Update

While eating a bagel with bacon and butter.

Update: So I have not sent in my query for my book. For one reason. I panicked and I'm editing my book again. And may do another edit after I move. I want them to like it.
I mean I went to Barnes N Noble and was staring at the thousands of books before me. Picking up each one, reading the back cover, then the first page. Being very selective. Then a chill went through my spine, what if my book becomes just another book that's hidden within the shelves, that will only be touched and placed back.
That book is my baby and I want it to be loved. Just as loved as my first Harry Potter book that's hanging on by some tape.

So on another note, book query's are hard to write. You need to hook sentence. The exciting synopsis of your book, then the info about yourself. Which mine is not very special. Its like...I like to write books. I graduated college with two degrees and took Creative Writing classes. My teacher wanted me to go to grad school for Creative Writing...aren't I special? Silly things like that. But you are supposed to put the other things that you have published. The last thing that I had published was in the 7th grade after winning a few poetry contests.

I also have about five other books keeping me awake at night that I want to write. But I'm trying to be good and finished the trilogy I have been working on since I was 14.(I mean I had the idea when I was 4, but you know how children writings skills aren't up to par yet).

My first book is a quick read, and its written like that. Its to get people to read and enjoy reading. Though I tried to put as much depth and symbolism in it. I want it to be fun. I don't want reading to ever die.

So anyway. This was a long blog post about many items. But you deserve it for waiting so long for a post. 

Book Zombie's ate my Query

I'm currently in a book coma. You know...that feeling you have after finishing a book and still think you are inside it. This coma is terrible this time because the book ended at this nasty cliff-hanger (which I also like doing to my readers, so I guess this is karma). So in short I have been walking around, red eyed clutching the book to me.
 It reminds me of the last hangover I had last summer, which was with The Hunger Games. I wouldn't walk out of the house without a purse or a backpack packed with a few survival items. Which happened to be the three books, a pen, notebook, wallet, phone, child scissors (you know those plastic ones-which I still managed to hurt myself with) and of course....granola bars. As if I was going to be tossed into the arena. (Yes- I was late coming to this series. Being a literary major and having to read three novels a week for different classes *no I'm really not joking, literally three a week* I was very burnt out of books. And writing for that instance because I had finished my second thesis for my paleontology class over the Symmetry of Echinoderms).

This weeks book coma is brought to you by, Insurgent by Veronica Roth. And I've been pleading with my cousins and boyfriend to start reading the series. Thankfully my sister as read them as well. funny story is we both fought over the book at the bookstore and wound up getting two.
I have a hard time stepping out of book comas. I know when Harry Potter was coming out I would stay awake reading it the night I got it until I drained every word in the book into my mind and walked around like a zombie from lack of sleep and from the feeling of needing to read more.

Wait....they should call us Book Zombies. Because we feed on books and once they feed us more, we have an even larger desire to read more books! Maybe instead of the Page Girl...I should be Book Zombie. Its an accurate representation of at least me. I write books staying up all night, forgetting to read, sleep and eat. Then I read books for a break, or at least my own work and that gives me the juice to continue.
Next time you see me I'll be walking around going "Booksssss....Bookzzzz!" Then "Nom" on the library bookshelf.

****

So today I know I did not have any writing advice...just a ramble about book comas. Tomorrows post will be eventful because I'm spending my coma day looking for Literary Agents! Oh what fun it is to write, a query's a long day! Query's are hard and it feels like you justice doing your book justice and you start to panic because you are afraid of rejection because you really suck at writing query's. Like me, who is in panic mode. Its very scary that you are sending your book out in the real world. Because it is your baby and you have watched it grow before your very eyes. And now it is time to send it off into the real world. This must be how my mother feels when I was like..."bye going to learn things!" then rushed off to college and sucked out life's knowledge.
Anyways- yes...panic Ashley is going to keep on trucking through my query and agent listings. Keeping my fingers crossed and singing, "When you Wish Upon a Star".
-The Page Girl

I was recently out of town. Spent a weekend away to get inspiration for a new book I'll be working on. As well as the one I'm editing. I'll post later!

Post it!

I want to talk about the beauty of post-it notes. For me I at least have hundreds running around in my journal that is dedicated to my book, or in the copies that I have printed out already. I have scribbles all over my manuscript. I use the post it notes when I run out of space or I need to make a longer note. I like to also vary the colors by what I need to change, or add. That keeps things organized. You can also you the sticky tabs to mark areas of changes as well.
Its a great way to stay organized and keep track of things when you are writing.

Foods?

