Tag Archives: Mom

Way to post, like, once a month dude.

August 13, 2012 9:24 am ⋅ 4 Comments ⋅

It’s still summer here for another month. My kids don’t start school until mid-late September and it’s actually hot here, so we’re wringing all we can out of the season while we have the chance.

Of course, other things have been going on – the hubs and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary and we took a little trip to the San Juan islands. While we were there, we met authors Keary Taylor and Nikki Jefford. So much fun! And I’ll be meeting Amanda Hocking in person for the first time next week. I’ve been friends with all of these lovely ladies online for a long time – it’s great to finally meet face-to-face!

The kids have been in swimming lessons and track camp and they start sports camp this week, followed by karate and dance at the end of the month. My mom taxi is in full effect!

I also started a camp of my own, sort of, Crossfit! It’s really hard, but rewarding in that way where you’re using muscles you didn’t know you had. Right now I’m working out four days a week and will be moving to five next week. Wish me luck!!

There are birthday celebrations coming up, more weekend trips, the Pac NW YA bbq, a Gotye concert and back-to-school shopping! My August calendar has so much stuff on it, I can barely make out what I’m supposed to do from one day to the next!

So, what have I been working on? Found is coming along nicely, if not at a snail’s pace. The covers for the entire Penny Black trilogy should be ready soon – I’ll post them everywhere ASAP! The Awesome Robin Ludwig has done it again!! I finished listening to the audiobook of Glimpse last night – look for that to be available by the end of the month.

And, honestly, I’ve been reading a lot. Seaweed, Tangled Tides, Crave, and Envy in the past two weeks. I get to a point a couple of times a year where I just want to do nothing besides read. I always give into it. :)

I hope everything is going well with you all and that your summer has been a blast! I’m sure I’ll be around more often when it starts to rain. :)

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#ROW80 update (composed during shaved ice sugar high)

July 11, 2012 5:32 pm ⋅ 1 Comment ⋅

Update!

I’ve written every day since Sunday, except for today as I have barely been home. There’s still time! I’ve worked on a different project each day and have put in between 200-500 words. Not a lot, but it’s better than the zero I get when I stress about not having enough time to hit 1K a day.

I was good about not checking my stats until yesterday, when I was ordering a cookbook and saw in my history on Amazon that the Day of Sacrifice Omnibus had received its first review.

Which was 1 star…because the reader ”was disturbed” that it was targeted at young adults.

Ahem.

The second line of the book description is as follows: The Day of Sacrifice Omnibus is intended for adult readers due to language and sexual situations.

The Day of Sacrifice stories are by S.W. Benefiel. See over there on the right sidebar of this blog? Under the Books for Adults – that’s where all the Day of Sacrifice titles appear.

I’m not sure what else I can do to let people know that, yes I write YA, but I also write NA, stuff for adults and stuff for ADULTS.

Anyway, that set me off on a stats binge. I not only checked my sales on every platform, but I checked the reviews on all of my books. 

I’ll do better. Now that I’ve publicly vented (note that I did not engage the reviewer even though I really, really wanted to) I can let it go.

So, last round I started this tumblr called Be Awesome, Beautiful Dreamer and I was going to add essays to it for a new Toilet Business-esque book of essays. But, then I never had any time to actually write all the new essays because I was worrying about getting DoS done and I have all of these starts that I haven’t finished yet. Forcing essays doesn’t work the same way you can force yourself to sit down and write a scene. It takes me longer to think out my opinion and what I remember about certain events and what to cut…

I digress.

Instead, I changed the name of the blog to FAT WRITER. I’m putting my whole family on the Paleo Diet starting next Monday and I thought it would be useful/funny/entertaining/informational to blog about it. There are two posts up now and I’m about to add another after I make dinner. Check it out. There’s a huge picture of me riding a giant brass tortoise at the Oregon Coast Aquarium on it.

I know, how can you resist?

Happy writing, friends! I’m off to make brats.

 

Posted in: E-books, Fiction, indie authors, indie readers, Progress, ROW80, Self-publishing, Writers, Writing, Young Adult ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some thangs and #ROW80

June 6, 2012 10:54 am ⋅ 5 Comments ⋅

I have a list of things I keep meaning to tell you all!

If you have a blog: Sign up for the Indelibles INDIEpendence Day celebration!

