Julia Karr's Blog, page 9
June 24, 2013
Days like today – wondering what comes next.
My latest manuscript is poised for a complete revision – total change of direction – different story line. Whew!
I’ve worked on this story for over two years. It’s been tweaked until I cannot stand to tweak it any more. And, after discussing it with my agent, I’ve decided to rewrite it – starting from the bottom up. Same characters – different story – even different genre, going from Young Adult to Middle Grade. Actually a prequel to the current manuscript. But, I’m not ready to tackle it – yet.
Seriously – I don’t want to revisit that world in the near future. I need a break, because my head in spinning from all the previous iterations of this story! So… I need to work on a different manuscript.
Some of my choices are:
Sci-fi wormhole travel – YA
2 Fantasy quest novels – YA (1 contemporary, 1 historical)
Fantasy magical novel – MG
Contemporary fairy tale retelling – YA
Contemporary romance – YA
2 Civil War Era historical fiction – YA
Lots of stories in progress. But, a part of me yearns for a summer of poetry.
Not sure exactly what I’ll work on next – maybe I’ll even end up ignoring all of these and go for something brand new at Camp NaNoWriMo!
I never went to summer camp. This might be good for me!
Have you ever tweaked, pushed, pulled, and otherwise mangled a manuscript into something you don’t want to mess with any more? If so, where did you go from there? Did you chuck it and start all over again? Did you do something brand new? I’d love to know!
June 22, 2013
It’s Caturday! #3
There are no words… Frankenstein is the best cat!
Hope y’all have a lovely weekend! 
June 21, 2013
The Friday Five – Food!
To me, reading cookbooks is one of life’s little joys. And then, of course, making the recipes is even better! Here are a few things I’ve whipped up in the past year (links provided where applicable.)
1. Sweet potato gnocchi -
2. Grilled Asparagus Sandwich w/ remoulade sauce 
3. Raisin pie (from 1961 Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cook Book) 
4. Sweet potato muffins (using basic muffin recipe from 1961 Betty Crocker’s New Picture Cook Book) 
5. Chocolate cake w/chocolate icing (circa 1980′s Country Living or Bon Apetité magazine, I don’t remember which) 
Do you like cooking? Reading recipe books? Or would you rather just eat?! I’d love to know!
June 20, 2013
Cover reveal for Carrie Harris’s latest!
Be jealous — now!
I’ve already read Carrie’s book – SALLY SLICK & THE STEEL SYNDICATE and can tell you it’s 100 times MORE awesome than this amazing cover!
And here’s everything you need to know about SALLY SLICK:
SALLY SLICK AND THE STEEL SYNDICATE
Release date: December 3, 2013
Publisher: Evil Hat Productions
Ages: 12 and up
The all-important jacket blurb reads:
Every hero has a story. This one starts with a girl and a racing tractor.
Sally Slick knows she’s meant to be more than a Midwestern farm girl. What she wants more than anything is to be an inventor when she grows up—and she has the custom-built racing tractor to prove it. But good girls in 1914 don’t go off to the city in search of adventure. Everything changes when Sally’s big brother comes back from Chicago with a robot in hand and mobsters on his heels. With the help of her friend, wannabe hero Jet Black, Sally will risk everything to protect the people she loves.
Those bad guys are about to get a giant wrench thrown right into their plans.
Mark your calendars for December 13th! You don’t want to miss this one!
June 19, 2013
A couple of blog recs
I don’t always have the time to read all the blogs I’d like to. But, I wanted to highlight a couple that I find really helpful when it comes to writing.
One of the two is Kristen Lamb’s blog, We Are Not Alone. She is so generous with her knowledge about many aspects of writing. And, she’s a social media guru, and funny, and honest, and I find her to be awfully REAL. I like that a bunch!
The other is Writer Unboxed. Posts are from a variety of writers, and the varied views of the writing world and biz are excellent! I always learn a lot from WU!
Are there particular writing blogs that you find useful? Entertaining? Not-t0-be-missed? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to find some others to add to my reading list!
June 18, 2013
Cyborgs – how far will we go?
There is no question that this bionic arm is wonderful for this man! And the possibilites for future amputees being able to live normal lives is awe-inspiring.
Here’s the article on io9. And the video from Youtube:
There’s one thing in the story that gives me pause. “… 2045 Initiative — an attempt to upload a fully conscious mind to an avatar by mid-century.
What are the ramifications of “…a fully functional, holographic human avatar, complete with an artificial brain chock full of your own thoughts, passions, fears, opinions, emotions and memories. Your total conscious — and, presumably, subconscious — being.”?
