My Favorite Things Monday... COUNTDOWNS TO AWESOMENESS!!!

Here are a few of my favorite books that are counting down to HOLY COW CAN'T WAIT TO READ awesomeness!!!

SPECTRAL by Shannon Duffy
4/10/12



UNRAVELING by Elizabeth Norris
4/24/12



INSURGENT by Veronica Roth (Book #2)
5/1/12

TIMEPIECE by Myra McEntire (Book #2)

6/12/12

INBETWEEN by Tara Fuller
8/14/12




DEFIANCE by C.J. Redwine
8/28/12

MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY by Rachel Harris
9/11/12

What books are you looking forward to this summer?

New Meat & Shiny New Project!

I find it fitting that I grew up a real estate brat.  One of the things my momma always said when I was a Realtor was, “Go find some new meat to chew on!” 
Aside from being crazy cannibalistic because the new meat was code for a new client, she was right!
Have you ever had an amazing piece of steak and about the fifteenth chew go round you’re kind of done with that piece and readying another bite on your fork?  *non-meat-eaters insert something like meat* 
Of course, the next bite up is just as amazing as the bite that’s sliding down your throat until chew fourteen or fifteen.
But!
What if you went to a restaurant and were served one bite of meat at an extremely outrageous price with some sort of fancy kale to fill in the vast amount of plate real estate?  Ya’d chew that sucker till it all but disappeared on your tongue. AND you’d walk away from the experience just kind of deflated, cranky and looking for an In –N-Out burger (no In-N-Outs?  Pleeeease haul your toosh to Cali!) 
Real Estate is a lot like eating meat and therefore a lot like writing books. 
Hold on, bear with me, cuz it sooo is! 
I wasn’t a very patient realtor, mainly because people want to look at more than one house and they kind of act Craaaaazy when they’re in escrow.  I had one client who looked at fifty-two houses before she found one she would consider and then canceled the escrow because of the bird’s flight pattern over said house.  I kid you not!  My mother had a client cancel an escrow because the cat said, ‘No!’  I don’t know how the owner figured out that one, but God’s honest truth, the freakin’ feline said NO! 
Chew, chew, chew = get a new client, get a new client, get a new client!
I’ve been working on a project for-EVER!!! And it’s a great project but I feel like I’ve been chewing the same piece of meat for two years!  I’m ready for that cued up bite/shiny new project sitting on my fork/hard drive to start making its way up to my mouth/putting words on paper!!!
Chew, chew, chew = start new project, start new project, start new project.
So what’s the point to this pretty little post?

      1.       It is entirely possible to over chew your WIP.

2.       Trust your beta’s and critique partners.

3.       Make sure you give yourself time to dream about your SNP!

4.       Don’t procrastinate with your edits!!! It’s like stopping mid-chew and keeping that glob of meat in your cheek!

5.       The next adventure is always as much fun as the one you’re afraid to let go of.

My Favorite Things... yep it's a Monday! With Chocolate and Heroes!!!!!

This is the kick off to heroes week!

And how better to kick off heroes week than with my very own favorite hero!!!!



too sweet!!!

Yep, that's my husband!

And besides literally saving my life, he is the inspiration to our heroes discussion this week:

Why Your Fictional Hero Shouldn't Wear A White Hat!

As if Mark's inspiration isn't enough, my amazing husband constantly brings me these yummies!!!!

EDIT MUST HAVES

And only 130 calories of AMAZING!

 

Mark's theme song is A Real Good Man by Tim McGraw.

*Yes, I gave my husband a theme song*   



see the resemblance! I. DO. TOO!!!!

 Now, if you've never listened to this song, then you must!!!! 
Aside from drool worthy husky voices and naughty references to h-h-honkytonks. 
....Wait.... I gotta catch my breath.....



mkai, I'm better.

There's a line from the song that just sums up what every hero should have a sprinkle of:

I may be a real bad boy, but baby I'm a real good man!

Now I'm not saying your hero has to be a down and dirty typical bad boy, but there needs to be an element of recklessness.  A moment where your heroine is completely flabbergasted, taken aback, holy cowed or SOMETHING by her potential "man". 

It's called tension ladies!

And even though we HATE when our heroes go against our words of wisdom, there's a piece of WOWZA that occurs when it happens at the right moment and over the right thing.

I can't tell you what that moment is, but ya sure as heck better have one!

Otherwise your hero will look like this:



Hi, I'm two dimensional and hate chocolate.
oh, you like chocolate...
me too!



Instead of this:



You'll like the chocolate...
on my abs of YUM!
Trust me.

 Or this:

You know you like my smolder!

Or THIS!!!!!

Firefighter Ruiz... so taken ladies.

Okay, I've shared enough of my eye candy husband. 