If you like to read interesting posts and win stuff: Visit the Mid Summer Dream Fair! My post is called The Stage and it’s coming up at the end of the month.

If you want to win a paperback copy of the Day of Sacrifice Omnibus: Sign up on Goodreads or…sign up on that big sign up widget thingy over in the sidebar there.

If you want to get two monthly newsletters about new releases from the Indelibles and the Pacific Northwest YA Authors: Click the link for the Indelibles and for the PacNWYAAuthors to sign up.

Row80 update: I’m making decent progress on the pen name stories and I purchased an e-book cover, so that’s a done deal. I thought of yet another funny story for the BABD blog…and someday I might actually write it and the other 17 stories I have to put on there. I haven’t worked anymore on Found. 

With the kids out of school and my husband only working away from home three days a week, I just can’t get anyone to leave me alone. If I didn’t have to pay for a new roof in July, I’d seriously consider renting office space and putting the kids in day care for a few hours every day!

Whenever people interview me they always ask how I manage to write books and stay at home with the kids. It’s a friggin’ MIRACLE that’s how. I have no idea. It just gets done and never in as timely a manner as I want. ;)

Posted in: E-books, Fiction, Giveaway, Guest Post, Indelibles, indie authors, indie readers, Progress, ROW80, Self-publishing, Writers, Writing, YAY YA, Young Adult ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Guest Post by Author Lisa Nowak

May 13, 2012 12:00 am ⋅ 3 Comments ⋅

Broken Mother-Child Relationships in YA Fiction

 

 

The second Sunday in May. It’s that time of year when greeting card companies manipulate our guilt reflex in order to sell merchandise. Less cynically, it’s a day to honor our mothers. But not everyone had a good childhood, and for those folks, it can be difficult to find exactly the right card. It’s not as if they make ones that fit the situations of people like the characters in my books. Ones that say, “thanks, Mom, for making me stronger by being a needy, neglectful alcoholic and forcing me to become the parent at the age of eight,” or “Mom, your narcissistic Jekyll and Hyde parenting style made it impossible for me to form healthy relationships, but I found someone who cared about me, so it’s all good now.”

 

The mother-child bond is one of the strongest known to man. Psychologists say that if the proper attachments don’t form between a mom and her baby within the first six months of life, that child will never be able to successfully bond with other people. In picture books and Disney movies, one very common and powerful theme is the separation of a child from his mother. The worst nightmare of the young is to lose that intimate connection. Death, divorce, and abandonment are all ways authors make use of this fear to create conflict in a story.

 

But there are more complicated ways to lose a mother. One that’s common in young adult fiction is for the mother to somehow tarnish the relationship by alienating her child. This is particularly damaging, because instead of pure grief or loss, the teen experiences conflicting emotions. She feels love and hatred at the same time, and that’s complicated by guilt, because after all, we’re taught we should love our mothers unconditionally.

 

In young adult fiction, characters tend to experience a lot of angst, and one easy way for an author to compound that angst is to create a difficult relationship with the mother. When you’re crafting your YA novel, be aware of the potential power in the loss of the mother-child relationship, but don’t take the easy route. These things are seldom cut and dried. Even when a mother is extremely abusive, if a child is separated from her and placed in a better situation, he’ll want to go back. Even in the worst of circumstances, children try to cover up for their parents, make excuses, and take up for their slack. Be sure to capture all the nuances of this very complicated relationship, and you’ll add layers to your story that will resonate with the reader long after she finishes your last words.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

The last thing on 16-year-old Jess DeLand’s wish list is a boyfriend. She’d have to be crazy to think any guy would look twice at her. Besides, there are more important things to hope for, like a job working on cars and an end to her mom’s drinking. Foster care is a constant threat, and Jess is willing to sacrifice anything to stay out of the system. When luck hands her the chance to work on a race car, she finds herself rushing full throttle into a world of opportunities—including a boy who doesn’t mind the grease under her fingernails. The question is, can a girl who keeps herself locked up tighter than Richard Petty’s racing secrets open up enough to risk friendship and her first romance?

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“The first romance is captured beautifully—just the right combination of natural and awkward, of eager and scared.”

