarah Dessen. I love Sarah Dessen’s writing, and this book did not disappoint. Her characters are always so real, and that’s refreshing in a genre full of dystopias, impossibly rich girls, supernatural beings, etc.

The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson. Speaking of supernatural beings, Maureen Johnson’s latest is a thriller set in a present-day London gripped by copycat Jack the Ripper murders. Maureen Johnson’s books always start a little slow for me, but I’m totally hooked by the end.

New to me:

Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green and David Levithan. Good Lord. This book made me laugh and cry and insist that everyone I know read it. It made me go on a John Green-reading spree. It eventually made me a nerdfighter. Read. This. Book!

Jellicoe Road – Melina Marchetta. This book is super confusing at first, and as the mystery unravels, you find yourself never wanting it to end. I gobbled up a bunch of Melina Marchetta’s books after I read this. It’s a shame she isn’t more widely-known here in the US.

Little Bee - Chris Cleave. This came highly recommended by several of my friends. Chris Cleave writes in two distinct female voices here, and his prose is beautiful. A fantastic novel with numerous plot twists, this book really stuck with me long after I finished it.

Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins. I read this while in Paris over Thanksgiving (how fitting!). I was struggling through writing my NaNo novel for adults, and this delightful book reminded me why I love the YA genre so much.

This is Where I Leave You – Jonathan Topper. Hilarious and heartbreaking. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys funny, contemporary family drama. Also, one of the best covers I’ve seen this year (which is the reason I picked this up in the first place).

The Likeness - Tana French. I enjoyed In the Woods, but this sequel seemed much stronger to me. It has been compared to another of my favorites, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, and like that novel, I wanted to inhabit French’s book.

Flowers from the Storm - Laura Kinsale. So, my mother suggested I read this, and as an equal-opportunity reader, I did. This is one of the most unconventional romance novels I’ve ever read. A couple of my friends have also read and loved it. Give it a chance… you will be surprised.

What did you love reading this year?

One of my favorite Smiths quotes and so appropriate for this week’s Road Trip Wednesday! From YA Highway:

Where do you buy most of your books? No one is judging!

This issue has been weighing on me lately for several reasons. I want indie bookstores to survive. I want authors to get paid when I buy their books. And most of all, I want people to have access to books so that they can read.

Anyway, here’s my list, in order of most frequent purchases (I think, anyway).

1. Amazon. It’s easy, it’s fairly cheap, and I have a Kindle. It makes me feel kind of dirty shopping there, because I’d much rather buy from a brick-and-mortar shop, but as is well-documented, I am lazy.

2. Half Price Books. The flagship HPB on Northwest Highway is kind of a mothership to me. I probably buy the majority of my real (as opposed to ebooks) books here. This also makes me feel a little dirty, because I’m pretty sure authors don’t get paid when I buy their books used. However, HPB is based in Dallas, so at least I’m supporting the local economy (and my friend that works in their headquarters). They also have a vibrant community presence and do a lot of good for charity. And the more I think about it, the more I wonder if HPB might actually beat out Amazon for my number one spot. Moving on…

3. New and used book stores in cities I visit. I travel a lot, and I visit bookshops whenever possible. I always leave space in my carry-on for a heap of books. Some favorites include Powell’s in Portland, Oregon; Dickson Street Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Burke’s Books in Memphis; Brattle Book Shop in Boston, and Crescent City Books in New Orleans. Over Thanksgiving, I discovered Shakespeare and Company in Paris, which was a book-lover’s dream. And I will always have a warm spot in my heart for The Winding Stair in Dublin.

4. Various other secondhand places. Like thrift stores, garage sales, library sales, etc. In Dallas, I sometimes buy a Paperbacks Plus, especially when I used to live around the corner from them.

5. Other. Like Barnes and Noble and big box stores. I much preferred Borders to B&N, and I was very sad when it closed.

So, that’s the list. One day, my friend Diana and I will open our own bookstore/cafe/small performance space, and we will merrily go into bankruptcy.

Unless there’s a miracle and bookstores begin to thrive again.

I hope there is a miracle.

So… Bookstore recommendations, anyone?

