Happy 2017!

Hello lovelies!

I can't believe it's already 2017!

I haven't posted in a  while...so how are you? Reading? Dreaming? Loving life? I hope all of the above!:) 

Me, I've been busy writing and spending time with my family. Giving birth to a trilogy has been both absolutely wonderful and incredibly time-consuming, so I've taken some time to refill my creative well!:) I've been reading, taking Charley on walks, relaxing at the beach, playing games with my boys and watching them play all their sports, hanging out with my sweet hunky husband, going to movies and, writing. Yes, writing! *happy dance*

I hope to have news to report soon, but in the meantime, look for the NIL ON FIRE paperback to release later this spring!

Until then, feel free to check out the writing tunes I'm listening to on Spotify. My favorite tunes today? 

Dancing on Glass by St. Lucia....

and 

Top by Hoonch.

Happy listening!

*sends all the love and light and happy creative vibes I can find to you*

xo

Lynne

Freaky Video That Could ALMOST Be My Book Trailer

I'm over at All The Write Notes today sharing my top five songs behind NIL. Two are from Thad's point of view, two are from Charley's point of view, and one is from the island's point of view. (I'm also giving away a signed ARC of NIL so go check out the post!)

Here is where it gets freaky.

The song from the island's point of view is by a band called Pendulum. And the title? The Island (Part 1) Dawn. 

Perfect, right? I KNOW. Just wait--it's gets FREAKIER.

Here's the thing: as I envisioned NIL, the island is the greatest antagonist of all. There's a definite Twilight Zone undercurrent to NIL. After all, how else do you pass out in a city parking lot and wake up naked in a red rock field?!

So seriously, how perfect are the lyrics to this song? 

You arrive

In the rising sun

The hidden passenger

That I’ve been taking

Close your eyes

Let’s forget again

As you drag me down

I will take you in

What are you waiting for?

Just surrender here tonight

What are you waiting for?

As we go towards the light

When everything is said and done

To looking for answers if only one

Turn my back the urge has gone

Left with no reason we come undone

So perfect it's FREAKY.

Now here's where it gets super freaky. I got the idea for NIL in February 2010, while on a vacay in Hawaii. (You can read the full scoop here). Pendulum's album Immersion wasn't released until May of 2010. I'm not sure exactly when I discovered Pendulum, but I remember it was sometime that summer. I already had the entire first half of the novel written at this point--including the opening scene where Charley wakes up on Nil, which I wrote while in Hawaii back in February.

So this morning, when I was finishing up my ATWN post, I searched for a video of Pendulum's song The Island (Part 1) Dawn. And what I found blew me away. The opening was so much like the start of Charley’s Day One it honestly freaked me out a little. (Or possibly a lot. ;D) The girl even looks a little like Charley. 

FREAKY. 

See for yourself… I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS VIDEO. The end of the video has a twist that my book doesn't, so watch until the end…so worth it. (Plus, the girl in the video has clothes--if it was Charley she'd be running around naked and this is a PG rated blog. lol) 

Here you go…the video that could *almost* be my book trailer:

Totally cool and creepy and FREAKY, right? To think Pendulum was writing/recording this song as I was writing NIL, and for them to have a similar vision. I think it's the collective unconscious as my fellow Valentine Paula Stokes recently talked about.

So there you have it. The music video that could almost pass for NIL's book trailer. 

Isn't is FREAKY CRAZY COOL?!

Shameless Plug for NIL on Goodreads...plus a call to vote for your faves! :)

Happy November everyone!

November means fall, leaves changing (unless you're in Florida, where everything seems to be evergreen :D), Thanksgiving, and--if you're a writer--the annual NaNoWriMo challenge. It's National Novel Writing Month, where heaps of writers hunker down to write a novel in one month.

Yup, you read that right. ONE MONTH. It's doable, but tough. For deets on NaNoWriMo, go here for the official site.