Now, go find that WOWZA moment in your WIP.

A short story on how I, Mindy Ruiz, can screw it all up!

DO NOT!  I repeat: DO NOT! Interrupt me.
If you want me to forget the very sentence I'm typing then you should start chatting with me or call me or send a breeze that tickles my neck, because it is a well proven, highly documented fact that when I'm in the middle of something uber important the chemo brain will kick in.

*side note*  I'm not kidding 'bout the chemo brain.  I've had extremely LARGE  amounts of the nastiness. 

Where was I?
Oh, yeah.
See... chemo brain.
FOCUS...

Here's how it all began.
The screw-it-all-up part of this story, not the chemo part.
The RWA Goldenheart deadline is Thursday, December 2nd. That means I must have my darling little entry in the Fed Ex envelope by 6pm on December 1st. 
That's two days away. 
I open up the newest, shiniest version of my entry and bam... the phone rings.
The husband needs me to look for some fantastic paperwork that may, or may not, be at home.  I could sooooo digress here, but I will stay focused.
An hour later, yes sixty whole minutes and a tornado of paperwork later, I sit down at the computer, pull up my docs and click on the next to newest, not quite as shiny as the Goldenheart ready version of my entry and add a few more layers to chp 35. Delete some telly words, about 1500 all together. Put a pinch of sarcasm on the epilogue and bada-bing realize that the past two hours of fabulous uninterrupted work I'd been doing is on the not new, not ready to be entered version. 
CHEMO BRAIN.

I'd been looking for the husband's paperwork dated 11-16-11, returned to my computer and pulled up document WIP 11-16-11 and com-pleeeee-tly ignored the already open document 11-26- Goldenheart get ready to visit Disneyland version.
Gasp.
I know...
It's gonna be take out and a long, long, 1/4 inch thick revision night. 
*sigh*
or you could send a margarita.
Either one.

The Secret of the Keepers! ~Interview with Elizabeth Isaacs

For my very first interview EVER...--don't panic, I've done that enough for all of us-- I am pleased to welcome the very amazing and talented Elizabeth Isaacs to the Writing Cave Camp Out!

Here, Elizabeth. You put on your pink snuggie and I'll bring everyone up to speed on the  awesomeness that is THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS!

Elizabeth's new book, THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS is currently climbing the Indie must read list and while the s'mores are roasting let me give you the skinny on this amazing book!

The Kailmeyra Chronicles: Book Two--

Life for Nora couldn't be better; she has married the man of her dreams and loves living in the pristine land of Kailmeyra.

That is, until the darkness threatens her perfect world.

Now war is upon the land. She and Gavin must strengthen their clan and prepare to fight. But the enemy has an ally—one that not only wields power, but holds knowledge of the ancients' secrets. Secrets that could destroy creation itself.

As the darkness grows, doubt seeps in ... protectiveness hinders progress ... and the unthinkable comes to pass.

Bewildered and alone, Nora shoulders the responsibility of leading an entire race to war. As she struggles with decisions that seem impossible to make, she is haunted by one choice.

"No one has ever doubted that you would die for those you love.

The question then becomes ... would you live?"

~Goodreads

Goosebumps, yes?

So, Elizabeth I'm going to jump right on in and say, HOLY COW! 

I thought THE LIGHT OF ASTERIA was amazing but, THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS just made me sit back in awe!  Every writer has a a certain where-to-start-a-book routine.  For LOA you said you wrote from the middle and filled in the front and back chapters. What chapter or scene was the genesis for THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS?

Elizabeth:
This was different in the fact that I had no choice but to write the first three chapters first!
:-) But the storyline actually started with a premise and a character. The principal that we all are here for a reason is what drove the plot. The way we got there was through one of my most favorite character that’s ever traipsed through my head, Rune.

Ruuuuune. My secret other world crush. *swoon* Don't judge. I like that rough and rugged type that could possibly shed in the summer.

Er, um, moving on.

What scene of THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS was the hardest to write and why?

Elizabeth: The scene with Elias and Nora in the badlands. I’ll be honest. I was a little depressed after writing that scene.

I don't blame you. Reading about the badlands was so vivid and filled with despair. I can only imagine the places you had to go mentally as a writer to get there and then to be able to put those feelings on the pages the way you did. *bows in a not-worthy pose*

At the end of the book we are left with this huge revelation about Rune and a missing piece of his heart. With a cliff hanger like that I have to ask: Is there a book three and what hint about the storyline can you give us?

Elizabeth: Book three will, good Lord willing, be out this time next year. Our main characters head back to earth, along with some of our new friends!

SQUEEEEEE!  I loved reading about Kailmeyra, but must say I can. NOT. WAIT to see the new and improved Nora take on Earth.  We should TOTALLY have her over to the Camp Out!

