Heather McCubbin's Blog, page 34
April 9, 2015
{WR} iPods, iPhones, iLove Them (Blogging from A to Z}
Can you listen to music when you write? I used to when I wrote Fan Fiction and found that certain songs worked better with some scenes. With my iPod I could put that song on repeat and work out the scene with the music until it went the way I wanted.
Fast forward to now, leaving Harry Potter Fan Fiction behind, and I find I can only write certain scenes to music. Then it has to be quiet but when Verizon Fios had The Weather Channel, I could use that as background noise and write. I'm not sure why TV worked and my iPod didn't...now I can't even watch TWC so my tv is off when I write. For now. I know many people can just sit back, plug in their headphones and write away. I envy them.
One thing I have figured out is I can listen to a group/song and write a scene in my head to go with the music. Then I will write it out and see if it'll fit somewhere in the story. I did this to Vega 4's entire album:
and to Angel and Airwaves as well:
The Fray, One Republic are also represented in my first Lane Changes book.
I have a new car, one that has Bluetooth and a month ago I finally uploaded some iTunes music to my iPhone and got it to work in my car. I. Love. It. I can listen to an album on repeat when driving, I can flick it on when I'm tired of Sirius or a favorite radio station fades in and out. I wish I had discovered this sooner!
Music is an art form as is writing and if you can merge the two together, you can get a fantastic piece of work! Fingers crossed I am able to do that with my writing.
Fast forward to now, leaving Harry Potter Fan Fiction behind, and I find I can only write certain scenes to music. Then it has to be quiet but when Verizon Fios had The Weather Channel, I could use that as background noise and write. I'm not sure why TV worked and my iPod didn't...now I can't even watch TWC so my tv is off when I write. For now. I know many people can just sit back, plug in their headphones and write away. I envy them.
One thing I have figured out is I can listen to a group/song and write a scene in my head to go with the music. Then I will write it out and see if it'll fit somewhere in the story. I did this to Vega 4's entire album:
and to Angel and Airwaves as well:
The Fray, One Republic are also represented in my first Lane Changes book.I have a new car, one that has Bluetooth and a month ago I finally uploaded some iTunes music to my iPhone and got it to work in my car. I. Love. It. I can listen to an album on repeat when driving, I can flick it on when I'm tired of Sirius or a favorite radio station fades in and out. I wish I had discovered this sooner!
Music is an art form as is writing and if you can merge the two together, you can get a fantastic piece of work! Fingers crossed I am able to do that with my writing.
{WR} How True is the quote: "Be Careful Or You'll End Up In My Novel" ? {Blogging from A to Z Challenge}
"Heather the Feather that can tell the Weather" was something a friend's older brother said to me all the time when I was little (like 7 or 8 years old). I tried to be mad when he said it but I found I couldn't. There was a book called "Heather's Feathers" that I liked and I loved weather so...what he was saying was essentially true.
Fast forward to late elementary school and I became known as "Mommy Longlegs" and kids would make fun of my high-waist (pants that settled above the belly button on whatever hips I had then). I was the second tallest girl in my grade until middle school.
Middle School, it was mostly boys making fun of every girls body, guys coming up and shoving books out of your arms. Girls taunting that you "liked" so and so...and I would admit it by blushing if they found out the guys name that I did have a crush on. I was on the basketball team and the coach had her favorites, I was not one of them, and began to be ostracized by 3/4 of the team...and the coach. Yet, I liked the game and continued playing for some reason.
High School I was on the 9th grade and JV basketball team and there were a group of about four girls who made my life hell. I'm not sure why you would push, jab, shove and make fun of a teammate but that happened. I was ostracized for some reason even when on the court for practice. By 10th grade I said, "Enough" and joined the Marching Band/ Color Guard and loved it. In 11th, I joined the track team and had a great junior and senior year and solidified numerous friendships. One of the bullies was convinced to run one season and I found, much to my satisfaction, she didn't fit in; she never returned to track after that year.
But those girls never left my head (one ended up at my college and ignored me). They were bullies and at the time I remember desperately trying to figure out what in the world I did to piss them off? I never heard the quote "Be Careful or You'll End Up In My Novel" even though I was writing at the time and just used the guys I liked in my stories but with different names.
Now, I'm writing. For real. I have a short story published in an anthology and a series of books that will be published in the next year; we are working on the marketing right now. Since this series begins in high school, yes there are mean students. And yes, these girls (and some boys) shaped the characters. However, as I go back and edit and edit some more I realize that the nice students, the teachers, the secondary supporting characters are based more upon my friends and the nice students/staff I knew in school.