 ~ Bob Martin, writing professor, Pacific Northwest College of Art

~~~~~~~~~~

 

In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and stout beer and constantly works toward employing wei wu wei in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an oxymoron.

Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she’d use it to tend to her expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four feline companions, and two giant sequoias.

 

Posted in: E-books, Fiction, Guest Post, Indelibles, indie authors, indie readers, Writers, Writing, YAY YA, Young Adult ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Back from vacation and #ROW80

April 2, 2012 9:00 am ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅

It’s Monday, we’re back from Spring Break and my son doesn’t want to go to preschool. I don’t blame him. Mommy doesn’t want to do any of her Mommy stuff either. (How have we made so many dishes and so much laundry when we’ve been home less than 24 hours?)

We had a blast in California and came home with some sun – mission accomplished! I’m also thinking that staying off the internet for most of the week was a good thing too. March was my best sales month EVER and I was so busy with life that I hardly did any marketing. Love it when that happens!

ROW80 – I’m back in the challenge again. I skipped the first round this year and missed talking about myself twice a week. :) AND I was still checking up on participants blogs to see their progress – obviously I should always be involved then!

My goals for this round are:

1. Write for two hours every day in 25 minute increments with 5 minute breaks in between. Use my Focus Booster timer to do this. Do more if I have more free time! (It happens once in a while.)

2. Finish DoS #6 – which, let’s face it, is called Unfavorable because that’s the best title I’ve come up with. It has to be done by May. Then, publish it, publish it with stories #4 and #5, publish all six stories together, and create the paperback of the Day of Sacrifice Omnibus. DoS takes first priority.

3. Begin working on the first Society School novel. It has to be done by August.

4. Work on the second Back in Time story when Society School makes me crazy.

5. Spend one weekend (after Unfavorable is done) finishing the pen name short story I started ages ago.

6. Work on the book with Vicki when I get a chance.

That seems like a lot, but if I stick with #1, goals #2 and #3 should follow.

Okay, I’m off to play hookey with the kids for a bit before I buckle down and start my non-spring break life again.

Happy Row80 Round Two!!

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The kitchen sink

March 22, 2012 2:03 pm ⋅ 6 Comments ⋅

We never talk anymore!  That’s my fault. :)

I thought skipping a round of ROW80 would help me feel less pressured to blog all the time and take one more thing off my To-Do list, but instead I’ve missed blogging! And I’ve only added more stuff to the To-Do list, so as per usual my “plans” are a bust.

Seriously, I win the medal for suckiest time management skillz.

Before I take off to California for Spring Break for a week, I thought I’d give you all a little update on what I’ve been doing writing and life-wise.

*Day of Sacrifice #6 – which I’m calling Unfavorable for now because I get tired of referring to stories by number - has to be finished by the end of May so I can participate in an Indelibles launch party.  I think six weeks is a totally doable span of time to write a 15K story…I’m just a little freaked out because it’s the last one and I have to wrap up the whole series. I’ve got a beginning and an end and absofrickenlutely no idea what happens in the middle. Guess I’ll figure that out as I go along!

*I’m finally ready to start the next trilogy in the Zellie world. This trilogy also doesn’t have a solid title. I have plenty of ideas flowing, but am having writer’s block when it comes to titles!  Perhaps there will be a contest.  Hmm.  Here’s the working title: Society School for Retroacts (Penny _____ #1, from the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy.)  Doesn’t that have an awesome ring to it? lol

Anyway, I’ve mentioned on Facebook that the main characters name is Penny and that this trilogy would be set in the future. It started out being a decade, then I changed it to twenty years, and now I’m thinking around fifteen.  The initial ideas I had for the books didn’t have enough oomph to last through a whole trilogy. The plot is still in the brainstorming stage, but I’ve definitely got a better hold on where I want it to go. I’m going to try to have this book done by August. (Do not hold me to this as a firm release date!!)

*Back in Time is not the last you are going to hear from Aurelia Lemon! After I finish Unfavorable, this will be what I work on when the Society School book is driving me nuts.

*Also I’m co-writing a contemporary New Adult book with Vicki Keire that is shaping up to be awesome – we’re taking our time with it, but I’ll keep you all updated.