Ooooh, Who else would you invite to the camp out? NO seriously my husband and the boys camp out downstairs on Friday nights which leaves the writing room for us and ANY ONE can come stay the night.

Elizabeth:
Real people: All my writer friends
Characters: Gavin, Nora, Rena, Tark, Elias, Elaine and I call dibbs on Weylin!

Obviously with four boys in my house my cupboards are pretty bare. Whatchya want us to stock for Isaacs' rockin' camp out?

Elizabeth:

Real people: a whole bunch of booze
Characters: some of the Elvin fruit. I’ve always wanted to taste it.

And no camp out is successful with out junk food, what must we have?

Elizabeth:

Stuff to make smores ... both real and imagined. I LOVE smores! (you should try hiding rolo’s in the marshmallows sometime! yum!)

Girl after my own heart! This batch of s'mores is just about ready --no hidden rolo's, sorry-- so are you ready for the speed round? 

Elizabeth: *nods suspiciously* 

Don't worry we're in snuggies, it can't be that scandalous. LOL

black or white?

white!

dog or cat?
Dog!

cake or cookies?
Both!

coffee or soda?
Both~!

naughty or nice?

naughty!

cup ½ full or ½ empty?
 ½ full!

summer or winter?

fall!

favorite g-rated swear word?

Nerts!

*ding, ding, ding*

See, not so bad!

One last question before I let you shed your snuggie. Besides Keepers, what book would you recommend to your Kailmeyra readers?

Elizabeth: That’s a toughy. There are so many great books out there now. I’d have to say Hope Collier’s The Willows: Haven. It’s a great read with some interesting twists and turns along the way. If you liked the Kailmeyra Series, I’d bet you’d like this one too!

Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for stopping bye the Writing Cave Camp Out!!!

In honor of Elizabeth and my first ever interview I'm embracing the go big or go home motto and giving away a Kindle!!! And that's not all! I'll also be loading that precious e-reader with not only THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS but ASTERIA as well as Elizabeth's recommendation of THE WILLOWS:HAVEN by Hope Collier!!

How to enter is so super simple! 

Did you leave me a comment? 

Do you follow my blog?

Are you a Mindy Ruiz fan on Facebook?

Did you tweet this interview link?

Each yes answer is an entry to the go-big or go-home giveaway!

Winner will be chosen at random at the end of THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS blog tour November 21st at 11:59 pst.

And don't forget to go follow my dear friend Elizabeth Isaacs on the following:

elizabethisaacs.com
Asteria's blog
Twitter: @Kailmeyra
Facebook: Elizabeth Isaacs, Author

And finally, don't forget to check out THE SECRET OF THE KEEPERS and the rest of the blog tour.

November 13th-- The Readiacs

November 14th--Patricia's Peculiarity guest post
November 15th--Larissa's Bookish Life

November 16th--Hope Collier Interview with Rune

November 17th-- The Reading Angel

November 18th-- Tracy Riva Interview with Nora
November 19th-- Late Bloomers

November-20th--Amaterasu Reads

November 21st--Book-crazy

Three Nano's and Me.

So many way to Nano…


Nano #1

Yep, you know I can’t start a Nano post off with out my writer’s block de-blocker. My Nano and I have an amazing relationship. I clean and provide a USB port and the Nano provides a plethora of what-if ideas that usually kick start a stalled imagination.

Nano #2.

It’s a fact. Being named Mindy almost ALWAYS gets a response of, “Where’s Mork?”

To which I say, “I married him!" …

okay, I married Mark, but if our minister can get away with that joke during our wedding, then I think that gives me an open-ended pass.

Or

Na-nu Na-nu. I know its pronounced nah-noo nah-noo.

You would be surprised how many people say Na-No Na-No.
They also get the hand gesture wrong.
You don’t want to know… trust me!

Nano #3

If you’re a writer you know November is the start of a mad dash-holy cow- kids fend for yourself- month.

For those of you who aren’t writers.
NaNo is National Novel Writing Month.
For thirty days we write till we look like this:




or ssometimes like THIS: *caution you may want to scroll fast past this one*



At the end of November we have, twenty-five days to Christmas, our pants sporting massive muffin tops and a very, very rough first draft of a novel.

Rookies make the mistake of thinking they’re done and send their NaNo project out on query.

DON’T DO THIS!

Others sit and let their NaNo project marinate a few months and then decide if it’s worth the edit process.

And finally, there are the NaNo projects that’ll make you go. WOW!!!

My darling friend Trisha Wolfe participated in NaNo last year.

Edited

Queried

Found an Agent

Submitted

And SOLD her book!

Moral of this post...
you now have three ways to get your Nano on this November.
Pick one and let me know how you're getting your NaNo on!

