Megan Bostic's Blog, page 65

Tooting the Horn Tuesday: Music, Trailers, and Other Cool Things

The Less DeceivedSo,  many of you saw the video that I did for the mishmash contest, right?  I created a trailer for my novel, Never Eighteen.  Well, after the contest, we were supposed to destroy all of the pics, video, and songs off of our computer, never to be used again (without paying).  I redid the video, which can be seen here, but it just wasn't the same without that beautiful song.  
So, I scoured the net for the guys who did the song.  I could only find them on myspace, as of yet, they are unsigned, etc, etc.  I decided to write them:
Megan Bostic saysTo: The Less Deceived (theaceproject@myspace.com) I would REALLY like to use this song in a book trailer I'm creating, but alas, I'm a poor writer and all I could offer you is credit on the video which would be placed on youtube and facebook.
Any chance you'll let me?  It's a beautiful song and catches the mood of my novel perfectly.
BTW my novel is being released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Fall, 2011.   This is what I received back from them: The Less Deceived saysTo: Megan Bostic, Writer (meganthewriter@myspace.com) Hello Megan,
sorry for the late reply. Of course you are more than welcome to use the song. Would be great if you could credit the song as The Less Deceived - Love's Labour's Lost and also provide a link to our website: http://www.thelessdeceived.com/
We'd also be very happy to receive a copy of your novel, of course!:)
Let me know if you need an mp3 of the song and where to send it.
Good luck and best wishes,
The Less Deceived

The Less Deceived
Needless to say, I'm ecstatic!!! Here is their own video for the song.  I'll post my book trailer once it's redone.
 Thanks for reading.
Peace out,~Megan

Monday morning blawg: V-day

My first Valentine's Day in 19 years alone.  I was never a fan of the holiday anyway.  I thought it was a waste of time and money.  Probably created in a collaboration of Hallmark, FTD, and Jared (or whatever came before Jared).  I was never one for chocolates or diamonds.

Flowers are another thing.  I love having fresh flowers in the house, but I learned a long time ago, if I wanted them, I'd have to buy them myself.  Which I did.  I buy a bouquet a week from Safeway. (you can't beat their $10 for a dozen roses deal)  I love all kinds and  colors of flowers.  The exceptions: anything red, and anything dyed to a color that's unnatural.  And carnations.  I really don't like carnations. (if you plan to date me in the future, you might want to bookmark this page)

So, today I'm going to grab the $125 of gift cards to Metropolitan Market and buy me some cool kitchen shit and maybe a good bottle of wine (and flowers of course).  Tonight it's going to be me and two girlfriends, the Lonely Heart's Club (shout out to Val and Heidi) having dinner and a couple drinks, then probably go home and curl up in bed with my sock monkey, my laptop, and some Dead Like Me.

To those of you with big dates tonight, have a great time and never take the person sitting across from you for granted.

For those without plans, or with plans that does not involve any romance, you're not alone.  There are millions of people in the same boat.  Enjoy your friends, your children, your solitude.  Go to a movie, treat yourself to a nice dinner, create something.

And buy yourself some flowers.

Happy V-day to all of you,



~Megan

F³A: Divorce Class

So, when you go for the big "D" in Washington state (and other states I suppose) you have to take a mandatory four hour parenting class (thankfully we didn't have a group of stupid question askers [yes, Virginia, there is such thing as a stupid question] and our instructors wanted to get home as badly as we did, so it was only three hours).

And while the class was somewhat entertaining (reasons to follow) I'm not sure I got much out of it.  Why you ask? Okay, maybe you didn't, but I'm going to tell you anyway.  First off, most the folks in the class had kids under the age of 6, which is true in most divorce cases I suppose, but which also means, most the curriculum is younger kids based. 


The curriculum also seemed geared toward parents that hated and wanted to disparage each other in front of their children.  The girl's father and I get along really good.  We don't speak harshly about one another.  We know that the other is a good parent even though we didn't work. We would never think of downing each other in front of the kids or trying to turn them against the other.


Also, it talked about how to talk to your kids.  My kids and I have always spoken openly and honestly.  They know what's going on with me, I know what's going on with them.  And they're at the age where they understand what's happening and can express themselves if they need to, and they know that I (and their father for that matter)  will listen.


So, to the entertainment portion of the program.  We got to watch some scenes from Mrs. Doubtfire, which I hadn't seen in a long time and which is still hysterically funny, especially from a these-were-the-worst-parents-on-the-face-of-the-earth aspect as they made every mistake a divorced couple could make.  Fighting in front of the kids, talking bad about the other to the kids, etc, etc.


We also saw a scene from the Squid and the Whale which I HAVE to see now because it looks hilarious.  It stars fake Mark Zuckerberg (who I love in a completely and totally not stalkerish, courgar fashion)

But the piece d' resistance was the Feelings Chart.  This was a chart to show your children when they are having trouble expression themselves, to better find out how they're feeling.  Okay, after trying unsuccessfully to upload the funniest pictures, I've decided to draw my own to depict what they kind of looked like.