November also means it's time for the annual Goodreads Choice Awards! It's a Goodreads award picked by YOU, the reader.:) Go to the Goodreads link to vote for your favorite books of 2013! Some of the books I loved this year were nominated: like Kasie West's THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, Gayle Forman's JUST ONE DAY, and Erin Bowman's TAKEN. All were so good! What were your faves?

And as I was surfing through Goodreads, I found NIL on several lists! Like YA Debuts of 2014 and Can't Wait Books of 2014. And if you want to, you can vote for NIL on those lists! (See I told you, shameless plug. :D #guilty). Anyway, no pressure, but here's the link if you want to check out the lists where NIL is hanging out.:)

Ok, I'm off to revise a manuscript I love.:)

But I'll leave you with this: the official video for the Bare Naked Ladies song "Odds Are." Love BNL, love this song. It's my new fave. So glad they stayed together!

xoxo
Lynne

Music Monday & NIL scoop

Good morning blogging and book sweethearts!

Ok, it's Monday, August 5th. Whoa . . . HOW IS IT ALREADY AUGUST?! But it totally is. And it even feels like August. A back-to-school vibe is in the air, but I'm clinging to the last few weeks of summer with my boys.:)

But back to the fact that it's August 5th.

August 5, 2013. Which means . . .

NIL comes out in less than seven months! March 4, 2014 to be exact.:)

So, a few NIL links this happy August morning:

*You have one day left to win an advance copy of NIL over at Icey Books. Plus, you can check out NIL's gorgeous cover too.:)

*You can discover the tunes behind the words over at All The Write Notes. I've posted both Thad and Charleys playlists over there. Check them out, and let me know what tunes fuel your writing and your imagination! 

Oh--one last thing. You know what else August means for my family? This:

Last night Shark Week started on the Discovery Channel and we're all in.:)

So what's new with you?

Biggest Week EVAH

I take a break from this:

Copyedits...I OWN you. (Well, I'll at least finish you.:D)

to bring you epic snack-cake, music, and interview goodness. Here's what's happening this week:

NIL!!!!!!!

I'm over at One Four Kid Lit talking about NIL and sharing how NIL was conceived.:) (And did I mention I got my copyedits on Monday, had a fantastic chat with my amazing editor on Wednesday, and am shipping these goodies back by Monday? Yeah. BRING IT.:D Sleep is SO over-rated.:D)

Music love and free tunes:

Over at All The Write Notes, I shared the awesomeness of AWOLNATION and Blondfire live. As y'all may know, I'm a huge Blondfire fan. Hop over if you missed the post because you've still got time to enter the Discover Blondfire giveaway and win $10 in free iTunes.:)

#TakeMyTwinkie contest:

So yesterday I posted my Cupid's Arrow on The YA Valentines blog, where I waxed poetic about the death of the beloved Twinkie (and also shared my newfound knowledge of the Twinkie Deconstructed, which may have been an over-share). :)

Anyway! I'd ordered a Twinkie in advance of my post--and my Twinkie never came. Now I know I don't want to can't selfishly keep this snack-cake goodness to myself.  So the #TakeMyTwinkie contest was born.

Follow my #TwinkieTrack tweets on Twitter as I track my Twinkie, and when it arrives, I'll tweet #TakeMyTwinkie. Be the first to reply with the hashtag #TakeMyTwinkie and it's yours! But the best part? You'll also win a copy of one of my favorite YA releases with a MAC with hair the color of the iconic golden sponge cake.:)

Ok, the rest of my week has been insane with family stuff. Now back to copyedits.:)

Happy weekend and good luck!:)

Friday Five

I haven't blogged in what feels like FOREVER. At least not here.:)

But yesterday over at All The Write Notes I talked about pacing, and how to know when you've hit the sweet spot in your novel.:) Thanks go to the a capella group Walk Off The Earth for the inspiration!

Anyway, I realized I hadn't posted in almost a month, because I've been super busy. So here's a quick Friday Five explaining what's happening with me, and with NIL . . .