It is important for you two eat while writing. And I have been at fault for this myself. I get so into the moment that I forget that I'm hungry.( Or I have to pee). I get to the point where I'm adding a scene where my characters are at supper eating this banquet of food. I write a scene where my own mouth is watering and soon the pains in my stomach being to twist and I start to feel faint and I snap out of my book (sometimes).
So it is very important to eat when writing. If you have to set a timer of all meal times. I luckily have a boyfriend who keeps me on track. But I noticed that as soon as he wasn't here, I forgotten to eat again.

I know that having the pains of hunger and seeing what it feels like is a great tool for evoking that scene in a book. But write it down and eat. Your brain needs food. And your brain as characters in it that need that subsidence. So only starve yourself for a little bit, if that is what you need to write. But eat like a beast when you're done!!!
Also stay hydrated. I get so dehydrated writing because I forget to drink water. I end up with coffee, which isn't going to to help you. Drink water, stay hydrated! Again write what being thirsty is like, then drink if you need too!

I know that I put myself in situations of hunger, thirst and sometimes small amounts of pain (nothing serious....just have someone step on your foot), but you need to keep yourself healthy.

Rain rain go away

Queue: Little April Showers- from Bambi.

Well it is raining in my neck of the woods, and I believe it will be like that all day. But writers I have a secret! You can use this gloomy day to your advantage! 

How????

 *Hmpf* Well my friends I shall tell you my secret.

Sales: Do you have a rainy/gloomy/getting wet and cold scene in your book?
Well I have the right product for you! Its called, go outside and write how it looks, smells and feels.

Customer: But I will melt....

Sales: No you will not! 

Actually if you have a waterproof journal this is an opportune moment to use it! (I would run outside when it rained just to use mine.)

So this is actually a good time for you to feel what goosebumps feel like when they start. What the rain feels like against your skin and how it rolls off your arm. See how you make-up and hair looks after you have been drenched. 

Listen to the noises it makes, is there thunder, the drip , splat and slop of the puddles.

Splash in the puddles! I personally love to do this barefoot!

If you can smell the wet grass, look at what the flowers, leaves and trees do. Record everything and anything you see. Even the cars going by in the puddles. If you are near a body of water or the woods, venture  there and just immerse yourself in the beauty. 

Can you breathe while outside? Is it so humid that you can poke your finger through the air. Or so cold your lungs hurt.

Taste the rain as well. Is it sweet, earthy? (Be careful if its acid rain, check to make sure that you don't live in a region prone to that.)

You know if you have a significant other take them out in the rain with you and kiss them. Have them help act our your scene in your head if you are that far ahead as well!

If you make the effort of feeling what its like, then your reader can relate to it as well. I love when I can actually taste and smell what I am reading even if I have not had it since Thanksgiving dinner. 

If any case, you can use this day to stay inside and write...and write...and write. So happy writing!

And most importantly after you come in from the rain, get warm, drink a warm beverage, put new clothes on, curl up in a blanket and do not get sick!!!! 

(Unless you need to get a cold to write a scene...I'll discuss this another time.)

-The Page Girl

Starving Writer

So this is a problem I have been dealing with personally and I also will admit I don't know the correct answer, but this is how I am and will deal with the situation.

Writing full time, while working full time.

This sounds like I will have no life whatsoever. And I think it may come to that as well. But I have not reached that point yet. At the moment I am unemployed...looking for a full time job, running straight smack into dead ends while watching my bank account creep closer and closer to 0.00.

So for the moment my full time job (not even kidding when I say this) is looking for and applying to jobs. I have spent possibly ten hours a day looking and applying to jobs which puts writing on the back burner. It also has been sucking the creative juices right out of me, as well as making it a chore to write. Writing should never be a chore. You should enjoy it because it is a creative release. Though I know I have seen it as a chore myself and many people have too. But serious we enjoy it no matter how much we complain. If we didn't like it, we wouldn't be doing it.

But back to the main issue...employment and writing. I believe you should set at least three hours aside to write a day. That way you can manage your personal life as well as writing. If you need to sleep less. Because when does a writer ever need sleep. I'm just joking. Please sleep. It is very healthy. (Cough: I am at fault for this trust me.)

If you need to treat writing like part of the workday. Don't do it on weekends. Or do it only on weekends. Or do it every other day, so you can do your chores on the off days.

This is the only solution I have come up with that works for now. I will edit this if and when I discover a new way to manage working and writing. Because well honestly, I've had to live off of powdered lemonade before for a week and a half because I had no money. Its not fun.

Now its back to writing and applying to jobs.

Today's blog will be short. It was going to be about how to stay healthy and fit while writing. But there was a change in my personal plans. I am going go to my Aunt and Uncles house to play with my kid cousins.

This brings up a nice quote that Veronica Roth once said, " I started writing because I decided that I was to old to play in the backyard." 

