Happy 2012 With Nicholas Sparks

Happy New Year! Obviously I missed my annual 12 Days of Christmas book reviews, but...

Ok, I have no excuse, but I do know I actually only got 8 school days off this Christmas vacation! What cruelty! And up until last night (Sunday, Jan 1) I thought I wasn't going back to work until Tuesday.

Well, I went back today...on Monday...talk about a bummer Manic Monday.

On to real blog stuff.

If you love Nicholas Sparks and/or love to write and/or love to get inside writers' minds, then check out the video interview below!



I really like how he differentiates between a romance and a love story, and he is right on when he says Pretty Woman is a romance while Ghost is a love story...the kind that wrings your heart out. Nicholas Sparks is the king of the love story. Think about it. A Walk to Remember? The Notebook? Dear John? All love stories without the Cinderella ending.

The other day my 12 year old daughter told her grandma about how she loves reading romance novels! Doesn't sound right! Makes me think of those formulaic Harlequin novels I used to read as a teen when YA didn't have any sizzle or appeal in my mind. I'm 38 now so you can do the math.

Well, now she can say she loves reading books with a love story. That I'm ok with. No Fabio allowed here.  Also, a love story does not have to be about a sweeping, epic, romantic relationship.  A love story can be about siblings, friends, family, any people we love in life. 

Here is my list of some of the best love stories I have ever read.  Though my list could be different tomorrow!  You will notice, though, that when it comes to my list, a majority of them are love stories with the romantic kind of love.   I can't help it. 

In no particular order...but probably Eva Underground as number one today:

Eva Underground (love story set in the midsts of Eastern European political chaos)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth (love story set a couple of centuries after The Zombie Apocolapse)
Dear John (love story spanning over 9/11 and the Iraq War and bittersweet ending and my favorite Sparks novel)
North of Beautiful (love story of self with spectular setting in China)
A Certain Slant of Light (love story between ancient souls in modern time)
The Comeback Season (love story with baseball and bittersweet ending)
After Summer (love story in Australia from a male POV)
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (love story with family and romance)
The Truth About Forever (first YA love story I really loved)
Delirium (latest YA love story I really love)

I probably have some type of review or post about each one these.  Just look over at the sidebar and enjoy!  Or try the search box.

Aloposted from Bloggeroid

November Gone

Happy December!

The last post I made was a pre-Thanksgiving post...wow, where does the time go? I will tell you. It goes on lots of eating, lots of napping, and lots of shopping, and lots of query writing. I sent out a small batch of them out the day before Thanksgiving. I sent another small batch the week right after Thanksgiving. A grand total of 11 or 12, including two I had sent out in late October. And officially, my query has been rejected by about 5 or 6 agents. A few of them were nice enough to respond back with the official rejection and a couple just thought it best to give no response.

You know, if they would just give it a chance...I mean seriously, anybody who actually holds an MFA in writing is not just some chump off the street. The query letters are strong, my writing sample is strong, so what do they want? Is my novel too "literary" (and of course take that with a grain of salt...isn't everything literary?)? Is my novel too "Latina" or too "multi-cultural" (and what about the fact that the largest minority group in the U.S. is Latino and a bunch of Latino teens probably would like more stuff representing them)? Is nobody that much into verse novels (and I don't think this is the case because every time I have recommended one to someone, they end up loving it)?

I know, I am ranting. But this is what consumes my mind...

Other things...

I finished reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver! Love it, but not the ending :(! I feel a book review coming soon.

I am hooked on AMC's The Walking Dead, and just feel completely empty now that they aren't showing it again until February.

I am holding on to The X-Factor only as a way to keep me ready for American Idol.

I love The Hunger Games Trailer and really think the Katniss actress looks like a Katniss.

Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, but leaning to the side :(

We got a cold blast way down here in deep South Texas! Yay!

And 1st semester is coming to an end...my kids just doing a project "final" guaranteed to give them a higher average if they will simply come through and do it decently well. They are making time-capsules over civilizations. Lots of library time, and guess what? The library is my all time favorite place on campus!

One more thing, I submitted an application at the local university to teach freshmen writing...keeping my fingers crossed. I am ready for change.

Imagine if all this change came during 2012? A new job focused on teaching writing, an agent who says yes...wow! 2012 would be one of the grandest, but never beating the year I got engaged and married, and the years in which my kids were born.

Till tomorrow! Hopefully, I will start my 12 Days of December YA Books posts!

Epic Wishes and Prayers

What Susane Colasanti has to say today on her blog:

"If you’ve read any of my books or you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m all about dreaming big. Simply put, I would not be here today without dreaming big. And by “here” I mean here in the West Village working at home on a blog post for you. None of those things would be reality today if I had given up...
Which is why I’m psyched that today is 11.11.11.

Today is the day for us to make the most epic wish ever.

At 11:11 (both a.m. and p.m. for emphasis), I’m wishing for the three things I want to see the most in 2012."

If you want to read her entire post follow this link:  http://susanecolasanti.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/most-epic-wish-ever/#comment-5303

So, here are my 3 wish-prayers...because if you direct your wishes to God and pray that His will come through in your life, then aren't wishes really just prayers for good things to happen?

1.  A year of health and prosperity for my little family!  Which basically will be a continuation of the last 16 years! 

2.  A phone call or email by some agent out there in the world who wants to represent my first YA novel.

3.  A year of inspired writing ideas.

4.  And since I'm in my late 30's, I think I deserve and extra wish.  That my children continue to walk the straight and narrow in this second decade of the 2000's.  Wow...2012...amazing!