Happy 2012!

From us here at Tangled to you and yours...

Hope you have a GREAT New Year and we can't wait to get tangled with you in 2012. 

We'll see you then.

Christmas Break(down)

Right... so it's Wednesday (I think) and that means time for me to share how things are going in the world of writing. *insert crickets chirping here*

I'll be honest, I've been in a sort of creative purgatory since Thanksgiving. Believe it or not, when you're the most grown up person in the house, the holiday season brings a LOT of responsibility. Not the least of which is making sure that Christmas magic doesn't get lost in the hubbub of Christmas chores. 

All that to say, this blog post will be slightly abbreviated. As in...well, this is it. But just so you get an idea of what writing is like with 4 small children home for the holidays, I'll refer you to yesterday's writing exercise.

Wishing everyone a safe, happy and blessed holiday season.

13 Days of Doctor Who Blog Hop: The First Time I Met The Doctor

(Banner by Studio D)


We are so excited to be a part of Erica O’Rourke’s and Eliza Evans' The 13 Days of Doctor Who! 


Many of the girls here at Tangled Up In Words are Whovians and we are so happy to be counting down the days until the Doctor Who Christmas Special with you! Don't forget to check out the details at the end of this post to learn how you enter to win the grand prize: Season 6 of Doctor Who on DVD! 

Patricia: The first time I met the Doctor, I wanted nothing to do with him. It was Memorial Day weekend in 2008 and my husband and I were flipping though the channels trying to find something to watch. After passing three channels playing various episodes of Doctor Who I began a conversation that would change everything for me when it came to the Doctor:

Hubby: What do you want to watch?

Me: Anything but Doctor Who. I mean seriously, it's on every freaking channel. Who watches that?

Hubby: Huh... Have you every actually watched an episode of Doctor Who?

Me: ...No. It looks stupid.

Hubby: Let's watch one. 

Me: Yeah, no thanks. 

Hubby: Just watch ONE. I think you'll like it. 

So we watched one (Season 3, Episode 6: The Lazarus Experiment). And then we watched another. And another. And another. And then 11 hours later it was Monday morning and the marathon was over and I almost cried over the fact that I was going to have to wait four more hours until the stores opened so we could go buy Seasons 1-3 and watch them all.

Which is all we did. Over the next week or so, we would go to work, come home, eat, watch as many episodes of Doctor Who as we could until I fell asleep and then rinse and repeat until we caught up the season in-progress. From that moment on, Saturday nights at 9pm were all automatically reserved for new episodes of Doctor Who.

I've come a long way from that fateful day in 2008. In fact just today we had a very different conversation at my house.

Me: So I printed out a tiny TARDIS to tape amongst the glow-in-the-dark stars for (5 year old son's) bedroom.

Hubby: Really...

Me: And while I was looking for a wall decal I found a full, door-sized TARDIS.

Hubby: Huh.

Me: Like for a bedroom door.

Hubby: Yeah.

Me: Like for OUR bedroom door. 

Hubby: Um, no. *SIGH* Remember when you didn't even want to watch that show. When you thought it was "stupid".  Now look at you!

Me: I have no idea what you're talking about. Also, I just bought the TARDIS. It will be here on Friday. 

Danielle: The first time I met The Doctor I had no clue how much I would love him. I think that's the truth for most people. For me, meeting The Doctor was a three-step process. The first step? Saying no. I was 21 and living in Nashville. My Rebecca told me I should watch it--and I vehemently and repeatedly declined. (I was pretty stupid back then.)

Then I moved to Boston.

Most of the friends I made here were bloggers and writers--and all of them LOVED Doctor Who. I usually sat in conversations and said nothing. When they told me to watch it, I gave a non-committal shrug. A few months later I went back to Nashville for a weekend visit, during which Rebecca asked me again. And I said I would. During that weekend we watched the first the first few episodes--and I decided it was okay. Then, somehow, the whole first season was over before I even left. And I really liked it--but I went home and had no Netflix and it was fine. I didn't really care.

And then one day I did. I can't explain it. I woke up and OMG I wanted to watch Doctor Who. That was step three. I bought Netflix. For the last week of December--a year ago!!--I started with "Christmas Invasion" and watched DW. I finished the last Tennant episodes on New Years Eve. It's all I did--watch Doctor Who. I barely slept because I had to watch it. Then, on New Years Day, BBC had a series 5 marathon and I watched those also. I watched that season twice actually. In the same weekend.

From there the Monster was born. I found Tumblr. I found other friends who liked DW. I converted people to DW (including Christina and 8 others. I keep count). I love it. A lot. I never miss an episode and I love talking theories, fandoms and every little thing in between. I will never NOT be a Doctor Who fan.

The first time I met The Doctor I had no clue how much I would love him. But now I do. It's crazy how much a show can mean to you--how it can change you and teach you and make you laugh through your tears. That's Doctor Who. The reason I think I love The Doctor so much is because when you meet him, you meet 100,000 other people you never expected. Whovians unite. They come out of the woodworks. Talk to you on busses. In lobbies. Online. In grocery stores. There's something unifying about The Doctor. Once you meet someone else who is a Whovian--you always have something to talk about and it never gets old. That's the thing that people don't understand before they experience it. And even when you try to explain it to them, you can't. It's part of the experience.

