Random Friday Thoughts

First off—Thanks to the talented Tara Tyler for the fun new header. The cartoon version of me is much thinner than the real life me. I think I could put 100 cartoon me’s down my bra :)

I’ve been kind of slammed with life so I’ve been a lazy blogger, and all I have for today are a few random thoughts.

Thought #1—I’m am the luckiest girl. I’ve got the best CP’s and they write awesome stuff. I’ve read 3 manuscripts in the last two weeks. Emily, Kelley, and Cassie—I love your work, all for different reasons.

My mood swing Princess

Thought #2—I was driving my 7 year old daughter home from school and she said, “I hate having mood swings. Well, the going up part is good, but I don’t like the coming down part.” Amen sister! AMEN!

Thought #3—If someone could figure out a way to extract the calories from chocolate, I would vote for them to be president of the world regardless of political ideals :)

Thought #4—I never realized how politically eye opening living in a battle ground state could be. Did you guys know Mitt Romney invented the ebola virus and personally set it loose in Africa? Or that Pres. Obama moonlights as a sniper/stripper in Vegas on the weekends. (I think this one might be true. I’ll have to ask Jessie Humphries)

Thought #5—There’s no fall chill in Florida. I’m still wearing my sweaters anyway!

Love you all! Have an awesome weekend :)

-Angie

Random Ramblings—Book Contest Winner

You all cracked me up guessing some of my books. You guys were much better than I thought you would be :) But I do have a definitive winner.

Congrats to:

AldreaAlien

She got an impressive 55 books correct. 

So contact me at my email dangelinacothran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will send you your Amazon gift card.

I have four honorable mentions:

Danielle and Melissa Sarno both guessed 41

And Chantele Sedgwick and CassieCook both got 36

You ladies rock.

I had so many people wonder what the colorful books and the series with faces were, I took a little pic for you. I recommend them all :)

-Angie

Agatha Christie - Love her!

Wow this is a bad picture, but the books are the Pendragon series. Love it :)

Random Ramblings—Things that don’t go together…

Orange Juice and Nutella (don’t try it)

Me and Cleaning the Bathroom (I’m tired just thinking about it)

Kids and Migraine Headaches (obvious)

Me and Mornings (also obvious)

High heels and a Primary Calling (I’ve never walked so much at church)

Tamales and Typing (only if you want hot sauce dripping on your keys)

Socks and Sandals (but I secretly wish they did)

Black and Navy Blue (you look like you tried to match an failed)

Now it’s your turn. Give me a good one :)

-Angie

Random Ramblings—Bad Books

Bad books make me grouchy. Not just, “What is the matter? Why are you frowning?” grouchy. But, “Steer clear of Angie, she is mean!” grouchy!!!

I’ve read a few doosies this year already and bad books kill me! They make me lose a little faith in authors, agents, publishers, and editors. What could they all be thinking? How did no one catch this travesty?

So in an attempt to learn a lesson, I’m digging deep here:

What makes a book bad?

Slow starts

Slow middles

Slow ends

Cheesy dialogue

Unrealistic plot twists

Stereotyped characters

Too much world building

Too much description

Too much swearing

Not enough emotion

Characters not moving the plot forward

Unrelatable characters

No tension

No conflict

No kissing (just kidding—kind of)

Bad writing

So cheer me up :) What is your number one complaint in bad books?

-Angie

Random Ramblings—77 x 7 x 7

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday.  It was my birthday! I’m 36. Yep, I’ll own it. I fought hard for every one of those freaking years!

I had a fun post planned in my mind for yesterday, but then my hubby let me sleep in and I decided to blow off the entire day! I love blown days.

I do have a normal post for today. So back to business…

I was lucky enough to be tagged by the famous David Powers King and the sweet Freya Morris. So of course I have to do it:

Rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating
4. Tag 7 authors
5. Let them know 

So without further ado…here is mine :)

Jocelyn slept longer than Taggert expected.

What a thing to escape into a dream, where nightmares are faceless and in the peripheral of thought. They never stand before you and demand resolution. In dreams you can run, delay, postpone, but rarely confront. Is this why she slept? Maybe her fantasy nightmares were easier than her waking ones. Was she peacefully lying there fleeing her existence?

            When she opened her eyes, Taggert looked away. He wanted to give her some time to remember where she was and what had happened, without his gaze.

Now, to find 7 people who haven’t done this yet…Hmmm.  If you have already been tagged…sorry for the re-tag :)

Melissa Sarno

Angela Brown

Katrina Lantz

Ilima Todd

Tasha Seegmiller

Kyra Lennon

Ruth Josse

Have fun :)

-Angie 

Random Ramblings—Hardback, Paperback, e-book…Oh my!

I’ve been thinking about this lately and I want to get some other opinions.

I’ve always been a bit of a book snob. I LOVE hardbacks. If I can find a book in hardback I always buy it. Sometimes I won’t buy books if they only come in paperback.  And e-books are they really books?

This was all before I started trying to get published.

But now I’m in a bit of a conundrum. I’ve read some FANTASIC books in paperback—some of my favorites in fact. And since getting a Kindle, I’m loving all the books I can ONLY get in e-book.