*Also, also, I’m still working on pen name stories!

*Also, also, also, I’m starting a new blog where I’m going to write random essays about weird crap that happens to me. It’s going to be called Be Awesome, Beautiful Dreamer!  Basically, I want to put out another book like The Toilet Business and I need new material.  This idea could and probably will totally bomb, but whatevs, I’ll try some shit, y’know?

*On the personal front, I finally fricking got my dining room painted!! Only took two years y’all. I was on such a painting roll that I did the hallway, the closet doors in the hallway and all the doors.  My mom helped me because she is awesome and because she asked if she could! (DUH.)  All the paint looks great, although I can’t find one of the light fixtures that we took down. I rock at hiding things from myself.

*My old RAV 4 that my husband was driving was thisclose to breaking down on the freeway in a fiery explosion, so we traded that bad boy in and got a used Prius. The hubs is excited to have a new to him car and I’m happy that he won’t be stranded on the 26 during rush hour. We’re taking it to California and are both dorkily stoked to see how much money we save on gas. (Being an adult is super interesting and cool!!) I have had the pleasure of driving it once, on the way home from seeing John Carter.

*I quit smoking.  I know, you didn’t know I smoked. (Unless you’ve read The Toilet Business and then I’m sure you had a good idea that it was still going on.)  Well, I did. First, for a long time and then I had kids and I quit and then I started up again for a short time. I may appear loud and sarcastic and quippy, which I can be, but mostly I’m socially awkward. Smoking gave me something to do, it helped me tick off the time until I could go be alone again.  And when I was alone, it was a reward for getting things accomplished – especially writing.  However, I’ve quit a couple of times before and it’s been easier this time. I’m eating my face off, but eventually I’ll be mellow enough to concentrate on a better diet and exercising. It’s been a week. Go me!

*I got two new tattoos.

My indie publishing philosophy:My kids initials:

It’s been eleven years since I’ve had a new tattoo, so I thought it was high time I got a couple. The pictures are kind of crappy and I’m painfully pale, but you get the gist. :)

I think that’s all I’m going to overshare for today. Ha! I hope you all are enjoying spring and get to have a little break soon.

Posted in: Blogs, E-books, Fiction, Indelibles, indie authors, indie readers, ROW80, Self-publishing, Uncategorized, Writers, Writing, YAY YA, Young Adult ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dissent Cover Reveal

January 20, 2012 7:35 am ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅

It’s Friday and I’ve had one heckuva busy week! I’ve got the plague and more work to do than one person should.  I’ve been writing on Dissent mostly and it’s coming along.  Well, except for the part where I cut 1K words from it yesterday. :)

For motivation and procrastination, I like to peruse cover art.  I saw this photo and knew it would be perfect for Dissent.  Here is the cover:

 

Bwahahahahaha!  Is that mysterious enough for you?  Don’t worry, it will all make sense once you start reading the story.

So, you’re probably wondering when you get to read the story? End of February. I’ve got a bunch of Valentines/ Anthology stuff coming up and then Dissent will be out.  Not much longer!  And, as always, thanks for your patience. I write as fast as I can, but I also have this whole other life where I’m a mom/wife/sister/daughter/friend. Yeah, the mom stuff takes up the most time, but all you parents out there know about that!

Today is also my day to blog over at the Indelibles. I wrote my post for them on Monday, so it’s a lot funnier and more coherent than this one. :)

Have a swell Friday.

 

Posted in: Blogs, E-books, Fiction, Indelibles, indie authors, indie readers, Progress, Self-publishing, Writers, Writing ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Where is my mind? and #ROW80

December 4, 2011 4:26 pm ⋅ 6 Comments ⋅

I capped off a busy week with a super fun breakfast/reunion this morning.  I got together with two friends who went on an exchange program to England with me in 1990 and the guy whose family hosted two of us.  I had a wonderful time catching up with everyone – we talked about work and following your passion and kids and we reminisced and laughed and ate good food. It was one of those “picking up where you left off” experiences, really. And, I scored a roll of Rowntrees Fruit Gums. :)

Then I took the kids to a fun Star Wars birthday party (did you know that there are blow-up lightsabers?) and now we’re all worn out and I finally have time to do my ROW80 update.

