BONE GAP!

Today is the day, darlings. The day you've all been waiting for. You get to find out what I thought of BONE GAP. In great, great detail. Lucky, lucky you.

BUT FIRST. We have some business to get through.

First order of business is a RESOUNDING HAPPY BIRTHDAY a day late (because how else would it be) to the MAGNIFICENT, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, TALENTED, EVERY-SINGLE-GOOD-ADJECTIVE Faith Hough! Faith seriously inspires me to no end...I'm so blessed to call her my cousin. It's partially her fault my imagination is so big; she and her sisters were literally the most attentive older cousins ever. Pretty sure they played every single game I ever suggested.

Anyway, it's such a joy watching (albeit from afar, as sadly we're separated by many states) her raise her beautiful daughters. She's literally mom goals and writer goals...actually, just plain person goals. She was a huge help when I started this blog and continues to be throughout my writing journey, providing me with insight and feedback. She's the first person I was ever a beta for, and one of the first people I allowed to read my WIP. She's always been there for me...words cannot even express how much I love and appreciate her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FAITH!! <3

Second order of business, go check out Jessica Wolf's latest post that is ON POINT. It's all about not buying into writing either strong or weak women, but real women.

There was a third order of business but I forgot it. So you're spared. For now.

Know what that means? It's time. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE GET ON YOUR FEET FOR THE INCREDIBLE BONE GAP! No, seriously. You've probably been sitting for a while, anyway, it's good to get the blood flowing.

Okay, you can sit back down now. Because I know you were listening to me. Probably not, my siblings don't even listen to me. Which is stupid, because I'm the oldest. It's really frustrating, you know, like I'm only trying to help, and I get--ANYWAY.

Before I get any further, here's the summary via Goodreads:

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?
Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.
As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.

So. *cracks knuckles*

This book was so absolutely unique. Everything about it was...for lack of a better word, WEIRD. In the best sense.

The setting, for one--Bone Gap. Weird. It was a stereotypical small town (actually kind of reminded me of a somewhat sketchy Avonlea, if that even makes sense) without actually being stereotypical. Sure, there was the typical busy-body, gossipy atmosphere, but it was so different. And weird.

What made it so different, in part, was the characters. Who were even weirder. Every single character, even the side ones, was so well-developed that I could literally guess their responses to situations (on a side note, these characters taught me a lot about writing). The main characters were so...bizarre. Again, in the best sense of the word. Their struggles were struggles that I've never seen any writer tackle before, and Laura Ruby (the author, if you didn't infer that, which if you didn't, shame on you--actually she's a goddess) did it remarkably well.

The story is told from third point of view, which is not my favorite, but it worked very nicely for the story. Also, Laura jumped a lot between different characters. Probably something that wouldn't typically work, but she really worked it.

Another thing that made the town so different was the plot. I was so confused through the majority of it, not due to poor writing, but due to WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH THESE PEOPLE OH MY GOSH THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME HOW DOES THIS EVEN FIT TOGETHER. Needless to say, I couldn't put it down. It was weird. However, it was ABSOLUTELY FABULOUSLY weird.

Plus this happened. And made me really happy.

SO GO READ BONE GAP! Right now. I hope you listen better now than when I told you to stand up...sheesh. Have a great week, my lovely readers. Y'all mean the world.

Reflections

I woke up on May first feeling as though I was forgetting something.

Something was missing, there was something I had to do...oh wait, no there wasn't. It wasn't April anymore, and I didn't have to do a mad-dash and type out a bunch of words and prayed that somehow would make sense. Sometimes they did, sometimes I probably just thought they did. Happens.

This was my first year doing the A-Z Challenge.

I honestly don't know why I signed up for it. Perhaps mostly to get into posting more regularly and leave behind the sporadic posting schedule. Additionally, networking was definitely appealing to me. I LOVE meeting other people on the same writing journey as myself coupled with wonderful blogs.

The people I have been privileged to interact with as a result of the A-Z Challenge completely blow me away. I'm so impressed by their talent and dedication. Shout outs to just a few of my new favorite blogs:

• A Writer's Musings 
• Cortney Pearson
• The Faux Fountain Pen
• Write With Fey
• Jay Noel
• Pearson Report

There are so many more, and I hope to share them with you in the coming days.