This first one was guilt.  It was a boy standing over a broken lamp holding a baseball bat.  The bat was placed in a spot in which if you weren't really looking at the back end of it, the front end resembled something coming out of his zipper. er.


This second one was greed.  It was a boy who had stole something (I couldn't tell what, a bag of money, a bag of marbles?)  But where the bully's hand was placed, it looked like inappropriate touching.  And the items that spilled from the bag made it look like the poor tormented boy peed his pants.
 
This next one had a boy with a tv in front of him.  I may be exaggerating the details a little.  The title was 'terrified'.  In the real picture the tv just depicted a menacing guy with a big knife.  But I thought it would be more funny to put blood gushing and death, because, well, that's how I roll.  

This next one was called Happy.  It was a girl unwrapping a present, but to me it looked like a girl whose legs were on fire.

The last one was the best.  I can't even begin to depict the entire wrongness of the picture.  It was 'Kind'.  It was a boy holding a carrot, feeding a bunny.  You could not really tell what the bunny was.  But it was the carrot that was most disturbing.  You could not tell it was a carrot first of all.  Secondly, where it was placed made the picture look pornographic.  I stared at it for about five minutes before someone else finally said, "What IS that in the kind picture?"


Needless to say, many of us parents found this chart inappropriate for children.





Next song on the radio (my iPod is dead): Use Somebody, Kings of Leon


Movie of the Week: Black Swan.  I haven't seen it, I'm going to.

Book of the Week: Tell Me a Secret.  Find my review on Goodreads
Quote of the Week:
"The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the
sleeping world. "
— Leonard CohenCelebrate something this weekend.

~megan

Thought Provoking Thursday: Author blurbs

Praise quotes, celebrity endorsements, whatever you want to call them.  In a recent study, it was found that these things are the LAST reason kids will buy a book.  So why are they so important to us as writers? 
I don't have any yet.  I'm okay with that.  My  novel is a long way out and  I've only sent it to one (very busy) writer thus far, and two others have offered to read it, and I just sent a request to another.  This study *points upward* tells me it's no big deal.  To readers.  But to us, the writer (at least to me), it's like acceptance.  It's like being a freshman and getting taken under the wing of the popular seniors and them in turn telling everyone how cool you are.
The writers I've asked to read my novel have all inspired me in one way or another.  I've read their books and in some ways want to emulate them, whether it be solely for their talent, but also because they are so approachable, they make themselves available.  They've taken the time to answer my questions and talk to me and offer me guidance.  That's the kind of writer I want to be.  And that's why I respect them so much.  That's why I've chosen them to endorse me.
If they don't, I think I'll live.  But how good would it feel to have one of your favorite writers tell the world how good you are?  I hope I get to find out.

Writing Wednesday: Never Eighteen

Yep, Since I've shared my cover (er, twice now this week.  Oops make that three times. Guess I'm a little excited)  I thought I would share the opening paragraphs.
Day One . . .
     I had the dream again.  The one where I'm running.  I don't know what from or where to, but I'm scared—terrified, really.  I wake,  drenched in sweat.  Jumping out of bed, I immediately head to my computer.      I need to get some things done this weekend, and I'm running out of time.  God, I hope Kaylee can help.  What if she asks what I'm doing?  I can't tell her, can I?  No.  She'd try to stop me, I'm sure of it.  Shit, I hope she doesn't have to work.  I should have checked.  Without her Mustang, I may not be able to do this, and I want to, I need to.  Otherwise, things may just continue as they always have: painful, motionless.  Like treading water.  You stay afloat, but you never really get anywhere.  A flash, a flicker of life, that's all I want.  I don't think it's too much to ask. 

Tooting the Horn Tuesday

So, the ABNA (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award) contest closed yesterday, so I want to wish some good luck to those entered.

My friend Gae (The Pull of Gravity) got an awesome review from another friend of mine Becky Kyle.  Read it here.  Think about following Becky.  She's a cool cat and her reviews read like butter.

My friend Tami Snow is adorable and has a video series, Lyrical Lip Service, in which she reads and talks books and writing.  Check her out.

Did I mention that I have a book cover?  You can see it on yesterdays blog.  It's crisp and simple and I'm loving it.  Not only did I get a book cover, 2k11er Trinity Faegen did also for her novel the Mephisto Covenant.  You should check out her website.  She's a hell of a gal.

Another 2k11er Carole Dagg received a great review from Publisher's Weekly for her novel, The Year We Were Famous.  If you're looking for some YA historical fiction, check it out.

I suppose that's enough Tooting today. er.

Peace out,

~Megan

Monday Morning Blahg

First off, I have a cover and I'm psyched.  Ready . . . wait for it . . . ta-da!!


Second of all it's Monday and like most Mondays, things have not gone according to plan.  So that's all I'm posting.
Going back to bed until tomorrow.
~Megan

F³A: Friday Already?!?!?