I bet my friends will recognize those characters. The bullies? Probably not so much. I'm fairly sure they don't follow me at all in social media and they aren't on my Facebook page. They may have changed, married, had families of their own and may not recognize themselves in the book. But know this, anyone a writer comes across in their lives is fodder for their novel. And I get to see them at my 25th high school reunion in a few months; but I also get to see my friends and the people that were always nice, pleasant, supportive and that makes it worth all the crap I went through in middle and high school.
Remember: Be Careful Or You'll End Up In My Novel!
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
Fast forward to late elementary school and I became known as "Mommy Longlegs" and kids would make fun of my high-waist (pants that settled above the belly button on whatever hips I had then). I was the second tallest girl in my grade until middle school.
Middle School, it was mostly boys making fun of every girls body, guys coming up and shoving books out of your arms. Girls taunting that you "liked" so and so...and I would admit it by blushing if they found out the guys name that I did have a crush on. I was on the basketball team and the coach had her favorites, I was not one of them, and began to be ostracized by 3/4 of the team...and the coach. Yet, I liked the game and continued playing for some reason.
High School I was on the 9th grade and JV basketball team and there were a group of about four girls who made my life hell. I'm not sure why you would push, jab, shove and make fun of a teammate but that happened. I was ostracized for some reason even when on the court for practice. By 10th grade I said, "Enough" and joined the Marching Band/ Color Guard and loved it. In 11th, I joined the track team and had a great junior and senior year and solidified numerous friendships. One of the bullies was convinced to run one season and I found, much to my satisfaction, she didn't fit in; she never returned to track after that year.
But those girls never left my head (one ended up at my college and ignored me). They were bullies and at the time I remember desperately trying to figure out what in the world I did to piss them off? I never heard the quote "Be Careful or You'll End Up In My Novel" even though I was writing at the time and just used the guys I liked in my stories but with different names.
Now, I'm writing. For real. I have a short story published in an anthology and a series of books that will be published in the next year; we are working on the marketing right now. Since this series begins in high school, yes there are mean students. And yes, these girls (and some boys) shaped the characters. However, as I go back and edit and edit some more I realize that the nice students, the teachers, the secondary supporting characters are based more upon my friends and the nice students/staff I knew in school.
I bet my friends will recognize those characters. The bullies? Probably not so much. I'm fairly sure they don't follow me at all in social media and they aren't on my Facebook page. They may have changed, married, had families of their own and may not recognize themselves in the book. But know this, anyone a writer comes across in their lives is fodder for their novel. And I get to see them at my 25th high school reunion in a few months; but I also get to see my friends and the people that were always nice, pleasant, supportive and that makes it worth all the crap I went through in middle and high school.
Remember: Be Careful Or You'll End Up In My Novel!
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 8, 2015
{WR} Going to find new authors {Blogging from A to Z}
How do you find new books to read? Lately, many adult fiction books are written poorly, are too chick-lit like or just don't interest me. I read a lot of YA and New Adult. Someone recommended Penelope Ward, who writes for the over 18 crowd. I fell in love with her books and told her so...amazing who you can reach with Twitter! (Of course, I had to download these to my own Kindle account given their nature and the fact the rest of my family shares an Amazon account.)I am finding Amazon's recommendations to be pretty spot on. I just finished "Archer's Voice" by Mia Sheridan and have to say it may be one of my favorite books. Sometimes, I have to step away from these intense books and will find another one to read via Goodreads or end up just writing and working on my own series.Who and what do you like to read and how do you find new authors or genres?
April 7, 2015
{WR} The "F" Word as in F*&K {Blogging from A to Z}
The "F" word. It can be made into any part of speech and was viewed as vulgar when I was little. It was the word I shouted at a child, when I was maybe 7, because I had heard it somewhere. I was mad, a fellow neighbor wouldn't let me ride her bike! The nerve!;-) When I shouted it my mom heard me and I was hauled inside and had a talking to by her and my father.
I don't use the word and am amazed at how easily it can drop off people's mouths like using the word "Hey". I hear it in the work place, when middle-schoolers walk by my house, by adults on the phone in almost any public place. I am not even comfortable writing the word. Maybe my parents 'talking to' set deep within my subconscious.
Now I am in my 40s, I still don't use it unless I am repeating what someone else said or maybe in a rare situation where it warrants it (which, really, should be never) and around people I know I won't offend. But in writing?