5. Craft.

Yesterday I blogged about pacing perfection. Go here if you have a minute. Or 4 minutes...:)

4. Beta-reading.

I've been blessed to read for some amazing YA writers, who are all as sweet as they are talented. You're in for a treat from Becky Wallace, Trisha Leaver, and Lindsay Currie. I've read manuscripts from all three lovelies in the past few weeks, and all were exceptional.:) Way to go girls! *fist bump*

3. Chasing boys.

Mine, in particular.:) Lacrosse, soccer, golf, tennis, and swimming all spread among the four. Lately my writing time has felt pinched, which I hope to remedy soon!

2. NIL

My big edits are done! Woot! I'm not sure of the process, but I think copy edits or line edits are next. :) I bit the bullet and took the dreaded author photo yesterday. I don't know why, but photo shoots are always so intimidating. But it's done...new pic soon! And coming soon to the blog will be a NIL playlist...pics that inspired NIL...and more.:)

1. Music.

This weekend I'm going to see AWOLNATION with my sweet husband. Blondfire and Mother Mother are opening, and I CAN'T WAIT. I listened to AWOLNATION when I was revising NIL, especially the opening scenes from Thad's POV. And I discovered Blondfire during the same time. Their song "waves" is one of my absolute faves. I'm a huge fan, and since I found them when I was still fully involved in the NIL world, I think Blondfire will always remind me of NIL. :)

Here's my favorite Blondfire song right now....

Where The Kids Are

Blondfire

So what's your weekend plans? And what have you been up to lately? :)

Monday Madness

Hi everyone! Happy President's Day!

My boys are home from school, it's cold out (well, cold for us here in Jacksonville. It's 32 degrees outside and the frost has made our grass crunchy.:D) and with clear skies, I can feel it's going to be a great day.

A quick post today, about tunes and Valentines and NIL and my morning epiphany.:)

Top five things on my mind this morning:

5. My first post over at All The Write Notes. I blogged about fresh new artist finds, featuring a British singer-songwriter Hannah Trigwell. I LOVE HER. Go check out the post. It's worth it, I promise, just to hear her voice.

4. Tomorrow is my first post over the The Valentines! I'm interviewing the awesome Anita Grace Howard, the authored of the epically cool novel, SPLINTERED. There will be goodness and giveaways, because Anita is that amazing.

3. I am freezing.

Which leads me to the revelation that...

2. I am a wimp. I should go running yet I can't bring myself to go out when it's still under 40 degrees, which is ridiculous.:)

1. NIL. I woke up thinking about it's cover. Or what it's cover might look like. I've had a million different ideas, and I can't wait to see what Henry Holt does with it, because they are AWESOME with covers.

I don't know when the cover reveal will be, but I'll let you know as soon as I do. :) In the meantime, I'm, going to start sharing my NIL playlist soon. Some songs are for Thad, and some are for Charley. And the songs, like the two characters, are very different, but hopefully equally awesome.:)

Happy day! What's on your mind today?

Music Monday

Today I'm talking tunes. And if you haven't heard . . .

All The Write Notes is live! *cheers*

ATWN is a  blog for people who love tunes. Started by writers who love and live music, it's going to be heaps of fun. And I'm honored to be a part of it! Today is the first post. The cool Jay C. Spencer is talking about the band The Rural Alberta Advantage, a band that inspired his current WIP, and there's a giveaway!

So go check it out! You might win--or just find some cool tunes.:)

Since ATWN today is talking about bands that have influenced us--and our writing--I'll share some of my faves. It's really hard to pick just one, but Snow Patrol tops my list. The lyrics, the melodies--I love it all. And having seen them in concert (twice), they're even more amazing live.

Other huge artists for me? It tends to change, but rounding out my top 5 of bands/artists I never tire of are: Jack Johnson, Silversun Pick-ups, 30 Seconds to Mars, and The XX.