10.  Yuck - Yuck
It’s 1993 again, you guys, except no homework!
Favorite songs: “Georgia,” “The Wall,” “Sunday”

9. A Winter Tale – Bobby Long
Whatever – I’m not ashamed.
Favorite songs: “In the Frost,” “Two Years Old,” “Being a Mockingbird”

8. The People’s Key – Bright Eyes
Conor Oberst goes mainstream (with the my favorite crazy ramblings – paaaahmagranate).
Favorite Songs: “Jejune Stars,” “Shell Games,” “Triple Spiral”

7.  Take Care, Take Care, Take Care – Explosions in the Sky
I think this may be my favorite work of theirs so far; it feels the most warm to me.
Favorite songs: “Trembling Hands,” “Postcard from 1952,” “Last Known Surroundings”

6.  Bon Iver - Bon Iver
I can even forgive the song that sounds like bad* Phil Collins, because the rest is so good.
Favorite songs: “Holocene,” “Towers,” “Calgary”

5.  The King is Dead – The Decemberists
The Decemberists are back on form, and thank God.  Best ballad-writing of the year!
Favorite Songs: “January Hymn,” “Calamity Song,” “June Hymn”

4.  Mountaintops - Mates of State
Because everyone needs a little glee in their lives, and I’m not talking about the TV show.  Best singalong of the year!
Favorite songs: “Maracas,” “Palomino,” “Change,” “Desire”

3.  Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
I want to curl up in front of a fire with Robin Pecknold’s voice.  Best harmonies of the year!
Favorite songs: “Helplessness Blues,” “Battery Kinzie,” “Grown Ocean,” “Montezuma,” “Lorelai”

2.  Hotel Shampoo – Gruff Rhys
Gruff’s most sophisticated solo album yet, and its inclusion here is hardly surprising.  Best lounge rock of the year!
Favorite Songs: “Vitamin K,” “Honey All Over,” “Christopher Columbus,” “At the Heart of Love,” “Follow the Sunflower Trail (Theme Tune for a National Strike) [bonus track]“

1.  What Did You Expect from the Vaccines – The Vaccines
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!  Album of the year!
Favorite songs:  Pretty much all of them, but especially “Post Break-Up Sex,” “Wetsuit,” “If You Wanna,” “A Lack of Understanding,” “All in White”

And here is a bit more:

Best songs from albums on the cusp:
“Weekend” from Dye it Blonde by Smith Westerns
“Heart in your Heartbreak” from Belong by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
“Dig a Little Deeper” from Gimme Some by Peter Bjorn & John

Biggest disappointments:
Burst Apart – The Antlers
Kaputt – Destroyer

Embarrassingly Small List of Concerts I Attended (or, as my husband puts it, Wow, We Were Lame This Year)
(this may be the strangest list ever)
The Antlers
Bobby Long
Usher
Journey
Lil Wayne
Morrissey

Please feel free to share your top tens or favorites from this year in the comments.  I’d love to see what you thought of this year’s music!

*Not all Phil Collins is bad… you do know this, right?  Don’t make me break out “Take Me Home” on you.

These things all help me cope with the fact that I’m a terrible Christmas shopper. Not that I give bad gifts (well, occasionally maybe I do)… but that I wait until the last minute to shop and then want to impale myself upon a candy cane. Why can I just not get it together?

It is December 14th. Yikes.

To add insult to injury, the universe is conspiring against me with some sort of faux popularity: since Sunday, I’ve hosted one Christmas party and attended three others (technically tonight’s party was book club, but still…). I’m hosting my in-laws for Christmas this weekend and attending yet another party on Saturday. I think I need liposuction and a new liver at this point.

So, like I mentioned, I have escapism to help me procrastinate. But there’s no holiday escapism tradition quite as dear to me as The Reading of the Holiday Romance Novels.

There.

I said it.

I don’t know what it is about reading charming Happily-Ever-Afters at Christmastime, but I do it every single year. It started when I was in high school and read a lot of Regency romances. I picked up a compilation of Recency Christmas stories at some point, probably at the grocery store or Walmart, and I never looked back. I’ve delved into contemporary Christmas compilations and stand-alone novels. This year, I started off by reading Let It Snow, a rollicking YA Christmas compilation from John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle.

I’ve read ‘em all. Snow-bound strangers forced to share a cabin and blankets and body heat? Check. Old friends reuniting for the holidays and feeling that old spark return? Check. Stories set around Christmas pageants or novelty Christmas calendar shoots? Check. Collections of short but intertwined stories set in exotic locales? Check check check!

But I keep coming back to the Regencies. There’s something about kissing boughs, gentlemen in tight breeches and cravats, chopping down the yule log, snowball fights while wearing empire-waist gowns, giant country house parties, and bluestockings who land the ton’s most eligible reformed rake that just bring on the holiday cheer for me. I cannot stop myself. Right now I’m plowing through a bunch of Mary Balogh Christmas paperbacks that I got at a local charity shop (it happens to support East Lake Pet Orphange, where I got my dog, so yay for that!). I know that when I go home for Christmas I’ll break into the stash stored under my childhood bed to read a few battered compilations and my all-time favorite Christmas Regency, Barbara Metzger’s Christmas Wishes.

