Jennifer Ibarra's Blog, page 4

It’s so hard to say goodbye…

I finished my line edits last night. This is a huge, HUGE milestone, and now, I’ve got only the proofreading stage, and then I can go into production .

And yet, this isn’t what’s making me sad. As euphoric as I am about inching closer to my finish line, I can’t help but be sad over an unexpected passing this morning. Yes, my heart is heavy because…I’ve lost Hedwig.

Let me introduce you to Hedwig. She was my trusty MacBook Pro for the last 3 years. She was there for me when I finally finished m...

The joy and the torture of writing

As a writing geek, I peruse a lot of writing blogs and online writers’ circles on Twitter, tumblr, Facebook. One thing I see frequently on these forums (as well as in various books on the writing craft) is this notion of having to suffer for one’s art.

Look, I’ll be the first to admit that writing isn’t easy. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. You’ll go through moments of crippling self-doubt, face criticisms (sometimes warranted, but all-too often, not), and suffer the highs and lows...

If at first you don’t succeed…

When I was 6, my uncle tried to teach me how to ride a bike. He held on to the back of the bike and had me start to pedal–but didn’t tell me he was going to let go, and when he did, I lost my balance and promptly fell, scraping my knees and elbows in the process.

The experience was enough to put me off from riding a bike for a long time. For the next two years, I happily plugged away with my training wheels firmly attached. Then one day, out of the blue, I woke up and decided I was going to tr...

When muses awaken

A year ago, my brain got hijacked by my muse. It’s been a wild ride over the last 12 months, bringing this story to life, and as I approach the release forThe Polaris Uprising, I’ve been thinking a lot about how similar this experience has felt to falling in love–properly in love–for the first time. Which made me wonder, will I ever love any other story or cast of characters as much as I’ve loved these?

Today, I had a similar experience to the one I had last year. Now, it didn’t send me straig...

Why we need more Luke Skywalkers–in life and in fiction

Several years ago, AFI released their list of the Top 100 Movie Heroes. I was super excited to watch them unveil this list, thinking surelymy favorite hero of all time, Luke Skywalker, would make it in the top 5. Maybe even the top spot!! After all, he was modeled after Joseph Campbell’s famous Hero’s Journey hero–the prototypical “ordinary person” called to action and became a savior who restored a broken world to order again.

No brainer, right?

Well, as I was horrified to learn, Luke didn’t m...

What a difference a year makes

They say you’ll never know where life will take you. I’ve come to believe this is true.

364 days ago,I set out on an 8 mile run, fully intending to meet up with my Team In Training team. As it so happens, I got lost. After driving around, frustrated, I decided to say uncle and head to a local trail I knew well and do the run on my own. I didn’t have my iPod with me, so I had no choice but to entertain myself some other way during the roughly and hour and a half or so I’d be out there.

90 minute...

Sister, sister…

Today was a huge milestone. I hit the100mark in the number of people who’ve addedThe Polaris Uprising to their Goodreads to-read list!! And to celebrate, I’m going to share another excerpt from the book.

Since it was National Sister Day on August 4, I thought it might be appropriate to share an excerpt with my favorite sisters, Ryla and Alanna. Hope you all enjoy .

~~~

“If you keep making that face, it could freeze that way.”

Alanna felt someone’s presence in the room before she ever saw the sha...

Getting my parachute ready

It’s been 3 weeks since I got my editor’s notes on my third (or was it the fourth?) draft. In that time, I’ve been doing a lot of crying (just kidding, Brenda! ), hand-wringing, brainstorming, planning, and praying. A lot of praying.

And finally, finally… I’ve got a solid outline for the next draft and my editor has looked over my notes for my revision plan and has given me great feedback. I’ve got everything I need to get going and get this next draft done.

So why am I completely terrified?

Di...

Attack of the killer plans

Some people like to wing it. I’m not one of those people. I don’t know if I’ll end up sticking 100% to this schedule, but I’m sure going to try.

I already feel better just having a plan.

Lists, tasks, deadlines… this is how I roll

Because what’s a day off without a little baking?

Throughout the process of writingThe Polaris Uprising (and afterwards!), I’ve been very lucky to have had the support and encouragement of my friend, Jess, who’s a beta reader, therapist, cheerleader, and fellow fangirl all rolled into one. So I decided as a thank you to her for being so awesome, I would bake her a little somethin’ somethin’.

Alas, since shipping to Canada isn’t exactly fast, I had to pick something that travels well, so… Biscotti* to the rescue.

*I may or may not steal one jus...