Writing for children

I have a new endeavor!  Writing books for children.  All ages, but recently it's been kids under 5.  Why?  Because of I have noticed a lack of diversity.  And that has bothered me enough to want to do something.  So I am.

But writing children's books is extremely different from anything I have done.  And it's a little intimidating.  

Very intimidating.

But also very fun!  Currently I am working on dinosaur books and best buddy adventure books.  It has been so much fun.  It is also something I can do to leave to my kiddos. 

Other than a little writing, life has been moving forward.  Things are changing and it's terrifying, but life cannot stay stagnant.  Life has to move forward and it has to change and it will all be okay.  

Not much of an update, but baby decided now was the perfect time to wake up. 

What new adventures are you taking on?

Until Next Time!

Where do we go from here?

So I really wanted to keep this from being a parenting blog.  I started 4 or 5 different posts and then realized they were all about my kid, or raising my kid, or being gay while raising a kid... and I fought against those posts.  I deleted them and told myself I would come back when my mind was free and clear of having a child!  I would come back and write about anything other than being a parent.  I fought against making any posts about parenting, thus I didn't write any posts, for fear they would turn into parenting posts.

Then I realized this was crazy and I need to get over it.

I want to write.  I want to write this blog and be all over the spectrum of topics like I used to be.  I want to make sure I can continue writing about being gay and gay issues, but also my own writing and everything!  But I realized in all my deleting and rewriting and just not writing that I had changed.  Yes, I am still a writer.  Yes, I am still an out and proud gay man.  But I am also a parent.

And parenting, especially right now, is connected to everything I do.

So while this blog isn't a parenting blog, I am a parent who writes this blog and there will probably be some bleed in of my daily life with baby.  And that's okay.  It's my blog.

Anyway, I just wanted to put this out.  As to why I've not written in a while and really as a warning.  If parenting blogs or bloggers talking about their family/kids bothers you, perhaps it's time you move on.

Until Next Time.

So much, yet nothing at all

So much has been going on that the spring/summer is flying by!  We are already half way through May and holy cow where did the time go? 

And yet, everything is going so fucking slowly.  We found out the expectant mom we have matched with is having a girl.  We are going to hopefully have a daughter.  With roughly 9 weeks left, it's taking so long already!  Haha!

I have been spending my time sewing little girl dresses and trying to figure out if I'm crafty enough to attempt pants.  I am also working on getting the nursery set back up.  The reality is we've been at this having a baby game for 5 years.  Five fucking years people.  So our nursery has been set up for 4.5 years and after each failed attempt to start a family it just gained another layer of dust.  So in an effort to stay positive and let myself be okay with either outcome of this roller coaster, I have been in the nursery cleaning it up.  It is coming together slowly but surely. 

Other than baby watch 2015, my partner and I have been staying busy by traveling everywhere and visiting friends and planning other trips.  We have been so busy moving around that my poor house looks like a bomb went off in it.  We haven't had time to sit down and clean anything.  Even today, I am taking 15 minutes to write up this blog post, but then it's off to the races again. 

With so much to do my writing has suffered.  I really want to have time to sit down at my computer and just put things together.  I have so many ideas and I really want to put pen to paper, but I just haven't made time.  Oh you read that right, not that I haven't had time, I just haven't made time.  I need to get back to writing being a priority.  I want to make sure I have the bare bones of several writing tasks for when baby comes home and I'm in the house while she sleeps.   That is on my main to do list. 

I hope you are having a busy and productive summer as well!

Until Next Time! 

One year ago today

One year ago today I opened a blog.  How exciting!  Over the course of the year, I've written 123 posts (which is also pretty cool, BTW).  I've had an average of 15 visitors daily... not very many but that's exciting that there is at least one person who is reading regularly!

My most popular posts:

Father's day letter

Shhh it's a secret!

I don't have statistics on search words and such like that, not enough people find my blog on their own.  But occasionally someone will be directed here through google, which is fun!

This blog has also changed it's original focus.  I was going to make this a blog with my writing work, originally, but you know what my least read posts are?  My ones where I share my creative writing.  I still share it, occasionally, but it's no longer the focus of this whole crazy thing. 

Here's to another year.  This next one is looking to be even more exciting!

Until Next Time!

