Jason Castro, who finished third on the 2008 season of American Idol, announced his first ever headlining tour today. The tour will launch on April 17 at The Loft in Castro’s home town of Dallas, Texas – just days after his debut, self-titled album hits the shelves — and will continue through mid-May. A second round of summer dates are slated to be announced soon.
Published at BC: American Idol Finalist, Jason Castro, Kicks off First Headlining Tour
March 31, 2010 by
At Blogcritics: Review: Koko Dozo: Feel The Zuzz
March 30, 2010 by
Putting Koko Dozo or their recent five track EP, Feel the Zuzz, on a particular genre shelf with a clean, neat label is a difficult task.
That pounding, repetitive rhythm could convince you to slide them into the dance category, but what about those eighties pop hooks and keyboard riffs? And let’s not forget the obvious disco sparkle and the inexplicable urge to pull on some polyester while listening.
Monday Musings: Getting Inside a Character
March 22, 2010 by
There are several methods I use to get into my character’s heads, to learn what makes them tick. There are several profile worksheets floating around the net, and filling them out can help, but one of my favorite ways is to find a picture of “them” or “..if they make my book into a movie, this is the actor/actress who’d play him/her”
Another is to figure out what would be there favorite song.
Maybe it’s because I’m personally so effected by music, if I can figure out what my characters like, it gives me a tangible slice of them. I’ve actually been able to break a case of writer’s block by pulling up one of those pictures and turning on the song and thinking about the corner I’ve written them into. More times than not, the answers come to me.
So what of this new book: Resurrecting Harry?
Meet Erich. And yes, it has to be a Scott Bakula picture from this era. Young. A Sense of innocence, with a bit of a bad boy glean in his eyes.
As for his song: Taking Chances, by Celine Dion.
A major part of Erich’s journey is teaching the heroine to take chances again, not only in love, but every aspect of her life.
What are some tricks you use to get into your character’s minds and souls?
All The Planning in the World…
March 17, 2010 by
After a few stressful weeks where my schedule seemed to rule my life, I was enjoying this week. A little slower pace, a normal–whatever that is–schedule, everything seemed to be falling into place and I was making some huge strides on editing my work in progress.
But, then, it doesn’t take much to throw us off kilter does it.
One step off my intended path this morning took me far, far away from that normal workday I had planned. Yes, after dropping the kid off at school I thought I very briefly drop into the local bookstore to do a little market research on a new concept for a book. It would only take a few moments. A certain book cover, and more importantly the title, grabbed my eye (Guess it was doing it’s job!) and it reminded me of an inside joke. Thank heavens for the technical age, I whipped out my blackberry, took a quick picture and sent it off to said friend with an accompanying “Well THIS caught my eye”.
A few minutes and several back-and-forth texts passed between us before I replied, “Let me check out of here and I’ll give you a call”
Ninety-five minutes later I got off the phone (It’s been awhile since I talked to said friend) and my late morning-early afternoon writing time had evaporated. If not for my production earlier the week, I’d have felt overwhelmed. But there’s a second lesson to be learned: Life Happens.
Not that we should use it as an excuse to be less productive, but days will come and go when circumstances beyond our control keep us from what we wanted to do. More often than not–if we’re true to ourselves–those things that sidetrack us needed to sidetrack. Family and friends needs need to take precedent (up to a point, of course) And for those of you like me, who like to plan just how the day is going to go. You can create a new plan tomorrow that makes up for that side-track taken today.
Monday Musings: I Believe
March 15, 2010 by
So, as I’ve mentioned before I’m in the middle of editing my current work-in-progress. There’s a wonderful message / theme in this story that I’m pretty proud of: Believe.
The characters have a huge growth arc all founded in their ability (or acquiring the ability) to believe in 1) each other 2) themselves and 3) (to a lesser extent) something greater than themselves. And it got me thinking about how hard of an act that is. Faith and trust are hard, but they are the emotions at the foundation.
My hero and heroine may have to let go of every ounce of skepticism to have faith in something they don’t understand and let of of their individual pain to believe in one another, but that doesn’t make the journey any more significant that you or I facing the challenges, forgetting our obstacles and believing we can reach a goal.
