Random Info Dump and WINNERS!

I've been reading a ton lately. It all started with me being sick on the couch for a week. Strep. Yuck. Anyway, sadly this means that I haven't written much but that's life sometimes.


Here are the books I've read and suggest to all of you.


  
I love Jessica Day George's books. These are clean and exciting. The first was my favorite and then the second and third. Mostly because the last one deals more with dragons and I missed the interaction with the people and the city. But they're good. 


And then I picked this up off the shelve at the library.

It was cute. A quick read with the same lovable character's in a modern setting. Forget marriage, though, these teens are out for a prom date :) Oh and I should mention that it's also a clean book. I love clean romance!


Next up, do you all remember my interview with Carol? I'm so excited to meet up with her this weekend! Besides my awesome friend Shallee, I've never actually met another writer face to face. I know, I need to get out more. Just had to share the excitement. If anyone else is planning on being in Portland, Oregon this weekend, let me know!


And thanks to some notes from my dear friend Shallee, who had the opportunity to go to the LDStorymaker's conference, I had a breakthrough with my novel! Something clicked. Yes, I still have a ton of work to do (especially since this breakthrough will take some definite revising), but this is SO big! I feel like one more thing has fallen into place. *Sigh*


And now for the winners of my 5 First 1000 word critique giveaway. 


#1. Leigh T. Moore
#2. Reece
#3. Melanie Stanford
#4. Kayeleen Hamblin
#5. Shari


Yay! Go ahead and email me your first 1000 words at michelle m merrill (at) hotmail (dot) com. 


Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing! I have the best blogging friends. Have a great day.

Come Meet Aspiring Author Carol Riggs!

I'm so pleased to have Carol Riggs on my blog today!

In case you don't much about her, we'll start with a picture.

And when you visit her awesome blog, you'll see this blurb about her.

I am now repped by the fantastic Kelly Sonnack of Andrea Brown Literary Agency! I write YA novels and live in southern Oregon with my husband. I'm also an artist with a Studio Arts degree. I worked for 6 years as a proofreader-typist for a book info company, and have critiqued for pay in addition to mutual critique swapping. I'm an active member of the SCBWI--the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. I'm a Christian whose faith affects my life.

Yeah, she just got her agent! It's so awesome and her blog is full of great critiques. I'm excited to pick apart her writer brain today. You should consider yourselves lucky too :)

Before I get off on a tangent, let's start the interview. Carol, what made you want to write?

Two high school English teachers started me on my writing journey. I learned to compose essays my sophomore year, and then I took fiction writing and sci-fi literature classes. I collected my first rejection slips for short stories at that time. I read Ray Bradbury's SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, and I was in love! His writing style is exhilarating. I like to write because it's freeing, creative, and rewarding. 

(Well said.)

What book are you reading right now and which one do you have lined up to read next?

I'm not reading anything now. I'm in turbo-revision mode while revising for my lovely new agent. I usually prefer NOT to read while I'm writing, because I have my own rhythm and voice, and when I read other novels I tend to absorb their rhythms and voice. So I prefer to do my reading "research" in between writing my own novels.  

(Totally understandable. It's a great method, one that I should adopt right now so I can finish revisions!)

Lined up next to read: MATCHED by Ally Condie. It's been on my TBR list for a while, plus Kelly my agent suggested I read it to check out the grandfather character (since I have one in my own novel). 

(Ooh, great suggestion!)

What's your favorite genre to write?

Hmm. Although I have written a few contemporary stories, I would say anything with a twist of surrealness or uniqueness to it. Which for me is magical realism, fantasy, sci-fi, or dystopian. I haven't tried paranormal, but I think I'd like it, for the reason that it's unique or unusual.

If you could pick the setting of one book to live in, which would it be?

Harry Potter? But mostly because I really, really want to be able to apparate. It would come in SO handy and save a lot of time. None of that silly driving and driving and driving to get places.

(Apparating would definitely be my choice of magical power as well! Think of all the time I could spend writing instead of driving in a car :))

Do you have any pet peeves while writing?

Interruptions! When I'm just getting the flow of something, whipping right along, I hate having to: answer the phone, rescue the laundry from dryer wrinkles, stop to make/eat lunch, etc. It makes me want to bite something, in a rabid-dog kind of way. (But I don't.)

(Haha! Wait. You actually try to get the clothes out before they get wrinkles? You rock. If the muse is going, nothing but my kids and hubby can stop me. Not even the phone, my stomach, and definitely not the laundry. But I usually write at a time that those aren't an issue either.)

