Road Trip Round Two: The Road Home

We took five days to drive back from Boston to Houston and got back home last night. Most of my pictures of that time are on the road, because we didn't spend much time in any one place, but we stayed in Carlisle, PA, Charleston, WV, Nashville, TN, and Mobile, AL. Some pics of the long road home:

Pennsylvania was gorgeous.

As was West Virginia.

Ooh, and Alabama.

Texas was determined to be difficult. These were the storm clouds that greeted us just as we crossed the state line:

And they made us detour off the highway for an hour, but I got to see longhorns!

I'll be summing up my road trip experience in tomorrow's post, but I will say now that it was one of the most amazing adventures I have ever had, and I'm so, SO glad I did it.

Road Trip: Day Eleven and Twelve

We drove from Essex, CT to Boston to finish up round one of the road trip! I didn't get to go around and give Boston the proper goodbye I'd been wanting to, because it looked like this:

But I got the car packed up with all of my stuff crammed into it (only a few casualties: had to throw away a sleeping bag and a blanket I never use, but mostly everything got wedged into my car). And then my poor bedroom looked like this:

Of course, the day we left was gorgeous:


Love you, Boston! Hope to see you soon.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Road Trip: Day Nine and Ten

We drove from Williamsburg, VA to a hotel by the oh-so-glamorous Philadelphia airport. It was a convenient and much-needed stopping point, though, since the next day was full of stressful driving to Essex, CT.

This is all I saw of Philadelphia:

The scariest driving experience I have ever had: crossing the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey to the Bronx.

Essex, CT, was worth it, though. Cutest little old town with houses from the early 1800s and sea chanties sung every Monday night in our hotel's taproom.


And sailboats on the river!

I hope everyone's having a wonderful Wednesday!

Road Trip: Day Seven and Eight

We drove from Charleston, SC to Williamsburg, VA and stayed there for two nights so that we could get the full colonial experience. I'd been to Williamsburg on a school D.C. trip about ten years ago, and I loved getting to see the shops and the houses that I half-remember. Also, as the hometown of my American Girl doll, Felicity, it holds a special place in my heart :) Some pics:

An ox! I later tried to pet it--it was not receptive.

We stayed at the Williamsburg Inn, which was just beautiful:

Some of the old-timey shops:


Next stops: Philadelphia and Essex, CT!

Road Trip: Day Five and Six

We spent the fifth and sixth day in Charleston, SC, which was nothing like I expected. I don't know what I had been picturing: maybe something like horse farms and plantations, or something. But the city was filled with townhouses and restaurants and cool rooftop bars and people. It's a very social city, and I loved exploring it--running along the boardwalk one morning was one of my fave experiences of this trip. Some pictures:

The crazy grass/water combination off the boardwalk:

Some beautiful painted houses in the historic district:

Magnolia's, a must-stop cafe, where I learned that I love sweet tea like a good Southern girl should:

One of the magnificent houses along the boardwalk:


I was sorry to leave, but I'm vowing right now to return to Charleston at some point. So much fun to be had there!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Anything fun happening for you?

Guess That Character Blog Fest: The Big Reveal!

There were so many entertaining guesses yesterday! I loved reading your descriptions of her. Sophie is one of my favorite characters to write, and I have a very distinct picture of her in my mind, but the closest celebrity I could find to that description is:

Like Camilla Belle, Sophie has short, dark brown (almost black) hair and a definite prettiness, though she tries to hide behind her girl next door look. She has grey eyes that turn stormy whenever she gets upset, but she has a quick smile. She's petite, around 5'2", and slender, but she's taken up cross country, so she's building some muscle. She tends to be quiet around people she doesn't know well, but with her best friends, she's never afraid to tell it like it is. Her inner voice is very sarcastic, but she's a sweet, fiercely protective girl.

So, the person who guessed the closest to how I see Sophie is: well, two people got really close. Terry Stonecrop and Vicki Rocho! Congrats :) I'm glad y'all liked Sophie, and I hope everyone has a great start to the weekend! I'll be posting pictures from super social Charleston, SC, tomorrow!

Guess That Character Blogfest!

I'm taking part in the Guess That Character Blogfest, hosted by Jen of Unedited (CLICK HERE to see the details). Here's the deal: I've posted a bit of my Sophie WiP below, and if you have an idea of what she might look like (height, hair color, eye color, whatever), you can post it in the comments. Tomorrow, I'll show a picture of how I see her, and we'll see if any of us match up!

