Saturday, December 29, 2012

No Kiss Blogfest...

So I was browsing a writer's blog that I follow recently, and I discovered this mini contest that she's entering. I thought, "why not?" and looked it up. Basically, it's a scene contest of sorts where you can write a scene (or provide one already written, or a video, picture, etc.) about a close call kiss. A scene where your two characters almost kiss...but they don't. There are quite a few people entering too. So to add onto my "why not?" attitude, I decided to go on ahead and enter as well. This should be fun. :)
If, by now, your curiosity has peaked somehow, you can find the No Kiss Blogfest(ivities), along with a video example of how it's done, here. :)
I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. I've already discovered an entry by the host herself from a previous No Kiss Blogfest, and let me tell you, she is quite the writer. I'm anxious to see what she comes up with this year. :)
One of her previous entries that I rather enjoyed involved a couple in a movie theater. You can read it here if you like. I have a feeling one reason I enjoyed it so much is because the writer is such a tease, hehe. Plus, the guy in the scene seems like a tease himself.
I am currently planning out my own scene and will be writing on it in the next few days. The No Kiss Blogfest deadline is this coming Wednesday, the 2nd. So be looking for that to magically appear here. :)
I'm probably going to be using this for a little bit of inspiration. It's better when you can see the whole scene. It's from Psych, Bounty Hunters episode. :)

And if you wish to enter yourself, it's not too late to do so. You can enter as late as the day of the deadline. If you so choose to enter though, please let me know. I'd love to see what you come up with! :)

     Call me crazy...
          -Liz

Thursday, December 27, 2012

And the madness continues...

So I posted recently about my crazy busy schedule. It's lightened only slightly since then, the reason being that I finally managed to finish and post my Christmas short story. However, I have so many projects I'm trying to finish that my load is lightened only the tiniest bit.
I've come to the conclusion that what I probably need is some sort of schedule for writing. And I think I may have come up with something that just might work. It's not so much of a schedule, as it is just simply setting my priorities. And what I've come up with as far as that goes is this:
  1. Start working on more chapters for Clue, as per request of one certain reader.
  2. Work on a couple of short stories, in hopes to get them closer to being ready to be posted.
  3. Get back to work on my NaNoWriMo novel so I can hopefully at some point reach that 50k mark.
So this is what my writing life will consist of in the next few weeks. With the exception of the No Kiss Blogfest, but I'll elaborate more on that later. I look forward to writing a little more on Clue as well!
And although the excitement had died down for my NaNoWriMo novel, 3,000 Miles Away, I'm beginning to get re-excited about it again. Hopefully sometime soon I can get some actual work done on it and get that much closer to my first 50k novel! :)

          -Liz

Monday, December 24, 2012

A Christmas Short Story

So I've been working on a Christmas short story for a while now, and it's finally finished. Whew. I was determined to have it ready today at the very latest, so I sort of stayed up all night finishing it. But it's done now, and I can finally sleep.
But before I give you the links for the new Christmas short story, it originally was meant for an entry in a little Christmas challenge. I was given a picture and song. The picture I used for the cover. The song was "All I Want For Christmas is You". All I've really known about was the Mariah Carey version. However, I have since discovered the Michael Buble' version, and it fits so much better for the mood of this particular story. If you don't have it, or have never heard it, I suggest you do so now. Go on ahead...I'll wait while you give a little listen. :)
*3 minutes later*
Isn't it great?? I just love that cover. So anyway, yes, this has been a major inspiration for me in the writing process. It really helps keep me in that mood that I need to be in when writing this kind of story.
But, I know, I know, you probably want to go on ahead and read the story already, well ok.

Here it is, my Christmas short story I've been working on for you! :)
Hope you guys like it!

Synopsis: Growing up, Lindsey and Ben were inseparable. Best friends since before they could walk, they did everything together. When both were told the other had cooties, neither ran away. They stuck together through thick and thin. And eventually, Lindsey developed a crush on Ben. Right before graduation and Ben moving off to another college. Now, a year later-and still as head over heels for Ben as ever-Lindsey can’t help but wish to see him for Christmas. The only question now is, will Lindsey get her Christmas wish come true?

Booksie: http://www.booksie.com/romance/short_story/lizanneglasgow/i-just-want-to-see-my-baby/chapter/1

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/story/3262510-i-just-want-to-see-my-baby

     Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
          -Liz

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Calling all fantasy lovers...