What's your favorite:

Book: I can't choose just one. In adult fiction, I like Timothy Zahn's Star Wars trilogy as well as his THE GREEN AND THE GRAY. For recent YA/MG reads, I enjoyed THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak, ARTICHOKE'S HEART by Suzanne Supplee, SAVVY by Ingrid Law, THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins, and NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaimon.

Author: I don't really have a fave author, but I'm enjoying Neil Gaimon lately. He's so creative and imaginative! I love his sense of humor, too.

Thing about writing: Writing similes and metaphors, and trying to think of ways to express things in unique ways that will make people smile.

Time of day: Whenever I get to write!

And last, but not least, do you prefer fruity candy or chocolate?

If I had to choose, I'd say chocolate. But I'm not a chocoholic. While I adore Reese's peanut butter cups and Almond Joys, I'd select carrot cake, cheesecake, or custard-filled maple bars over chocolate any day. Slurp!

(Um yummy! I need to make those delicious treats an option for this question. As much as I love candy, a good cake with some yummy frosting can pull me away. It has to be really good though.)

Thanks so much Carol! If you want to get to know more about her, which you should, then check out her blog. And if you want the awesome agent story, go here.

Don't forget to enter my critique giveaway here. Have a great weekend!

Word Review-Best Critique Tool EVER!

Today I'm going to tell you the best tool for critiquing. Some of you may already know about it and some of you might have something similar to this, but this is what I'm familiar with. All in all, I just want to make your critiquing life easier if you use Microsoft Office Word 2007.

When your friend, crit partner, lovely aspiring author buddy sends you their work, open it in a word document. Now look to the top of your screen. Do you see the review button?

Click on it and you can read your friend's stuff in there. Even better you can critique it while you read it or reread it or whatever you do. There are two things in Review that are my all time favorite. New Comment and Track Changes. They look like this.

If you want to make a comment on a certain sentence or section, highlight that part and click the New Comment button. It will open in the side and you can make all your comments there, like this.

Now, not everything needs a comment. Little grammatical errors can be changed in the document. Just click on the Track Changes button when you start your critique and any change you make, whether it's a misspelled word or punctuation, will be tracked so the writer can see where it is like this.

Isn't it awesome? (This is when you say, "Why yes it is Michelle, thanks for saving me time and helping me organize my critique's." Or I guess you may be thinking, "That's great that you're sharing this but it's kind of old news." Either way the answer is still...) Yes. It is awesome. 


And now for another bit of awesomeness. I happen to love critiquing. And I recently hit 250 followers. And I also just happened to hit 100 blog posts a little while ago. 


It's time to celebrate!


I don't have any books to give away. I know, either I'm selfish or poor...or both. I'll never tell :) But I will give away 5  first 1000 word critique's!


All you have to do is follow my blog and tell me in your comment if you'd like to be part of the drawing. Want an extra entry? Just mention this anywhere and tell me about it here as well. 


The giveaway ends Wednesday May 11. You have until then to enter. Good luck :)

The BEST glasses!

Okay, I know you can't all be lucky enough to have four eyes like me.  Even if you don't, I hope you can all relate to this.  


If you can't see, having glasses makes everything clearer.  Getting a good pair of glasses will do job, but choosing the BEST pair of glasses will get the greatest results.


First of all you have to choose the right kind of glasses.  Are you going to go for plastic, metal, nosepads, transition, basic, you get the idea?  


  


In a critique group you need to pick the right kind of people that will do the best job.  Your mom and dad might have a good opinion as well as your siblings and friends, but finding a group that can give you the best advice will be priceless.


So, you choose the kind of glasses you want.  Now you need to pick the right style.  What color do you want?  Are you going to go for thin, wide, bright, classy?  Well, what look are you going for?

  


Find someone that reads what you write.  It will be absolutely helpful in the long run.  They read what you write so they know what works.


Need some more reasons to have a critique group?  Have you ever tried to see out of one eye?  Some of you might, and I can only imagine that seeing out of one eye takes some getting used to.  Most likely you have to work a little harder to see everything.  


If you're walking around with a pair of glasses with only one good lens, you'll also have to work harder to see the whole picture.  The little details will be harder to see.  I suggest that you get a critique group and save yourself the trouble.  Let them help you see what you can't see yourself. They are the other lens to your glasses.


  
Last of all, use your glasses.  All. The. Time.  What do I mean by this? My favorite thing about being a part of a critique group is that each time I critique someone else's work, my skills get better.  My side of the glasses gets a little more in focus.  I love when I can pick out something, recognize what is missing, and share that with the writer.


And then I get to turn around to my WIP that has been sitting on the shelf and use the glasses to make mine even better!  It's a win-win.

 

In honor of my critique group week, 250 followers, 100 blog posts, and just because I want to make my side of my glasses better...there will be a critique giveaway with my next post on Wednesday :)