Meet Vanessa

I think it is time I introduce you to someone...

She is the little voice in my head.

Her name is Vanessa. I named her that because growing up when Renee and I played Barbies the evil Barbie's name was usually Vanessa. (no offense to any Vanessas out there)
She came into my mind a long time ago and is still hanging around. Every time I write she shows up to share her two cents. She has been, at times, very cruel, but her most effective tool is distraction. Here is how our conversations typically go:

Me: OK...Time to write that love scene between Robert and Ariana...

Vanessa: *stifles a laugh*

Me: What?

Vanessa: Nothing..its just...a love scene? Do you really think someone at your writing level should attempt to write a love scene?

Me: How else would I show the romantic feelings developing between the two characters?

Vanessa: Suit yourself...

Me: ok......*stares at the blank screen*

Vanessa: Ooo! Did you hear the trailer came out for the new X-Men movie? Lets go check it out!

Me: Really?! -wait, I can't do that. I have to work-get lost! Now...where to begin?

Vanessa: Actually I think its been about fifteen minutes since you checked Facebook. Better head over there and see if any one has responded to your new profile pic.

Me: Arrrgh! Leave me alone! OK ...*flexes fingers* I just need to describe Robert...

Vanessa: Maybe we should Google every picture of Colin Farrel we can find and-

Me: VANESSA!!!


And so it goes with Vanessa. Do you have a voice inside your head? Any ideas on how to get rid of her? (humanely, of course)

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

First off we want to thank you guys all for entering! It was SO fun to read your entries. I watched every single kissing scene on YouTube, even if you didn't put a link. I still searched it out. :) Not a bad way to pass time, I'll tell you that.

So thanks again for joining in the party! We wish we had tons of awesome prizes to hand out! But alas, just one.

Before we announce that winner, here are our Honorable Mentions, (though like I said, we really enjoyed ALL of your entries.)

Anonymous-For his/her suggestion to pair Bella Swan with the vampire Lestat. Um, yes please.

Janine-For her love pairing of Gilbert Blythe and . . . herself. Dream big, Janine. Dream big.

And finally, Melissa-For bringing up the famous "almost kiss" moment on the new Pride and Prejudice. *swoon*

And now, the runner up. First let me say that we had a very hard time picking between our runner up and our winner. Both are very funny! And BOTH included an amazing photoshopped pic! *LOVE* I honestly wish we had a prize for the runner up!

The Runner Up is Matt Sutter! Partake of his brilliance:


"Hold Still . . ."
“Robbing banks just isn’t lucrative anymore.” The joker sighs and looks at Stacey. Stacey smiles and licks her fingers to smooth out a curl on the joker’s head. I snap a picture.
It’s not every day that you walk into Red Lobster and see Hollywood’s hottest couple sitting at the table next to you. Stacey London’s hit show, “What Not to Wear,” has featured many normal looking people get a fashion make-over. It’s no wonder there’s buzz about this odd couple.
“We’re in love. What else matters?” Stacey smiles. The Joker quivers.
Whoever said “love is blind” sure was on to something.
-Matt Sutter

The Joker and Stacy London? Now that's an odd couple that cracks me up.

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And now, without further ado, we announce our hilarious winner!

Red Boot Pearl!!! This entry is, in a word, genius. :) Hilarious and fun. The perfect spirit of our contest. Behold! :


Willy and Glenda (the good witch) Wonka

“Willy, are you a good husband or a bad husband?”

“Teee heee heee hee…” the munchkins’ giggling carried through the window.

“Gah,” Willy waved his hand in front of his face, sick of the incessant giggling.

“You don’t have time for me anymore. All you do is work, work, work, eat, eat, eat, and spend time with the oompaloompas. When will it end?”

“Should we get out the eggdicator and see if I’m a bad egg?”

“I’d rather see the wizard.” Glenda fluttered eyelashes.

“Is there something going on between you and Oz?”

“No,” Glenda turned wiping her eyes. “But where is the passion, the love? Where did it go?”