Dreaming 'bout Princes and Agents.

So, whatchya doin’ on a Saturday afternoon you ask?
Oh nothing much.
Just putting the finishing touches on my WIP.
YEP!
It’s, like, 98% all done, done, done.  Which means one more done away from querying!
If you’ve ever revised a novel, you get the done, done, done part.
Done #1 = First draft
Done #2 = Critique Partners have seen it and not laughed at you or pointed fingers snickering “she thought this was good?”
Done#3 = The Betas are reading it and from tweets and texts *crossing fingers* they are loving it!!!
Done#4 = It’s off to the list of dream agents!
Okay, there’s the dream agent who you could equate to landing the Prince of Wales, but seeing how Kate’s already done that and he’s probably a better helicopter pilot than agent … oh heck, you get the idea. If Royal dream agent loves it then glass slippers and kissable toads for EVERYONE!!!!!

Then there are the dream agents who are the Prince Harry’s of the group!  You love them and you’d have a hell of an awesome ride with them, based on research of course, that could leave you dizzy and deliriously happy for years to come. Yep, got them on my list too!  Again, Kissable toads and roller coasters for EVERYONE!!!!

Truly, I love my heir and spare list of agents.

I love that this project is nearing completion.
Of course… that means a whole bunch of new butterflies are about to be released.
Will the heir or the spare love it?
Will they ask me to a ball?
Will a beautiful publishing queen like it and want to ... publish it?
Will this common girl ever…  alright!
 No more royal stuff…
Just a simple answer.
I dunna know.
But for now… this common-Cinderella-dreaming-girl is really enjoying getting all dressed up!   

Shredding Cheese & Writing a Book ... Trust me.

I’m in the third round of personal edits (my definition of edits before I send out the query letters) and that means I need lots and Lots and LOTS of cheese! Usually this cheese is melted over chips and makes NACHOS with bean dip and yummy salsa.  Some writers need chocolate, some need cinnamon bears, some need lemon bars … me I need CHEESE. So you can imagine the stream of bleeped out words that came from deep inside the refrigerator when I went to make Nachos and found NO CHEESE!

Okay, there was cheese but it wasn’t all nice and shredded and stored in an easy close bag. 

I needed my nacho fix because I am sooooo close to being done and moving on to the find an agent phase of this journey.  Also, tomorrow I play accountant so that means no edits, no creativity … not unless I want the taxman to come a knockin’. 

So, the cheese…

I could go to the store, but the only thing that makes me not a recluse is the fact that I have children who force me to leave the house. When they're at school, I'm inside ... with a block of cheese.

How hard could it be to shred a nacho plate worth of cheese?

Off I went searching and in the very, very back of the cabinets I found this…

Yep, an old-fashioned cheese grater!

I cut a wedge of cheese, figured out how to not shred my knuckles and away we went

Rub, rub, rub!

Shred, shred, shred!

My triceps started to burn…

Images of well-toned triceps made me shred harder until the wedge was gone.

Not so bad…

Until I lifted the grater and found only a few flakes of cheese.

WHAT!?!

So another wedge, more burn and … ugh.

Not nearly enough cheese.

Wedge, burn, lift. Ugh.

Wedge, burn, lift.

It continued on and on until… BAM a nacho plate full of cheese.
As the microwave melted my heavenly edit snack I was thinking:
1.       No wonder our grandmas had toned arms.
2.       No wonder our moms weren’t really over weight.
3.   Shredding cheese is a whole lot like writing a book.

Just when you think you’ve put the finishing touches on the thing, you open up the critique partners or beta readers’ comments and realize… not enough yet and go back to shredding.
*sigh*
But one day, one day it’ll be ready and hopefully an agent will open their microwave and say, “YUMMY!!!! I need this book!!!!”

DOUBT....

It should be a four letter word.
It's that U that makes it so perfect.
U.
Doubt.
I do...
Sometimes, I doubt this book will ever be ready.
Sometimes, I doubt that when this book is ready... no one will want to read it.
Sometimes, I doubt what's looking back at me in the mirror.

I doubt.
I doubt.
I doubt.

It's amazing what can happen when the clock ticks at four in the morning.
When the hubby's sound asleep
The refrigerator's humming
And yoUr defenses against doUbt are at their lowest.
I guess that's why there's that U in doUbt...

Why not u?
Why not yoUr book?
Why not grab what God has given U and enjoy the ride?

It's Up to U to figUre oUt how to kick doubt in the teeth and know U are doing what U are sUpposed to be doing...

Writing....

So, hUgs to U and Urself...
Now get back to that MS.

PS. this has been brought to U by the letter U and the number 1 ... because U are... 
just in case you needed to be reminded.

