Phew

*blink blink*

Oh, hello. It's me again.

I almost didn't find myself under piles of boxes and dirty laundry that I'm preeety sure were breeding like rabbits in the back of the moving van for the three-day journey from West Virginia to Idaho.

Yeah, kinda like that.

Everything went smoothly, though. My two-year-old even conked out for the last leg of our flight and I got to read! A book!

Also, SkyMall Magazine has something that I really, really need. It's not even a want.

Accio Survivor!

See, this wand can be trained to take over your remote control's functions. An upward flick of the wrist could up the volume. A twirly figure-eight and the TV turns off.

Holy cow, guys. You can't get closer to real wizardry.

My birthday is in July, by the way...

Anywho, I'm thinking maybe I should take more long, languishing breaks, because I got two awards and a meme shoutout while I was gone!

Thanks to Keriann at Novel Beginnings for:

And my fab crit buddy Ani from Anime's Musings for:

 You make a girl feel so loved, really.

Along with these awards (I'm kind of mooshing the two and their requirements together) I'm supposed to tell seven facts about myself.

1) I put way too much thought into random lists like this. I think about them for days or weeks (Ani gave me this award almost a month ago and I've been thinking since then) (I took a good 2 months to write a random 25 list on Facebook). Sometimes, I'll think of a random Jeigh-fact and think, "Ooh, that's a good one!" but then I think maybe it's not quite random enough. Since most of you don't know me personally, though, I'm trying to keep the nit-pickyness to a minimum.

2) My name (pronounced "Jay" for those of you unsure) is actually a typo. It's the name my parents intended me to have, but I was named after an ancestor named Leigh. In my mom's copy of our family history her name was misspelled and my mom loved it. Later she found out it was wrong, but kept it anyway. I hated my name when I was younger because it drew a lot of attention to my shy little self, but now I like it.

3) Speaking of shy, I'm not any more, really, but you'd never know it by talking with me face-to-face. I have this unfortunate habit of turning lobster-red at inopportune times. Like, when people speak to me. Or sometimes when I get caught talking to myself in the grocery store. And especially when people point out that I'm turning red. That doesn't help, people. I also blush when other people do embarrassing things. The worst was in high school, when the guy in front of me farted and I very kindly took the blame away from him by lighting up like a Christmas tree. Did I mention my crush was sitting right next to me? He was.

4) Because of genetic misfortune, I'm missing most of the permanent teeth in the top half of my mouth. The teeth I have are either baby teeth or surgical implants, except my two, large, squirrelly front teeth. Sadly, I never had access to the tooth-shrinking spell Hermione did, so they just stand out.

5) I consider myself exceptionally dorky. My awkward years started early (1st grade) and lasted long (10th grade? Maybe still going...?) I've made peace with it, though. Hi. I'm a dork.

6) I am a sucker for color and patterns. I'm not very crafty, but I've got a huge collection of fabric and scrapbook paper and all sorts of embellishments that are just so. darn. cute. that I can't help myself.

7) I want to own a Great Dane just because I think it would be so awesome to walk a dog that came up to my chest. I would name her Regina, or maybe Ingrid.


The other requirement of these awards is that you pass them on to other deserving bloggers. I'm going to beg moving brain/jet lag privilages, though, and only pass it on to two bloggers who I know without checking haven't gotten it yet.

Emily at Book Savvy. She won me over back in the day with some hilarious commentary on Taylor Swift's love life, among other things.

AND

Julie from rosewood pencilbox. She laughs at all my geeky jokes. And makes geeky jokes back. And I'm pretty sure we're twins separated at birth because SHE CAN READ MY MIND.

So go check out their blogs and send a little love their way.

Who the...? What the...? How the...? Why the...?

I'm elbow-deep in boxes, preparing to move across the country in a week and a half.

Garbage bags full of stuff headed to Goodwill line my hallway.

Grandparents are flying in next Tuesday and Friday for my husband's graduation on Saturday.

We caught a newt and he's now safe and secure in a Mr. Potatohead multi-part bucket, eating dried bloodworms and hiding under a rock.

We bought and picked up a 7' x 14' trailer to pack all our stuff in. My husband, dad, and father-in-law will drive it from West Virginia to Idaho. I'll be flying with my four kids, my mom, and my mother-in-law.


All of these (mostly) related things have kept me busy the past little while, and today, while I was wandering about, I was thinking, "Wednesday, Wednesday, what am I supposed to be doing on Wednesday?"