A form of immortality.
This is hard to wrap my brain around. Some questions that immediately pop to mind are: What is the purpose? Is it ethical? Is it necessary?
I wonder, dear readers… given the opportunity to continue your existence as an avatar… would you do it?
June 17, 2013
Days like today – thinking about writing & discouragement
Or – being published doesn’t make it all better.
Now, don’t get me wrong – being published is fabulous! Traditional publication is a huge validation of one’s writing. But, it doesn’t guarantee long-term happiness or satisfaction. Publication is just one step on a writer’s journey; at least that’s true for this writer.
Happiness in writing (or any worthwhile endeavor) could be defined as the continued striving for and achievement of your goals.
Along my writing journey I’ve set, and reached, such goals as finally finishing a first novel (that may never see the light of day), getting a poem published, finishing and polishing a second novel, getting an agent, revising said novel, getting a book deal, and having two books published. All cause for celebration! (Which I did!) Along the way, however, there was also disappointment and discouragement. The realities aren’t always what an onlooker sees – but they are what a writer feels.
So, what is one to do when your writing dream is beset by nightmarish angst? For me, the answer was to do what writers do – WRITE.
I’ve written through grief, anger, heartache, joy…the whole spectrum of emotions! (And, let me say, sometimes joy is the hardest to write through!)
A writer writes. If they can’t write stories, they journal. If they can’t journal, they write blogs, letters, cards, emails, tweets, or Facebook posts. If they can’t even do that, they make lists – a grocery list can count as writing!
What I’m saying is that all writing is writing. And by invoking the action of pen to paper or fingers on a keyboard, writers eventually find their way back to the form they want to write (or discover new possibilities along the way.)
Wherever you are on your journey – whatever the validation or discouragement – keep on writing! It’s what you do!
How’s your writerly journey going? I’d love to know!
June 15, 2013
It’s Caturday! #2
This Caturday is all about Esmerelda. I believe she has aspirations of becoming a writer, or at the very least, she’d like to journal.
What do you think?
June 14, 2013
The Friday Five – Random
It’s been a long week, but I think I can eke out five random things…
1. Never count your squash before you harvest them. (something weird is going on in the squash patch – it doesn’t look good, folks!)
2. Not every lowering sky is going to produce rain! (hence the need for watering…)
3. Everything that needs to be picked is bound to come on at once! (Cherries and gooseberries and sugar snap peas – oh my!)
4. Cats always want to cuddle when it’s hot as a sauna and twice as humid! (trying to get cat hair off a damp arm or cheek is the pits!)
5. Cats always find the boxes – even if they’re flower ones!
What’s going on with your Friday? I’d love to know!
June 13, 2013
Story – that’s what it’s all about.
Not the hokey-pokey, as you may have been misinformed in childhood.
A few years back, when XVI was being shopped around, I bought myself some writing books to (hopefully) improve my writing skills. Among them was Robert McKee‘s, STORY.
I’d love to say that I dug in and applied everything I learned and became a fabulous author. But, that’s not what happened. The reality was that XVI was sold and I got caught up in editorial letters, revising, and then writing book two. My plans to become a better writer went by the wayside.
Now, two published books (and three years!) later – I’m no longer working a day job and have plenty of time to work on getting better at my craft. So, I took my copy of STORY off the shelf and started studying. Not just reading (I’d read the entire book when I got it) but this time really studying it. For me, this includes having a dictionary by my side, because Mr. McKee has already used a few words that I figured out contextually, but I needed to really understand what he meant. Thank goodness for The Living Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language! It’s an oldie – but definitely a goodie! My go-to word resource!
Back to STORY – I was nearly disheartened when I read in chapter one, “You must be born with the creative power to put things together in a way no one has ever dreamed.”
Enter Self-Doubt – stage right!
Fortunately, McKee closes that chapter by saying, “Rare as story talent is, you must have some or you wouldn’t be itching to write. Your task is to wring from it all possible creativity.”
That reminded me of basketball great, Larry Bird (a Hoosier, just like me ) He took the talent he had and made himself remarkable! Read about his practice routine here!
I hope by digging into STORY and learning the principles of good storytelling, I’ll be able to practice and practice and eventually get better!
What about you? How do you work on the craft of writing? I’d love to know!
Oh – and because I wrote “encyclopedic” above, and it’s from “encyclopedia” – I have to include this video, because I still sing this song in my head whenever I write any form of e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a!
