Monday, September 3, 2012

GUTGAA Meet and Greet Q's and A's


I'm taking part in the awesome blogfest called GUTGAA! Over the next few weeks, I'll be participating in meet and greets, pitch polishing, and so much more while meeting other wonderful querying authors such as myself! This is my first year of doing GUTGAA and I'm so excited! I can't wait to meet everyone and hope to make a few more awesome friends along the way. So now, for my A's to the GUTGAA Q's!

-About me!
I'm a southern girl and I love putting the south into my writing. I'm happily married to the love of my life and I couldn't imagine going through this journey without him! My favorite types of stories to write have a dark twist in them along with a romantic element. I'm always willing to help anybody if I can and find adding a dash of sarcasm and a sprinkle of dorkiness always makes things better.

-Where do you write?
I'm always jotting down ideas wherever they come. Even in the shower! But most of my real writing, (actually putting the ideas down on "paper") happens in the living room while snuggled on the couch.

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
An old white drop bead lamp we got from my hubby's family. It's my favorite lamp too. That's why it's beside me! :)

-Favorite time to write?
At night! I'm a night owl due to my hubby's work schedule and insomnia. Plus, the plot bunnies and my muse refuse to get working until the suns dipped below the earth and the moon is high in the sky. Well, unless it's an all weekend party. Then it's whenever I find enough silence to get things going.

-Drink of choice while writing?
Dr. Pepper or plain ice cold water. Tea and coffee are also nice during cold nights and mornings!

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
Oddly, I hardly ever play just music while writing even though music is my second love. I like silence as in no talking in the room where I'm working. But the TV must always be on. If it's not, I can't write a single word. Weird.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
SPARK was inspired by Mean Girls and a mixture of The Craft and The Cult. I'm drawn to those kinds of movies and wanted a book that I could read that had that feeling within its pages too.

The inspiration for my current wip came from looking at clothes on Pinterest. I kept looking at the pictures and imagining who that girl was and what she was doing.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?
It might sound cliché, but write what you love and don't follow trends. If you're writing what's trendy at the moment, it might fade by the time you're ready to query. That's why I feel you must love what you write. Because querying's tough and if you don't love your work, you'll want to give up before you've truly given the work a fair shot.

I hope you enjoyed my answers and I look forward to meeting you all!

Until next time, happy reading/writing everyone!

21 comments:

  1. Hi Jamie! Your answers are very interesting. I especially like that you found your current WIP inspiration on Pinterest. That would never have occurred to me!

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  2. Loved reading your blog! And I love how your inspiration came about. Best of luck to you! :)

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  3. Looking at clothes on Pinterest is a brilliant idea! I always have a hard time dressing my character. This seems like a great place to start. Best wishes!

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  4. Loved reading your blog! Interesting how you came up w/ your story idea. I always find myself coming up w/ life stories for people when I'm people-watching. ;) Best of luck to you!

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  5. I love that you were inspired by clothes on Pinterest. That's very cool, and I totally agree with your advice on writing what you love! ;)

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  6. Writing what you love is a terrific tip.

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  7. Hi Jamie!

    Love the fact that you like writing stories with a dark twist!

    I've added myself to your followers list.

    Best of luck with GUTGAA and hope you can drop by my blog some time.

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  8. That's good advice - to write what you love (and love to read). And I like the notion of plot-bunnies too :)

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  9. Poor you. The plot bunnies don't let you sleep!

    I'm your newest follower. *waves* Very nice to meet you!

    AA
    http://anallegedauthor.blogspot.com/

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  10. I'm also a night owl and a proponent of writing what you love, not writing to trends. I like your idea of getting inspired by looking at clothes.

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  11. Hello! *waves* so nice to meet you!

    I actually just finished a book that takes place in the south. LOVED writing that book.

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  12. Images are always a great place to find inspiration. Your story sounds like it's going to be quite interesting. I look foreward to hearing more about it.

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  13. I love your blog quote! Look forward to seeing you around GUTGAA!

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  14. Love your tip, and you are right on. I went to a conference in 2008 and was told the mystery was dead. I was also told the vampires and the paranormal was on the way out. So much for those reps / agents -- listen to your heart!

    Glad to meet you!

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  15. I have only recently learned of the inpiration Pinterest can bring to ones creativity. I now have story boards for each of my manuscripts.

    Love your tip. Good luck with GUTGAA. Please, stop by and say hello if you haven't already. http://anjeasandro.blogspot.com/

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  16. Hi! Nice to meet you here - I already follow you on twitter from The Writer's Voice. Best of luck with GUTGAA!
    Here's my blog!

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  17. New follower here from GUTGAA! Things I love about your Q&A:
    -"I'm a southern girl" Me too! Sometimes I think this might be why I write better at night. It's too stinking hot during the day to want to do anything.
    -"find adding a dash of sarcasm and a sprinkle of dorkiness always makes things better." The best recipe for awesome, imo.
    -"Because querying's tough and if you don't love your work, you'll want to give up before you've truly given the work a fair shot." So true! If you can't get excited about your MS, how do you expect an agent to get excited about it?
    Nice to meet you!

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  18. Oh, your book "Spark" sounds really cool.

    http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2012/09/deana-barnharts-gearing-up-to-get-agent.html

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  19. Love your writing tip. That's so true, to write what you love. If you don't love what you write, it'll be impossible for anyone else to love it.
    Best of luck

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  20. FIrst of all, the Alice in Wonderland blue site is amazing ... no, it's Spectacular! You share so much! Great to meet you, and thanks for also sharing your favorite books! So great to meet and greet via GUTGAA!!!

    Dr Margaret Aranda
    www.drmargaretaranda.blogspot.com
    www.girlpowerinamm.blogspot.com

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  21. Dr. Pepper is my favorite writing drink, too. And I'd love to see that lamp. Nice to meet you! (And sorry I'm a bit late to comment!)

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