So, here we go:

I found a spot high up on the bleachers just as they kicked off. There were some people I recognized from school in a big clump in front of me, but I didn’t feel like being sociable. I searched the players for Drew’s number, 83, and, finding him on the bench, pulled out Franny and Zooey, the book I was reading for fun. It wasn’t as if I was going to voluntarily watch football if Drew wasn’t even playing. Besides, if I sat still for too long, I had a feeling all of my thoughts would wrap themselves around what had happened last night. Around the prophecy that I would save an entire world. Around Finn’s bright green eyes pouring into mine.

“Hey,” a male voice said after halftime (and a rather poor showing of cheer from our cheerleaders’ halftime show) almost right in my ear. I jumped, the book falling from my grasp. A large hand grabbed it before it could hit the ground. This was not going to be good.

“Can I help you?” I said coldly, looking up into a confidently grinning face. I felt like I had seen these hazy blue eyes, curly blond locks, and strong jawline before, but it took me a moment to place them. Peter…Somebody, I realized, the really good baseball player Drew pointed out a few days ago. Senior.

“Just wondering what book could be better than the first football game of the season,” he drawled, his grin growing wider.

“I’m just here to support a friend,” I said slowly, ripping my book back from him.

“What’s your name?” he asked, peering into my eyes as if the answer would be written behind them.

“Sophie. Sophia Alexander.”

“Oh, right. You’re that sophomore guy’s girl,” he said, leaning back. “Drew.”

I couldn’t help but scowl, though that made him laugh and lean back toward me. “We’re just friends,” I muttered.

“That’s good news for me,” he said.

Is he serious? I thought. Does he think I’m just going to fall at his feet now? I looked up and noticed for the first time that we had a very curious audience. A group of senior girls were flipping their hair and watching us over their shoulders. Some guys were even less subtle, turned toward us with stupid grins on their faces. Apparently Peter hitting on some sophomore girl was a fun Friday diversion.

I stood, trying to see how I could get out of this with my dignity still intact. I could put Peter in his place, but then I’d be “that sophomore bitch.” I could reverse my previous statement and say I actually was Drew’s girlfriend, but that would complicate everything in ways I didn’t even want to think about. Only one thing to do, then. Play the youth card. “I have to go find my dad,” I murmured, slipping away as fast as I could. Not fast enough to miss the shouts of laughter that followed me.

Road Trip: Day Three and Four

I spent a couple of days in Savannah, which I'm so happy about. There's just something about that city. Something spooky and beautiful. I'm definitely setting some major scenes from my road trip novel there, so I took a ton of pictures.
All of the trees, like this one, are covered with Spanish moss, which makes the atmosphere otherwordly.



The townhouses all have so much history and character.

I swear this one is haunted.

I was sorry to leave, but I'm excited for the rest of the trip! I'll be posting my entry for the Guess That Character blog fest tomorrow, so stay tuned to hear some of Sophie's voice and try to figure out what she looks like. Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Road Trip: Day Two

On the second day of my epic road trip, we drove from Baton Rouge, LA to Tallahassee, FL. Most of the day was spent in the car, but I do have some pics to share:
The ocean!

Rain, rain, and more rain. It decided to pour on us a lot of the way, even to the point where I had to pull under an overpass and wait it out a few minutes. But it made for some dramatic pictures.

Some fairly pathetic palm trees.

I'll be posting some slightly more entertaining pics of spooky Savannah, GA tomorrow. Hope everyone's having a great week!

Road Trip: Day One!

Hi, everyone! I'm posting some of my fave pics from the road trip so far (if you're a new follower, hi! And I'm driving from Houston to Boston and back again for the next couple of weeks, so my blogging is much more sporadic than normal!).

On the first day, we drove from Houston to a plantation outside of Baton Rouge, LA.

Swampland in Louisiana. There was a lot of it.

Shacks and houseboats on the bayou! Love it.

Me in front of the super nice plantation we stayed at.

The ballroom of the plantation. It was done all in white so that the girls' dresses would be complementary no matter what.

