Falling in Love with the Present Tense

I’m writing my new WiP in the present tense, which I’ve never done before. I’ve written all my other manuscripts and half-manuscripts (there are a lot of those) in the past tense, mainly because it felt more comfortable to me. But with this one, I wanted the action to be more immediate, and I wanted the reader to travel through the story with the main character more completely.

As I’ve written this one, I’ve realized how much tense can change the voice. I always write in first person, because it lets me and the reader get into the main character’s head more and feels more personal to me. Writing in the present tense makes me feel even more like I’m in my character’s head, experiencing things as she’s experiencing them. I go into her thought process more. I explore the way she views the world more. Everything is intensified, and I owe a lot of that to the present tense. I think it may be my new favorite.

What tense do you write in? Do you have a preference?

Hugo and Girl Scout Cookies

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. The Oscars! Well, really, critiquing the dresses. I liked Natalie Portman's a lot this year.

2. Finding new movies I have to watch. How have I not yet seen (or read) Hugo? I'm so excited to see it now!

3. The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker. Ricki Jo is one of the most awesome, endearing protagonists I've encountered in a while, and the story utterly charmed me.

4. The Houston Ballet production of Cinderella. Incredible sets, gorgeous costumes, beautiful dancing, and a twist ending--so good.

5. Girl Scout cookies! I got a box of Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and they were gone in two days. Don't know how that happened.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Musings: J.K. Rowling and Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

1. How excited are you that J.K. Rowling is writing a new adult novel? I know it won't be anything like Harry Potter, but I still can't wait to see what she comes up with!

2. I’m going to see the ballet Cinderella this weekend, and I’m so excited! I haven’t been to the ballet in ages, and it’s one of my favorite experiences.

3. Is it bad that I’ve been eating cookies for breakfast all week? I’ve become addicted to Lemon Thumbprint cookies from Whole Foods. Somehow cereal just can’t compare. :)

4. Why is Courtney still on The Bachelor? I know Ben isn’t the brightest tool in the toolbox, but can’t he see through her already? I have a horrible feeling he’s going to pick her. Clearly, this season of The Bachelor has pulled me in, despite my best intentions.

5. I’m hoping for a weekend of writing and reading a good book out in the sunshine. I’m about to start The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, and I can’t wait to dive in!

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

My Strange New Protagonist

When I’ve written main characters in my previous WiPs, they’ve always felt a little like me. Not exactly like me, but they’ll often have a trait or two that come from me. One has my risk-aversion, for example. Another has my sarcastic (but not too caustic) inner voice. This has made them more familiar, even when I put them in unfamiliar situations.

The protagonist I’m creating in my new WiP is nothing like me at all. She’s calculating and manipulative (though ultimately, I hope, likable). I thought she’d be so much more difficult to write, that it would be hard for me to tap into her voice.

But I can’t get her to shut up. I’ve been writing up a storm this week, letting her speak in her strange, (hopefully) lyrical voice. It’s almost liberating, writing about this girl who is so very different. I’ve never written this many words this quickly, and I’m loving it.

Have you ever written about a protagonist who is nothing like you?

King Cake and Early Azaleas

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. King Cake. Yay for Mardi Gras and all of its baked goodness! A slice of king cake is a wonderful way to start a morning, especially with some strong coffee.

2. The first signs of spring. I've seen a few robins hopping about, and some azaleas around town have even started to bloom. So excited for some temperate sunshine days!

3. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr. I love all of her books, but this one is so wonderfully heart-wrenching and true. It's about a pregnant teenager and the family her baby may be going to, and the voices have drawn me into the story completely.

4. 50/50. Have any of you seen this movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen? I actually loved it, even though I really didn't expect to. Funny and emotional all at the same time.

5. The soreness of muscles after a good long run. I've finally got back to running after a week of sickness, and I can't believe how much I missed it.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Musings: Valentine Chocolates and Coffeehouse Weekends

1. Thanks, everyone, for your well-wishes this week! I'm feeling much more normal.

2. I'm feeling so much better, in fact, that I was able to eat all of my Valentine's Day chocolate on Thursday. Because there was no way I was missing out on chocolate.

3. I think I need to start making a digital calendar. I write everything down in a cute hardcover planner, but it seems to disappear every time I try to look for it.

4. Alice Hoffman might be my new favorite author. I read The Story Sisters a few weeks ago, and I can't get it out of my head. It was such a magical, lyrical book, and now I need to read everything she's ever written. I love finding authors I can't get enough of!

5. I'm hoping for a very productive writing weekend, since I got almost nothing done this week. I'm planning on taking over one of the tables at my favorite coffeehouse and staying there as long as possible. I always get so much work done that way!