This is all to true for me, but I get that excuse to play with my cousins. They keep  my mind fresh and young. I know for myself at least that my mind is as playful and imaginative as it was when I was seven. I want to stay curious, to force myself to see things that others don't.

For awhile me and my cousins played a game we called, "Spiderwick". This was based off the Spiderwick books. If my friends saw me running around shouting, "Run! The goblins are coming!" They would have probably laughed. But I saw it not as a game but a way to stay young, keep myself young, and keep the imaginative juices flowing.

So I am off to grab my sword (a long stick found in the woods) and to grab "the book" (the item that the shadow -our villian in our version- wants).

Writers Block

So as I sit here staring at my book on my screen whilst eating blueberry's I have the sudden realization that I have been staring at the same page for four days. Its a writers worse nightmare...writers block....but this isn't just writers block, this is editing block. I'm to that point that I know that I need to edit and I know how to and what to put there. I'm just lazy....this is when I take a step back tell myself...you have to keep moving forward. Look at my bookshelf and tell myself, don't you want your book in other peoples hands?!

NOW WRITE! 

Then I take another blueberry and pop it into my mouth....I need to focus. So now if you are stuck in this rut listen closely...
1. Take a break.
2. Re-read.
3.Look at images
4. Listen to music and meditate.
5. Eat and drink.
6. Do some chores

Now this is a no no at least for me, reading someone else work or watching a movie. Because you start to sound like those writers and not yourself. But if you are in a huge slump. Try it and maybe it'll spark some ideas.

Inspiring Photos

I have discussed changing your scenery to help you right. And sometimes you can place yourself in the forest, or on the ocean for the right mood. But if you cant...there is the wonder of pictures.

Lets talk pictures,
Photography is a wonderful art form that brings the exotic to our living rooms. For writing I suggest that you find a handful of photographs to get the ball rolling and to help formulate scenery. I did this with palaces and castles. In my life I have only been to a handful and needed some help formulating one in my own head. I knew what the inside looked like, but never the outside. I Googled castles and palaces. And then when I found Pinterest I forms a "The Weapon Series" board. On this board I put anything related to my book, imagery, music, clothing in to this board.

I also love going onto art sites such as http://www.deviantart.com and http://www.epilogue.net. As well as search CG art, hand drawn art on Google. Just be exact and safe when searching because you can find nudity.  On these sites I can find the right clothing I wish my characters to wear and then make them my own. Its all just to get a feel about your characters so the reader can see them.

When you do find images that inspire you for your book or short story save the links for later use. Or if you are on Pinterest put them on the same board so you can reference.

I know when I had my creative writing class during my days at the university I found an image of toy dolls, from Mexico, hanging and nailed to trees. Using this image I wrote a short horror story for the class. It was the biggest hit of the semester and I have successfully scared the lives of my classmates from toy dolls forever. (I didn't want to place the image on here because its very...freaky.)

So in the end, pictures are awesome! Find some images of places, clothing and possibly drawn characters (always helps with Fantasy and Science Fiction writing).

-The Page Girl

Well read

This is probably the book that got me to start reading. Though I was writing long before that. But it has been through so much. When I was nine years old I traded my A honor roll ribbon on the bus home from school for this book. Ever since then it has gone on every trip with me. I even had it in my backpack growing up just in case I wanted some light reading. Some people bring pillows and stuffed animals on the plane or car trips when they were younger, I brought this book. And yes I used it as a pillow. I don't know why I find it so comfortable. But as you can see it is well loved, falling apart, has been wet, dried, ripped, written in and torn from years of use.
When I was younger and tried to run away it was the book of choice that I would bring. So we have been through a lot together.

In any case I want to discuss how used and love books are awesome. I have always been one to go into an antique bookstore and rescue the forgotten books I find there. I feel that I am doing a grand favor by saving them from the garbage or fire. These delicate books should be treated with respect and are extremely beautiful. I believe now people are recognizing that beauty and are also adding them to their collection.  (And yes, if I ever received a duplicate of a book even Harry Potter I would gladly accept it into my collection. I have always told my kin that if I got a Harry Potter book for any holiday I would be as pleased as ever.)

Now to the main topic!

**I also know that this is very personal but I always cringe when I see books being abused. As if the abuse is directed at the author. I mean that as in, if you burn the book or cut the book you are in turn doing that to the author. I know that isn't true. But that's just a random thought. 

I mention this because I have recently seen people make purses out of hardcover books. Now I think these are the cutest things I have ever seen! I also really want one. But I still feel a little guilty about destroying the book. Though on the plus side having the book out in public may make others have the desire to buy and read that book again. 

Save the Books! Save the Authors!

The Page Girl

p.s- I'm trying to dig up an old paper on the "Death of the Author" I wrote my Freshman year of College discussing the dying age of written literature. I know this will bring up some bitter topics. But I just want to have my opinion out there.