Going into it, I knew it was going to be hard-to-impossible for me to post on some days. And turns out, it was. Some days got longer posts than others and some even got guest posts (thanks again to Faith, Anna, Becca, Jess, and Jen!) and there was even one that just got a link to a post. But I managed to come out even in the end.

I'm glad that I picked "writing" as my theme. It helped me organize my thoughts pertaining to writing. It provided some awesome self-reflection time for me, and I was able to evaluate my personal writing beliefs. I discovered that I did have a mental list of "rules" (some firm though some flimsy) though I didn't really know it. Furthermore, I discovered things that I subconsciously believe, which was kind of weird.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, darling readers. Your comments never fail to inspire me and make me smile. I write for myself and it never ceases to amaze me that people like it! You encourage me to keep going, to never give up on my dreams...so thank you.

Around here, you can expect me to be posting two to three times a week. Well, at least, I'm going to see how that schedule works out through the month of May and then reevaluate. I'm planning on doing writing related posts on Mondays, book (and perhaps movie and music) reviews on Wednesdays and posts about my life on Fridays.

Love you guys. Thanks for empowering me, encouraging me, and never failing to make my day better. I can't wait to put each and every one of your names into the acknowledgements page on my book some day.

How was the A-Z for you? If you didn't do it, do you think you might next year?

Getting Published, Not: Guest Post by Faith Hough

I am very honored to host the brilliant Faith Hough (check out her blog here). Faith is an incredible writer-mama and is the queen of multi-tasking. In addition to that, she's actually also my cousin =) Anyway, without further ado, may I present to you the genius of Faith Hough!!

When Anne Marie asked me to write a post on “Thoughts on Getting Published,” my first reaction was, “Well, I don’t know anything about getting published. I’m not published yet.” But the truth is I know a whole lot of stuff about not getting published--and how great it is.

Yes, you read that right. NOT getting published is the best thing that ever happened to my writing. Each of the hundred-some times it happened. Here’s why:

Maddie and Faith

When I finished my first book, I was rip-roaring excited to send it off to a publisher and see my hard work enshrined between two hardback covers. I decided to enter a contest for unpublished writers first, and a few months later I found out that my story was a finalist. I gleefully, glibly, and gullibly sent it off to an editor and started my daily mailbox check.

A year later....my first rejection. I was crushed. Much chocolate was consumed. I cried. My one-year-old first born rubbed my cheek in bewilderment. With my own bewilderment, I re-opened my manuscript, prepared to be wowed by my writing prowess and angry at the fools who turned it down.

Instead, I noticed a major grammar error on the first page. A few pages in, I saw a historical inaccuracy. After ten minutes or so of reading I realized I used the word “felt” far too often. The writing, instead of stunning me, looked amateurish and stilted. It was nowhere near the level of the new book I was working on.

Fortunately, most writers have this exact experience, and we all realize how much better we are for it. A few unfortunate young writers hit just the right spot in the market and are able to get their first books published far too early--because the publishing business is indeed a business and they’re there to make money. When I chuckle at the bad writing in published, highly successful (and oft-ridiculed) books, I now try to remember that, “There but for the grace of God go I...”

I do believe the grace of God has plenty to do with it. Certainly I’m not the only writer who has given in to falling to her knees and begging God to “Please please please please please let them publish my book!” like a three-year-old begging for candy. But just like I know that too many jelly beans would be bad for my toddler, God knows that success at the wrong time would be bad for me.

My more recent works (I’ve written five complete novel manuscripts altogether) are more polished and sophisticated than that first foray, but I’m still trying to be grateful every time one of them is turned down by an agent or editor. Sometimes God allows me to see the advantages of His timing. Sometimes I’m left in the dark. But as He’s never been wrong so far, I figure I owe it to Him to “be thankful in all circumstances.”

One of my literary heroes, Madeleine L’Engle, dealt with this same issue. Her agent submitted A Wrinkle in Time over a period of ten years, only to meet with rejection after rejection. A few nice editors told her how much they liked it but were afraid to publish it for various reasons. She was crushed. At one point she decided to give up writing and try working on making better pie crusts instead...until she was distracted from her despair by trying to figure out exactly how she could portray it in words. Finally, at the end of those ten years, a chance meeting brought her into contact with an editor from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He loved it. He told her not to expect to make any money from such an odd story, but he decided to publish it nonetheless. It went on, of course, to win the Newbery Medal, sell over ten million copies, and become a lasting favorite of generations. In her book A Circle of Light, Madeleine acknowledges her debt to God for allowing all those rejections and for saying “no” to her prayers year after year. Clearly, His timing was perfect.