The title of this blog drips with sarcasm.  This week has seemed long.  Just getting back in to the swing of things after a week long illness and five day vacation.  It's been difficult.  I've had nightmares rivaling something from Elm Street, keeping me awake at night.  This of course has caused a week's worth of grumpity tiredness.  
Neighborhood cats are stalking me.
Birthday parties.
Did I mention work?
I can think of nothing but writing, feeling hot on my WIP Sad.  However, there are not enough hours in my  my day sometimes to squeeze it in between work, kids, grocery shopping, exercise (yes I have been, but had to take a couple days off because my butt and thighs staged a rebellion), cooking, driving, cleaning (okay, maybe not cleaning, please no surprise visits this weekend).  I have done some writing, I'm up to 4K on the novel.  Not much, but more than before.
Maybe this weekend between birthday parties and football I can get a good chunk of words out.  That's my goal at least.  I think I'll go for 3K.
I can't write anymore.  I keep getting distracted by the clock and Facebook and email.  Plus, I have to be at work soon and have yet to brush my teeth and put shoes on. (have I mentioned how much I hate wearing shoes?  And coats.  I hate coats and it's really effing cold here)
Book of the week: Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala.  Just started it yesterday.  Very good. And she's local and a Diva Girl (which one day I long to be)
Random song that pops up on my iPod:  Just Breathe by Pearl Jam.  Very apropos for me today.
Movie of the Week:  Inception.  Trippy cool.
Quote of the week: "I was so scared to give up depression, fearing that somehow the worst part of me was actually all of me. "
— Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation (this quote reminds me of an email I just sent this morning)
Have a great weekend my friends.
Peace out.
~Megan(look I learned how to make a new monkey)
_________m___m__________                  o(o o)o                    ( ~ )

Thought Provoking Thursday: Music

A drawing I made of my muse a while back.As writer, our muses come in so many forms sometimes they're hard to keep up with (except for those times they take the extended smoke break and you have to go outside and around the corner of the house with arms crossed over your chest, glare at them, and kick their ass back in the house so you can get some writing done)
I draw inspiration from many placed, nature, my own life experienced, and many times, my muse comes to me in the form of music.  When I wrote Never Eighteen, I was listening to a lot of indie (not when I wrote, I have to have complete silence when I write as my multi-tasking abilities suck when it comes to writing).  Iin fact, originally I had song lyrics at the beginning of each section of my novel.  Death Cab, Badly Drawn Boy, Tiger Army, The Airborne Toxic Event started the four sections of my book.  I also had more Death Cab lyrics in the novel, as well as the song Weighty Ghost by Wintersleep.  Unfortunately, unless you're Stephenie Meyer or have music connections, it's near impossible to get permissions to use lyrics in your novel.  So they got cut.
I love evocative music for writing.  So much of what I listen to when I need inspiration is indie.  Or songs that make you want to pull a Plath.  This is  because I truly believe I write better when my emotions are raging to the point that I'm almost in tears.  I know this sounds completely and utterly insane, but it's true.  In fact, I actually write certain scenes with a soundtrack.  For instance, there was this scene in my Superhero novel, when the protagonist and the love interest kiss for the first time, and all I could think of was Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.
I bring up this topic because yesterday I decided my protag in my WIP (work in progress for you lay people) was going to be a song writer and musician, and thus, I had to write a song for my novel.  This isn't new to  me.  I was telling my Facebook peeps yesterday that I used to write angsty rock songs in a spiral notebook back in my teens and early twenties.  I have a feeling that poetry and music are going to play parts in probably every novel I write, if not in the novel, than an inspiration to write.
I guess what I'm saying, is music is a big part of my life and always has been.  And it's a constant source of inspiration for me when I hit a brick wall while writing.
So what inspires you?  What gets you past those difficult moments, be it writing, or just in life?  In what form does your muse manifest itself to you?
Catch you on the flip side,
~Megan

Writing Wednesday: Sad

Unedited of course.

We never said a word to each other until we both found ourselves at Lacy McKenna's kegger.  The best cure for shyness is a couple pints of beer.  I remember just sitting there in the corner by myself, Haley, that's my best friend, was off getting us a couple more beers.  David came up and said, "You're the girl that shits behind me in English."       I couldn't help but laugh at the way he slurred sit to sound like shit.  "Yeah, that's me."     He sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders.  "I've seen you looking at me.  Why you always doin' that?"     I looked at him and said, "Because I find you interesting."     "Why?"     "You're so quiet and always look like you're deep in thought.  I sometimes wonder what you're thinking about."     "Really?"     "Yeah, really."     "That's kind of cool."     An awkward silence lingered between us, and I figured it couldn't get any more awkward so I said, "I heard about your dad.  Sorry."     He looked at me and said, "You want to go talk somewhere?  Quieter I mean?"     "Sure."       He grabbed my hand and led me through the living room.  Haley was heading back with my beer, so snatched it from her and said, "Be back in a bit."  Knowing how much I crushed on David, she gave me the thumbs up then went on her way.       David took me up a staircase, and opened the first door on the right, which he immediately closed back up saying, "Oops, sorry."  He turned and gave me an embarrassed look.  I giggled.     Door number three seemed to be the charm.  He led me to the bed where we sat in silence for a minute sipping our beers while he eyed me cautiously.  Finally he said, "I've never really talked about it and no one up to this point has ever asked."     "About your dad?"     "Yeah?"     "That's because people trip over their tongues when it comes to talking about the hard facts of life."