Then I remembered, my self-imposed goal to blog Wednesday and Friday each week was starting to peter out. Oops.

movingpackingcleaningbloodworminggraduatingflyingboxingtapingdonating

I've had a lot on my mind. So, instead of trying to keep up, I'm taking a small blog-cation, until I'm settled in Idaho. And by settled, I mean there long enough to plug in my laptop and get online. Because I'll miss you all. *sniff*

So, a question before I deep clean my oven and vacuum underneath my bed: Any advice for transporting a newt on a three-day journey? Flying with four small children (without Benadryl)? Looking hot in graduation pictures? Not falling asleep during commencement? Crafting a wand from a twig and a stray buzzard feather so that I can magically pack and clean while sitting on the couch and watching the entire Veronica Mars series before our free Netflix trial-offer ends?

The Fortune-Telling Monkey On My Back

Did you know there is no fortune-telling monkey in the newest Disney movie "Tangled?"

You did? Me, too.

BUT.

Did you know there used to be?

So THAT'S who drank my caramel-apple cider.

I was watching the special features on the DVD the other day, and one of the deleted scenes was a quirky bit where they run into a gypsy and her pet monkey, who just happens to tell the future. It was cute. It was entertaining. But, I could see the parts of the story that it told, and I thought, "Huh. They don't really need that monkey."

I kind of held my knees up against my chest and rocked back and forth in excitement, because my story used to have a fortune-telling monkey, too!

No, not really.

But kind of.

My first draft had some scenes that I reallyreallyreally liked. Only problem is, they didn't drive my plot forward. They were simply episodic. Cute, funny banter, or thoughtful, empty prose. Sure, if I turned my head a certain way and squinted my eyes, they served a purpose. I guess...

I've cut most of them, but it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. The funniest banter finds its way back in, one way or another. The details that made those scenes "important" in the first place have usually been shown somewhere else.

So if you notice a cute, fortune-telling monkey in your story that doesn't quite fit, don't be afraid to cut it. Your story will be great without it, I promise!

Now lanterns, on the other hand...My story must.have.floating.lanterns.

The POSSESSION Show the Love Tour!!!

So, guys. I feel so cool. I read my very first ever ARC this week.

For you non-writers (Hi, sisters!), that stands for Advanced Reader Copy. I got to read a book not available to the public yet!

I have arrived.

(*to those people who read ARCs all the time and are laughing at me right now, I say, "Shhh. Shhhhhhh. This is my parade. Take your rain elsewhere.")

As far as ARCs go, I think I got pretty lucky, too. POSSESSION, by Elana Johnson, is awesome. Here's the blurb from the back cover:

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

 But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

 This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

 I got the book on Monday. I started it at 10 am and finished just before 2 pm. It was awesome. I read pretty much straight through, except the 2 minutes it took to throw frozen corn dogs in the microwave, squirt ketchup on paper plates, dump out Goldfish crackers, peel tops off applesauce cups, and throw the lunch at my kids like they were birds in the park as I dove back on the couch.

Longest two minutes of my life, yo.

This book sucked me in from the beginning and didn't spit me out until the end. And even then, it had to spit me out against my will.

Vi is an awesome girl. She's tough and smart and really funny. And holy cow, can I just talk about the awesome names in this book for a moment? Vi, Jag, Zenn, Pace, Blaze, Sloan, Gavin, Ty. So cool. There's tons of action in this book, lots of twists, lots of mmm-hmmm romance, and a kick-a heroine.

POSSESSION comes out June 7th for all you commoners. (Okay, sorry, I'll quit being all braggy. Out loud.) In the meantime, check out Elana's blog and Like "POSSESION by Elana Johnson" on Facebook. You can also find out more about POSSESSION here.

*side note: Elana's crit buddy, Ali, is responsible for the Show the Love Tour. You can get more info on the tour from her blog, or by tweeting #POSSESSIONlove. (I don't do Twitter stuff. I don't even know if I said that right.)

And remember: Don't plug in! Bad is the new Good!

Muse, Thy Name is Sleep

There are a lot of blog posts about finding inspiration for stories. Everyone seems to have their own super special ways to get inspiration.

I get most of my ideas from dreams. For instance, last night I had a paranormal-esque dream where I was falling for a magician bad boy who bore a striking resemblance to Mark Wahlburg.

