Debates

No, not the presidential kind...

I've been busy working on the BLUE series and wondering how dark and off the edge I should go. My friend and I have gone back and forth debating about things, and I'm glad I have him to talk to outloud about this!  Our debates are about where the point is where I allow my characters a chance for escape or relief, or if I should keep pushing them and pushing them until they only have room to do something extremely drastic that isn't exactly moral or ethical.

Ideally, I want my characters to do the right thing, but is my job to write what I wish would happen, or what *needs* to happen? I wrote out the part in question, and it's quite gritty and icky, and I actually really really like it.  It makes the story deeper, darker, and in a way more realistic--because not everything in life works out nicely and neatly, all boxed up in a pretty little package that's all sparkles and glitter. (^_^;)  But then I wonder what my parents would think..!  Will this set more conservative readers on edge? Most likely, YES.

It's not me, it's you

It's not me, it's you., a photo by Andrephia on Flickr.

If BLUE was a picture book... This would be on page 16 :)

Narrating

Cole read and recorded the first chapter of Blue: Secrets, and it sounds so good.  I got chills.  :)

NaNoWriMo!

So, in case you didn't hear, I finished my NaNoWriMo novel this year!  It's about 56,000 words long, and I love it!  It's about a 1920's girl whose family went broke, and now she's stuck in her country home with nothing to do, so she goes crazy and runs away to Chicago to have some gambling fun! 

This story came from a dream I had a year and a half ago, specifically one part of one of the last chapters, which of course I can't tell you about!  I woke up thinking, dang, I want to write that.  My boyfriend had woken me up right before the scene finished though, so I didn't get to find out what happened! ARG! But I knew anyway, I just wanted to 'see'/dream it :)

So after edits and multiple drafts, I will send out queries for it. Wahoo!

Book 2

I saw the new Alice in Wonderland movie on TV the other day, and loved just listening to the music for the credits. Alice's Theme by Danny Elfman. He rocks!  Sometimes I think certain songs would work for my book, and although this is "Alice's" Theme, I love the feel of it, the urgency of it. :)

No Excuse!

Haven't posted for awhile!  Why?  Oh, you know, the usual: work, work, friends, work, game nights, hair playing nights. :)  Yeah.

But that's no excuse!  I need to step up my game here. I need to post more often. I need to stop saying 'need to' and change it to 'WILL!'  I WILL post more often!  I WILL keep writing!

Yours truly,

J.D. Seibel

   ~~Jenna waking up in the field~~

It's Emma!

Remember when I said that Emma Roberts has that Jenna look sometimes?

I then found this picture:

I'm such an idiot, I didn't realize it was the same person...! To me, she looked so different in these two photos.  And then I saw her in an interview on Jay Leno and liked her even more for Jenna. :D 

Then I was looking around on a HungerGames fansite, and they had this guy for Gale:

Adam Gregory

And I thought: 'hmmm, he could almost be Michael!' 

Clothes

So in my writing, fashion and clothes play a big part. Well, maybe not 'big', but, I definitely go into detail. Because, hey! I'm a Project Runway nerd. :)

And so some of you may be wondering what Jenna's dresses look like. Or, maybe you just don't give a *shirt*, but, whatever. I care. : ) (pardon the wheezywaiter reference, I couldn't help myself!!! click on the link there to watch his latest video, and you might be confused if you're not an avid watcher like I am, but he's pretty funny most days, and the editing on his videos rocks! At the end of each video he puts a 'wink' from a viewer that sends one in.)

Anyways!! I describe a few dresses in BLUE, and people seem to have a lot of different ideas about the style I try to convey. BUT! Never fear! When I was in Japan (where a lot of my writing was done) in 2008, I drew pictures!!! :D

K, so this one is the dress that Jenna wears to go salsa dancing with Spencer. :) It's red, and the sash is black.



And this is the one that she gets when she goes shopping with Ruth in Paris. Oooo~ It's supposed to be a deep royal blue.



This is the dress that Ruth buys for that same occasion. It's a lovely light lavender. (sorry this pic isn't very clear.. My camera was freaking out.)


And this one--wait, what? How'd this get in here..? :) This is Ben and Jenna in class. Hehe ~

This last dress is the one that Jenna wears for the Charity Gala Event thinger. The collar is very similar to this photo.

And her dress is something like this. But prettier. And longer. And ...more awesomer? :)

So! Yay for clothes!!

Lately..

Sometimes I wonder, what if I don't ever finish Book 4 and I DIE tomorrow?!?!? Then no one will know what happens!!!! That would be SO tragedies. (um, if you don't get that joke, then you're obviously not a nerdfighter. heh!)

Oh, so I FINALLY got to read The Hunger Games, and WHOA, it's so good! And then I was looking for pictures of who people think look like the main character Katniss, and I found this:

She could ALSO almost, almost, sort of sort of be Jenna. :) Course, she needs to be a little older and have black hair, not brown, but YEAH! I still haven't found just the right person to be her yet. guh... I look at pictures on Flickr and find things that look like my book, but one step at a time! Let's get published!

