Brandi's Blog

Aspiring Author Sparking Thoughts

It’s Christmas morning and I am typing on my new ASUS 12″ netbook. It is amazing and I love it! The best gift from my beloved husband. I am a blessed women.

This morning I was thinking about Mary and what she must of been feeling 2009 years ago. Not only looking at the face of her child but at the face of God himself. What a wonderful moment for her. Today I not only celebrate the birth of our savior but the mother that brought him into this world.

God Bless Everyone!

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Like most of you, this time of year I reflect on what I have and haven’t accomplished in 2009. My life took a dramatic turn in March. I fell in love with books and desperately wanted to become an author. It’s amazing how your entire life can change in a moment. I didn’t push away the desire or talk myself out of it. I knew it would be hard, I knew there was a great possibility for failure. But none of that stopped me and I moved forward. I was able to write a beautiful novel that I love. I met a ton of new people with similar interests in my meetup.com group. I found something in common with my mother that has brought us closer than ever. I realized though events that my family is truly amazing (all of them). My in-laws are great and love us so much. My sisters are so amazing and talented. My friends are a wall of strength and support. Even my neighbors are family. 

I’m Especially grateful for my husband. He is the most amazing and wonderful man. I know I gush over him, but he is that great. I am so thankful for him and everything he does for me. I try everyday to show him how much I love him. Our kids are also amazing, so sweet and kind. I can’t say enough about them.

Me and Sylvia putting on the Christmas tree star

I think my faith is the greatest growth this year. I have joined an exceptional church (Faith Church St. Louis). I feel like my soul is changed, softened, happier, filled with hope and true joy. Don’t think I am some crazy bible thumper. I have really embraced my relationship with God and it’s changed my life. Please don’t take this a “preachy” this is just my life, take what you like and leave the rest. I feel blessed and thank God for all that he has given me, especially for you.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love Lots, Laugh Hard and Sing Loud!

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Betrayed”

 2^nd book in The House of Night Series

 By P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

This book picks up a month after Zoey Redbird started at the House of Night vampyre school. Zoey takes over the Dark Daughters, the “school council” for the fledglings. Her and her friends are learning there new roles all the while humans are being killed in Broken Arrow, Zoey’s home town. It was thought that a vampyre is responsible for the deaths. Zoey uses her powers to save the day and battle evil. Bla Bla Bla…

 Ugh, I wanted so much more from this book. Of course I finished it, but the only exciting part was when her BFF Stevie Ray ??? (gotta read it to get it).  The book is transparent at best. There are no real surprises. I could figure out Nephret was bad in the first book, this book just solidified it. I can also see that the two boyfriends, human Heath and vampyre Eric will be a total drama fest. Heath bugs me, he is so annoying and I want to smack him down like a fly. Eric is better, seems hot and sexy, much better than the dopey football player. I still can’t stand the boy drama! Are teens really like this? Was I really like that? Ugh! No wonder I never had a steady boy friend.

 The other characters are ok, not great. I think the twins are terrible! There’re not really twins, one’s mocha colored and the other a pale blond. They ALWAYS call each other twin, it’s the most annoying thing in the whole book. I can’t stand it. I thought I would get use to it and I didn’t. The token “gay” is Damien, he is sweet and likable. Although, his character is a no-it-all and that is annoying. He is always lecturing about proper vocabulary. Who actually does that!  

 The only real person I like is Aphrodite, she is cheeky and a major smart-***. (Keeping it PG). I want more of her and less of the twins and boy drama. Then again, I bet I would have loved this series at 16. I did like it, not love it, but enough to say it is worth the read (IF you like YA books).

 I don’t know how I feel about the Goddess Nynx. It’s a little too far-fetched for me. I can accept it because it’s a fiction and I would totally love the cool powers she gives. I especially want the tattoos, which would be awesome.

  I was left with the question, do I feel betrayed or just bored?

 With all that said, I give it three Bran Stars.

Of course I read the next book in the series … review coming soon.

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Ugh!  It’s been a long few weeks. Time keeps ticking on and I am still on Chapter 21 of True Sight.  It’s coming along great, just slow. I wanted to share something that has been so inspirational for me. I joined a local St. Louis writers group through MeetUp.com.

We are called STL Writers Connect and have a website at www.stlwritersconnect.com.  Go see us!  there is a video on the home page, pictures and lots of info. We meet every other Tuesday at Boarders and have a great time sharing and supporting each other. 

The group is so great! They are always positive and have become great allies in completing my manuscript. 

Check out Jennifer (our fearless leader) at www.jennifertobias.com

My question for you: “Where do you get you inspiration?”

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Help!

It’s been months since I started my book and it’s not quite done yet. After I pushed myself so hard to get the first draft done by the time I pitched at Killer Nashville, I crashed. I stared taking an MBA course in Marketing and it was all too much. Having two VERY active kids and a loving husband, I needed a break. It’s so much trying to give everything in my life 100%, I end up with 0%.

 This kind of pressure is not fun, it’s not enjoyable for anyone in my life. After I completed my 8-week class, I took time off. My blogging has been minimal. I haven’t twittered like I use to. My book is still in editing/completion phase. One thing I’ve learned real quick is that I CAN’T do it all. There is a limit and that is OK.

 I blogged earlier about how I accomplish it all. I can do that for a while, maybe four months, and then I fall and fall hard. I need to find a balance, a true balance between family, my book and marketing and work.

 Too bad I have to work. I was debating on staying home, but we can’t swing it financially. Maybe one day when I am a NYT Best Seller I can quite the day job. For now I will keep it and continue to do my best.  

 Now that life is giving me a breather, I am able to sit down and write a little. I made realistic goals for myself. No more classes this year and by the end of the year I want to have my book completely finished. I know, even with the holidays, I can meet the goal.

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I went to Killer Nashville this past weekend and learned the coolest tool for writing. We were taking a seminar dissecting what makes a good story. What it needs, ups and downs, story lines etc…

The suggestion was to rate each book scene between 1 and 10. One being no tension in the scene and ten being you’re on fire, with a gun to your head, driving off a cliff while disarming a bomb that will end the world. Once you have rated all your scenes/chapters then plot your plot. Graphing it in excel or any other program you fancy. It’s suggested that an interesting book will have an up and down hilly graph gradually raising to the big climax.

All I could say was WOW! I am a visual person and this will work great for me. I can’t wait to do it and see what my book “looks” like. 

This wasn’t the only tidbit I got from the seminar. I will be blogging more later so stay tuned.

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