As I’ve been editing today, the lyrics of this Blessid Union of Souls song “I Believe” have been playing in my mind.
Walk blindly to the light and reach out for his hand
Don’t ask any questions and don’t try to understand
Open up your mind and then open up your heart
And you will see that you and me aren’t very far apart
‘Cause I believe love is the answer
And I believe love will find away
Wow. What a concept hu? It may be old and cliche’ or tried and true. But faith can also be comforting and yes…the answer.
If you aren’t familiar with the song: “I Believe” by Blessid Union of Souls:
Coming Clean
March 12, 2010 by
On Monday, as part of a blog ‘award’ I posted seven statements about myself and promised to distinguish which were truth and which were lies today. So here we go:
1) Almost ten years ago now, I had a mid-life crisis of sorts (and attempted to recapture my youth) by spending the summer traveling the country and seeing over 30 concerts by one particular 80s pop star.
- True – In about 18 months time I attended at least 30 Rick Springfield concerts, traveling as far as NYC, LA, and as far south as Atlanta. Youth recaptured? I don’t know, but definitely a lot of fun.
2) For my husband and I it was about as close to love at first sight as you can get. We were engaged within six weeks of our first meeting — And that was over twenty years ago now.
- True – We made many a head spin with how fast we moved forward, but 22 years later and here we are.
3) Writing is not the only creative pursuit of mine, I also enjoy needle point and quilting.
- False – I do know how to sew and have done needlepoint, I wouldn’t use the word ‘enjoy’ to describe doing them.
4) I’m a soft drink loyalist. Not only is Diet Coke my strict drink of choice, but I have a small collection of coke memorabilia that contains a few choice items considered antique.
- True – It’s not a huge coke collectible collection by any means, but two pieces in particular are considered ‘antique’.
5) Though I’ve spent my whole life in the Midwest, my dream and goal is to live in a very warm coastal city someday. I have a very specific architecture of the home in mind, but the most important aspect is that my ‘writing room’ looks out over the water and I have an outside deck (also facing the water) where I can work. (That’s the Scorpio in me, drawn to water.)
- True – In every way shape or form. If I had my choice, we’d be in a warm climate, near the water.
6) Not only do I love to write my paranormal stories, but I truly believe just because something can’t be explained doesn’t mean it can’t be real.
- True – Spirits, twists of fate, etc. I’m into the supernatural/paranormal.
7) One of my best kept secrets is my ability to speak two other languages than English.
- False – Though, I wish it were true. I attempted Spanish in college, but failed.
Hope you had fun with this little diversion from the normal blog posts. Did you guess correctly?
Monday Musings: A Creative Blog Award
March 8, 2010 by
My dear friend, MVRWA chapter mate, and critique partner Tracy Madison has nominated this little blog for two awards in the last week. This, the second one, requires me to participate and pass it on to seven fellow bloggers (who are writers)… so here we go.
Thank you, Tracy for the :
There are some catches….er…rules that go along with this honor, and they are:
- Thank the person who gave this to you. (check)
- Copy the logo and place it on your blog. (check)
- Link the person who nominated you. (check)
- Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth. The key here is the “up to” and the “at least.” This means I might tell 4 outrageous lies and 3 outrageous truths, or any combination that equals 7.
- Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.
- Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
- Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.
So: Here we go with my mixture of truths and lies:
1) Almost ten years ago now, I had a mid-life crisis of sorts (and attempted to recapture my youth) by spending the summer travelling the country and seeing over 30 concerts by one paticular 80s popstar.
2) For my husband and I it was about as close to love at first sight as you can get. We were engaged within six weeks of our first meeting — And that was over twenty years ago now.
3) Writing is not the only creative pursuit of mine, I also enjoy needle point and quilting.
4) I’m a soft drink loyalist. Not only is Diet Coke my strict drink of choice, but I have a small collection of coke memorabilia that contains a few choice items considered antique.