Why does he have a better notebook than me?!

First, can I share a little linguistically/English awesomeness I learned recently from a friend?  When you use this punctuation, ?!, it is call an interrobang.  How cool is that?  It basically symbolizes a question asked excitedly.  And it's more than appropriate for the post title.

As a writer, I covet notebooks.  I have more than I probably should, but I really really like them.  I am an "old fashioned" writer.  Basically I write mostly by hand, then transfer it to the computer later.  I love sitting down with a good pen and a beautiful notebook and taking my time to craft beautiful words on paper.  There is just something magically about that. 

So when I noticed that my partner had a better, prettier notebook than I did, I was aghast!  How could he have a better, prettier notebook than me?! (<~~ See, proper use of an interrobang.)  When I asked him, he just shrugged.  He uses his notebook to just keep a few things about work written down.  He uses it sparingly and no more than a couple words a page.  And that just makes me sad.  His notebook is absolutely beautiful and it's used for one or two words a page. 

I have decided, and my Partner completely is behind me, that I am going to go buy some beautiful new notebooks for myself.  I need that beauty to be able to actually sit down and write.  I need to make sure I am surrounded by lovely things so I can write lovely.  Even my dystopian novels need to start by me being surrounded by good things.  I will send out pictures as soon as I find something that inspires me.

What is your writing inspiration?  Do you use a notebook or are you a computer all the way person?

Until Next Time!

30, queer, in school

So I was asked to write an op ed piece for a queer journal at the school about being "30, in school, and queer".  Apparently that is a "challenging yet aspiring combination".

Uhm what?

I'm 30, not dead.  I'm in school to learn.  I'm queer because my partner is a hottie.

But I'm pretty sure that won't suffice for the 125-175 word article.

So here I sit, on the blog, trying to work out the words that will make an impact, yet not sound cliche and stupid.  Isn't that the fear of every writer?  To sound cliche and stupid is worse than death in some circles.

So I guess my thing is I am 30, but I am still going strong.  Yeah, it has taken me a bit to get my shit together so go to school.  Honestly, I wouldn't be here if it was for my partner telling me that it was time.  School has always been daunting for me.  Yeah, I'm smart, but that doesn't always translate into schooling well.  I'm also dyslexic and despise not understanding something.  Math has brought me to tears more times than I care to remember.  But I digress.  School is important.  So I came back.  Technically I started back in school when I was 27, but ended up taking a couple semesters off because of adoption situations that fell through.  So yeah, it's taken me three years to reach junior status, but I'm here.

As for being queer and back in school, it is what it is.  I have no real feelings that being queer has done anything for to me in regards to learning.  Yeah, some pathways are a bit more difficult because of shit that's happened in the past, but it hasn't stopped me.  It can't stop you.  Being queer doesn't mean you can't learn or are unemployable or anything like that.  Being queer is just one aspect of a complete person.... I am not a queer who happens to be a person, I am a person who happens to be a queer.  I'm not sure why being queer is part of this equation.

As for school.  Do what makes you happy.  Some people don't want to go to school, that's cool.  Some people want to go and that's cool too.  Whatever makes you happy is what you should be doing, nothing less.

So there you go.  I'm 30, queer, and in school and that's how I feel about it.  Now to polish that and submit it.

Until Next Time.

Hello out there

Bet you thought this blog went the way of the dodo, didn't you?  Yeah, so did I, honestly.  BUT, a big but there, I have decided that I really want to write and this is the best place to do this.  Now, why have I stopped writing here?  Because I totally made this a thing.  I made this blog into something that I don't want it to be anymore.  I hate making something into a thing, so I'm claiming back the blog. 

I wanted this blog to be about my writing, but that just isn't my life.  I mean, I love to write but the best time I had on this blog was during pride month, when I merely wrote what I wanted to write and just kept to a theme.  So I think I am going to come back and do things like this. 

Just what the internets need, another blogger who talks about their boring life.  Sorrynotsorry, but I just want to write about my boring life. 2015 is setting up to me my year, to be our year, and so I just want to write about all that. 

So here we are, a newness to an old blog.  And hopefully a chance for me to write more and write about fun things! 

Until Next Time!