So I had a pretty fantastic night Thursday night. I was unexpectedly able to go see The Hobbit premiere due to a friend of mine having an extra ticket (in 3D) and they really didn't want it to go to waste. I haven't gotten around to reading the books yet, but I definitely will now. I was especially excited to find out that there's a freaking dragon in The Hobbit! Someone forgot to mention this to me. I love dragons!
Anyway, when the movie was over I stayed with my other friend I wound up sitting with, and we waited until all 10-15 minutes of credits played, only to find out that there was not in fact, an end credits scene. But to pass the time, I was explaining to him that I really want to eventually write a dragon book but I'm not sure what to do about it since nearly everything's been done before. He quickly corrected me saying, "Not necessarily."
So I asked him to give me a few examples. His first idea was simply put, brilliant. I so wish I could give spoilers and share the amazingness of this idea. However, it states it in the title: "spoilers". So alas, I cannot share details at this time, but I am super, super excited about writing this. It may not happen for another year or two. But rest assured-it will happen. And my awesome friend has already been promised to be in the acknowledgements page, and he will be getting an autographed copy because he's just that awesome, haha. And I fully intend on keeping my promise.
A main reason of why it may take longer to get around to writing this is because it's in an area of fantasy in which I am not that experienced. Thankfully, I have two pretty beastly writer friends who both know their way around pretty well with the fantasy genre. It could be because that's pretty much all they write. But then, I never heard anyone complain about too much fantasy either. So because they are so good at what they write, I will be going to them for many, many brainstorming sessions. So chances are, they too will get mentions on the acknowledgements page. But the guy who gave me this brilliant idea comes first, hehehe.
So needless to say, I am so freaking excited about this! And to sweeten the deal just a little bit more, I am going to do my best to work out at least one fictional language, preferably two for this upcoming novel. EEEHH!! Looking forward to getting to work on this!!

     Believing dragons truly existed (no, seriously),
          -Liz

Monday, December 10, 2012

Hot coffee, hot coffee...

(First off...the title sounded better in my head...)
So I have a lot of projects going on right now. Turns out just because November is over, doesn't mean I slow down much. I'm just as busy this month, and here's why...
  1. I'm trying to finish my NaNoWriMo novel because I have three friends who will never let me forget it if I drop this one. (Apparently, for whatever reason, they think it's good.)
  2. I have at LEAST four short stories I'm trying to finish so I can post them on Wattpad and Booksie.
  3. I also have the next chapter of Clue I'm trying to finish.
So yeah, November may be over, but my schedule is still crazy busy, at the very least, mentally.
On the upside of things, as far as my novel goes, I did think of a good scene to add recently, so once I write that, I'll be sure to update my word counter off to the side here (-->). But mark my words, it will be finished eventually. I don't know when, but it will at least be finished for the sake of me actually finishing something. I'm not sure yet if I'll want to publish it though. Personally, it's not as exciting for me as it was in the planning process. But who knows? Maybe it will actually end up being half decent.
For the short stories, I'm fairly excited about those. The first that will be posted soon is a Christmas short story. The others are little short stories I've done for fun. After a little editing, they will be posted shortly. The genre's range from a couple of mystery/thrillers, to some general fiction. I make no promises that any of them will be below 1,000 words though. Because as I've said before, my brain insists that such things do not exist.
As for the Clue story, I am working on that as well. Please bear with me as this month is just as crazy as November was. Hopefully the speed of writing chapters for Clue will pick up soon.
But for now, it's back to writing I go. I'm hoping to post the Christmas short story by the end of the week. I'm also hoping that maybe my life will slow down so I can breathe soon, haha.

     Trying to remember how to breathe...
          -Liz

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Contemplating Camp NaNoWriMo

Call me crazy (though it wouldn't be the first time, and I'd consider it a compliment), but I'm actually seriously considering doing both Camp NaNoWriMo's next year. If you are less familiar with Camp NaNoWriMo, allow me to enlighten you for a brief moment. Camp NaNoWriMo is pretty much exactly like November's NaNoWriMo...except for the fact that it's camp, and it's typically in the summer instead of November. And there's two of them nearly back-to-back. And I'm seriously considering tackling both next year. It's going to be in April and July this year, so I would at least have a two month break in between the madness. Two months to first relax, then plan all over again for the next camp session.
Here's my thing: I'm thinking I need to do this so I can to give myself a kick in the pants so I can finally finish my main project, and its' sequel. I mean, I've been writing on my main project since 15...it's what inspired me to really pursue this writing thing. So I kinda think I own it to myself and to my novel-in-progress to finish it, and yes, to one day publish it. I haven't decided yet if I want to make my debut with this novel, but it's at least in the top three of my picks to debut with. And I'm not sure yet how exactly the debut process works, but I'm really hoping I get a say in that. (Which, I'm pretty sure I do...) Then again, I know that also depends on what's popular at the time.
Anyway though, my point is that I'm actually really considering doing both Camp NaNoWriMo's next year. Of course, I do have to take into consideration what's left of my sanity. Then again...I have already been promised cookies if I successfully pull off both Camp NaNoWriMo's. I have to say, that's a pretty tempting offer. I wonder what might happen if I complete the first Camp session, and maybe...halfway complete the second? In any case, I'm feeling like this will be fun, and I'm not going to make a prediction that I will finish. But I will try my very best to finish this time. (Although I do have a good feeling I might actually finish this time...)