The Year's Half Over! Where Are YOU!?!

The year's half over!
I can't believe it myself.
We're already in June.

In California that means June gloom.
 For four weeks we re-visit winter with all its nasty gray skies, drizzle and long for the sun.  Then, in July, the sun and summer sucker punch us with all that pent up heat we should have been enjoying in June. 
June in the Ruiz house means planning the next school year, figuring out summer activities, finding someway to keep the kids from uttering those famous summer words, "I'm boooooooooored!" Vacation countdowns begin as well as the back to school mom countdown. 
June for the writer in  me, I'll be honest, this is my first summer as a full time writer.  When I was a Realtor we would look at June and make sure we were half way to our yearly commission goals. If we weren't then my momma would turn on the glare factor and we would kick it up a notch.  You see,  most people move during the summer. They find a house in June, they close escrow by mid to late July and that leaves all of August to find new school friends. 
I'm not sure what the calendar for publishing is, but I did find last year a number of the agents I follow took off mid August and came back after Labor Day.  After Thanksgiving it was pretty quiet till the New Year.  So, I guess nothing has changed from Real Estate to Writing.  June is still the stop, evaluate, throw it into overdrive month.  Are you half way to your 2011 goals?  I'd love to hear them as well!

My Favorite Things + Thursday Throwback!!

MY 10 FAVORITE THINGS:

1.  Spell check
2.  Customer Service reps who actually service customers.
3.  My ubber-twitter that was on my old BlackBerry
4.  Jason Witten & The Dallas Cowboys
5.  Old movies that still make me cry!

6.  Mighty Putty ... okay anything that has the logo "AS SEEN ON TV' I'm a sucker
7.  Drive thru Dairies.
8.  My little boys when they wake up in the morning and make sweet kitten sounds.
9.  My iPod Nano!
10. People who leave comments on my blog... even if they're a happy face. *HINT HINT* LOL

Furlough Day for Moms ... yeah,RIGHT!

The oldest mini-me is on a furlough day from school. It got me thinking... are there mom furlough days?
Nope...
This one is for all my furlough hatin' moms and dads in the world!
I'm certain you'll fully appreciate the lyrics!

Tweet. Tweet. Tuesday! Top Tweets of the week!

*Don't forget to scroll down for the TOP TWEET OF THE WEEK!*
@Leadershipfreak : Before offering solutions be sure you're solving the right problem. #leadership
@elizabethscraig :The Right Tools for Planning a Writing Group: http://bit.ly/jFzAkS #amwriting
@Freedom4unow: Remember "They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." Carl W. Buechner
@Elizabethscraig: POV confusion? Helpful links: http://bit.ly/hJZD8n #amwriting
@Kimcormack: Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. ~Colin Sautar #quotes
@Bcwilliamsbooks: Trouble with getting a grande mocha coconut Frappuccino is that a week later you're hungry again.
@Booksandwine: I secretly love the song Friday! KICKIN IN THE FRONT SEAT...... *rocks out til 5 p.m.*
@kate_mckean: You all care passionately about punctuation. And that's why I love you. #serialcommawars
@BubbleCow:  Metaphors vs. Similes - http://bit.ly/kOxst4
@Jimmarks: Great Post! 12 things to do after you’ve written your blog post... http://bit.ly/jJDlcq
@Randomhouse: D'oh--forgot the link. Now, watch Children’s Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman read from Lear's Complete Book of Nonsense: http://ow.ly/4T3Iw
@MyraMcEntire: Did my agent just send me a Dance Break recommendation? And did it involve Nicki Minaj? Yes and yes, two reasons why @hroot is BOSS.
@Bookmarketer:  How the "New" Facebook Affects Authors http://bit.ly/jOcn6k #book #marketing
@Cjredwine: If you mix her with 3 cans of cold water, she's delicious with waffles in the morning. #evilconcentrate #nopulp
@Hroot: Like, if you magically got Tom Cruise's agent, you wouldn't have his career. Work on the work, not the trappings.
@Valeriestorey: Today's creative prompt: take 5 objects in your immediate surroundings. Give them superpowers--what can they do? Freewrite.

TOP TWEET OF THE WEEK!!!

@Cjredwine:  SOLD!! (a few more details on my exciting news) http://t.co/nBlD2sK 

CONGRATULATIONS, CJ on the top tweet honor and the THE COURIER'S DAUGHTER trilogy Sale!!!!

MONDAY!!!!

It's Monday and there are so many ways to start the week.
The mini's usually grumble, "How many days to Friday?" before they pull the covers over their head.
My mom always loved Monday's; it was her day to garden and cook.
My brothers would take on the mini's sentiment.
But for me...
I guess it depended on the weather. If it was sunny outside, Monday was going to be great. If it was cloudy, well, I'd do the pull the covers maneuver.
For those of you who don't know my Italian-spark plug-always-happy mother, It should come as no surprised that a ton of my optimism and push-on-through mentality comes from her.
It should also not surprise you that she tends to give "motivational" speeches.

