Blogspiration (8): Have you ever...

Blogspiration is a Brand Spankin' New weekly meme hosted by both GrowingUp YA and Saz101. The meme was created to help spark inspiration among bloggers, readers and writers alike. An inspirational quote/picture/video is posted weekly, on the day of the author's choosing, so that it may inspire creativity, conversation and just a little SOMETHING.

Check out these gal's awesomeness:

http://saz101.blogspot.com.au/
http://growingupya.blogspot.com/


I missed last week so I forced myself to make time for this. I feel better now :)

Have you guys ever read a memoir or story about someone who has had a life way more screwed up than your own? Been moved by the hardships and triumphs of others? Is there one person in your life, or whom you have read about that just made you stop and think that maybe this world isn't completely miserable after all?

I flew down to Melbourne for a random visit on Friday and whilst on the plane, I got to thinking (as per usual) about the various places I've been. It's always weird, the stuff I remember and the stuff I don't. There's no system or pattern to what my brain responds to or focuses on. So even though I wasn't actually leaving the country, I got to thinking about Fiji and my visit there last year.

Now, it's no secret around here that I'm constantly friggen busy. I whinge and whine about how hectic things are and WOE IS ME, I go to uni and work full time. I get an education and make decent money. What a horrible life I have!

In Fiji, it was like a whole other world. The villages are small and only some of them have electricity. Owning a car is a luxury that only a few have and the people there who actually have a job, put their heart and soul into it. Everyone is relaxed, there's no stress (which to me is a foreign concept), and everyone works on 'Fiji-time'.

It's so refreshing to be surrounded by a bunch of people who love life. Who value every single thing they do and actually LIVE LIFE without all the worry and concerns that smother the rest of us. They don't get to travel and see the things the rest of us take for granted. They are lucky to have one day off a week and they love it.

These couple of months I've found it so hard to focus on anything other than sleep/work/uni. It loops through my brain and I'm lucky to remember to eat. It was nice, to just have an hour to myself to remember these people that made me forget all the worries I had. Who welcomed me into their homes and shared their culture with me without even needing to ask. Who were SO FRIGGEN HAPPY every moment of the day. It reminded me that this craziness will come to an end and I should try to enjoy it while I can.

One of the friends I had there, was a scuba teacher at our resort and his day off, he came down to hang out with us. We all took to the pool and after about five minutes he turned to me and said, "This is the first time I've ever swum in a pool without working. I keep expecting someone to yell at me for slacking off." That one sentence right there, really put my shiz into perspective.

This week, the Fijians reminded me of true inspiration.

Three months and still kicking!

You guys! I just realised what today is (a little slow of me, I know).

Black Friday. As in, Friday the 13th. Which makes it EXACTLY three months since I started my humble, little blog.

Black Fridays don't come around very often, but when they do, they're always pretty good to me. That's kind of why I started my blog on a Black Friday in the first place.

So, for this mini-milestone, I'm going to open up a question to you all that I've been stewing over for the last week. It's been uni holidays so I've actually been thinking about my writing. And that's allowed, okay.

I've just finished rewriting my first book (again) and now I need to give it some time to before I edit and write the dreaded query. Once I finally start querying again, I'll keep an updated tally just for shiz and giggles but until then, I'm left with the question;

What do I write?


There's four stories I have vying for my attention, and each of the characters and plot lines are at varying stages of development so below, I'll give you guys a brief overview of what I have. These are all young adult novels FYI, cos I'm kind of addicted to that shiz.

First is Addy. She's an Ellerwoman that works for the Court of Last Chances. It's her job to hunt down the humans the Court wants and deliver them safely. Most humans think the Court is a Utopia so she's never had a problem getting them there before. But then she meets Noah, who refuses, and the Court makes her choose between her life or his. This one would be an urban fantasy.

Second is Corvette. This one would be completing a rewrite that is long overdue. Corvette is a Banshee who finds out how to get into 'Death'. She hangs with the deathlings there, believing it is safer than being around humans. Then, a bunch of deathlings die and even though she's warned away from looking into it, she doesn't stop. So they take both the guy she likes and her best friend, and Corvette is left to chose which one she is going to save. This is paranormal/fantasy.

Third is Ebony. She's a witch. Jonathan is a Nephilim. The Nephilim (if you've read any of their history) believe the only way they can die and move on to heaven is to rid the world of witch's black magic. Ebony and Jonathan have been in love through the years but each time they meet, Jonathan makes her erase his memory of her. As you'd assume there's a lot of hunting both sides and fighting each other in this one. I'd say this would be paranormal. Probably.