The next timeless five? David Gray, Jack's Mannequin, The Smiths, and Depeche Mode. (I know, Depeche Mode screams ancient, but I still love them. Good times.:D)

Other artists I'm loving right now? Kasabian, Natalie Walker, Sia, Lana Del Ray, The Joy Formidable, and My Chemical Romance.

And the track playing on my iPod right now: Mirrorball by Elbow. Another great tune.

What have you been listening to lately?

And curious . . . *cue informal blog poll*  . . . I can't write without music. Seriously. It's like all that silence weirds me out and stops my mind from going to that creative place. What about you? If you're a writer, do you like music, or do you need silence?

**Okay, since posting, I realized my "next top five of timeless songs" only contained four...*doh* Nice. Math was never my strong point...LOL.:) So here's a 5th: Florence +The Machine. Happy Monday & thanks for stopping by!:)

Friday Five

Hey, y'all! How are you? I thought I'd do a quick Friday Five to share what's been going in in my life.

5. End-of Year School Craziness

With four boys in two different schools, we had holiday parties, teacher gifts (I baked M & M cookies for dozens of teachers... and made white chocolate trash for others), final projects, etc. The first few weeks of December were like a Disneyland ride on warp speed. Fun, but WILD.

4. Holidays

Um, yeah. I LOVE Christmas. I love the songs, the festive vibe, the family traditions we have... the whole thing. And I love decorating for the holidays. The house is decked out, with lights and garland inside and out. Step inside and we've got Nativity sets and Santas and all kinds of stuff EVERYWHERE. Some tacky, some not, and like the boys, I love every bit of it. :) But while I love decorating, and celebrating, it takes time, time sometimes I feel pressed to find, especially this year. And right this minute I don't even want to think about taking all the decorations down. The  holiday breakdown is a less fun time-suck on the other end, coming in a January when I seriously do not have one minute to spare. (More on that in a second).

3. Company

We had my hubby's brother, sister-in-law, and their kids, plus my mother-in law and my mom for Christmas. Then the day after Christmas, some of our best friends from Beijing came to visit for a day/night with their three girls...and two hours after they left my sister and her husband and their two boys rolled in. They'll be with us until the new year, which is AWESOME. My sister lives in Wisconsin, and I don't see her enough. We'll have had company for two weeks totally, which is awesome and crazy and crazy awesome. Normally I'd relax after but NOT THIS YEAR. (More on that in a second). And my kids aren't back in school until January 7th. *gulp*

2. All The Write Notes.

A cool music blog for writers is in the works. A group of us are pulling it together and I can't WAIT for you to check it out! Debuts in January... I'll keep you posted. :)

1. THIS:

Yup, NIL edits. :) Woohoo! Got 'em December 11th, chatted with my editor on the 13th, and my revisions are due mid-January. *panics* *wails* *breathes* :) The cool thing is that I finally see how it's coming together... it's really going to be a book. A published book, that people (and not just my friends and CP's LOL) can read. And *hopefully* will like.

But edits. Mid-holiday. Yeah, there's that. So I'm just doing the best I can. :) Aren't we all? :)

My next post will be a 2012 wrap-up, short & sweet. Then it's going to be a little NIL for the new year, with playlists, background, inspiration, and character shorts. I can't wait for you to meet Charley and Thad!

Anyway, I hope your holidays have been lovely, full of friends, family, love, and of course, cookies. (My favorite this year were ginger-chocolate chip bars. Delish!)

Let me know what's new with you, and if you have a favorite holiday cookie. :)

Writing, Tunes, and Kick-Butt Storytelling

For me, good writing is like good music.

Good writing has a rhythm that's effortless--at least for the reader. :D Prose so smooth the words disappear, leaving the reader with images and feelings perfectly crafted by the writer. Voice plays a huge role in establishing this flow. Think Maggie Stiefvater--her prose is incredibly lyrical, and her voice leaps off from the page from word one. Same for Laini Taylor.