“Maybe it went down the yellow brick road…” he muttered.

“What?” she sobbed.

“Nothing, my scrumdiddlyumptious,” Willy said placing his hand on her shoulder. She turned, searching his eyes, looking for the love they’d found so long ago. Willy caressed her cheek, sending long forgotten shivers down her spine. She leaned in staring at his chocolate stained lips, wanting that kiss like nothing she’d wanted before—the reassurance that all was not lost, that their love would live on. He pulled her tightly in his arms, his lips just millimeters away…

Knock, knock, knock.

“Yes?” Willy called with Glenda still wrapped in his arms.

“Sir, it’s the Lollipop Guild, they’ve contaminated the taffy pull again.” An oompaloompa poked his head in the door.

“@#$% munchkins.”

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Pure awesomeness. So congrats to you, Red Boot Pearl!! Email me and let me know which wonderful YA book you want! You've definitely earned it!

Thanks again to all who participated (even in spite of our groveling . . .) You all ROCK!

Contest! Ending Soon!

So I'm going out of town this weekend. I was going to leave Thursday, but now weather might get in the way, and make me leave earlier.

I share this bit of minutia with you because it means we will be shortening the Kissing Contest a bit.

But don't worry! You still have all of today to enter! We will accept entries until tonight, February 15th, at midnight. So head on over to our main contest post, and do so! (If you haven't already.)

Happy Kissing!

Johnny sent me this one yesterday. He's just a big softie.

A Valentine's Day Gift

*Don't forget to enter our Kissing Contest here! Win the YA book of choice!! You have until Wednesday, Feb. 16th!*

Today, for Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share one of my favorite romantic moments in all film. It's not a kissing scene, but it makes me melt Every. Time.

So watch! And you're welcome. ;)

Revised Rules!! EASIER CONTEST!

So due to the overwhelming number of entries for our Kissing Contest . . . (*cough*) (Or maybe due to the fact that we feel like the kid who threw the party that no one came to . . . /sad clown)

We're changing the rules to our contest! And making it much easier to enter!!! So . . . enter! Don't you want that YA book you've been dreaming of to show up on your doorstep?! Well it's never been easier!

New Rules:

1. Write a 15 page kissing scene, with at least three metaphors per page, and at least fifty lines of clever, but poignant dialogue

wait a minute . . . Strike that. Reverse it. (*wipes a tear* Gotta love Gene Wilder.)

The *Real* NEW, IMPROVED, EASIER Rules (plus more gratuitous kissing pics!):
You can enter in three ways:

1. Suggest a Literary Love Mashup in the comments section! Who should be together this Valentine's Day, and why?

2. Or you can still write a Literary Love Mashup kissing scene for extra Bonus points. :) (Either post in the comments section or email to Renee: 1wrenbird AT gmail DOT com)

3. Share your favorite KISS from a book or movie in the comments section.Also:

1. You need to be a follower of the blog.
2. Bonus points if you tweet or blog about the contest!
3. Only U.S. residents eligible for book prize, but we're working on an alternate prize to those outside the U.S.


So there it is! Enter! You have until Wednesday, February 16th! And before you go, here's one more kiss picture.




(har har har)

Our First Contest!

Yes! That day has finally come. A contest on Midnight Meditations. Just in time for Valentine's Day! And here's the best part, it's a . . .

KISSING CONTEST!

That's right, we are having a contest to celebrate the favored pastime of February 14th: Kissing. Smooching. Snogging. Macking. Frenching. Sucking Face. Making out. Hot n' Heavy. Tonsil Hockey. Gettin' it on. Going at it. (Have I left anything out?)
Now before you get all excited, no, we are not hiring a squad of Latin Lovers to visit the homes of our blog readers. My apologies. We tried, but there was a snafu with paperwork from the Latin Lovers League, and long story short, no can do.

So we thought instead we'd do what writers do best: make up fun kissing scenes! Yep, we want you to write us an awesome kissing scene. It can be funny. Romantic. Tragic. Or even the ever-taunting "almost kiss."