I'm loving the road trip life so far! I'll keep posting pictures, because believe me, I'm taking a ton of them. I also wanted to mention that this Thursday and Friday, I'll be taking part in a blogfest from Jen of Unedited. Called the Guess that Character Blogfest (CLICK HERE to see the awesome details, and to participate!), it will involve posting a short passage in the voice of one of my characters. You all have to guess in the comments what that character looks like, using just that one passage. On Friday, I'll reveal what I had in mind, and we'll see if it matches up! I'll be posting a passage from the Sophie WiP, because she's one of my favorite characters and she has a very specific look :) Can't wait to see the results!

I hope everyone is having a very happy Monday!

The Sign on Commonwealth Avenue

There’s this statue on Commonwealth Avenue back in Boston. I can’t remember who the man depicted is, but he’s sitting on a rock peering out into the distance, and the sign beneath him always catches my eye. Here it is:


It reads, “Dream dreams/Then write them/Aye, but live them first.” I love that. I absolutely love that advice. It’s something I’ve been trying to follow for years. I followed one of my dreams, becoming a writer, and I’ve never looked back, but there are other dreams I have. One of them has been to take a cross country roadtrip, which I’m going to be doing starting this weekend, driving from Houston to Boston and back again. Its purpose is ostensibly to get all of my stuff that I’m moving, but the real reason I’m not just shipping everything is that I want to write about a roadtrip. So I want to live it first.

I won’t be following my five days a week posting schedule on this trip, mainly because I want to make sure I’m truly experiencing every moment. I want to spend hours looking out the window and wandering random towns, getting lost until I find my way. I want to jot down notes of anything that inspires me for the roadtrip novel I want to start when I get home. I want to count different license plates and roadkill and see that moment when one state becomes another. I will hopefully be posting pictures, because I want to take a ton. But I’m going to apologize in advance for not being the best blogger or blogging buddy for the next few weeks. I’ve got to follow the advice of a statue.

Monet and Lighthouses

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. This painting by Monet—Jardin à Sainte-Adresse. I’ve had a poster of it in my room for the past two years, and it always seems so peaceful and happy.

2. That moment when you can feel the shifting between two seasons. The air feels charged with something new, and anything can happen.

3. Grease. How awesome is that movie? I think Rizzo’s one of my favorite movie characters of all time.

4. Comments on my blog posts! They always brighten my day.

5. Lighthouses. They make every photograph the most beautiful photograph ever.

Hope you're having a happy Monday! Anything making you happy this week?

Where do your ideas come from?

I usually post my writing goals on Sundays, but I’m not going to be making too many goals the next few weeks. At least, not regular ones. This week will be full of searching for an apartment and WriteOnCon (so excited!) and getting ready for my roadtrip up the Atlantic coast. I finished up this round of revisions on Broken Mirrors (yay!), so now I get to work on the shiny new idea I’ve been mulling over for months. Though I don’t have any set goals this week, I’d love to start taking notes and jotting down ideas for the novel.

How do your ideas start? Mine either start with a character or with a basic plot. With Broken Mirrors, I got inspiration from watching the Disney version of Snow White and wondering, “What if she didn’t fall in love with the creepy prince who goes around kissing dead girls?” With the Sophie novel, though, which I think has been shelved indefinitely, I started with Sophie. I wanted to write about a girl who wasn’t a loner or a doormat but a loyal friend, a dreamer, someone trying to figure out who she is. This new novel idea is a mixture of both: a girl trying to chase her dreams and a roadtrip.

Do you start with characters or plots when you come up with an idea for a book? Or do you have absolutely no control over it?

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Warning: Some spoilers from Shiver, which you MUST read, then come back. I'll wait.

Sam is struggling to deal with his life as a human who will never have to shift into a wolf again. He can plan for a future, and he knows that future will include Grace. But Grace begins experiencing a mysterious illness, and Sam must take charge of Cole, a new wolf who can't wait to lose himself and his past. Told in the four perspectives of Sam, Grace, Cole, and Isabel, Linger examines what happens when you finally get everything you want.

This book blew me away, and I knew it was going to. Sam and Grace have an ideal romance, stable and built on a deep love. The introduction of Cole and Isabel's voices adds a lot of drama and insight into life as a broken teenager, someone not lucky enough to have the romance Sam and Grace have. I loved all of the characters, especially Cole and Isabel. Cole is running away from everything he used to be, but he is much more complex than just some drugged-out rock star. Isabel hides a vulnerable inside under her ice princess outside, and I actually began to like her, which I never thought would happen. The writing was the real star here, however: Maggie does an incredible job of recreating the atmosphere that made me fall in love with Shiver, and I found myself wanting to copy down her descriptions so I could mull over them later. You must, must, must read this book. Really.