The first time you meet The Doctor you'll never forget it. Because knowing The Doctor changes you. It may not be a profound way for everyone, but at the very least you'll never look at bow tie or an angel statue the same way. That's the power of Doctor Who. I am very glad I met him.

Christina: The first time I ever watched Dr. Who was at the insistence of Danielle. Now, I have a healthy love for sci-fi (just ask me about Farscape!) but I couldn't get over the low-budget look of the first season with Christopher Eccleston, that and the mannequins coming to life creeped me out a bit. So after watching only an episode or two, I was ready to give up on it and move on...until Danielle came to visit. During her visit she sat me down and made us have a Dr. Who marathon and I'm so glad she did! I only had to watch a few more episodes of it to realize how much I loved it. After that I watched seasons 2 through 5 as fast as I could, in about two weeks. And then had to wait for season 6 online (which I devoured as well!) I've fall in love with this show and am so SO glad Danielle showed it to (shoved it at) me love. (But that's what happens when you find an amazing show that you love so much, you want everyone else to see how wonderful it is!) And David Tennant will always be my doctor. <3

Thank you so much for joining us on our blog hop stop! You should tell us about the first time YOU met The Doctor.

 "Before I go, I just want to tell you: you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic! And d'you know what? So was I." 

-The Doctor 

To enter the grand prize giveaway, please leave a comment with your name and email address. You may enter once at every stop on the blog tour, for a total of thirteen chances. The Grand Prize giveaway is limited to the US and Canada, due to regional restrictions on the DVD. Individual contests will close at the discretion of the author, but the Grand Prize contest will accept entries on any site until midnight CST on December 24th. We will post the winner on December 25th, and notify the winner via email. 

For details about other fantastic stops on the hop, check out the Wibbly Wobbly Schedule. 


Don't forget to check out tomorrow’s stop on the blog hop at Ryann Murphy’s site, http://ryannmurphy.com/. Make sure to comment for another chance to win the Season 6 box set!

pre-Christmas Monday

We usually use our Mondays to update you on our plans for the week. Well, since it's Christmas, we decided we'd each share something from our own holiday experience! We'd love to hear yours as well.

Patricia: Christmas for me has always been synonymous with books and reading. While Christmas morning is about Santa and presents and pimento spread on Ritz crackers...Christmas afternoon and evening are about curling up in comfy pajamas with cocoa and marshmallows and reading until the house is quiet and the only light in the room is from a roaring fire and a shimmering Christmas tree. Since I first read it when I was 11 or 12, I always read THE UNLIKELY ROMANCE OF KATE BJORKMAN and then quickly dive into whichever book Santa knew I so desperately wanted.

Danielle: I'm spending Christmas with my mom and sister in South Carolina. It's our first one in a new states. I'm excited to see them. Usually we spend all day enjoying our presents--but this year, since we're not really doing presents, it will be nice to spend the day reading, cooking, playing card games and probably watching cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies--as those are a family favorite.

Cindy: Christmas for me has morphed into something entirely different from what I knew when I was growing up. What used to consist of secret santas with distant cousins and meals of potato salad (yuck!) and homemade biscuits (yum!) now has a completely different look. Instead of driving across town to spend our day with family, we drive 7 hours with two small children to spend a day or two with our beautiful goddaughter and best friends before heading to spend Christmas day with the family. Then, a couple days later we go back home to give our children their own Christmas.

Christina: Christmas for me is lots of time with the family (mine and my husbands now too). And each family has different traditions that I just love. My hubby's family always watches It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas while making rice crispy houses (instead of gingerbread houses). With my family it's always lots of hanging out, eating, and there's this one random Santa puzzle that my aunt always make us put together too.
One tradition that I remember as a kid are the twelve days of Christmas. Growing up, (not every year but a few of them) my parents would give us all little treats like candies or something we needed for school, like pencils and such, for each of the twelve days of Christmas. I always loved it and can't wait to do something like that when I have kids of my own!

What ARE you doing over the holiday?

Better than my words

I had this post planned for today all about "what comes next". But then this tumblr happened---and it seemed more interesting. If you've missed it on twitter, you should know about it. (I even have a point at the end! I promise!)

RyanGoslingYoungAdult tumblr

You should go browse. Not only is this tumblr page hilarious, filled with a hot boy and giving lots of awesome shouts to YA--it's also really encouraging. Like this one.

From the AWESOME RyanGoslingYoungAdult tumblr

(Thanks Ryan. I'm glad someone appreciates all the work we do.) Honestly, this tumblr came to life at just the right time for me. I've been feeling the pressure of the new WIP and the anxiety associated with the old one. Plus, I have this big meeting with my bosses, stuff with the internship and I'm just hanging on until I can have a vacation. So finding this tumblr was something kinda awesome and I wanted to share.

Why did I want to share? Because sometimes when things are caving in...