Of course all writers want to be published; if we’re bothering to write, which is no easy task, we want our words to reach as many people as possible. But I advise you not to worry. Make good art--and leave it in God’s hands. Take every rejection as an opportunity: to hone your skills, to study the great writers, to develop trust. To build up life experience which can only better your subsequent work.

And if you’re currently in the submission trenches, I do hear that you can order chocolate from Amazon via Subscribe and Save... Chocolate always helps. :)

Famous: Writing From Pain

I am obsessed with the song Famous by Kelleigh Bannen for multiple reasons.

One, because it's country. Two, her voice is so edgy. Three, the song lyrics totally resonate with me.

"I'm gonna make you famous/tell 'em all about you/gonna all know what your name is..."

Heck yeah.

A lot of people say that they deal with life by writing. For me, though, writing is synonymous with life. I don't think life needs to be "dealt with". Rather, writing is the fulfillment of life. I pour my life into writing and I pour writing into my life.

Basically, this is how it goes:

When I mess up. Good writing material.

When I'm hilarious. Good writing material.

When I hang with my besties. Good writing material.

When awkward moments happen. Good writing material.

When I say dumb stuff. Good writing material.

When I have to let go. Good writing material.

When I have to be confrontational about something important. Good writing material.

When my heart is broken. Good writing material.

"Good writing material" is basically my response to life in general. At the beginning of my freshman year, over two years ago, I emailed my cousin Faith (check out her extreme epicness here) about some things (by things I mean people) I was struggling with. Among lots of awesome advice, she told me that, if anything, at least I was gaining good writing material.

Upon reading this, I stood up and put my hand in the air, exclaiming, "PREACH SISTA!" In my mind, at least.

This concept was not new to me, but Faith's email reminded me that all the things that happened to me were mine. I could do whatever I wanted with them. I could let them fester, let them make me bitter, and drown in self-pity.

Or I could just acknowledge the hurt, give it to God, learn from it, and write it out.

From experience, the second option is much better, for everyone involved.

Some people are just too perfect (for better or for worse) to keep out of the pages of my book. My current MS is dripping with characters that are pulled together from people I've encountered. As writers, we're supposed to write about what we know, right? We're supposed to write realistically, believably...I've found that the best way to do that is pull from past experiences.

When I write, all the things I've always wanted to say just come out. I can fix mistakes. I can heal my heart. I can be new. Justice gets served to the people who've wronged me. When I write, I'm not different. I'm who I am supposed to be.

As for the song Famous, it has become my writing theme song. Especially when it comes to my villains-I-mean-people who've hurt me. Write it out, y'all.

http://see-you-n-tea.tumblr.com/image/45351777452

ONE YEAR!!!

August marked the one year birthday of my blog. 

*EXCITED SQUEAL!*
 

Ahem. Where has the time gone?!

It has been a life changing year full of blessings, beauty, and surprises. It's been insane. In a good way. Well, mostly good, at least.

It has been a very, very crazy ride. And I owe lots of people lots of thanks.

Number One Thanks: JESUS! Because You rock my world. Thank You for holding me always, through both peace and turmoil.

Number Two: My parents! Thank you, Dad, for encouraging me to do things out of my comfort zone. Thank you for pushing me to greatness. Mom, thank you for always being there for me to cry or laugh or whatever with. Thank you for choosing to give me life. Thank you for your love and support.

Number Three: My absolutely beautiful, amazing cousin, Alex. You are wise beyond your years, girlfriend. Thank you for every time you've held me when I've cried and listened to me blubber over the phone. Thank you for laughing with me and staying up until. . .well, let's just say, very late. . .to listen and talk to me. Thank you for all the help you did in creating this blog--it seriously wouldn't have been posible without you. You're doing great things, love, and you are going to do so many more. To infinity and beyond!

Number Four: A very special thanks goes to Jen Wagner (http://writtenenvogue.wordpress.com/). Jen, you are so talented in absolutely everything you do. I'm so, so blest that you are a part of my life. Thank you for telling me which books to read and which books not to. Thanks for telling me to start the blog in the first place. Thank you for always being there for me to rant to and for being excited with me about every little writing milestone. I can't wait to put your book on my shelf someday!