Five Random Thoughts on a Friday

1. I feel like the title of this blog has become something of a lie, because I drink more tea now than coffee. I used to have a serious coffee addiction and had to have at least one cup (usually two) in the morning, but I got scared that I was going to burn my stomach from the inside out or something. If you haven’t noticed, I tend to have irrational fears. So I still enjoy cappuccinos with dessert at fancy restaurants, but during the week, English Breakfast tea is my drink of choice. And I bought an adorable red teapot for my new, soon-to-be-chosen apartment!

2. What is it about The Notebook that makes me love it so much? Any time it’s on TV, I find myself getting sucked in, and then I just end up crying. But it’s SO GOOD.

3. I’m starting to become more and more interested in history books and biographies again. That was my genre of choice in college (and I was a History major, so that fit), but for the past two years, I’ve been reading and falling in love with a lot of young adult literature. And that’s still what I’m drawn to, but I also bought a biography of Lucrezia Borgia that I’m dying to read now. Maybe it will give me some inspiration for a new character :)

4. I’m not a very good tweeter. I know very little about Twitter, and I’m thinking of buying a book that will tell me more about how to navigate my way around it. It’s an awesome way to connect to people, but I feel like I’m doing it wrong. Does anyone have any basic advice?

5. I learned a lot this week while I was packing about how much stuff I have. Really useless stuff that I’ve kept. I have an obscene amount of pencils, for example, packages and packages of them, even though I can’t remember the last time I used a pencil. Oh, well. I’m set for life now.

Happy Friday, everyone! Have an awesome weekend!

Life Update

So, there are big life things going on right now. I’ll be moving back to Houston tomorrow, and there will be a whole lot of traveling in the next month. I’ll be roadtripping from Houston to Boston and back again to get all of my stuff, which I’m so very excited about. I’ve wanted to do a cross country roadtrip for a while now, and I’ve also got a bright shiny new idea about a roadtrip novel that I want to take notes for. Atlantic coast, I’m about to get to know you real well.

I’m also excited about the move to Houston. I haven’t lived there for six years, ever since I went away to college, but I’ve started missing it, and getting to be around my family will be a nice perk! We’ll see what story ideas I can get from Texas :) Now I just have to find an apartment.

I’m nearly done with this round of revisions on Broken Mirrors, though it’s nearly killed me. But I’m finally happy with it. I’ll keep polishing it, and hopefully it will be ready for WriteOnCon (CLICK HERE if you don’t know what I’m talking about). I’m going to send it to the agent who’s been helping me with revisions soon, and then I will treat myself to about a pint of ice cream and a nap. Maybe not in that order.

Hope everyone’s having a great Wednesday!

Creepy Baby Head and Dried Pineapple

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. The baby head sculptures outside of the Boston MFA. Creepy, but kind of awesome.

2. A sunny, windy day on the Charles River. It makes the water sparkle like you wouldn’t believe.

3. Going healthy grocery shopping, where I only buy things that are good for me. This does not happen often, but when it does, it makes me so much happier.

4. Dried pineapple. I can eat a whole container of this at a time. Plus, it’s sort of fruit, so it’s healthy, right?

5. Anne of Green Gables. The book and the movie made her my idol when I was younger. She’s the perfect mix of intelligence and adventure. And Gilbert Blythe—swoon!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday! Anything making you happy this week?

Goals!

I didn’t make my goals this week, but I sure did work a lot! In the beginning of the week, I wrote a lot and deleted it. But the writing got much better at the end of this week, so I’ve got 70,000 words now. I’ll be heading back to Texas on Thursday, so I want to finish this round of revisions before then. So, my goal for this week:

-Finish the darn thing. Just finish. I have to finish writing everything that I’ve skipped, and then I’ll print it out and take a big red pen to it, cutting large portions and scribbling in new scenes and hopefully not having to overhaul the plot. I’ll put all my revisions into the computer, and then I’ll print out again and repeat until done!

Yep, that’s pretty much it. That’s my one goal for this week. Wish me luck!