And fourth is my newest idea. Jasmine and Jeremy are high school sweethearts but one day Jeremy disappears. No one hears from him except Jasmine. He shows up at her house whenever she's alone and every time she tries to follow him he disappears. The memory of the last time she saw him is woven throughout as she struggles to remember. There's lots of red herrings and mystery in this one. This would be my try at a thriller/mystery type of thing.

So what do you all think? Any of these ideas sound like something you've already read? Any of them grab your attention? Or are any of them just plain boring?

Please tell me even if you just hate the ideas because that will steer me off towards one of the hundreds of ideas floating around unestablished.

And happy Black Friday!

Blogspiration (5): Music for the Soul

So this week's blogspiration isn't something I've given much thought too. I only just remembered today that I wanted to post something before I get back to all the heck load I have next week.

Sunday night; a time to remember why I put so much stress on myself. So much pressure. A good night to look back on the week and be happy with where I am compared to last week. A night to have a chill by myself and rejuvenate before it all begins again. A night to wonder about where I will be next week. A night to hope.

Then I realised that it's these little moments I have alone. No partner. No family. No characters beating on my brain. Sometimes you just need some downtime. Sometimes you need time to yourself to remember who you are and why you're that way. It leaves me feeling refreshed and relaxed. Even though I'm starting a new store tomorrow, and even though I have two uni assignments due next week; even though Jenna's rewrites still aren't finished and event though I'm STILL not published... it's okay. It'll happen. Everything doesn't have to be a rush. I don't need to be stressed ALL THE TIME to stay busy.

I have a CD (yes, A CD!) on and my creativity is flowing. My brain has relaxed and planted seeds of ideas for more books, a way to do my assignments, and even more plot points for Jenna. I may use some of them. I probably won't. But so long as I have Sunday nights like this, it's all good.

Just for the record, music is a massive part of this. I can't play an instrument and I definitely can't sing; but there's nothing better than finding an artist or album that has music to get you feeling a certain way.

My most recent inspiration, and the one I'm playing right now is:

What about you? Is there a time you dedicate just to down time? A person? A CD? A movie?

What is it that gets you thinking about all the difficult things you have to work out and just gets you through the working week?

Work/Very-Little-Life Balance

From what I assume, this is something every writer struggles with; I sure as hell do. It’s hard enough holding a full-time job and keeping up with your mates but when you throw writing a book on top of that – let alone uni – crap gets complicated.

And that’s the predicament I’m in.

Currently, I am fiercely battling two rivals over the control of a kingdom, ahem, store. This means a minimum of ten-hour shifts and extreme CONSTANT VIGILANCE. My diet consists of inhaled coffee and whatever is within reaching distance and fits into my mouth in a single bite. I have also been given a task to complete outside of work that I have no idea how to start and my boss’s instructions are, ‘I’m not sure what I want, but I need you to do it’. Yeah… thanks.

I have a month and a half until I start uni part time, which is going to halve my free time at the very least. By then I will hopefully be running my own store, which will have my stress to the maximum already.

I have Jenna to write and edit, her query to attempt (and attempt, and attempt), and then I need to research any and all literary agents that might, on the off chance, potentially consider her story. Maybe.

I have a wedding to plan. My thirteen months has shrunk to ten and I’m freaking just a little bit. The full-steam-ahead attitude has slowly trickled away to nothing but a bunch of dreams that are scaring the procrastination out of me.

So because I don’t have enough to do I am writing this blog. I am nothing, if not a queen, of prioritizing. I just happen to place a higher importance on the things I shouldn’t.


I think I have reached a pretty significant time of change. I seriously need to work out this whole ‘time management’ thing that everyone keeps telling me about. But sticking to a plan, for me, is way too constrictive. And there’s also the whole needing time to make a plan thing that seems to defeat the purpose.

My organisational skills are lacking, my room looks like the slums of a dystopian novel, I haven’t washed my brand new car since I bought it and my eyes feel like cotton balls from severe sleep deprivation. And all this is going to get worse?

Currently I have a 2012 calendar on the door to my room so it’s staring me in the fricken face. I have set deadlines for the things I want to achieve and certain benchmarks I need to get to. I have, not so much resolutions as goals, that I’m aiming for this year but I’m one of those people that demands perfection in everything I do. I know I need to let up the reins a little and take that tight band out of my goddamn hair but it’s really friggen hard. And the days I don’t write, I feel like my brain is going to implode.

So I ask you, for the sake of my sanity, how do you do it? What techniques have you found that work/don’t work? What outside factors are you up against?

Help me. Please. Because although I like reading about fantasy characters, I’m not interested in becoming a zombie. There’s just something about the whole ‘rotting skin’ thing that doesn’t do it for me…