I was a blogging fool this week. I participated in the YA Scavenger Hunt – which was a blast!  Many thanks to Colleen Houck for including me. I also wrote a lengthy post that will go up on the 10th for the 12 Days of Christmas Reading.  So, if YA books aren’t you thing and you didn’t get in on the scavenger hunt, you’ll want to make the rounds on 12 Days – lots of giveaways of all types of books.

Writing-wise, this week was a bit of a bust, but I don’t feel too badly about it because I was doing so many other author-centric things.  600 words on Back in Time and 87 on a pen name story on Friday.  I want to finish both stories this week.  We’ll see what happens -  when I think my week is going to be chill it suddenly becomes busy.

Here’s to us all getting off one stop before Crazytown Central.

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Happy Thanksgiving and #ROW80

November 23, 2011 8:31 am ⋅ 10 Comments ⋅

This year my family decided to do something different for Thanksgiving and get out of town. I’m headed to Mt. Hood in a couple of hours to enjoy a few days of eating and sledding and snowball fights.

Here’s where we’re staying:

Yes, that’s the Timberline Lodge – the hotel from The Shining. I fully expect my sister to wake me at least once by wiggling her finger in my face and saying “redrumredrumredrum.”

Our plan for Thanksgiving is to eat ourselves silly and then take the kids out to play in the snow.  We don’t get much  in the valley, and when we do it’s usually covered in a sheet of ice, so my kids have never been sledding before!

Wish me luck, I’m going to be the one driving and I haven’t ever put chains on my tires.  Actually, I haven’t driven in much snow at all since I was a teenager…why did I volunteer for this job again? :)

Enjoy the holiday, American types, and do yourself a favor and sleep in on Friday.  The 500 pack of socks for 10 cents will still be there later in the day.

Row80 update: I barfed up a whopping 3,279 words on a new pen name short story on Monday. I’m using barf in the best sense of the word – I’d been thinking about the story for a while now and wasn’t in the mood to work on my DBC story, so I thought I’d just get the beginning written.  It took off from there!  I probably would’ve stayed up late and written more, but my husband wanted me to watch How I Met Your Mother with him and my eyes were burning something fierce. I added another 400 words yesterday and have left off in an awesome spot so that I’ll be rarin’ to go on it  when I get back from the mountain.

I also completely reorganized all of my files and finally got the epub version of most of my stories up on All Romance.  A fairly productive beginning to the week that I will now completely ruin by being a sloth for three days.  Yippee!!

Have a good one, y’all.

Posted in: Darn good television, E-books, Fiction, indie authors, indie readers, Kindle, Progress, ROW80, Self-publishing, Writers, Writing ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Midweek #ROW80 update

November 16, 2011 1:28 pm ⋅ 7 Comments ⋅

Surprise, surprise, I’m actually writing an update on the correct day! Wish I had something more exciting to post.

I had a few blessed hours to myself yesterday and I added 862 new words to my Death by Chocolate story. Uh, I think.  I also erased whole paragraphs because I decided my main character, Aurelia, needed to be more conflicted about coming home. It’s a time travel story and if she doesn’t miss anything about the other dimension, there’s no real tension in the choice she has to make at the end. So, I’m pleased with where it’s at now.

Currently, I’m on the precipice of the “meet cute” scene and although I want the love interest to be awesome and suave and funny, I think I have to make him a douche.  Maybe a douche that’s still really hot? lol Again, there needs to be more conflict.

On the home front, my husband is sick and my kids are still trying to adjust to the time change. This leads to everyone at my house sleeping at weird hours in several places besides their beds. The hubs is favoring the couch, my daughter the floor, and my son and I spend a lot of time in the recliner with our heads hanging over the side. Super comfy.

I’m excited to go on a mom date with Sarah tonight to see In Time.  For once we’re going to see a movie because it looks good instead of because of all the hot boys that are in it.  Although, there are plenty to ogle in In Time – just not our faves.

I know you’re shocked that I’m seeing a movie tonight and not waiting until tomorrow to check out Breaking Dawn Part 1.  I kind of am too, but we’ve decided to check that mutha out next Sunday.  I seriously can’t wait to see the honeymoon scene.  I powered through the books to get to that part because I’d been promised some sex and then, well, we all know how underwhelming that was. I’m sure I’ll do something dorky like clap and embarrass the hell out of Sarah.  I like to think it’s payback for having to see Valentine’s Day just because Abs McLautner was in it. :)

Okay, time to go douchify a character.  Have a super swell Wednesday.

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