FINISHED

Sometimes you just have to power through and finish, and I have.  53,122 words later, I have reached my 50K word goal.  And very little of it was on one project.  I think I have 4 going at the moment, and that's just the best way for my brain to work.

Now I am going to take a power nap. 

Yay new ideas!

So it is the weekend, which means my brain is kind of in slumber mode.  The weekend is the only time my partner and I get to spend together without having to worry about work and cooking and working out and all the other things that we worry about during the week.  So I don't do a lot of writing or planning, normally.

This weekend however I have had a of brain mojo!  Outlining a new idea, spending time on an old idea, and even working on my current novel.  I haven't much touched the idea for NaNo this weekend, but I have touched just about everything else!  Despite writing so much, I have also been cleaning like crazy.  Got our guest room cleaned up and have one other room to work on.  Our bedroom also needs some work, but it's more just dusting and vacuuming in there than actually cleaning. 

I hope you have been having a great weekend.

Until Next Time!

First glimpse at NaNo 2014

So this year I am doing something different with NaNo and putting it all here for all to see!  This is the first glimpse into the NaNo this year.  This is unedited, straight from my head.  Don't judge too harshly! 

Word count: 2027
Enjoy!!

Start:

William looked around and got excited. Today was the first day of the school year and he knew this was going to be an excellent year. The performing arts school finally accepted him into the ranks and he was going to make it big. Oh to walk the hallowed halls that the greats have walked. The world is my oyster today he thought to himself. Stepping off the train, he slowly made his way uptown. Standing in front of the building that the man himself had studied at filled him with trepidation as well as an overwhelming feeling of completion.

For the last two years he had been trying to make it in this school. His dream of standing on stage, singing his heart out, performing, allowed him to do nothing less. He was going to make it, he had no other option. Broadway was his dream. Cabaret, Phantom of the Opera, Newsies, he didn't care. The goal was to be on that stage and this school was his first step.

With his schedule clutched in his hand, William took his first steps inside of the building as a student. His first class was rather mundane, English. He knew it was important to be well spoken, but he also knew that English was not his major. Classroom 113, west side of the school. Looking down at his map, he figured out where he was and then slowly made his way towards the classroom. Stepping into the classroom, he looked around. There was a vast diversity to the students standing around the room, some new some returning students. At 15, William was one of the older kids who stepped foot into the classroom for the first time. He knew this and became determined to make new friends. He would make friends.

Aisha took a deep breath. The first day of school in a new country. Slowly getting up from bed, she knew today would be the first day of the rest of her life, and she hated it. “Aisha, downstairs, breakfast” her mother barked at her. Slowly moving, Aisha put her bathrobe over her pajamas and made her way downstairs.

“What's for breakfast?” She asked, looking across the table at her family.

“Big breakfast for the first day of school!” Her little brother, Zahid, answered her, obviously full of excitement. He is always way too cheery to go back to school Aisha thought to herself as she sat down to the table.

“Are you excited for the performing school?” Her mother asked her, passing a plate of eggs towards her.

“Yes, mama, I am excited. I guess.”

Aisha hated school, she always had. She knew she was lucky to be educated, so many girls weren't, but school was not something she enjoyed. This year, while she had gotten into the performing arts school, she found herself even less excited. It was hard to move across the world. It was hard to leave all her friends, and now she had to deal with a new country and trying to make new friends.

Stepping off the train, Aisha looked up at the school building before her. She was excited to learn more about the performing arts. Being an actress was her dream, though her father was not too keen on the idea. He always wanted her to go on and become something important, like a doctor or a lawyer, but that was way too much school for Aisha. She had her own dreams. Getting a script from her agent, memorizing her lines, stepping into hair and makeup, finally looking at the camera, knowing she was going to perform and that camera was going to broadcast it across the world. Famous. Famous.

Looking down at her schedule, Aisha saw her first class was English, room 113. She knew where that room was, having walked her schedule just a couple days before with her father and brother. Looking around to get her bearings, she quickly made her way to the classroom. The room 113, with it's number illuminated against the darker hallway, loomed in front of her. Adjusting the scarf on her head, she walked into the room. There weren't many people in the room just yet and Aisha spotted a desk in the back corner. Moving towards the desk, Aisha smiled at the students staring at her. This was going to be a long class.