And what would a contest be without a PRIZE?

The winner of this contest will get to select any currently on the shelves YA romance novel they want!! Because I think YA does romance right. And have the BEST kisses! :) (Note: By romance novel, I mean the story has to be YA, and it should have at least SOME romance. Because why would you want to read a book with no romance? /judging)

The Contest:
Write a short kissing scene (Min. 50 words, Max. 300 words)

You must use existing characters in literature or film. And they CANNOT be from the same book or movie. We're going for a Literary Love Mashup Vibe. See HERE for inspiration. You are welcome to use the couples we created, but feel free to make your own! The more creative the better. (Bonus points if a picture is included!)

Post the scene in the comment section of this post, or email to Renee. 1wrenbird AT gmail DOT com.

Contest ends Wednesday, February 16th. Diana and I will pick our favorite as the winner. (And then email you to see which AMAZING YA love story you want!)

The Rules:


1. Bonus points if you are a follower of the blog.
2. Extra bonus points if you tweet about the contest!
3. PG-13 ratings por favor. (But a tasteful boob grab might be overlooked. . . )
4. U.S residents only (Sorry!! Truly. :( It's a shipping thing, yo.)

Timing

The very first thing I did when we found out I was pregnant with our second child was to call Renee, then my parents, then all my friends. I couldn't help it. I know some people wait for months to tell others, and we did wait with our first, but this time I was just too darn excited.

I am the same way with my writing. The minute I get a new idea, I feel the urge to tell someone. And as soon as I begin writing the first magical pages, I am dying to have someone read them. Lately, however, I have been feeling that, at least with writing, that may not be the best move.



With my last two stories, I started out with so much excitement and was writing up a storm, only to have the momentum mysteriously die soon after someone had read the first pages. So I am beginning to wonder, am I letting my fledgling idea out into the world too soon?

What do you think?

Photoshop Friday

(As you've probably already deduced, we rarely actually get to Photoshop Friday on Friday . . . But better whenever than never, right?)

As a new writer, just starting to explore the advice and camaraderie available in the online writing community, it's easy to fall victim to information overload. We hear certain ideas again and again, and something starts to happen . . .

The new writer reads between the lines of this usually well-intentioned advice and determines new, INDISPUTABLE TRUTHS. Truths that fill us with both fear and the hearty determination of the proletariat. But the new writer isn't the only one to feel the fear. Who among us has not pondered these "facts" at one point or another?

The Party is Always Right


The first "truth" that haunts every writer is the that of Publishing's TICKING CLOCK. Time is running out. If you don't finish this book, edit it, get an agent, and go on submission soon, you'll miss your chance! Publishing will be over! No one reads books now! And no one will print paper books anyway! You'll spend the rest of your miserable life mourning the DREAM THAT DIED BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO SLOW!!!

Work! Work! FASTER!

So you finish your book on time? It's not going to help unless you're doing everything you should. No publisher will touch you unless you've built up your platform! Do you have a blog? You'd better. Does it have a good following? (You call that good?) What about Twitter? If your follow-to-following ratio isn't impressive, no publisher will touch you. Are you networking? Kissing all the right butts? If not, you'll never get that awesome blurb, and (you guessed it) NO PUBLISHER WILL TOUCH YOU.

The Party says: Social Media is the only way . . .

Look, in the end, there's no point doing any of this if your book isn't amazing. Right? The Party demands perfect characters, snappy voice, and a flawlessly flowing plot. Don't have that? No? What do you think your chances are? Why bother trying? I mean, for realz.

Fact: if editors don't weep with happiness while reading your book, it's over.

Don't you want foreign rights? They'd better feel this way about your book.

I'll repeat the question I asked at the beginning: who among us hasn't had the words of The Party ring in our ears from time to time? I know I have. In fact, I'd say I'm visited by the Party two to three times a week.

But we all know what the real truth is, right? Let's all hold hands and repeat after me: The Party is always WRONG.

How about you? Any other slogans echoing in your mind?