     Continuing the madness...
          -Liz

*Note: I blame procrastination issues for not posting this sooner...I'm sorry.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Daydreams

Ok, so I don't know about you, but this girl daydreams...or...I guess I should make that nightdreams to fall asleep. I usually lay there for at least an hour daydreaming about hypothetical scenarios that would probably never happen. But I like to imagine that they would. I sometimes imagine scenes from my books, if I'm trying to plan out a particular scene but can't concentrate any other time.
Or I'll sometimes take my absurd imaginings and work them into a book. I won't go into specifics because that would mean spoilers. But perhaps if persuaded-after I get a book published in the future-I might give a hint as to whether or not one of these daydreams has made it into a book yet. All I can tell you for now as far as that goes, is that when I work a nightdream into a book, it's usually a pretty good scene. But then again, I tend to be bias to my own work sometimes. And then other times, I'm my own worst critic. It just depends on what project it is. But such is the life of a writer.


     Wishing you happy nightdreaming!
          -Liz

Friday, November 30, 2012

NaNoWriMo 2012

Since the month is winding down now, I guess I'll share how my month's been. I attempted National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) for the second time this year. Last year I didn't have a clue of what I was doing, and yet somehow managed to pull just over 20,000 words out of the air. This year, I had been planning my novel since last year's NaNoWriMo...and made it to a grand total of 2,913. Fail. Haha. Although the day's not over yet, and I could still up that count...but I probably won't. I blame my procrastination issues. And the fact that the first week of the month, I had borderline bronchitis, so that wiped out a whole week of writing. Plus a little recovery time. After that, I lost interest for a brief bit. And then for the majority of Thanksgiving break, I was working like a mad...woman...on everything "social media". I completely re-built my website, created a Facebook fan page, updated my Twitter, and then created this blog. In my mind, I think I should be allowed a little allowance here for not finishing my novel in time, seeing as I was so busy with everything else. Plus, I'm a lot happier now with everything done. :)
But I'm going off on a little bunny trail here...moving on...
I do have a couple of close friends here (as well as a new NaNoWriMo friend from the toe of the boot) who have all told me that they want to see me finish my novel. In my mind, I take that as more of a "you have no choice" kind of thing. So with that in mind, I am going to attempt to finish it. Whether or not I choose to publish it, I'm not sure yet. The plot sounded good at first, but now it kinda sounds cheesy to me. I've had a couple of people tell me that it sounds good to them, and they might want to read it. Even a guy friend of mine told me that he's not one for the romance genre, but that it sounded really good to him, and he liked the premise for my novel. So I don't know, I guess maybe that's still up in the air for now. I should probably focus on finishing it first, then decide if I want to publish it or not. I have a couple of friends I could possibly give the rough draft to, if they wanted to critique it for me. That would probably help.
Anyway, so yeah, my month's been kinda crazy. But I'm starting to think that's just how my November is going to be from now on. I can easily see myself doing NaNoWriMo for a long time to come. Hopefully in the future, I'll have better luck with finishing my novel within the month. And who knows? Maybe I'll even finish it early one year. That would be awesome. And for anyone who's following my blog, I'll be having a NaNoWriMo novel word counter off to the side here (-->) until I get to that 50,000. So you can keep up with that, and pep talks would be appreciated, haha. And you will most-likely know as soon as I finish because I'll probably post a celebratory post declaring that the 50,000 word count has been conquered! That will be a great day for sure.
Well, I suppose that's everything for now. I'll be posting again in a couple of days. :)

     Until then.
          -Liz

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Random Celebratory Post!!