Grace moved towards the train with the confidence only a 15 year old young woman can possess. She was moving towards her element, her school. Stepping down into the subway, she found the whole place disgusting. I can't believe people enjoy taking the subway she thought to herself. This whole place is so dirty and dingy. And this light does nothing for me. Scanning her metro pass, Grace stepped through the turnstyle, trying to touch as little as possible. She would not let the dirty wheel ruin her outfit.

Putting her bag on the floor in front of her seat, Grace looked down at her book. No, she wasn't going to actually read, but she had heard that people left you alone if you pretended to be busy on the subway. This was important, because the last thing she wanted to do was talk to these people.

Life here sure was different from where she came from, and Grace loved it so much. There weren't people here who thought wrestling a pig was a fun activity. Any time she had mentioned her hometown to people before, she always felt like she was being judged by their country ways. No one took her seriously because they all thought she knew how to rope a cow or ride a horse. Sure, she did know how to do those things, but only because her father had made her learn so she could help on the farm. She hated every minute of it, and she was sure to let people know.

Looking up momentarily from her book, Grace caught site of what she thought was a homeless boy sitting across from her. She felt sad for him for a second, but then he took out an apple from his bag and began eating it. Gross, she thought, who would eat on this train? Loser. Grace had very little tolerance for people like him. It wasn't hard to better yourself and she just couldn't understand why this boy wasn't trying to be better.

Stepping up to the school, Grace felt at home. She was home. Today was the first day of her third year at the performing arts school and this would be her year. She was sure to be voted best in her class, and this was also the year that she would start focusing more on her craft, rather than the pesky school stuff of the last two years. She was bound to become the queen of the choir and ready to take her place in the schools hierarchy that gave students a chance to be on stage in real productions. She was going to be a star this year.

Looking down at her schedule, Grace groaned at her first period. English with Mr. Hasher. She had heard such horrible things about him as a teacher. She didn't understand why she had to continue taking stupid English, she'd been speaking it her whole life. Not only that, she didn't understand why a man like Mr. Haser was still teaching. He hadn't been in a production in ages, and he was a freaking dinosaur in the business. Slowly Grace made her way towards room 113.

Moving in the hallway was exciting. People remembered her, of course, and greeted her. She knew if she kept talking to everyone she would be late, but she also knew that it was more important to make friends of future stars than it was to sit in English class. As the first tones began to ring out in the school house she slid into Mr. Hashers class. He greeted her with a contempt in his eyes, but she had made it, so there was nothing he could do to her anyway. Sitting in the middle row, Grace took out her notebook and began to doodle. This was going to be a long first period.

Gregory rolled out of bed before the sun was up. Blinking at the small alarm clock, he quickly turned to wake his little brother so he could make up the bed. “Jason, come on. First day of school.” Nudging his brother, moving on towards the shower and hoping his brother would be up when he got out.

“Gregory,” his mother called from the other room, “the hot water is out again. I have to go in for a double shift. Can you make sure Lilly and Jason get to school? And that Alan and Daisy get to daycare? I'll take Peter with me.” Leaving no room for him to decent, his mother was out the door before Gregory even processed what she was saying.

Great, another cold shower and I have to get everyone to school? Gregory silently cursed under his breath as he turned the water all way over to hot, praying his mother was wrong. She wasn't. The cold shower left him little time to think about anything but washing up. Today was the first day of school. He couldn't be late.

Moving to the kitchen, Gregory saw that his little sister was already cooking breakfast. “Good morning” he greeted her, hoping his voice was happier than his cold shower mood.

Lilly just threw a hand over her shoulder and continued to scramble some eggs. “Dad didn't send any money this week. The gas was turned off.” Lilly didn't hide her contempt for this fact. Gregory nodded at the back of her head. “Everyone is up, will you get them in here?”

Gregory rounded everyone up into the kitchen as Lilly doled out the eggs. There weren't enough, there never was, so Gregory quickly split his eggs among the younger kids. He tucked a couple apples into his bag, they would just have to do. “Come on everyone, we have to get moving.”