Music is the same. Bands like Snow Patrol, Coldplay, U2, The Beatles (I could on on FOREVER but I'll stop :D) are brilliant with musical composition. Snow Patrol is my all time favorite band for a million reasons, but Gary Lightbody's voice (very emotive) and the rhythm of SP's music combine to never let me go. (hehe) I'm a huge alt music junkie, and SP tops my list, but also love some good indie-folk-singer/songwriter stuff too. Sometimes I want to crank Silversun Pickups or Kasabian or Florence +The Machine, sometimes I want to listen to Jack Johnson or David Gray or Tristan Prettyman. But regardless, the music I love makes me feel. And that's why I listen. :)

Back to writing! Rhythm aside, don't underestimate the power of storytelling: books with characters and plots that grab you and won't let you go. A great storyteller can suck you in with a perfectly crafted visual that makes you pause and think "whoa." And after that whoa moment, you keep reading. Because YOU HAVE TO. Stephen King is a master storyteller. Ditto for J.K. Rowling.

It's the same with music. Sometimes I hear a lyric and think "whoa." So much packed into one line or one-chorus...well-done. 

Need examples? I've got 'em. :D

"On his face is a map of the world"
-30 Seconds to Mars "From Yesterday" (LOVE 30 Seconds to Mars)

"Blame the box with the view of the world
And the walls that fill the frame"
-Jack Johnson "Fall Line " (JJ is AMAZING in concert)

"You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter"
-Taylor Swift "Mine" (T. Swift is a BRILLIANT songwriter IMO)

So much packed into so few words, right?!

I think the best writing combines effortless rhythm with brilliant storytelling. 

Taste in music varies; it's as subjective as taste in books. But I think you can appreciate good music when you hear it (even if it's not your genre of choice), and likewise, I think you know good writing when you see it. :D

What do you think? What makes good writing? And what musical lyrics blow you away?

Friday Five

It's Friday! *cue happy dance*

Tonight my sweet hubs and I are going to see the new Bourne movie. I'm stoked. I LOVED Matt Damon in the other Bourne movies, and can't wait to see Jeremy Renner in this one. Yay for date nights! :)

But I can't believe it's FRIDAY. Already. Wasn't it just Monday?! I don't know about for you, but for me, this week has been CRAZY. I'm talking all caps kinda-shouty CRAZY. :) I'm still not sure where the days went...

But here's a clue: it's a quick FRIDAY FIVE!

5. Word of the Week: multi-tasking. This week I've juggled dentist appointments, doctor appointments, back-to-school clothes shopping, middle school orientation, school supply hunting, swimming, golf practice, football practice, gymnastics practice . . . and more. And this was just for my boys! Not to mention the grocery shopping, house cleaning, and then some. (Oh, who am I kidding...the house is a wreck. But my fam is happy. :D) I've managed to squeeze in a *little*writing/revising time, but some weeks other life/family/home priorities take precedence, and that's okay. I'm still working on the writing/family/life balance...but aren't we all? :)

4. Book of the Week: THIRST by Christopher Pike. I've read it before, but when life turns crazy, I'm not afraid to re-read a book I loved. Especially when the voice is so different from mine--it cuts out any possibility of a voice leak, and lets me just enjoy a great read. And this read is KILLER! :) hehe

3. Cookie of the Week: chocolate chip. Wild weeks call for the basics. :) *nom nom* I did mix it up and throw in milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet. Total yum.

2. Blog Shout-Out of the Week: Mother. Write. (Repeat.) Hosted by the lovely Krista Van Dolzer, this blog is great for aspiring writers. Lots of good info on agents, and next week, Krista is hosting An Agent's Inbox contest starting Monday! So get thee to Krista's blog if your MS is shiny! :) (Way to spread writer love, Krista! :D)

1. Song of the Week: It's Time by Imagine Dragons. Perfect for writing, perfect for everything. An all-around sweet tune. Here's a acoustic version that blew me away:

Has your week been as crazy as mine? And what's the weirdest/craziest/awesomest thing that happened this week?