5) Though I’ve spent my whole life in the Midwest, my dream and goal is to live in a very warm coastal city someday. I have a very specific architecture of the home in mind, but the most important aspect is that my ‘writing room’ looks out over the water and I have an outside deck (also facing the water) where I can work. (That’s the Scorpio in me, drawn to water.)
6) Not only to I love to write my paranormal stories, but I truly believe just because something can’t be explained doesn’t mean it can’t be real.
7) One of my best kept secrets is my ability to speak two other languages than English.
How well do you REALLY know me? Can you guess what’s the truth and what’s a lie. Use the comments to make your predictions and I will ‘come clean’ in Friday’s post.
Okay, now I have to tag seven bloggers to carry on the fun:
Jill Kemerer: Not only is she a fellow MVRWA member, but an wonderful friend and a intrical part of my writing support system.
Genna Cockerham: We ‘met’ through the #amwriting thread on twitter. She’s a wonderful cheerleader and has a terrific blog, check it out!
Mary K. Williams: I also met Mary through an internet writing community several years ago and we’ve stayed connected through Blogcritics and facebook.
Mark Saleski: A fantastic writer I met through Blogcritics who has become someone I consider a great friend as well. He’s probably going to get a book deal before I do, and then I’ll have to hate him though (::wink:: at Mark)
Glen Boyd: Another friend made through Blogcritcs, he’s a fellow music editor. I just think he’ll get a real kick out of this. Have some fun with it, Glen.
(Honorable Mention: Sloan Parker. I would have tagged her, but I know Tracy already got her. She’s a wonderful writer and could probably do this game twice, but I wanted to spread out the fun)
The Creative Mundane
March 5, 2010 by
Is I often tell my daughter, somethings in life we have to do, even if we don’t want to. The biggest thing for me on that list is the deep house cleaning. The pulling the couch out and vacuuming underneath and checking the ceiling corners for cobwebs. With company coming, this was one of those days where I had to set aside the writing and editing until after I did the mundane. Clean my house.
The thing is, as much as I hate doing these chores, the time spent becomes a field day for my creativity. I’ve mentioned here before about how a lot of problem scenes work themselves out while I’m driving. The same holds true while I’m cleaning. Whether I’m running the vacuum or scrubbing pots and pans, the physical action–and the little brain power required to do the task–allows me to zone out of my life and into my characters lives.
Or maybe escaping my life for theirs is more like it!
While this might not have been a productive day–so far I haven’t typed a single new word, or edited a written sentence–I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing my plot. As previously stated, I start my stories with a minimal amount of plot and let my characters write the tale. So what I’m left when I begin my second draft is the layers, or the real craft. Things that happen at the midpoint or later, may need a touch of foreshadowing. Characters that showed up at the climax, probably need a less formal introduction in the first few chapters. All important, and all can be tricky to weave into the prose.
So while some may swear by the red pen or the delete key (And don’t get me wrong, those are two of my favorite writing tools too) Just as effective for me is a dust mop and a scrub brush.
Monday Musings – Dsitractions
March 1, 2010 by
At my local RWA chapter meeting this past weekend we revisited an idea that had come up before Christmas. While many writers were jumping feet first into NaNoWriMo (The challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November) several of us lamented the hellish structure of our pre-holiday lives and joked that Spring was a much more convenient time. Of course, circumstance alters production. And in fact, this month I’m in a rewriting/revising phase that is more tedious than spinning a new story. So what we’ve decided to do is focus on putting out ‘butts in the chair’ and creating new, better habits.
My biggest roadblock to good habits: the many distractions of the internet: namely Facebook, Twitter, and my email accounts.
So, in an effort to increase my production, I am committing to spending 90 minutes on weekdays and 30 minutes on the weekend days in a chair, focused on my work with zero of those distractions.
Today was my first attempt and the fact that it was so hard for me to push through those ninety minutes without checking Facebook and/or twitter (I failed on the email front) is an indication of just how bad I need this. They say the internet has shortened our attention spans, and I’m beginning to think that might be true! Or maybe I’m just addicted.
Either way, here’s to trying to be less distracted this spring.
