F³A: The Class of 2k12

First of all, I want to tell you my Apocalypty interview with Gae Polisner is up here.  You should go read it.

Also, no Friday Nibbles because seriously, Blogspot is freaking out today.

Now I want to talk about the Class of 2K12.  We're in our beginning stages, but we're steam rolling our way through.  We're working on our website, trailer, and other exciting things.

Last night we hosted a Twitterchat at #teenink.  I've never done a Twitterchat before and it was really fun.  We met a lot of teen writers, and adult writers as well, giving advice, talking about writing and books, and just having fun.  We'll probably be doing one in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that.

Our official launch will be 12/12/11

Here is the Class of 2k12

Suzanne Lazear

AC Gaughen

Caroline Starr Rose

CorrineJackson

Daniel Marks

Debra Driza

Eve MarieMont

Gina Rosati

J.AndersonCoats

Jennifer Wolf

Joanne Levy

Kate Burak

Katy Longshore

Kimberly Sabatini

LyndaMullalyHunt

Lynne Kelly

Megan Bostic

Patrice Lyle

Robin Bridges

Sarah Tregay

SarvenazTash

Thought Provoking Thursday: Mothers

With Mother's Day being this weekend, I thought I would write about mothers.  (and yes, I'm avoiding the whole bin Laden thing)

My mom is a saint and she's worked hard for that coming from a childhood where she was forced to grow up too fast.  She rose above it and broke a cycle, which is not always easy to do.  Sure, she's had her not so pretty moments, but who hasn't.

But she was always there to bandage my wounds, worry when I wasn't home in time, and dry my tears.  It's not only me she's protected and nurtured.  She helped her own mother by buying her groceries, taking her on vacations because she didn't have the money to do those things, little or big, on her own.

She along with my dad help send more kids to college than I can even count.  Education is important do her.  She's a very smart woman.  She has business sense, common sense, and she can talk for hours about books and movies.

She works with the Hospitality Kitchen here in Tacoma, gathering donations of coats, socks, and toiletries, and delivering them a couple times a year, among her other philanthropical activities and donations.  I probably wouldn't be able to count how many organizations she donates to on both hands. 

And these last few years, she's protected me, guided me, listened to me, believed in me, and tried to understand me when perhaps I wasn't acting completely rational or reasonable or sane for that matter.

She's a beautiful person and has been a great example for me, and I can only hope that I'm even half the mom as she has been to me.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all the moms out there.  It's one of the hardest jobs, if not the hardest, to raise kids, keep them healthy, and teach them how to become independent and confident adults.

Writing Wednesday: Poetry

This one is called Needs.

White hot heat
Shimmering brilliance
Humid and inviting.
Filling vacuous voids,
The sinister chasms that
cause eternal downpours
and bone chilling rime.
Perpetual motion
Not to think or cast shadows
No moss collected
merely flow like the current.
Vivid hues, downy clouds,
fluid and weightless
blissful and tranquil

I wait for the dark to subside.

T Tuesday. T is for Theme

Themes.  Do you have some that run through just about every one of your novels?  Here are a few things that I see me constantly writing about, whether they play a major part or a supporting role.

Soccer: I love soccer.  I love watching my kids play soccer.  I used soccer in the MG series I wrote (my very venture into novel writing), it also had it's supporting roll in Never Eighteen (NE).  It makes sense because every weekend for about nine months out of the year I am either watching one or two games a week.

Coffee, particularly Starbucks:  I'm addicted, so this just makes sense.  In the MG series, they have a favorite coffee shop, in NE Kaylee works at Starbucks.  In Lockdown there is a scene with the shooters mom and the police where they talk over coffee.

Death:  Yep.  I'm starting to think I may be obsessed with or at least fascinated by it.  People die.  I've killed or made someone gravely ill in every book I've written be it nemesis, best friend, or the entire cast.  I think in my WIP (work in progress) I won't kill anyone, though my protagonist is fascinated by death.

Teen social issues: Eating disorders, domestic abuse, drug abuse, alcoholism, depression, sexual assault, homosexuality, violence, I've written about all of them.  The sad thing is, teens face these problems every day whether it's their own issue, or someone close to them.

So, what reoccurring themes do you find running through your writing?

Do share.

Monday Morning Blahg: Obama Osama

I was out last night with friends when I got an alarming phone call.  It was my mother.  She said Obama had been shot and killed.

Obama?

Yes, Obama.

Married?  Yeah, married.  (oops, sorry, that just reminded me of a scene from Sixteen Candles)

Obama.  I sighed, shrugged, and I think I may have said. "Figures."  My mom must have thought I was crazy.

Did she say Obama?  I don't know.  That's what I heard.  Obviously when I went and sat down at my computer, I found that it was O-SA-ma, that had been killed. Not O-BA-ma.  Needless to say, I was relieved (and a little disturbed at the picture Yahoo decided was appropriate to post of Osama's dead head)

The whole exchange had me giggling this morning.