I have used it sparsely in the series of books I am writing. It adds a punch to something that otherwise may seem ordinary, but only if you use it very rarely. If someone says it all the time, it may be a part of their character and personality. However, when used over and over again I don't think it can pack a punch when used in certain situations like sex, describing a situation, or demeaning someone. The main character in my series, her name is Lane, doesn't curse much. It's one of the things that she thinks is lazy and knows there has to be a word she can use in place of "a four letter word".
However, once in awhile she lets it drop and the person she is around is surprised, calls her out on it, or asks what is wrong. And when she curses, you know she is angry. I don't have to add, "she said in a terse voice" or "she yelled, angrily" after she says whatever curse words fits the mood.
I think the "F word"or any other 'four letter word' can be a way to get across an emotion, a feeling, in just one word but only if used rarely and in the right situation.
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
I don't use the word and am amazed at how easily it can drop off people's mouths like using the word "Hey". I hear it in the work place, when middle-schoolers walk by my house, by adults on the phone in almost any public place. I am not even comfortable writing the word. Maybe my parents 'talking to' set deep within my subconscious.
Now I am in my 40s, I still don't use it unless I am repeating what someone else said or maybe in a rare situation where it warrants it (which, really, should be never) and around people I know I won't offend. But in writing?
I have used it sparsely in the series of books I am writing. It adds a punch to something that otherwise may seem ordinary, but only if you use it very rarely. If someone says it all the time, it may be a part of their character and personality. However, when used over and over again I don't think it can pack a punch when used in certain situations like sex, describing a situation, or demeaning someone. The main character in my series, her name is Lane, doesn't curse much. It's one of the things that she thinks is lazy and knows there has to be a word she can use in place of "a four letter word".
However, once in awhile she lets it drop and the person she is around is surprised, calls her out on it, or asks what is wrong. And when she curses, you know she is angry. I don't have to add, "she said in a terse voice" or "she yelled, angrily" after she says whatever curse words fits the mood.
I think the "F word"or any other 'four letter word' can be a way to get across an emotion, a feeling, in just one word but only if used rarely and in the right situation.
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 6, 2015
{WR} Eating in Real Life and in Fiction {Blogging from A to Z}
I am a sucker for going out to eat. I love to do it, try new restaurants and revisit favorites. Since I am on Weight Watchers, I am more concious of where I go and what I eat...but when I write about my characters they always eat. And sometimes, it's not the healthy meal they should be eating.
(I am writing this blog as I eat an apple and some almonds for my breakfast!)
Years ago, when "Twilight" and "Breaking Dawn" were huge I remember reading an interview with Stephenie Meyer. She said that Bella was like a daughter to her (and was the name she would have given one of her children if she had a girl) so she needed to make sure Bella ate. When I reread the series, I noticed she had indeed fed Bella! That stuck in my head and with my own writing, I make sure my characters eat. Since I like to write YA/New Adult--and at least one character is in high school--there are the typical cafeteria scenes. I have them snack at home, eat a dinner or pop in a frozen pizza. When they go out to dinner with friends, I always have a specific restaurant in my head (even though I don't mention it by name in the story) and the characters order my favorite dishes from there.
Great conversations, personal stories, secrets and revelations happen when friends get together to eat and I find it's a great way for a long conversation to happen in a book. There aren't a lot of distractions, they are focused on each other and there is minimal movement to describe. It's also an easy way to talk about the time of day or mark the passage of a specific span of time.
When "Lane Changes" is finally published (no date yet) you'll see the typical cafeteria scene, friends ordering pizza, best friends eating pasta, snacking on bowls of grapes and having a soda. Americans love their food and so do my characters!
(I am writing this blog as I eat an apple and some almonds for my breakfast!)
Years ago, when "Twilight" and "Breaking Dawn" were huge I remember reading an interview with Stephenie Meyer. She said that Bella was like a daughter to her (and was the name she would have given one of her children if she had a girl) so she needed to make sure Bella ate. When I reread the series, I noticed she had indeed fed Bella! That stuck in my head and with my own writing, I make sure my characters eat. Since I like to write YA/New Adult--and at least one character is in high school--there are the typical cafeteria scenes. I have them snack at home, eat a dinner or pop in a frozen pizza. When they go out to dinner with friends, I always have a specific restaurant in my head (even though I don't mention it by name in the story) and the characters order my favorite dishes from there.