Not the "Down by the river" Saturday Night Live motivational speeches, but ones that make you sit back and say, Hmmm ... and then Oh *insert sigh*.
She owns a real estate company with a 150 agents, who--right about now given the past 5 years of Real Estate drought--tend to look at her as the silver lining around the dark recession clouds.  I can't tell you how many times I heard growing up, "You're so lucky to be Carol's daughter." or "Everything must be OK with a mom like that."
They're right.
I am lucky to be Carol's daughter.
and
If my momma's smiling... everything must be OK.
It's a lot of blind faith and I never really knew what made my mom tick until she shared this video in one of her office meetings.
Then it it all made sense...
Hope you enjoy:

Thursday Throwback that Rolled into Friday.

Alright, they the second time is always better so I will try …again… to post Thursday’s Throwback song on Friday. C’mon Blogger, NO WHAMMIES!!!!
RECAP:
On Wednesday: I, along with the rest of my besties, had a CRAP day. Heads down we weathered the storm. I wrote a poor me blog post, crawled into bed and threw the covers over my head like every good, yet slightly defeated, writer/mommy needs to do every now and again.

On Thursday: I woke up, which is always a plus, with a much better attitude.  After giving the test-the-waters morning a mommy glare along with the don ‘t-try-it head tilt, I wracked my brains for a Thursday Throwback. 
Scouring Youtube is such a hard task!
Nope, didn’t say that with a straight face. 
After, what seemed like HOURS of searching … OK I found the song in two clicks but got hung up on book trailers… I came up with:

DA-DA-DA-DUM!!!!!

Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping!!!!!

I know!

You can’t say it without smiling!!!
Wrote the post, attached the you tube video and scheduled the launch.
I picked up the mini-me’s, cooked dinner, checked homework, played networked on twitter, climbed into bed and asked my darling hubby:

 “Did you like my Thursday Throwback?” He’s a Chumbawamba fan.

“No?”

“You didn’t?”

“No, I didn’t see a post.

Bed covers went flying as I ran into my office pulled up Blogger to see when did I have that post scheduled for and found this:

To get Blogger back to normal, all posts since 7:37am PDT on Weds, 5/11 have been temporarily removed. We expect everything to be back to normal soon. Sorry for the delay.

Posted by at 04:25 PDT

Somebody screamed.

Somebody said, “Mindy, don’t scream you’ll wake up the kids.”

So… without any further ado…

Throwback Thursday/FanFlippinFreakinTastic Friday’s Video is:

 Chumbawamba's Tubthumping aka I Get Knocked Down

Ps… not your normal music video and
Pss… I have a feeling the mini’s were watching this video. There’s a hoop in my kitchen.

Gone Fishing!

Have you ever noticed that if you tell someone you’re “on a roll” or “the words are flowing like a river” fate steps in and kicks ya square in the teeth?    How ‘bout this one: “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans.”

I’ve been working on super cool project codename: EC and uttered the words, “Holy cow, I think this’ll be done in a couple of weeks.” So … yep, God, fate and the mini-mes got together and whammied me! 
The past couple of weeks have been, well, hell would be a nice place.
Tartaros!!!
That’s where Zeus and the mega brother’s sent their daddy’s chopped up little pieces. Think my kids may have paid a little bit too much attention to Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. 
Why?
All three of the Ruiz mini-me’s have played a roll in the double whammy, send mommy batty, kick her in the teeth before we send her to a very hot place plan. 
So what’s the point of this mindless, sleep deprived post you ask?
Simple.
Next time I feel the urge to say, “Holy Cow! *insert whatever great news I’m holy cowing*, I’ll just hang a sign that says… 
Gone Fishing.
Not even the fish pay attention when ya say that!

Tweet. Tweet. Tuesday!

 Twitter!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!
There are some priceless gems on Twitter. Gems of advice, Industry tips, Web tips and over all Roll On The Floor Laugh Out Loud moments.  I’m a re-tweet queen and love when the people that follow me, re-tweet my re-tweets!
All of that got me thinking.
How cool would it be if you could take a weeks worth of awesomeness tweets and find them on a specific day at a specific site!
My ah-ha + Twitter + Tuesday and BAM!!!!
You get the launch of  Tweet. Tweet. Tuesday!!!!
Here goes.