Number Five: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, to Faith Hough (http://faithehough.blogspot.com/

 )! Faith, I have looked up to you since day one. Thank you for your critiques of my writing. I value your opinion so very much. Thank you for reading what I write and for letting me peek into the mind of a creative genius. You seriously inspire me to no end. Every time I see your name pop up in my inbox, it makes me smile. Thank you=)

Number Six: Jeannette Smejkal (www.folioroad.com), you are ULTRA-AMAZING. Thank you for being the first to read my WIP and being honest with me about every single aspect of it. I've been so blest to work with you. You are a huge inspiration to me. I cannot believe how crazy talented you are. Thank you for keeping me writing.

Number Seven: Linda Kemper, who is probably the most giving person ever. Kempy, thank you for reading all my blog posts and always asking about my writing. Thank you for always being there for me. Words cannot express how grateful I am for you.

Number Eight: YOU! I have interacted with some of the most amazing readers/writers/whatever-ers on the planet. I have been so blest by each and every one of you guys. I have learned so much from all the blog posts I've read by you and the comments you've posted. I'm just so in awe of you all.

I'm so very blest to be on this writing journey with all of you guys. I love love love y'all!!!

Here's to another year of reading and writing!

Tagged, I'm It!

Faith Hough tagged me for the Eleven Questions game! I am supposed to write eleven random things about myself, then answer eleven questions that  she posted on her blog. Finally, I'm going to post my tagee and my questions for him or her! 
On your mark. . .get set. . .go!

Eleven Extremely Random Things About Anne Marie Schlueter!

1.)  I was homeschooled for six years.

2.) I have a card making/scrapbooking obsession.

3.) My favorite Bath and Body Works scent is "Be Enchanted."

4.) When I was two or three, my cousin attempted to carry me down the stairs while wearing a long evening dress-up gown and high heels. . . I ended up in the emergency room that night with  concussion.

5.) My favorite Disney princess movie is Tangled. Flynn Rider!

6.) I work at a purple desk with a doll house shelf sitting on top of it, containing books and notebooks.

7.) I do not like Justin Bieber. At all
 . . . well, apparently, he's very pro-life, so I suppose I admire that about him.

8.) For those of you who have read The Help, my favorite chapter is "The Benefit."

9.) My favorite Harry Potter book is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

10.) I watch BBC's Pride and Prejudice every St. Valentine's Day.

11.) I really enjoy photography.

Faith's questions for me. . . 

1) What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Oh, so very tough. Probably my dad’s homemade vanilla. I also adore cookies n’ creme, being the Oreo fan that I am.

2) What book do you wish you were a character in?
Definitely Harry Potter.

3) White, dark, or milk chocolate?
Up until recently, it was a toss up between dark and milk, but now I will typically only eat
milk chocolate.

4) Would you rather be a coal miner or a skyscraper window washer?
I would probably be a window washer. I think I am kind of claustrophobic.


5) If you were an American in the late 1700’s, which side would you have taken in the Revolution?
I don’t always like change. I like to think I am ready for it, but I’m usually not. I bet I would I have started out a Loyalist, but then toward the beginning-middle became a Patriot.

6) What writing tool would it be hard for you to live without?
Hmmmm. . . .now, probably my music. And I hate that, because I used to be able to
write without music, but now I usually can’t write without it. I think it may be because it helps me concentrate when the noises of my family reach my ears.

7) What song best describes you or the way you see the world?
Probably “Keep Your Eyes Open” by Needtobreathe. Currently. It switches often.

8) What’s your favorite first sentence from a book?
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” (Charles Dickens, Tale of Two Cities)
It’s old, it’s overused, but I so wish I had come up with it.

9) If you could get on a plane for a month long vacation tomorrow, where would you go? London, England. Or pretty much anywhere in England. Ever since 7th grade when I did a research paper on Princess Diana, I have been fascinated by their culture and government.

10) Do you outline your stories?
Sometimes. Usually, I start my story, write a page or so, then outline.

11) Would you rather live in a palace by the sea or a cottage in the woods 
Definitely a palace by the sea. Even though I really do not like going to the beach, I would love to live by my own private water source. Oh, the inspirations for writing. . . 