I think hardbacks will always be my favorite. I love how they look on my shelves and they hold up so nice to multiple readings. But now I’m starting to change my mind.

So my questions to you are…What book format is your favorite? Would you sign with a publisher that only printed paperbacks? Or e-books?

-Angie

Random Ramblings—Writers on Writing

Happy Thursday! I’m too busy with a fun new project to give you post today, so I’m going to share a few quotes about writing.

As writers we all seem to collect quotes (just one more thing we have in common). Here are 10 that I love :)

-Angie

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. – Anais Nin

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. – Ray Bradbury

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. – E.L. Doctorow

I try to leave out the parts people skip. – Eleanor Leonard

Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very:” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. – Mark Twain  

"The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes." - Agatha Christie

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." - Mark Twain

"If your characters cry, your readers won't have to; if your characters have good reason to cry and don't, your readers will do the weeping." - Orson Scott Card

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. – James Michener.

Be obscure clearly. – E.B. White

Random Ramblings: The chocolate frog effect

My sister recently went to the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, and all she bought me was a chocolate frog. Actually it was pretty cool (and tasty).

As I’m devouring my frog I can’t help thinking how crazy it is that I’m eating something straight from a book. Something straight from J.K.’s imagination.

And it made me wonder if my stories are great enough to inspire food, or a movie franchise, or a theme park for heavens sake. Not yet :)

But my take away from this “chocolate frog effect” is—Make you story vibrant. Make your world tangible. Make your characters unforgettable. No problem, right?

What is the most vibrant unforgettable story you have ever read?

-Angie

Random Ramblings—Am I alone in this?

I will readily admit I’m not a big swearer. Maybe a “heck” or a “darn” if I chopped off my finger (or I’m in labor). But I must be alone in this because the amount of swearing I’m coming across in YA books is leaving me a little baffled.

And these aren’t babies these are monster swear words. Eff this and eff that and effing effity eff! I hate it! Reading a fantastic book and getting hit in the face with the F- word is like eating a luscious piece of chocolate cake and breaking my tooth on a rock five bites in.

One of the things I hate most about it, is that dropping the F-bomb IMMEDIATELY jolts me out of POV—Every. Single. Time.  I’m not saying that the people who write these books aren’t good authors. In fact most of the time they are fabulous authors, that's why the vulgarity is so ugly. It stands out in sharp contrast to the beautiful writing.

You can tell me “It’s realistic” or “It’s in character” or “It’s appropriate when you’re mad” or any of the other reasons I hear. But I’m sorry I just don’t care about those reasons. I read PLEANTY of stuff that is realistic, in character, where they have every reason to swear and DON’T.

I just need to throw in a tiny experience. I got a book from the library that people were RAVING about, and what do I find? Swearing. LOTS of swearing. But someone before me had inked out all the swear words. The pages looked like a dalmatian dog. And do you know what? I didn't miss one single thing. I got the plot. I got the characterization. I got the emotion. And I just kept thinking, "Why all the swearing?"

Have I read books with questionable language? Of course. Are some of them good—even great? Of course. But they will never be my favorites. Sorry.

Now, you can judge me. That’s okay. I don’t mind. I’m feeling feisty today :)

-Angie

 (Before anyone starts swearing at me in the comments, notice this post is tagged as opinion)

Random Ramblings: Really? There’s more?

I’ve received some fun awards lately. Freya Morris and Aldrea Allen gave me The Kreativ Blogger Award and Hope Roberson gave me the Liebster Award. Thanks girls! I’m honored.

So, even though I feel like you all know everything about me—here’s a bit more.

1. I’ve been married for 13 years and I’m still head over heels in love with my hubby. He's amazing! Kind, sweet, very smart, and hot—don’t forget HOT!
2.  I’m the oldest of seven kids. Yep, you heard right SEVEN KIDS. I’m like the second mother. In fact, if my brothers or sisters can’t find Mom they call me.
3. My sisters call me a book whore, because I like everything. But the more I learn about the craft of writing the less whorey I am. *Sigh*  I kind of miss those blissful whorey days.
4. I hate math. I don’t really feel a need to explain :)
5. I have freakishly small feet. I’m talking 5-6. I’ve never had a love affair with shoes, because they NEVER have my size.
6. I’m a bit of a closeted Isaiah expert. I’ve been studying that book for years. I think it’s fascinating.
7. I was a cheerleader in high school, but I was a VERY nice cheerleader. I always went out of my way to make people feel included and important. I hate the cliché of the witchy cheerleader.
8. I could live without bread, meat, and dairy—but not candy. Well, I guess if I only ate candy I wouldn’t live too long.
9. My eyelashes are crazy long. I get asked all the time where I get my lashes done. No extras, just 100% mine :)
10. I can repeat all 50 states in alphabetical order. Thank you 4^th grade program.

 Almost everyone I follow has already been given these awards. So the buck stops here. I guess I need to expand my blogging circle. Have a great Thursday everyone!

-Angie

6 days to I’m HearingVoices Blogfest. Yay, I can’t wait!