@MarkoRubel: The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do. ~Author Unknown #quotes

@4KidLit: Ever noticed that mother's get the bum rep in fairy tales? http://bit.ly/jbuBlv #amwriting #writing
@cjredwine: Am heading in to run a new hire orientation. Last week, I was lectured about an imminent apocalypse & microwave ovens. Today? Who knows.
@hroot: Some mornings you will walk the streets of Manhattan carrying a full-size Highland claymore. #normal #fullserviceagency
@OnlyEG: Alicia Silverstone named her son BEAR. I think she misses eating meat?
@ReadingTeen2: Reading Teen: ATTENTION FANS: We have a guest post from "TIMELESS" author Alexandra Monir http://bit.ly/k8Bgmr
@TeensInLove: Just because it's not what you were expecting, doesn't mean it's not everything you've been waiting for.
@DreamingReviews: That's okay. My metaphors are only worse this late at night.
@mstiefvater: Because I was lazy, I just ate a Stouffer's stuffed pepper. What I would like, very much, is to never eat that again. Ever
@inluvwithbookz: @YAFantasyGuide http://twitpic.com/4vo09f - Oh wow!!! yay!!! Love Cassie Clare... <3
@scott_tracey: The only thing it lacks is Judd Nelson pumping his fist in the air, but if you listen closely...it's there.
@GoblinWriter: Lots of comments on "Pricing Your Ebook at 99 Cents: Pros and Cons" http://bit.ly/k3OVqt Come join the debate. :) #epublishing
@elizlaprade: When the student is ready, the master appears. ~Buddhist Proverb
@galleysmith:  Ok, so what is this I hear about the 21st being doomsday? Um, no...I'll be on the way to BEA , doomsday is unacceptable
@PublishersWkly: Stanley Tucci cast as Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games (via @LionsgateNews)
@elizabethscraig: The ABCs (and Ds and Es) of Plot Development:  http://bit.ly/lLXN7p  #writetip
@Sports_Greats: It is not how big you are, it's how big you play. -Unknown
@valeriestorey: Today's creative prompt: take 5 objects in your immediate surroundings. Give them superpowers--what can they do? Freewrite.

So if you have any suggestions or anything you see and think is TTT worthy, lemme know!

Sex & The City ... Twitter style

I’ve never hidden the fact that I LOVE TWITTER.  I love it.  In 140 characters, usually less, I have made some of the most amazing friends.  I have found a community of writers that love to share their thoughts & their opinions.  They have the same snarky wit as I do and these people genuinely care about each other’s lives outside of the writing realm.
A couple of days ago my friend Hope needed a blog post to make her laugh. 
NO pressure, right?
I tried writing about my adventures in the Royal Wedding.
Talked about wearing my barrette Tiara to a political dinner for my husband’s city commission.
The minis ALWAYS provide enough antics for a funny blog post …
BUT...
None it felt right.
Last night, as I was going through Wills n Kate Royal wedding withdrawal, I flipped across Sex and the City, the first movie.  Of course, every writer sees themselves in the Carrie roll; published books stacking up on a bookshelf, Big making an ass of himself, and then there was the part where Carrie was stood up at the altar. It made me sit up and, yes, I cried.   Not because she was left at the altar, but because she had three friends that rallied around her. They got rid of the guests, went on the honeymoon, and moved Carrie back into her old, sold apartment while Carrie was catatonic. 
I have friends like these.
I have friends in the real world like those women and I have friends in the Twitter world like these women.
*cue the funny girls*
Run-down of my Sex and the City Twitter cast.

Samantha  = Beth.  Good lord this woman can turn your cheeks to a blush in no time.  She’ll talk hand jobs right next to blowing bubbles with the kiddies.  Beth is a bulldozer marketer that is constantly working to better the people around her, encourage them to push through the hard times (no pun there) and genuinely sees that her success is not only in the publishing of her books, but in the publishing and nurturing of others.  She’s no nonsense and, yes, she’s working her way on to the naughty list one lump of coal at a time.

Charlotte = Hope. Two words, hooohaaa and hand-mirror.  Don’t know what I’m talking about??? It’s a Sex and the City episode you must Netflix, Hulu or you tube because that episode IS my darling friend, Hope.  I say erotica: she blushes. I say stiff upper lip: she blushes. I say bow-chica-wow-wow … yep, she blushes.  I would have it no other way!  This woman loves her family. She loves her children and she loves her friends.  If there were a Big in our world she would stomp a foot and say, “I rue the day you were born.”  Of course, she’d probably pee her pants instead of going into labor.  She’s a self-proclaimed socially awkward person—which, on a side note, is a load of horse doodie— carving out pieces of time to write a novel that I KNOW will make you gasp & possibly blush.  You’re perfect Hope. Embrace the awkward and own it.