Settling down on the train after dropping off the youngest kids to daycare, Gregory realized how hungry he was. Taking an apple from his bag, he began to think about his day. He was in his third year at the performing arts school, despite being a year younger than most people in his class, and he was excited. Yeah, he knew he wasn't going to get fame this year, but maybe he would get on the chorus line of a musical. That was his goal. Biting into his apple he noticed Grace sitting down the car from him. He knew who she was, but only because she was the biggest diva in the school.

Getting off the train at school meant he was home. This was one place where he wasn't all that different from everyone else, maybe even a little better than them. His mom worked hard to make sure he could go here and he wasn't going to blow it for anything. As he stepped into the building he made his way towards the front office. Caroline, the office attendant, often had some baked goodies on the first day and he was hoping to score a muffin or biscuit.

“Good morning Gregory,” Caroline greeted him. “I saved you a blueberry muffin, your favorite.” Handing him his prize he saw the genuine worry that he knew Caroline felt for him.

“Thanks!” he exclaimed, trying not to scarf down the muffin in front of her. “You make the best muffins.” Waving as he made his way out of the office and towards first period, English with Mr. Hasher. A tough teacher, so he had heard, but it was English and that was one class, outside of performing, that Gregory loved. Stopping at the door of class 113, Gregory wiped his mouth one last time, crumb checking of course. He stepped into the room, excited for the beginning of the school year, and hopefully the best year of his life.

End

Until Next Time!

Hanging out there

So I am trying really hard to get back into a writing swing of things, so I think I am going to do a series a short stories for NaNoWriMo.  A series of stories you say?  Well, yes, but they will all belong to one "book". 

How will that work?  Well I am going to create 4 characters.  And each day, to hit my word count, I am going to write about an adventure these 4 heroes go on.  Then, I will write the same adventure from each character's view point.  Seems repetitive right?  Yeah, it kind of does to me as well.  But it gives me a chance to get to know my characters better, to see how they will experience the same thing, but through their own lens on life. 

So for the next few days, gearing up to NaNo, I am going to create my characters.  Join me on my adventure of creating characters!  Have suggestions?  Feel free to throw them out there. 

As an aside, I am going to take this time to remind you of my copyright policy.  At the top of the blog you can see the link to the policy, please click through and read that policy. 

Until Next Time!

More world building!

I am stuck on world building.  It is taking up so much time right now that I feel like I have forgotten what my own world looks like.  I have actually taken to drawing the world where my characters live and I am not an artist.  My partner typically looks at my drawings and just nods and smiles.  I repeat I am not an artist. 

So today I spent some time editing some photos I took a while ago of some train tracks in my state's capital.  I am no photographer either, but I like to take pictures of objects that I can work into my stories.  No, this set of tracks isn't going to make it into the current novel, but it did give me the opportunity to play around with my world. 

There isn't much else going on related to writing.  My story is kinda stalled, but my world is wonderfully written!

Until Next Time.

World Building

As I sit here avoid my novel, I wonder if I were writing what would I be writing about.  That is easy, however, as right now is all about world building!  For my current novel I have to crate a whole new world, unseen before to human eyes.  However, this world has to be close enough to our current world that it is believable.  There is only so much a reader can suspend reality in order to enjoy a book.  Or at least I find there is only so much I can suspend reality.

Right now I am building a planet, not unlike our own, that will support humanity.  It is amazing how easy this can be with the internet.  It is also amazing how difficult this can be because everyone can now search for the information in your book to see if it's real.  (Oh yes, I've done a quick search to see if it's plausible!)

So right now I am finding myself consumed with my new world.  How do my characters see the colors?  How do they move around the hills and the mountains?  What does that butterfly like creature look like?  Are there fish in the seas?  So many questions, which require a lot of floral thinking.  This takes so much time, and 90% of it will never make the final edit.  However, it is important.

Why?

Because it is!

I know, that's a crappy answer.  It is important because how people react to their environment is important.  Think about how you describe things.  When you give people directions do you say "You will turn left at Laren Avenue, the house is 1111" or do you say "You'll turn left at Laren Avenue, it's the 4th street on the right after you get off the highway.  The house is 1111, it's got blue siding and a basketball goal on the front.  It's at the end of the court, on the right!"

The second one is probably closer to how you give directions to your house because you want to explain at much as you can, especially to someone coming for the first time.  The more you know about the area, the easier it is to find the place.  I am finding that it is basically the same thing when it comes to writing.