Great conversations, personal stories, secrets and revelations happen when friends get together to eat and I find it's a great way for a long conversation to happen in a book. There aren't a lot of distractions, they are focused on each other and there is minimal movement to describe. It's also an easy way to talk about the time of day or mark the passage of a specific span of time.
When "Lane Changes" is finally published (no date yet) you'll see the typical cafeteria scene, friends ordering pizza, best friends eating pasta, snacking on bowls of grapes and having a soda. Americans love their food and so do my characters!
April 4, 2015
{WR} Debt...What is too much in regards to college? (Blogging from A to Z Challenge}
(I always try to bring the post back to writing, so please stay with me!)
My oldest just committed to a college after months of agonizing. He had an existential crisis (his words), having been accepted everywhere he applied. Even his #1, favorite school accepted him and gave him a scholarship. However, American University is VERY expensive and even with what he received he'd graduate with $40,000 in debt.
That's not an acceptable number to him when he wants to be a teacher. He managed to eliminate the Massachusettes state school he applied to because he didn't get into the Honors program there (but did at American, so we were a bit confused there...) so he had to decide between three schools (two in PA and one in MD) in the end. He chose the one in the middle, kind of like Goldilocks did. This one was not the cheapest nor the most expensive. It wasn't the preppy one nor the more laid back one. It was "just right"; the campus he felt at home in when we took two tours, the one that catered to him and sent him numerous flyers, phone calls and wooed him in. He got accepted to their honors program and was impressed with their education program as well. On the debt side he will graduate with less than $10,000 in debt which is very managaeble on a teacher's salary.
We were impressed he'd think this way, and actually listened to us when we said that a large amount of debt for certain majors doesn't make much sense. Put your money into Grad School, which is definitely on his radar as he wants to teach secondary and maybe college history.
I'm writing a series of books and right now, the child my main character has is college age. No, he's not becoming a teacher but an architect/designer. I tried to make subtle hints in the story about how he chose his school. The character thought about debt, where he felt comfortable and I introduced real life situations in the scenes with him in college, knowing my son will face similar ones as well.
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
My oldest just committed to a college after months of agonizing. He had an existential crisis (his words), having been accepted everywhere he applied. Even his #1, favorite school accepted him and gave him a scholarship. However, American University is VERY expensive and even with what he received he'd graduate with $40,000 in debt.
That's not an acceptable number to him when he wants to be a teacher. He managed to eliminate the Massachusettes state school he applied to because he didn't get into the Honors program there (but did at American, so we were a bit confused there...) so he had to decide between three schools (two in PA and one in MD) in the end. He chose the one in the middle, kind of like Goldilocks did. This one was not the cheapest nor the most expensive. It wasn't the preppy one nor the more laid back one. It was "just right"; the campus he felt at home in when we took two tours, the one that catered to him and sent him numerous flyers, phone calls and wooed him in. He got accepted to their honors program and was impressed with their education program as well. On the debt side he will graduate with less than $10,000 in debt which is very managaeble on a teacher's salary.
We were impressed he'd think this way, and actually listened to us when we said that a large amount of debt for certain majors doesn't make much sense. Put your money into Grad School, which is definitely on his radar as he wants to teach secondary and maybe college history.
I'm writing a series of books and right now, the child my main character has is college age. No, he's not becoming a teacher but an architect/designer. I tried to make subtle hints in the story about how he chose his school. The character thought about debt, where he felt comfortable and I introduced real life situations in the scenes with him in college, knowing my son will face similar ones as well.
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 3, 2015
{WR} Cougar Town! {Blogging from A to Z}
Cougar Town! A show that, when it orginially aired, I honestly thought it was about a group of women in their 40s who dated young men. Which did not interest me at all.
Fast foward to two weeks ago when my sister forced me to watch the first episode because she is convinced Travis, the son, is the twin to my son in looks and attitude. I had to agree and found myself laughing so hard and identifying with so much of what the friends on the show went through, I have watched the first season in two weeks.
I find the writing hilarious, the quick jokes, wit and barbs always entertaining; the way the lines are delivered with the perfect facial expression or body language. I could never be an actor as I just don't have that talent. However, I think that when you get the trifecta (good writing, good acting, the perfect person to play said character=chemistry!) then you have an amazing show. I only hope the rest of the seasons keep me laughing, and crying, as much as the first.
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
Fast foward to two weeks ago when my sister forced me to watch the first episode because she is convinced Travis, the son, is the twin to my son in looks and attitude. I had to agree and found myself laughing so hard and identifying with so much of what the friends on the show went through, I have watched the first season in two weeks.