When deadlines are approaching and holiday stress is at it's highest...
When you have 13 places to be at the same time and the holiday party dress from last year doesn't fit anymore...
When you have to a bunch of projects (or change a bunch of diapers) and you haven't slept in days...
When you're kicking yourself for not writing the 2K you wanted to write this week...
When people around you are succeeding and you're static...
When you want to do edits but can't because you're waiting on notes...
When you're overwhelmed by new ideas but already writing three...
When you just want to write but can't because you don't know what comes next or you don't have time or you're just so tired..
When you _____ (Fill in the blank!)....

Laughter is important. This tumblr will most definitely make you laugh. You should take a minute (or ten) to chuckle. And hey, if there's a Hot Boy attached to the laughter---even better.

(I also love this one and this one!)


Got anything that makes you laugh?? Leave a comment below with a link!

Because you can't spell "Procrastination" without the letters for "Sprint" (or "Raincoat")

Source: pinterest.com

I need a deadline. 

In high school and college I thrived on deadlines. 10 page research paper I haven’t started due in two weeks? I couldn’t even read the instructions without getting distracted. 10 page research paper I haven’t even started due tomorrow morning? I AM SO ON IT! I am at my best at the last minute.

Another way of putting it: I am a MASTER PROCRASTINATOR! If there is a tomorrow to do it, I will put it off until that tomorrow comes. 

Source: pinterest.com

 This has presented a problem when it comes to my writing. I have the desire to write, I WANT to write, I have the ideas, the story, the characters screaming at me to write down their story so they can stop re-living the same scene over-and-over again. But when it comes down to write or watch ONCE UPON A TIME (again)? Write or bake cookies? Write or SLEEP?! The “or <Insert procrastination here>” has begun to win more and more as the holidays kick into gear and I find myself more and more exhausted each evening. 

The solution seems so simple: Just give yourself a deadline! Yeah… not so much. My brain doesn’t seem to respond to my “pretend deadlines”, even when I call them “goals.”

So my wonderful husband has come up with a new solution. A real deadline. A “if you want to go to BEA you need to have a full first draft finished” deadline. And I WANT to go to BEA this year! And I know what you’re thinking, BEA isn’t until next June… so have fun procrastinating until May! But NO! Registration for BEA opens this month. And soon after that I have to let people know if I’m in or not for room arrangements, etc. 

Source: pinterest.com

So now I have a deadline. My fully finished first draft is due (to my husband) on February 15, 2012. And while I may spend the next few weeks bogged down in all of the Christmas craziness (side note: how? How? HOW?! Are we 19 days from CHRISTMAS!?) you better believe that as my deadline nears I’m going to disappear completely, for hours/days on end, and I will be SO. ON. IT. 

How do you guys push yourselves to get your writing done? What about those days/weeks where work/children/life is brain-meltingly crazy? Are you ready for the holidays? What are some of the gifts on your wishlist?

Interview with Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency

Today we are beyond honored to have the incredible Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency here with us about the YA world, writing and Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey.

 

Ammi-Joan Paquette

As an agent, what would you say is the state of YA today? What are you seeing too much of? What aren't you seeing enough of? What would you like to see? 

From my view, YA books remain stronger than ever in contemporary publishing; editors are excited about them, readers are excited about them, and authors are excited about them. I think one of the biggest challenges facing authors today is to find the story, hook, or character that feels completely fresh and new. There’s a wide and wonderful body of work out there, and it’s growing every day, and if there’s anything I am seeing a little too much of it would have to be “the same old thing.”

And on the flipside, what am I looking for? Something that feels utterly new and different. Something that surprises me. Something that knocks my socks off. I’m looking to fall in love—with a character, with an idea, with a storyline. Sweep me off my feet and make me swoon!

What's one the most common errors you see in a new writer's work? Any suggestions on how to overcome that? 

One of the biggest things you can do for your writing is to develop your voice. Really dig deep into the character’s psyche; analyze his or her personality and figure out what makes him or her tick. Then convey that to the readers through tone, mannerism, and way of speaking. Voice is a very individual thing, and every author will approach it differently—and it will also be different for each book. But this is what will give your story the ring of truth and authenticity: finding your way into the heart of that world, seeing those events through your character’s eyes, and living that story in real-time. Something to ponder: How would the story change if it were related by a different main character? Who your character is should affect how the story is told and the layering—and relaying—of the story.

What drew you most to SHATTERED SOULS? Was there a moment in the book (that you can tell us) or something about the story that made you want to work with SS and Mary? 

Goodness, I love so many things about SHATTERED SOULS it’s hard to narrow it down to just one! I think Mary is a perfect storm of an author: she’s smart, she’s prolific, she’s professional, and she really inhabits her characters. I love how every aspect of her book is excruciatingly real—from the dialogue to the characters to the world and everything that comes along with it. You open the cover and it’s a door and you walk through and you’re somewhere completely new. And then you never want to leave.

How would you describe SHATTERED SOULS in six words or less? 

Dark, gripping, swoon-worthy page-turner!


Thank you so much Ammi-Joan for answering our questions. If you want to learn more about Shattered Souls you can check it out on Goodreads and order it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. It comes out tomorrow!! Also, this is just one stop in the release tour for the book, so you can check out other stops here and learn more from Mary's agent and editor.