So there you have it!  Building a new world takes time.  

Writing Space

Next to my notebook of awesomeness, I have to have a clean and nice writing space.  This one is pretty self explanatory, but I'll show you mine and give you a brief explanation. 

Here is an overview of the entire space.

If you click to enlarge, you will see a few notes I put on there about different things on my desk. 

What's that you say?  I write at a desktop?!  Why, yes, most of the time I do write at that desk with my desktop.  I am so out of style, it's okay.  Not only is that a desktop, it's a 10 year old desktop!  Yes, I would love a new desktop, but unfortunately I am not rolling in the money, so I keep my 10 year old desktop.  I also do some writing on my laptop, when I want to go out and about.  My laptop is also nothing fancy.  It is a 2 year old laptop that I got for 150 bucks at a big box store. 

So as you can see, my writing space is not all that fancy.  Neither are my writing gadgets or even my process for writing.  I would write on a typewriter if I owned one! 

Another big part of my writing space is the walls you see all around.  They are purposefully blank.  Why?  Because 9 times out of 10 you will see sheets from the sticky pad up on the wall holding information for characters or outlines.  Like so:

characters on my wall!

I use this method for writing because it lays everything out for me.  I love to have everything at a glance, and this is the best way I have found to do this.  This way if I'm brainstorming a new idea for a new novel I can just use my color coded sticky pads and just outline it and stick it to the wall.  Eventually this will be transferred to my notebook of awesomeness, but at this point it's just hanging out on my wall. 

I try to keep my writing space clean and clutter free, but that doesn't always work.  I don't live in a bubble, and with another person in the house sometimes my desk is the best place to put things.  I do find that when I take the time to keep the desk clear, I write more.  Isn't it funny how that works.

So there is the writing space and my outdated technology!

Until Next Time

Notebook of Awesomeness

Have you ever kept a notebook next to you to write down everything you think of a specific novel or short story?  Then you, my friend, have kept a notebook of awesomeness.

Years ago I bought a composition notebook for 50 cents at the dollar store.  Inside that notebook I composed my first novel.  It was poorly written and had the spelling errors and lack of depth you would expect of a 9 year old, but boy was I so proud!  And thus the idea of the notebook of awesomeness was born.

So what all do you put in the notebook?  Anything and everything related to your story.  And each story gets it's own notebook, so you don't confused ideas. 
 
 Inside my current novel notebook I have pages dedicated for each of the 3 main characters, then a page for scenery, a page that explains small things about the new planet they are on, a page that outlines the entire story, a page that I just write scrap ideas, and a page that gives the moral of the story.  Everything has a page so that I can easily find scrap ideas and expand on them as well as make minor changes to my characters while still keeping everything centrally located.

Random page in my notebook

It also gives me a chance to write down an idea and then scrap it later.  In the above picture you'll see a but of NO written around the page.  Those were ideas that I threw around in my head and wanted to write out, but once I got them down on paper I didn't like the ideas all that much, so I abandoned them.  I never scratch them out, however, so I can always remember that those ideas didn't really work.  Alternatively, it gives me a chance to revisit these ideas later if I need to spice things up a little. 

Character sketch from the notebook

I love having everything centrally located.  It saves me from having to pull up my file on the my computer in order to remember how old one of my character is or where they were born.  It makes the quick writing I do that much quicker.  It also allows me to write down any information I want to explore about that character. 

I love my notebook of awesomeness!

Until Next Time

Essential writing components for me

So I am getting ready tow rite out a series of posts on what I consider essential to my writing experience.  Yes, I am unpublished, no I am not a professional, but that doesn't mean that I cannot write tips and tricks that help me stay organized.  That way when I am a famous author, you can say you saw my tips and tricks way back when!  Lol.

That said, Each of these are going to get their own post.  This is more just to introduce you to the different components of my writing.  This series will cover:

The Notebook of Awesome
The come-together binder
The writing space
The backups of backups
The end results

Those 5 things are what I consider essential to my writing success.  Look this week for these tips and tricks!

until next time.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes

So I found this really funny and completely appropriate for a writing blog.  Please watch and learn.  And laugh, because this is all true, but really for a laugh. 

Until Next Time.