I find the writing hilarious, the quick jokes, wit and barbs always entertaining; the way the lines are delivered with the perfect facial expression or body language. I could never be an actor as I just don't have that talent. However, I think that when you get the trifecta (good writing, good acting, the perfect person to play said character=chemistry!) then you have an amazing show. I only hope the rest of the seasons keep me laughing, and crying, as much as the first.
Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 2, 2015
{WR} Blasted Laptop! {Blogging from A to Z Challenge}
Four years ago, I thought I wanted the best laptop, I wanted the newest, fanciest one so I got a MacBookPro.
Four years later I am like, "What the hell did I buy? I can't figure out half of this computer and I can't even change the freaking file name if I misspell something! I have to "Save As" again then trash the original document!"
I was complaining to my husband about it this morning and realized, I am a simple person. I want a simple laptop that I am not cursing everyday. I had a Dell for ten years until I got this one and I am ready to go back. I save all my stories/books on this (and copy over to an external hard drive) but can easily do that same on a Windows based laptop. On a Windows based laptop, I could EVEN CHANGE THE FILE NAME WITH A CLICK OF THE MOUSE!
Can you tell I am frustrated? BLASTED LAPTOP!
So, do I go back to a Dell or is there a laptop that you have found which is better for writing? I use MS Word for writing everything. I don't play games, I surf the internet, I watch "Cougar Town" (only on season one so no spoilers), I look at photos--which I can't do anymore on my MacBook because an update ruined the iPhoto ap so...I can't edit or anything so that ap is useless to me now!
In addition to moving this summer, I will be in the market for a new laptop as well. Any advice would be appreciated or I will just get the Dells I was used to years ago.
Thanks for listening!
Blogging from A to Z Link
Four years later I am like, "What the hell did I buy? I can't figure out half of this computer and I can't even change the freaking file name if I misspell something! I have to "Save As" again then trash the original document!"
I was complaining to my husband about it this morning and realized, I am a simple person. I want a simple laptop that I am not cursing everyday. I had a Dell for ten years until I got this one and I am ready to go back. I save all my stories/books on this (and copy over to an external hard drive) but can easily do that same on a Windows based laptop. On a Windows based laptop, I could EVEN CHANGE THE FILE NAME WITH A CLICK OF THE MOUSE!
Can you tell I am frustrated? BLASTED LAPTOP!
So, do I go back to a Dell or is there a laptop that you have found which is better for writing? I use MS Word for writing everything. I don't play games, I surf the internet, I watch "Cougar Town" (only on season one so no spoilers), I look at photos--which I can't do anymore on my MacBook because an update ruined the iPhoto ap so...I can't edit or anything so that ap is useless to me now!
In addition to moving this summer, I will be in the market for a new laptop as well. Any advice would be appreciated or I will just get the Dells I was used to years ago.
Thanks for listening!
Blogging from A to Z Link
{WR} Apples, Berries, Carrots... {Blogging from A to Z Challenge} and IWSG!
I was gone all day yesterday and didn't have a chance to post for the first day, the letter A or for IWSG! I guess I could make a comment about it being April Fools...Anywho...I will post every day and try to mention writing (or anything that has to do with it) within the post and why I chose to write about what I did...
APPLES, BERRIES, CARROTS
I chose this as I am on Weight Watchers, and have been since mid February. My work is very health conscious and for only $4 a week I can attend a meeting at work, get weighed, have access to their ap (which is amazing) and sit with like minded individuals that I work with day in and day out. So far, I have lost 16 pounds and with that comes more energy, a better attitude and I even feel more creative when I write. I am also in that zone, in writing, where I will sit for two hours and pound out a scene then realize I wrote instead of ate. So, writing can also help with weight loss if you can lose yourself in your characters. I think a lot of overeating stems from being bored and when I get into a scene that takes every ounce of concentration I have, the urge to snack goes away. So, I signed up for another WW session and my goal of losing 40lbs total is almost half way there...off to eat more fruit and veggies!
Blogging from A to Z Link
March 19, 2015
Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April
During the month of April, there is a blogging challenge. Blog every day, beginning with the first letter of the alphabet, but give yourselves Sunday off. Interested in participating in this challenge? See the link below. I am helping one of the moderators and look forward to reading and participating in this during the month of April!
A to Z Challenge
A to Z Challenge
Heather McCubbin's Blog
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