Creative pics for my creative writers...enjoy!

I love this idea...curling up in the pages of a book. I have always loved the comfort of a hard book under my head when I fall asleep at night...yes literally. My mother has pictures of me sleeping on open books. Most of them Harry Potter because I stayed up all night at the release party and then read as soon as I received the book.

This is a neat idea for when you have ideas in the shower. I used to use a Rite in Rain journal I had from Geology.

I always feel like this. And I want my readers to feel the same.

We all know this is true.

You have no idea. This is amazing on so many levels. 1: Because you shed your soul into your book. 2: Because sometimes your own book makes you cry form the emotions spilling out. 3: Because I make myself cry so I can put that emotion onto the page. 4: Happy tears when you complete the book. 5: How bad and swollen your fingers are after writing intensely for a few days. 6: When you get published..7: I could go on....but you get my drift

This image is true on so many levels. But this is why we write. So others can see what goes on in our heads.

This is cute..I kind of want it. As well as the bar code of my first book tattooed on my back. One day I will post about my philosophy behind that idea. How I am the book and the book is me.=

I believe this is what we all see and feel.

And finally this is just adorable.

All of these images are from my Pinterest page....I dont own any of these

A tea party...

Okay so these images arent a tea party, this is more bridal than anything else. But its a great way to bring ones loves for books to your important day.

I don't own any of these photos. These are retrieved from my Pinterest page. http://pinterest.com/abushwoo/boards/

In the mood

So today I want to discuss how to get into the mood of writing. My favorite way besides going to a similar location is dress, hair and make up.
I personally love dressing in the outfit of the character I am writing. Such as Stefi, she wears all white. I dress in a white soft dress I found that made me think and feel like I am that character. This helps me get into the the right mind frame to write.
Another way is music. I find personally that movie soundracks gets my creative ideas flowing. Personally I love listening to TRON:Legacy. I also listen to many movie trailers from X-Ray Dog, Immediate Music, and Two Steps From Hell. Currently Archangel from Two Steps from Hell is my most played.
I suggest browsing Youtube for music.
 X-Ray Dog: Agnus Dei, Dark Empire, Here Comes the King.
Two Steps from Hell: Archangel, 1000 Ships of the Underworld, Protectors of the Earth
As you can tell I like rich dark tones for writing. But I devise playlists for a scene that I write, listen to it on replay until I have it perfect in my mind. Then I write it down. For example I used TRON:Legacy for a fight scene. This included Arena,Rinzler, Derezzed. The last of the playlist actually comes from the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Litch King. The song is titled Arthas, My Son. This is personally one of my favorites on my playlist.
For sad scenes I combine a mixture of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: Dumbledore's Farewell, TRON:Legacy's, Adagio of TRON, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,The Immolation Scene.
So you see combing music helps mix up the feelings and emotions. There are many ways to mix and match and I have hundreds of songs I could have listed for each scene. But I hope this helps you get started.

A few of my nerdy book items

Hello everyone!
I found this awesome site for all your classical book nerdy needs!!! I hope that I will soon purchase a few items and display them on here!
http://outofprintclothing.com/

On writing...

So I have been a culprit of this I think since I began writing at the age of 4...I have these grand plans of writing and then suddenly I find myself looking at my computer screen to lazy to write them....looking at Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest...etc...

 These website, as much as I love them...suck writing from you. So what I like to do it what I call..."Go off the grid". This meaning I turn off my WiFi...turn off my phone (and if you have an Iphone, put it on airplane mode or Do Not Disturb). This eliminates the need to go on them and forces you to focus. But then again I cant focus at times. So I find myself baking brownies ( I just performed that act, which inspired me to write this), I clean, vacuum, shower, or walk my dog. These few simple tasks get the writing flowing again.

 In extreme cases and I recommend this for everyone, change your scenery. If you are writing a scene in a forest, go to a tree. The ocean or lake, try to find a place by the water. I used to find myself alone in the woods at my grandparents house jotting down ideas, how the sun felt on my face, the sound of the wind through the rustling trees, the fauna I found and the detailed colors they were. The smell of the earth and the creepy crawlies found along them. For me this was inspiration.

 These notes I jotted down were clips and fast things, or large scenes. I tried to have a pen and paper with me anywhere, and now my phone has a notes section I find myself using that as well. There are many pictures of me at Walt Disney World writing while waiting in line for rides, or on the tram. If you have an idea get it down. Because most likely you wont remember it. At least that is how it is for me. For now that is what I have to say on writing. There is plenty more that I will share within the coming posts.

The page girl

Hello fellow followers! I have finally made a professional blog to help fellow writers with hints and tips! As well as update my journey while writing and publishing my book series!