A la peanut butter sandwiches!

It was an OK dream. I'm thinking short story paranormal romance spoof. Should be fun.

Anyhow, dreams are great, but something about these pictures just ignites my imagination.

For reals?? Her name is Marilyn, guys. How awesome is that? Here's another one:

These awesome creations are the handiwork of Terry Border. He has a book full of pictures like these, and you can bet it will be at the top of my birthday list.

Where do you get inspiration?

Lists! Kissing Edition!

*If you missed my Villains list, check it out here

emo love by Jett Meredith (age 4)

 

When I was in college, I had some friends (actually, it was more like I knew some girls who were way cool and I admired them from afar and called them my "friends" in my journal.)  (Kind of the way I make "friends" with other bloggers today.  *cough*) who made a kissing movie.  This was back in the VHS days, so they had recorded the kissing part of a bunch of different movies and dubbed music over the top of it.

It was so awesome.

Imagine, ten minutes of Hollywood's finest, going at it.  My friends had watched it so many times that they offered commentary, too.  The one I remember best was "Ever After":  "She tastes it, she likes it, she goes back in for more."

Making a kissing movie has been on my to-do list since that fateful day.  In that vein, here is my top ten kisses list!

1. Percy and Annabeth (in The Last Olympian) This kiss is long awaited.  And underwater in a giant bubble, which sounds ridiculously fun to me.
2. Harry and Ginny (in Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows) I have to give full credit to Ginny for both kisses.  She is a go-get-em type of girl.  I love the fact that she rushes Harry at the Quidditch celebratory party AND that she ambushes him on his birthday.
3. Ron and Hermione (in Deathly Hallows) This was also a long awaited kiss and I had to read it a few times to make sure it really happened.  Really?  Hermione just jumped Ron??  Awesome. I love Harry's annoyed reaction, too.
4. Max and Fang (in Max: The Protectors) Flying bird kids in love=kissing whilst flying.  That puts it in the same category as kissing underwater in a giant bubble.  In other words, it's on my bucket list of impossibility.
5. Ronnie and Will (in The Last Song) Admittedly, I'm not a huge Miley Cyrus fan.  Maybe that's part of the appeal of this kiss to me.  They're arguing, he's annoyed, so he shuts her up with a kiss.  Good call, Will.  Good. call.  (Here's a link if you want to check it out yourself.)
6. Anne and Gilbert (in Anne of Green Gables) Uh, do I really need to explain this one?  "I don't want sunbursts and marble halls.  I just want you!"  Ahhhhh.  Totally worth the six hour wait.
7. Frederic and Mabel (in Pirates of Penzance) He has to leave his beloved for 63 years, so what's a man to do?  Sing to her, waltz with her, dip her and plant a nice one full on her lips.  That'll hold her for half a dozen decades.
8. Squints Palledorous and Wendy Peffercorn (in The Sandlot) Not a particularly romantic kiss, but surrounded by so many good lines that I couldn't resist.  "She doesn't know what she's doing."  "Yeah, she does.  She knows exactly what she's doing."  "Oiling. Lotioning.  Lotioning. Oiling.  I can't take it no more! Move!" "He had kissed a woman.  And he had kissed her long and good."  I could go on and on.  Plus, he gets the girl in the end, so it all works out.
9. Lend and Evie (in Paranormalcy) I love the idea portrayed in this one; she can see him, literally, in a way no one else can.  That makes for a super sweet kiss.
10. Catcher and Gabry (in Dead-Tossed Waves) The intensity of the feelings surrounding this moment, the exhilaration of summer romance juxtaposed with a fear of zombie attack, made my tummy whirl.  Quite pleasantly.  

So there you have it.  Apparently, I like ambushes, unusual locales, and sweetness.

What kisses do you love?

I'm curious...

There are a few ways to answer comments on your blog.  Some answer in the comments, like, "@Christine, I totally do that, too!"  Some answer through email.  Some install comment systems like Intensedebate so they can reply directly to each comment.

Which is your favorite way?

On one hand, I like to see replies to other comments, so that I can add to the conversation.  On the other hand, I can't go back to each blog I comment on, just to see how things are going.  On the first hand again, I could subcribe to replies for each of those blogs, if I wanted to, although that might clog up my inbox.  On the second hand once more, I feel like a petted puppy when I get a reply straight to my email.  (These cool people!  They're talking to me!)

How about you?  What do you prefer?