And I tag Clare Marie! (Please don't feel like you have to play)
My questions for you. . . .

1.) Bach or Beethoven?
2.) What was the first thing you've ever written? Or something you wrote when you were young?
3.) Roses or Violets?
4.) Young Adult books or Adult?
5.) Who is your favorite bad guy?
6.) Where do you typically write?
7.) MP3 player, iPod, or just internet music?
8.) Black or blue pen?
9.) Google Docs or Microsoft Word?
10.) Which season do you find the most inspirtional for writing?
11.) What is the most common word in your vocabulary? 

Help Yourself to The Help!

Book: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Rating: PG14 for heavy content, brief violence, language, and some sexual content.

I read an “oh-so-true” blog post a few weeks ago by the brilliant Faith Hough (http://faithehough.blogspot.com/) about how there are three kinds of books: the bad ones, the good ones, and the great ones. She wrote that the good ones make up most of what we read, but when we read the great ones, they make us writers just want to move away from our computers and notebooks because we feel we will never write anything that good.

My thoughts exactly when I read Kathryn Stockett’s The Help.

    If I was asked to describe my feelings for The Help in one word, it would be “Wow.” Wow, wow, wow, wow, WOW. Yes, it’s that good. In fact, so good that Harry Potter has been officially bumped down to number two on my best books ever list. I have lost count of the number of times I have read this book.

    The thing about The Help is that it makes you want to get lost in its world-- even though it's world is a very dangerous place. The Help takes place in the early-mid 60’s in the anti-black town of Jackson, Mississippi. The story alternates between three narrators; the sweet Aibileen Clark, who’s raised sixteen white children; the sassy Minny Jackson, who’s known for her cooking and mouth, a dangerous combination for a black maid in Jackson, and ambitious writer Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. Usually, I’m not a huge fan of books where the narrator changes with each chapter; Nicholas Sparks’ The Last Song or some of Rick Riordan’s books were impossible for me to get through. But I think the changing narrators is what made my experience with The Help so enjoyable.

           The story begins with Aibileen’s narration. Aibileen’s son was recently killed and she talks about not feeling so accepting of white people any more. Aibileen is such a real character with such real struggles and strengths. She is definitely a mother hen type of women, and I guess she’d have to be, after raising sixteen kids. She’s on her seventeenth; another white child of a racist mother.

            Actually, mostly everyone in Jackson is racist. Even, I noted, the black people are racist.

As I read through Minny’s chapters, I noticed how she so fiercely believed in small things, like not being anything but civil (and sometimes less than that) to white women, but believed in equal treatment. For me, this was kind of ironic, but in no means a negative point in the story. Minny, who is definitely one of my all-time favorite characters, is very ignorant at some points in the novel, but I saw how she was hurting, and that drew her to me. The same thing goes with Aibileen-- she had been hurt so deeply by the world. And I just wanted to get on my phone and call her and have a five hour conversation with her. Goodness, I love that woman.

Oh, and Skeeter. She’s trying so hard to make it in a male-dominated writing world, but her mother keeps getting in her way. Skeeter has graduated from college and moved back in with her parents, and the only thing her mom cares about is Skeeter getting married. My heart ached for Skeeter as she and her mother fought. As she struggled to write something meaningful, something she could publish. As she wished for love in the hateful town of Jackson.

These three completely different women. All from different backgrounds, shaped from different circumstances. All united with one goal. (Which I'm not going to tell you, because you NEED to read this book and see for yourself!)

Everything about this book was sheer wonderfulness. I have gone back to read it so many times with a notebook, pen, and highlighter in hand. Kathryn Stockett’s imagery is amazing, her dialogue, superb, and, of course, her characters-- well, I just want to take all my favorite people in that novel out to lunch, for goodness’ sakes!! Unfortunately, of course, The Help is purely fictional. Dang. But you know you’ve written a good book, I think, when your fans tell you that your characters are their best friends. I hope one day I shall be so blest to write a book like The Help.

Favorite Line: “Babies like fat. Like to bury they face up in you armpit and go to sleep. They like big fat legs too. This I know.” -- Aibileen, page 2

(Just one-- I wish I could post the whole book, but, alas, I have my own novel to work on.)

ALSO-- the movie! The Help movie is not nearly as good as the book-- what is?-- but definitely worth seeing once you finish the book!