I made a slideshow!

So I made my very first slideshow! Pardon it if it's not that great, but I was listening to music and had my folder of pics relating to my book open and going on a slideshow and was like, "people need to see this!" So I made it! It doesn't have the particular song I wanted, because iTunes is dumb, but it's got my second choices there. :)

So if you've got a minute or two, or ..six.. then have a sit, listen to some cool music, and look at some awesome pictures!

Last night was one of those nights where the creative inspiration gates were wide open! I was listening to some music, thinking about my books, and then just started to pick up where I had left off in Book 2.5. It started out slow, and then it was like BAM! I *knew* what I needed to write, and knew where it was going and was so excited about it! So excited, in fact, that I stayed up until 1 am.... oops! I only went to bed then because my head was heavy and I was super tired. But I could've written so much more if I'd been awake.

I love those moments! :)

Character Lookalikes (to some extent)

Who is Jenna?

I had a very good friend just recently read Book 1, and as she loves to draw, asked me who Jenna looks like since I have pictures of people I think look like some of my other characters. Well, honestly, I haven't found a perfect match. Sometimes I see people randomly, at the grocery store, at my job, or when I'm walkin' around, and I'm like, "Oh WOW, that is Jenna!!!" But unfortunately I never get pictures of any of them because 1. that would be creepy and 2. They are long gone by the time I think about it.

So! I've built up my collection of "Book Pictures", and there are a few who have some of Jenna's traits, but no one person adds up to who she really is yet. Here are the candidates thus far though:

Emma Roberts:

I saw this picture of her and was like, 'whoa! that might be Jenna!' But then I realized that Emma played Nancy Drew in the new Nancy Drew movie, and that kinda turned me off to her. But she's kinda got the look, although I'm not sure she's tall enough, or has a hard enough look to her. Maybe when she's older?

Next: Kara Housten
I don't know how I found her, but I saw this picture of her and liked it for Jenna. Other pictures I didn't like so much, but this one sort of works. But Kara has perhaps *too* hard of facial features...

Next: I don't remember who this is, but she was on Gossip Girl for a few episodes and I thought she might be able to pull Jenna off. But no, she looks too soft. Jenna does not have little girl dimples! :)


Last: my favorite picture to date! And it's one of the first I found. :)
Natalie Portman:
Now, Natalie looks very much like the softer, feminine side of Jenna in this photo. I love it! But in other pictures and watching her in movies, I don't think she would really fit. Natalie's smile is too big, haha :)

Alright, now for the good stuff!!!!

Who is Ben?

My first choice will always be:
Zac Efron!!! Look at those EYES!

But if he doesn't want it, then Chase Crawford can handle it ^_^

From the very beginning, when I was first writing, Ben was fashioned after Zac Efron.  But I think both actors DEFINITEly got have the look!!

There you have it!

I have yet to find a Michael. Really, no one is him. Maybe when what'shisface who plays Percy Jackson in that movie grows up, maybe he could handle the role of Michael, but I don't know. He's still young so I can't really tell. Actually, it was funny, I just saw that movie tonight and thought, at the very end, "Those two would make a cool Jenna and Michael!" haha, but then I thought, "nawww, the girl is too...tooo..." , well now I don't remember, but she wasn't exactly right, although she did have REALLY blue eyes! :)

Maureen Johnson on How to Get An Agent

Maureen Johnson, author of manymany YA novels, posted a video through vlogbrothers today on how to get an agent. :) And although I think I knew this already, it's always good to hear it again.



She also posted a blog about "how to get an agent", and it's sarcastic in that everything she tells you do, actually you are NOT supposed to do! (she says this at the end, so while you read the post you're like, "huh? i AM supposed to that?" and then you find out, "NO! DON"T DO ANY OF THIS!!!") haha

http://maureenjohnson.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-write-query-letter.htm

Just some stuff

Sometimes I freak out about how I have to be an expert on fencing, horses, horseback riding, warfare and all types of crazy crap! (not really crap, but i just had to throw in that Strong Bad reference. ^^) Luckily, I have 'internets' and a boyfriend who helps me out sometimes.

I'm always on the lookout for pictures that remind me of my book, and lately I've found some good ones! Some of them were like BAM, that is IT!
Like this one. I really like it, although I probably couldn't tell you exactly why.


I also found this pic online that I thought was cool for an animated pic. :)

I did a search for castle ruins and found this one. So cool!

All of Jenna's traipses through the woods make this picture just about perfect for the book!

Yes, the girl here has red hair, but I LOVE the tone and feel of it!

A beautiful vista in Scotland~

Just a girl, in a forest, wearing clothes that don't fit with the forest. :) Love it!

I really like this road! I can just see Jenna and Michael and co. walking down it!

