Saturday Mash-Up

In honor of the BIG MOVE, I'm posting a special Saturday Mash-Up at the new blog. Some really funny and inspirational links included. Please stop by and update your links and follow me for updates.

Saturday Mash-Up at Turning The Page

Have a great day!

I'VE MOVED!!!!!!!!!!

Hello all! After seeing how few responses the past few posts were getting and yet seeing the page view go up, I started investigating. Turns out a lot of people were having trouble leaving comments on Blogger, and I'm not the only one. So I finally bit the bullet and transferred the site to Wordpress. Still working out the kinks, but all the posts are there, including today's Thriller Thursday post.

Please come follow me at my new home!

http://stacygreenauthor.com/

Thanks!

--Stacy

Manic Monday: Liebster Awards, Row80, and YOU!

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Our weather here was beautiful, and I got some serious plotting/writing done on The Prophet, so I'm happy.

Today's post is a Mish-Mash (to steal Kelly Hashway's phrase). First, I have to give a huge thank you to the wonderful Jenny Hansen for bestowing me with the Liebster Award.

Liebster is German for "beloved person." Jenny said some very sweet things about me, and I'd like to return the favor. Jenny and her blog, More Cowbell, are always fun and positive. She's a fantastic cheerleader and a great teacher as well.

I'd like to give the Liebster to these blogging friends:

Jessica Patch: Her blog is fun and uplifting, and she's always willing to help out a fellow writer. She recently signed with Rachel Kent of Books and Such Literary, so huge congrats!

J. Thomas Ross: J is lucky enough to have access to some great conferences and writing groups, and she's always willing to share what she's learned.

Donna Galanti: First off, HUGE CONGRATS to Donna for signing with Echelon Press. I'm so happy for her! I want to give her the Liebster because Donna was one of my first "writing" friends. She embraced me when I was just starting out and gave me a lot of great guidance. Her blog is always informative, and she has fun author interviews.

Amber West: Amber not only posts great posts about which TV shows are worth your time, but she also has wonderful Friday Inspiration posts. She recently launched the #Gowithout campaign for charity, and I'm proud to take part.

Finally, I want to mention two great bloggers that already have Liebsters. Catie Rhodes is my critique partner and friend. Her blog is one of my favorites, covering everything from cool 80s movies, Texas history, true crime, and freaky paranormal stories. Tiffany White is another blogging friend, and her blog (along with Amber West's) is the go-to place for finding great, new television shows. Thanks to these ladies for all their support!

Last but not least, it's almost time for the "Rock the ROW" Twitter party! On October 5th, the #Row hashtag will be THE place to be. Jenny Hansen has all the details here. "Rock the Row" is our opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments from #Row80 Round 3, and it's also the kick off for Round 4. If you haven't taken part in Row80, I definitely encourage you to. It's a great way to stay motivated to reach your writing AND life goals.

If you don't know what #Row80 is, take a minute and check out Kait Nolan's post. She's the brain behind #Row80.

Round 4 begins today, October 3rd, and runs through December 22. That's 80 days to get some serious work in. I went easy on myself in Round 3, so I'm upping the stakes this time.

Yes, it's Calvin and Hobbs day at Turning The Page. :)

My Round 4 #Row80 Goals:

Writing:

Begin querying Light and Dark by November 15. Some of this hinges on my final critique partner getting the time to read the MS, but I'm determined to have sent FIVE queries out by the end of Round 4.

Write a minimum 3000 words/week on my new suspense thriller, The Prophet. If I can manage that pace, the first draft will be about halfway complete by Christmas.

Continue to blog three times a week and work on spreading the word about Thriller Thursday. Those posts really tie into my genre, and I want to add focus to them.

Continue to support my blogging/writing friends on their individual journey's.

Life:

Stick to my healthy eating schedule. Do a better job of watching my carbs.

Continue with yoga. Build workouts to at least four times a week.

Spend more time reading with my daughter.

Focus on the positive things in my life: friends, family, my chance to write.

Focus on the stuff I CAN change about myself instead of worrying about what I can't.

What about you? Will you be joining #Row80?

Manic Monday: What's In A Name?

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's post is going to be short but hopefully fun. There are a lot of great blogs out there with awesome names, and I want to know how you came up with yours.

Here's the story behind my blog name, and it's not what you think. Turning The Page isn't a reference to writing or reading. It's actually a nod to Bob Seger's classic song Turn The Page. Why? Because it's the first song my husband and I ever danced to.

Back in August of 1998, he was still my boyfriend, and we'd gone to the Iowa State Fair with a friend. After spending too much time in the beer tent, we headed across the road to a hole-in-the-wall bar called Gene's. I knew Rob was too far gone when he wanted to dance, but I was happy to go with the flow. Turn The Page came on, and he pulled me onto the dance floor, something he'd never done in several months of dating. He had two left feet and sang off key, but the look in his eyes as he stared into mine was something I'll never forget. That was the moment for me. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

When it came time to name the blog, I couldn't think of a better title. That night propelled me into a new stage in my life, and so did blogging. Granted, one is bit more meaningful than the other, but you get the idea.

Now I want to know about your blog names. There are so many cool ones out there: Full-Tilt Backwoods Boogie, A Day Without Sushi, Atoll Annie and the Non-Specific Rim, the Ooo Factor, More Cowbell, just to name a few. How did you come up with them? Do they have special meaning?

SheWrites Blogger Ball #5

Hello all you She Writer's! I'm Stacy, and I'm currently editing my suspense thriller Light and Dark, as well as mapping out a second book, The Prophet. I'm a SAHM mom with a precocious five-year-old, so my writing time is always jammed in between play time. I love to read and blog, and my topics tend to range from the macabre to the silly. Hope you enjoy!

#ROW80 Update & Why Critique Partners Are So Important.

This week started out rough and ended well. I had to face facts that a scene I thought was fairly solid didn't work and come up with an alternative. At first I was pretty down because I'd spent a lot of time working out that scene, having already dumped its predecessor. I had a couple of days where I questioned my abilities and had a pity party. Thanks to my critique partner, I was able to pull myself up.

If you don't have someone to at least bounce ideas off of, you need to get them, stat. A good critique partner won't try to write you book, but they won't hesitate to say a scene didn't work. A good critique partner will also help you figure out what's wrong with the scene (or scenes) and brainstorm ideas to fix it. Without a critique partner, I wouldn't have known anything was wrong. I've read the book so many times my mind processes things as though they're perfect. I'm so thankful she was there to say "this isn't working."

As for my #ROW goals, I'm happy with how the week turned out. I've been able to edit three chapters of Light and Dark and work through some important issues. I also wrote 1000 words of a new scene today.

The edits are moving along nicely. If I stay at this pace, I should have the first round done by my goal of Sept. 19.

I also kept up with my blog posts and definitely RT'd a lot of blogs. I was able to spend some time commenting as well.

This next week is going to be shortened as we are going out of town on Wednesday afternoon, but I hope to get in my blogs and through another chapter before we leave.

How did your #ROW80 week go?

And if you haven't joined the challenge, you should. More about it here.