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

Why I can't come up with anything interesting

So this week I'm holed up in bed with a stomach bug (ugh) and have nothing inspiring to post today. I'm going to try to make it around to all the blogs I've missed and all the comments I haven't responded to. Or I may just give up and have a Gilmore Girls/napping marathon. Because that sounds pretty good right now. :) Hope everyone's doing well!

iPhone and Actual Cold Weather

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. A new iPhone! I just got one, and I’m already obsessed. It’s so useful! And distracting. :)

2. Chocolate. Best part of Valentine’s Day, I think.

3. The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. I’ve just gotten to read a bit of it this weekend, but I’m already hooked. Such a fun story.

4. Cold weather. It got down to the thirties and forties this week, which for Houston is freezing cold. I’m enjoying it, but I’m glad it’s not going to last for too much longer.

5. A week of productive writing. I’m hoping to get a lot of good work done this week on my new WiP, and I’m so excited! Writing this first draft is almost too much fun.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Thoughts: The Vow and Cinder

1. I get to go see The Vow tonight with Jen from Unedited! So excited. Even though I’m pretty sure I know the ending, I know I’m going to love it. I mean, come on! Channing Tatum!

2. I finally get to read The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler this weekend. That’s my reward for a productive week of writing.

3. I also have Cinder by Marissa Meyer lined up to read. I love fairy tale retellings, and this one sounds amazing.

4. How freaking amazing was Vampire Diaries last night? I won’t give anything away, but I am loving that show more and more.

5. I kind of want to see The Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe. But I know it’s going to scare the heck out of me.

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

The Bollywood Breakup Agency by Naina Gupta

I'm continuing my Wednesday series, spotlighting books by bloggers. Naina Gupta blogs about writing (and about living in London!), and she's written a cute and witty book.

Neela, an British-Indian woman, spends her time shopping, sneaking around with her boyfriend, and rejecting all of the arranged marriages her parents try to set up for her. When her best friend is betrothed to a loathsome man, she agrees to help break them up. This grows into a business, one that drags Neela into a world of deception, with hilarious results.

Neela is one of those characters that I thought I wouldn’t like in the beginning, because she tends to be wrapped up in her own drama, but I found myself rooting for her pretty quickly. She wants to be free to make her own decisions—who wouldn’t root for a goal like that? The dialogue crackles with wit, the characters are complex and wonderfully amusing, and there’s a very cute guy. What’s not to like about this book?

To see Naina’s blog, CLICK HERE.

Giant Squirrels and Harry Potter

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. This squirrel. It sits outside the pecan place not far out of Austin, where they sell all different kinds of pecans and pecan products--pretty much everything you can think of remotely related to pecans. How could you pass this squirrel up?

2. The final Harry Potter movie. I finally watched it! What a heartbreaking, beautiful film. It was everything I could have wanted it to be.

3. Truffle mac n’ cheese. Comfort food with a twist—I love it.

4. Driving at night and hearing a new song on the radio that you know you’re going to be playing on repeat as soon as you get home.

5. Skittles. I can seriously eat whole bags of them. And then I crash from the sugar.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Thoughts: Non-Sparkling Vampires and Super Bowl Commercials

1. It finally happened: I got a book idea from a dream. And now I really want to be writing it. Have to finish the other WiPs first!

2. I went to an event about Egypt this week. It was eye-opening to hear how the country has been doing since the revolution last year. Definitely something I want to keep following in the news.

3. I watched the trailer for Bel Ami, the new movie with Robert Pattinson. Is it bad that at the end, when he emerges into the sunlight, I was expecting him to sparkle? :)

4. I’m hoping to get a lot of reading done this weekend. Cutting down on my TBR pile would feel so good!

5. I’m also going to be rooting for the Patriots this weekend. And, more importantly, watching the Super Bowl commercials, of course. :)

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif

I'm continuing my Wednesday series spotlighting books I've read by people I've met in the blogosphere. Medeia Sharif has an awesome blog, full of writing goals to live up to and music to write to. Plus, she's written an unputdownable book.

Almira is determined to fast during Ramadan this month. And to get her license. And to win over Peter, the same boy her best friend is crushing on. She wants to prove to her old-world grandfather, her exercise-addicted mother, her dentist father, and herself that she can go without food and water during the days of the holy month. All along, she struggles to determine what it means to be both a Muslim and an American.

I loved the world that Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. opened me up to. I knew the basics about Ramadan, but I had never read about the experience of it, or about the experience of a Muslim-American teenage girl. Almira has a wonderfully realistic voice, and I felt like I was reading a real fifteen-year-old’s diary (the random thoughts, the obsession with Robert Pattinson, her love/hate relationships with her friends). This is a fun, sweet contemporary read, and I can’t recommend it enough!

You can find details about buying Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by CLICKING HERE.