It's Okay to be Bad at Grammar

Writers write, so they should be grammar wizards...right?

W-R-O-N-G

There is always that awkward moment when.....

"Should there be an apostrophe here?"

"I don't know, ask Alea. She's a writer so she'll know."

And then I say, "Uhh, I don't know.  Google it."

I'm going to say it now that I am not a grammar genius.  At all.  I didn't really know much about independent and dependent clauses until we went over it a couple of weeks ago in English class.

Writer's are storytellers, not a walking book of grammar rules.  We aren't always good at grammar.  It's okay.

IF YOU WRITE YOU ARE A WRITER.  Period.

I now step down from my soap box.  :) Keep writing, you Amazing Genius Writer.

-Alea

Liebster Award

Rachael from The Art of Writing for Him and Anna from Thoughts of Anna S. Brie have both tagged me for the Liebster award.  Thank you so much, ladies!  :) You are both awesome!

The Rules

- Thank the blog who nominated you and link back to them.

- Nominate up to 11 other bloggers to receive the award.  To be eligible, they need to have 200 followers or less.

- Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.

- Tell your readers 11 random facts about yourself.

- Give your nominees 11 questions to answer on their blog when they post their nomination.

11 Random Facts About Me

1. Lemonade is one of my favorite drinks.

2. I want to make all my favorite books into movies that match the books exactly.

3. I am in a ton of fandoms.

4. I love helping get the word out about books.

5. I am constantly trying to get people to read the Ilyon Chronicles, Out of Time Trilogy, and Tales of Goldstone Wood.

6. My favorite pizza is chicken bacon.

7. I don't play any musical instruments.

8. I didn't start reading YA books until I was 14.

9. I like homeschool SO MUCH better than public school.

10. Most of my friends are online writer friends.

11. Oatmeal cookies are my favorite.

Rachael's Questions

1. What is your favorite blog?

Just ONE?  Goodness, there are so many amazing blogs out there.  If I have to pick one, I would have to say A Writer's Faith.

2. If you could have any kind of computer, what type would you choose?

MacBook Pro.  I love to make and edit movies, and this is the perfect computer for it.  :)

3. Do you have a critique partner?

Not yet, but I would love to find one soon.  :)

4. How often do you blog?

I blog every Monday (with the exception of cover reveals and blog tours).

5. Do you watch action movies or romance more?

Probably action, if you can encompass science fiction and fantasy in with that.

6. How often do you listen to music?

I listen to music a lot.  It helps me focus.

7. Do you plot out a novel before you write it?

Somewhat.  I do a mixture of plotting and pantsing, which means I write a loose outline and then start writing.

8. Have you ever eaten bison?

Nope.

9. What is your favorite type of chips?

Potato chips.

10. Have you ever done something others deemed crazy?

Definitely!  (Reading a book in a couple of hours is a great example.)

11. If you had to choose between your favorite drink or your favorite food, what would you choose?

Food (preferably pizza).

Anna's Questions

What is your favourite book of the Bible?
Psalms.

Do you like math?
Definitely not.

What is your favourite thing to do outside?
Read a book.  :)

What is your dream house?
My dream house is Elrond's house in Rivendell.  *sigh* I can dream...

Who do you look up to most?
I look up to my mom the most.  She is such a great role model.  She is always telling my sister and I to trust God, even though we are going through a rough time.  And she trusts God herself.  Thanks, Mom.  :)

What is your favourite word?

What are your five most prized possessions?
1. My Bible.
2. My iPad.  All my writing is on there.  I don't know what I would do without it.
3. The books that have been signed. 
4. ALLLLLLL MY BOOKS
5. My TARDIS.  No, seriously.  The 5th one is probably my blog.

Is there a question you really wish someone would ask you?
Yes.  :)  "Would you let us publish your book?"

What would you do if you had one month to live?
I would travel, demand authors send me the rest of the books in the series (even if they aren't finished), publish a book, and most importantly spend time with family and friends.

If you could live under water, would you?
Underwater is both cool and scary.  I'm not sure.

Light or dark blue?
Dark blue because it's more mysterious.

My Questions for You

1. Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit?