Miranda – Trisha. Work , work, work, work, work.  I promise you this woman has the Seven Dwarfs theme song running loops in her head. Positive and perky she’s always figuring out ways to write and promote her book and the works of others. She runs a book blog and she’s always there to run a fresh set of eyes over your WIP.  All of this and she’s an amazing mother to a teen age boy. *gasp* yes, a teenager and a boy with no nanny!?!

My twitter world is growing and growing. I’ve met amazing book bloggers like Brandi Kosiner,  Julie B. (she’s like Cher & Madonna, first name only.) , Andye & Amy and Jenn, just to name a few! So many wonderful people that I’ve had the privilege of meeting all in 140 characters or less.

MWAH, Tweeple.  And a special MWAH, Hope.

A Tale of the Tell

Poker players say that everyone has a tell; something or some movement that they instinctively do when confronted with a good a hand, a bad hand, or a bluff. Poker players don sunglasses, hats, tape their hands to their sides, I even saw an ad for a poker helmet.  It looked like a biker's crash helmet that guaranteed to hide all your tells. There’s a website, www.Poker Tells.com, that helps new poker players learn how to spot these behaviors. The website defines a poker tell as:


“Any behavioral pattern that a player exhibits which can tip you off to what they hold.”

Poker players go out of their way to make sure these uncontrollable slips in truth don't come through. 

Why?

Because if you saw a poker player scratch his nose every time he had an unbeatable hand you'd fold.
If you saw that same poker player cluck his tongue when he was bluffing you'd call the bluff.

People are the same way.

When I was a little girl my mom always knew when something was bothering me. I would twirl strands of my hair around my finger. Over and over and over again these strands of hair would flip around my index finger until I got whatever was bothering me figured out in my head or my momma would ask me, “what’s bothering you?”
My husband sucks in his lower lip and his top lip goes paper white when he’s angry.
One of my brothers says “Not a problem.” When he’s doesn’t know the answer. He also ends a lie with the phrase, “I believe.”
My oldest son folds his hands in his lap and rubs his thumb when he is disappointed or his feelings have been hurt.
My middle son scrunches up his eyebrows when he feels left out.
My youngest son cocks his head and grins a thirty-two-tooth grin when he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t.
These are all tells and in my current Work In Progress I use a handful of these tells to breathe three dimensionality into my characters. The characters become believable to the reader and even better they become signs to my reader when a character is lying, hurt or done something they shouldn’t. Tells let you experience the character without being told what they are feeling or what they are hiding.

So I ask you:

What tells are you using in your Work In Progress?
Are tells part of your character worksheet?

If you aren’t using tells look around; start observing those closest to you and make a list of their tells.
Your characters will thank you.
Your editors/agents/critique partners will thank you.
Your reader will thank you!
Trust me.
A male can only run a frustrated hand through his hair so many times. And there’s a physical limit to how many times a female can bite down on her lip without causing a deformity.

Now go study your tells.

The Cream Always Rises!

What the heck does that mean?

If milk is left by itself, it homogenizes. While getting its homogenization on, the lighter fatty portions rise to the top. Need a visual? Oil and water. The fatty oil sits on top of the heavier water. Once the homog party is done the fatty portions are skimmed off the top and made into … yep, cream!
Yummy cream!

So, what’s that gotta do with books?

Traditional Publishing vs. Indie publishing.

Shh, put the pickets down. Take of the team shirts and just listen…

I’m not taking a side.
And I’m not saying one is the water and one is the oil… because they’re both amazing platforms and, yes, the cream always rises to the top.

The cream is the author.

You know there just is no way to write an Indie publishing piece without mentioning Amanda Hocking. Many say she’s a flash in the pan. Many say she’s the exception to Indie publishing. I don’t think so and  --if you believe the New York Times-- St. Martins Press bet at least 2 million dollars and a 4 book deal that she isn’t.
We can argue price point, and quality and “flooding the market” but in the end, Ms. Hocking had to deliver a damn good story.
Does that take away from traditional publishing?

NO!

I think all of us at one point in time picked up a book and ten pages, ten minutes or ten chapters into it, closed the book looked at it and said, “What the hell was the publishing house thinking!”
To that reader, not the cream.
To another, maybe the cream of all cream.

The Cream Skimmer = The E-reader.

I love e-readers because I get the sample pages! If you don’t have me in those first sample pages then, sorry, I’m not buying the book. I don’t care if you’re Traditional, Indie or meat on a stick! I’m not buying ya.

All of that to say: Write the best book you can. Then Revise, Edit, Polish, Revise, Edit, Polish and submit.

Submit to the agents.
Submit to the editors.
Submit to the Betas.
Submit to the Indie’s.
Submit to the process.

But ultimately the person who decides whose book is the cream are the readers. And when they speak, trust me, the whole world listens … and then picks out a team t-shirt with a hot dude on it. But, that’s another post.