Today I wrote a prologue

In the writing world there are people of all types.  And each one of those peeps likes to give you advice.  One of the writing peeps in my world has a piece of advice she is famous for, "Don't write prologues.  No one cares."  Seriously, if you lived here and asked who was a local writer who said that, everyone would point to her.  She's not mean about it or anything, that is just how she feels. 

I, however, do not feel the same way.

I love opening a book and seeing what is written before the story starts.  Prologues to me should be short, but they tell me if I'm going to get sucked in to reading this book.  I feel like when I find a great prologue, I can't wait to get to the part of the story that the prologue is foreshadowing.

So today, I wrote a prologue for my current sci fi young adult novel.  I feel like we have had so much going on in our lives lately, that I hope to share on this blog someday.  I also feel like I have neglected my story in the worst way possible.  So today, this morning to be exact, I sat down before my shower and set out to write 250 words.  What I ended up writing was my prologue. 

And I am proud of it!  I hope to share it some day soon, and I will, but right now it's just sitting in my first edits binder waiting for the rest of the story to get as far.  I have 3 of my planned 9 chapters in that binder, I need to get cracking.

I do have a plan to do a post about my first edit binder, giving away a secret of mine, and on story planning.  After today, I hope to get to gettin' on these posts!

Do you enjoy prologues? 

Until Next Time.

Diverse characters in literature

One of things I pay attention to as a writer is the diversity of the characters in novels I read.  I write young adult and children, so I mostly ready young adult and children.  But even branching out to the adult literature I've read, I've noticed a stunning thing.  There isn't much diversity in the main/leading characters.  And that astonishes me at the same time that it doesn't.

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One thing, as a writer, I have always tried to do is make sure all my characters are diverse.  I never thought about it as a requirement, but more that I wanted my characters to be as different, yet similar, as humanly possible.  I grew up in a poorer, diverse rural area and I just wrote that into my story.  As an adult I see now how it is really needed to have some diversity in each book.

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I started a goal a few years ago to pick up diverse books for my hopefully future family.  I wanted to make sure there was a set number of books containing diverse characters that were in the lead role in the book.  And I was incredibly disappointed by what I could find.  There are children with white skin tone all over the place in children's picture books, but I have a handful of books with children of other ethnicity.  The most diverse book I have is actually a Norwegian children's book!  This still, to this day, astonishes me.  I went out to find the most diverse books I could, and I was thoroughly disappointed in the results.

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As a writer, I want to help fix this problem.  I want to make sure that children of all colors, nationalities, genders, sexual orientation, gender identity, and ethnicity have the ability to find books about themselves out on the shelves.  All kids deserve to see themselves in a character who solves a mystery, becomes a doctor, challenges the leaders and wins, and in general gets to do all the amazing things you see happen in novels.  As a writer, I am always aware that I can't fix the world, not even one novel at a time.

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So what can I do?  Make sure everyone out there knows that there is a market for diversity in literature, especially children's literature.  Have you ever wanted to write a story?  Do it!  Not only can you do it, you can make sure that your diversity is written into the words on every page.  Children, especially, need to know that there are people like them out in the world.  They need to be able to pick up a book and know that it will apply to them, that they will see themselves in every character.  My goal, with the children's series I am working on, is to make sure each book has as many diverse characters as possible.  To make sure that they appeal across the board to a broad number of children.  In hopes that they can see themselves solving the mysteries and learning the lessons.  This is our future people, embrace them and let them learn!

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So what are your favorite books for kids?  Have you had success with diverse literature for children?

Until Next Time!

Writing

So an update on where I am in writing my novel plus the children's series. 

I am in the exact same place. 

Yeah, I haven't written a lick in the last month on the novel and I'm sad about that.  I always had great intentions.  I set up times to write, created my little writing nook, even got back out my notebook of awesome... and then promptly stared at the screen then played a Facebook game.  It was easier. 

But July is my month.  My goal is to write the first book for the children's series, just to see how that kind of goes, and then spend at least 10 hours a week on my novel.  I am only trying to get the rough draft out there on paper.  I have grand plans of sending out feelers by the first week in November.  That's the grand plan though, so we shall see what happens. 

How is your week going?  Have you written anything lately?

Until Next Time.