2. If you had to choose, would you rather be blind or deaf?

3. If you could only bring one thing from home on a trip, what would it be?

4. Describe your dream vacation.

5. What is your favorite song?

6. What is your favorite blog?

7. What is your biggest time waster?

8. When do you write your blog posts?

9. Do you judge a book by it's cover?

10. Favorite number?

11. Are you an animal lover?

If you want to answer these questions, consider yourself tagged. :)

Adela's Curse COVER REVEAL

I do apologize for not posting on Monday.  :) I do hope you forgive me.  I do have a very good reason, however.  I am participating in Claire Banschbach's cover reveal for her new book, Adela's Curse!

Isn't it a beautiful piece of art?
I just love the drawing.  :)

About the Book

A witch and her master capture a young faery and command her to kill their enemy. Adela has no choice but to obey. If she does not, they will force the location of her people’s mountain home from her and kill her. To make matters even worse, the person she is to kill is only a man struggling to save his dying land and mend a broken heart. 

Count Stefan is a man simply trying to forget the woman he loves and save a land crippled by drought. When a mysterious woman arrives at his castle claiming to be a seamstress, he knows she is more than she seems. 

Adela enlists the help of Damian, another faery, to try and delay the inevitable. He insists she has a choice. But with the witch controlling her every move, does she?

About the Author

Claire Banschbach was born and raised in Midland, TX, the fourth of eight children.  She was homeschooled through high school and is now a proud member of the Texas A&M University class of 2014. She is currently working on her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. She continues to write in her spare time (and often when she doesn’t have spare time). She hopes her strong foundation in God will help to guide her writing.

You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and her blog.

A Quick Announcement

This week, I will be posting on Thursday.  Have a great week until then!

-Alea

5 Writerly Things That Scare Me

We all have fears.  Sometimes they hold you back from doing things you want to.  Today I'm going to be open with you and share 5 writerly things I fear.

1. Historical fiction.  

Here I am, sitting my little fantasy cave writing whatever my imagination comes up with.  None of the "facts" in my story are wrong because my genius brain I made them up.  I do aspire to write a historical fiction, or at least a historically based fantasy someday...but I'm scared of getting facts wrong.

2. Comedy.  

I love funny things (as long as they're clean).  Seriously, one of my favorite things to do is laugh.  But...writing comedy seems like it takes an extremely clever person to write it.  Here is another "someday".  (I'm just curious though, does it take writers a long time to come up with funny stuff?)

3. Pitching my book.  

I'm a shy introvert who stumbles over words when talking to strangers.  Yeah...pitching my book terrifies me.  Not to mention that I don't know how I'm going to initiate the pitch.  Do I start by saying, "Do you mind if I pitch my book to you?"  Or do I start when they ask, "What is your book about?"  There are so many "what if" scenerios...

4. Reviewing a book I didn't like.  

I know that this book came from the author's heart and was rewritten and revised over and over again.  What if the author sees my review?  What if I stop someone from buying his or her book?  

5. Editing.  

Because editing is overwhelming and involves tearing my "baby" apart to put it back together again.

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What are some of your fears when it comes to writing and publishing?

So You Want to be a Blogger... ||| Finding Your Niche

You know you want to blog about something, but you aren't sure what you want to blog about.  You want to make sure your content is unique and that you actually like what your topic is.  (Why blog if you hate your topic?

So...what is a niche?  According to Dictionary.com, a niche is "having a specific appeal".  In essence, this is the point of your blog.

Here are some questions to get you started figuring out what it is.

1. What are you passionate about?

Do you like writing stories?  Cooking?  Fashion?  DIY?  Sewing?  Lifestyle?  Fitness?  (More possibilities here)  A combination of a few things?  Write about what you love and make it passionate.  It will show through your writing and make people want to read it.

2. Will you still be passionate about this topic in the future?

It's going to take a little while to grow an audience.  You want to make sure that you will stay interested and passionate about this topic for a while to grow your audience.  In addition, if you are going to spend hours designing and writing on your blog, why would you want to throw it away in a year or two?

3. How will your blog be unique from others in the same niche?

There are a TON of blogs in the same niche as you.  (Seriously.  Anyone can start a blog who has an email and Internet access.)  I bet I follow at LEAST 50 other writing blogs.  There are even more than that too!  According to Google, as of September 2014, there are over 1 billion websites.  That's pretty much 1 website for every 7 people.  Can you believe that?  With so many websites people can go to, you HAVE to make yours stand out.

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How did you find your blogging niche?  Have any tips to share?  Any questions for bloggers?