Ok, so this isn't exactly random. I have a point to make here. I have somehow seriously underestimated any number of potential fans of my writing. I know that because this morning, I am transferring some stories from an old writing account to the new one. On the portfolio page, it has your story's title, what genre it is, how many pages, read count, and comment count.
Anyway, I just happen to glance toward the middle of the page to see that ohmygosh, I have over 1,000 reads on one story alone! It's a "short" story (I put short in quotations because my brain insists that short is never below 1,000 words), but still, I'll take the 1,090 reads! It still hasn't sunk in that this has actually happened. It's just...amazing, really. I'm speechless. And I'm a girl! We always have things to say, haha.
But before I go off ranting, there's one person I should thank the most for. And I can never thank them enough for this. I want to thank my God for just being awesome every day. For being there for me when I needed Him most, and for giving me this great talent to share with everyone. I hope any future fame will never go to my head. This 1,090 reads just gives me a mere taste of what that might be like. And I couldn't feel more humbled that that many people enjoy my writing. Thank you everyone, for either reading what I write, or supporting me all along the way in some way. You'll never know how much you mean to me, and how grateful I am for you to be in my life. :)


     Thank You God!
          -Liz

The Unknown Stationary

So a year or two ago, one of my besties randomly made some stationary for me to use as inspiration for my characters in the main book I've been working on. I've told her almost everything there is about this book (almost...some things need to remain a surprise...even to a bestie). But she does know that Derek never fell out of love with Kelsey.
I may not ever get a chance to use the stationary, but I rather like it either way. I included a picture below of what it looks like. It starts off with "My Dearest Kelsey," and ends with "Yours Forever, Derek". And the picture used for the watermark was, at the time, the current picture I was using for the cover. It's changed since then, but I think this works much better.
Thank you, bestie, for always being supportive of my writing. :)


          -Liz

Monday, November 26, 2012

New Story!

Hey everyone! So...Clue: A Modern Tale is finally up! I have it posted on both my Wattpad and Booksie accounts now. It's just the prologue so far, and it's only a couple of paragraphs long, but I am hard at work trying to get more chapters finished, so bear with me. :)
Here are the links to Clue:

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/story/2352552-clue-a-modern-tale

Booksie: http://www.booksie.com/mystery_and_crime/novel/lizanneglasgow/clue:-a-modern-tale

     Thanks!
          -Liz

Note: The prologue is the only part written from this characters' point of view.

Note note: This is going to be a little different than my usual projects I write.

A Burst of Genius!

Ok, so I'm a bit OCD on posting my drafts in order, but right now, I'll forgive myself. The side project (Clue: A Modern Tale) book I've been brainstorming over for the past few months looks like it might see the light of day really, really soon! As in, by the end of the day! What was originally the prologue, I changed to the first chapter. I knew what I wanted to do for the new prologue, I just needed to think of a great first line. I've started being more hard on myself about writing a first line that immediately grabs the reader's attention and immerses them into the story. I think this one does just that, and keeps attention for the remainder of the prologue. It's only a paragraph long, but some of my better work, I believe.
Anyway, I just had to let some of the excitement out before I go to bed (yes, just now going to bed. Night owl here, remember?). I'm excited to share the prologue with you later today! It will be posted on my Wattpad and Booksie accounts. Look for my next post sharing the links!

          -Liz

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hello There...

Hey everyone! Welcome to my new blog. Which, by the way, I have no idea what I'm going to write about on here. So this first post is probably going to be short and sweet.
I've had other blogs before, but this is my first writing blog. I do have a couple of ideas bouncing around in this round thing I'd like to call my head. In fact, if you'll take a little looksee to the right here (-->), you'll find a poll of what I should write about on here. The ideas so far are listed as Current Books, Future Book Ideas, Teasers, Book Reviews, and Other. You have the option of selecting multiple choices if you simply can't make you're mind up because I'm awesome like that (See how I turned that around on you? Yeah...comes from being awesome. Hehe.). However, if you select Other, please just drop me a quick note via email (LizanneGlasgow@Gmail.com) and let me know your thoughts. I'll share the results as I get them, and whether or not I will consider it. If you would be so kind as to give me a name to address you with, I will even give you a little shoutout. :)
So...yeah. That's pretty much all I've got right now. But before you go, feel free to check out my brand new website, and "like" my official Facebook Page or Twitter...or both! Also feel free to follow my blog, I know it's not much yet, but hopefully I'll have some more ideas soon on what to write about. I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet. So go on and vote already, why are you still reading this? Go vote on the poll, then you can read the little note I left you below. Yes...it has to be in that order. Hey...don't argue with me now. (Hehe.)
Yeah....going to bed now. If you're reading this, I already love you because you were awesome enough to come visit my blog. Whether you become a fan or not anytime in the future, well, that's entirely up to you. In any case, I look forward to sharing my stories with you.

     Thank You.
          -Liz

Note: Yes, I realize at the time posted, it is fairly late. Not really for a night owl such as myself. But I did kinda promise myself that I would have my first blog post posted "today", as in, before I went to bed tonight. So here it is, I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Note note: Ok....soo maybe this wasn't quite as short and sweet as I thought. Apparently I have more to say than I realized. Or...it could just come from being a girl. Or a mix of both, I dunno. (Probably the latter, leaning more toward being a girl, hehe.)