So that's all for now. I'll try to start writing more. Because as you write, then you have more inspiration for MORE and then even MORE! :D

Melissa sent this to me today, and I love it just as much as she does~

Reading

Another thing contributing to my need/want to write, is that I've been reading 'Hood' by Stephen Lawhead. It's a retelling of Robin Hood, and I'm only on the third chapter, but I really like it! And it's good to use for 'research.' :D

And to celebrate, here's a Book 2.5 quote!!

"Spiteful wretch!"

Who says it? Can't tell ya!! :D

Thank you Erica!

Erica and I just finished reading Book 1 together.  It was great to read out loud again, and fix tiny things I STILL hadn't noticed (after HOW many times reading?? GOSH!), and after it was finished, I just could not. stop. smiling!! I LOVE IT!

And lol, Erica was totally into it, and at the end scene, she goes, "JENNA IS AN IDIOT." HAHAhhaa, and I totally agree, but at the same time, Erica does not know what I know, mwahahahahhaa!

YAAAYYY! I love writing!!

Current mood: ^____^

Progress

My thoughts on writing: Oh man, it's fun! :D 

Here's a quote from the Book 2.5:

Jenna: “All I’m saying is that it doesn’t seem right to love your enemy, and hate the ones you work so hard for.”

Playlist Reader's Guide

For those of you who have finished reading Book 1, or for those who are in the process of reading it now, I am making a guide as to when/where/how/why songs in the playlist fit in. YAY!

You can refer to this blog entry while you read, won't that be FUN!? I KNOW. :D


**SPOILER ALERT** If you haven't read the book, and don't want the plot to be spoiled, DO NOT read the Playlist Reader's Guide!!!!!


Here goes:

1. The Great Escape: this song is for the Spencer Era, when she thinks everything is going spectacularly. ... heh...

2. Show Me Tha Money: getting ready for a date~

3. Who Knew?: the break-up

4. Stranger: referring to Spencer. (what a jerk!)

5. Gone: again, referring to Spencer. Jenna is GONE. out of there! HA!

6. Since U Been Gone: can you guess that these are all break-up songs?

7. Fighter: finally, Jenna realizes that the experience made her stronger. SHe's now a fighter~!

8. Crawling: she still needs the rage music sometimes...

9. Happy Ending: yup, Spencer is a carcass fit for hounds.

10. The Garden: just a good song. She was broken up about it, but now...

11. Way Back Into Love: Ben helps her along. awwww~

12. Move Along: another one referring to Ben.

13. Pop Princess: how Ben feels about Jenna sometimes (although it's not from his point of view, this gives a little insight.)

14. Bubbly: Jenna feels so happy with him!

15. Blackbird:  Technically this is in Book 2, but I really like this song, and I listened to it a lot while writing.

16. Cristofori's Dream: another one I listened to a lot to get me in the mood. This goes at the very first time Jenna sees Michael, and probably any other time.

17. January Rain: soothing, eh?

18. (Pride and Prejudice) Credits: I guess this should go at the beginning of the playlist, but... meh. Anything from Pride and Prejudice helped me write that first encounter she had, waking up in the field.

19. Spell: Jenna seems to put spells on anyone she comes across (figuratively, that is). Michael and Ben are both spellbound by her.

20. Somewhere Only We Know: Um, oops, this is probably supposed to be in Book 2.

21. Stand My Ground: When Jenna makes up her mind to tell Ben her secret.

22. X&Y: This is from Ben's point of view. Basically the whole time he's with her. And maybe more so especially at the end.

23. Love Is Dead: heh heh heh, this goes at the make-out scene at the charity dinner. Why? Because its drive is PERFECT, and it also foreshadows what both Jenna and Ben are feeling. :D HEH!

24. It Ends Tonight: when Jenna decides Ben is not for her. oh how sad!!

25. **secret song** : I can't tell you what the song is, cuz it will give things away!

26. Roadside:  The break-up. Both still definitely feel things for each other. Hmmm~



Well, that's it! I flippin' love having a soundtrack to the book!

DONE!

Mom and I just finished editing Book 1!! YAYY! It was really fun reading it out loud to her, because I think a lot more can be gotten from it by the way I intend to have things said. For example, "what?" can be read quite a number of different ways, and mom got to hear firsthand what specific way that was! Isn't that COOL? I KNOW. :D

So next up for reading the now scribbled on and edited firstish draft is Erica, who was halfway done. Then dad, if he's up for it. Then when I go visit Emily, she can read it! And Nathan too, if he wants. (He read the first chapter at Christmastime and that really meant a lot to me.) :)

What's next? Query letters!

I work on Book 2 almost every day, and think about it CONSTANTLy. It's getting more complicated, and I'm getting frustrated and excited all at the same time!

Ben's Car!!

So I am watching 24 right now, and GUESS WHAT! Jack Bauer just hijacked someone that was driving Ben's Cadillac CTS! WOO! That was exciting~

haha, i am a dork!