Seriously, look at his gleaming hair! The cover has a giant bow and holly. A pet pig plays a significant role in the plot. What's not to love?

You guys, I’m supposed to be cool. I watch foreign films and go to edgy plays and listen to obscure music and have nerdy conversations and live in a hip neighborhood and travel to far-off places… how, exactly, does reading sickeningly sweet Christmas romances fit in with that?

Oh, who cares? They make me happy. Sue me.

Dear reader, what is your favorite Christmastime book?

Yeah!!

So, I finished.  Just barely.  I started out so strongly, but I was derailed by a few things:

1. Laziness.  Or procrastination.  Whatever you want to call it.  But yeah, that thing.
2. Violent disgusting upper respiratory infection of death.  I believe that is the actual medical term for it. Cue the steroid shot, z-pack, and hydrocodone-laced cough syrup.
3. Death in the family.  Even though it was expected, losing my grandmother was pretty awful.
4. Trip to Paris!  Straight from the funeral, still sick with the upper respiratory infection, I spent Thanksgiving in Paris!  Who wants to write when you have a lovely apartment, delicious food, wine for days, and you can curl up on the couch with your husband and watch music videos (sometimes in French!)?

So anyway, that made for a lot of last-minute typing and truly awful writing.  I’m not even calling this a first draft, because it’s really just the skeleton of a zero draft.  All bones and a little muscle but no real meat or fat.  But it’s a complete story, beginning-middle-end and everything.

I guess that’s not a bad thing, right?  That’s what NaNoWriMo is about, for me at least.  Force yourself to write.  Get words on the page.  Go back and fix later.

But I would have been a lot happier if I hadn’t waited until the last four days to write OVER HALF THE BOOK.

Some observations from my process and the finished (ha ha!) product:

I need to work on the characters.  Right now, the four main characters are somewhat loosely-defined.  They have backstories and jobs and wants and pressures, but they all. sound. exactly. the. same.  When they talk, I mean.  I need to give them their own voices, and I need their personalities to shine a bit more.  Or a lot more.

I had a hard time at first with my narrator, Bea.  I just could not get into her head at all.  It got easier as it went on, especially as she grew and changed.  The other three main characters (the love interest, the best friend, the cousin) are all new favorites of mine.  I had a lot of fun writing them.  I just need to spend more time with them, I think.

Secondary characters?  Oh, they’re all pretty one-note right now.  They need depth and nuance and I just need to sit down and think about them.  The book is set in a small town, where everyone knows everyone, so you know there are kooky characters and crazy backstories just waiting to pop out of the woodwork.  But I don’t want it to get all Gilmore Girls, right?  One can only take so many characters.

First person point of view means inner monologue.  Yeah.  I kind of forgot all about that.  And it’s one of the reasons I love some of my favorite books.  So, must fix this.

Description, description, description.  I kept forgetting to use my senses.  There are huge chunks of mostly-just-dialogue and one sentence paragraphs.  We go on an amazing hike with the characters through the Ozark National Forest, and I’m all “the mountains were beautiful.”  Really?  That’s what I came up with?  Beautiful mountains?  Break out the thesaurus!  Read some poetry!  Go on the damn hike yourself, and write down what you see!  I need to utilize the part of Scrivener where you write about settings… maybe that would help. 

I’ve written before that I’m just not very good at this sort of thing.  Must get better.

Writing a book for adults is fun (sorta!).  Sex scenes and cursing!  And work schedules!  Wait, what?  Yeah.  While I got to let loose a little with the content, I had a host of new things to worry about.  How is Bea paying her mortgage?  Who’s watching the shop while she’s off fighting battles with her ex-fiance’s wife?  What’s Parker’s work schedule anyway – he always seems to be hanging around the bookstore, so when is he actually earning money?  Did we remember to feed the dog and let her pee?  Can a hipster farmer actually make a living with an organic vegetable stand?  Do I understand any of the legal issues I bring up in the book?

And does any of that actually matter?  How important is that type of realism to this book?

Location scouting time!  I need to spend a weekend in the little town that my fictional town is based upon.  That will help with everything, I think.  The town is almost a character itself, and even though I come from the backwoods, I’ve been in the big city for so long that I need to revisit small town life.  It’s geographically very un-similar to Dallas, too, and I think I need to reacquaint myself with that type of topography.

It’s very close to my parents’ house, so perhaps I can sneak in a little trip over Christmas.  Otherwise, though, I think this calls for a weekend away.  A cozy, relaxing, refreshing weekend away.