On My Favorite Day of the Year

Happy Halloween, to all my wonderful readers and followers. I love All Hallows Eve as much as I love chocolate, but not as much as I love chocolate ON Halloween. :)

In celebration of this wonderful day, the munchkin dressed up as a pirate princess, the niece went as an 80's flash dancer, the Marine got creative  as a civilian and I channeled my inner dark Muse.

All went well with friends nearby, the munchkin and her best friend Dylan made out on the candy front, and were adorable together. He of course was dressed as a mini- Marine.

As a family we celebrated the wiccan new year tonight, and as I prepare for bed I say a prayer to the spirits on the otherside of the thin veil.

This is a wonderfully magickal night that I look forward to every year. The traditions my family builds each year will be another memory for the niece and munchkin.

As one year ends and another begins I am excited to begin new projects, and make changes.

What did you do for Halloween?

R.S.

On Finding My Niche Part Deux

For a while now I've been following the blog, Glass Cases  (if you're a  writer you must take a look)  and the author, an associate Literary Agent for Curtis Brown wrote an interesting post that caught my attention.

I've been fighting with myself for a month now (or possibly forever) about what genre I want to write. I finally settled on Young Adult, not because I was settling, but because it was what I wanted.

Now, as long as I've been writing I've always worried my characters were 'too old' sounding for their ages. That my seventeen year old protagonist was too mature. Though honestly, I wasn't exactly making fart jokes and watching the Simpsons when I was seventeen, and neither was my niece who is eighteen going on thirty.

Maybe it's a family thing?

I digress.

After reading the post in Glass Cases and this post, it got me thinking. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong. Maybe it's okay to write 18-25 year old protagonists.

 Maybe it's okay to put the Adult into Young Adult.

Maybe I'm using maybe a lot.

It's possible.

When I first started writing I wrote a novel about a 21 year old college student who was a government assassin in her 'spare' time. It didn't fit with YA and it didn't fit with the 'Adult' marketplace because women in the age range of 35-50 didn't relate.

Is it possible then, to write for the actual "Young Adult"?

Granted, when I was in high school I would have loved to read novels of college students, and people in their twenties. For that matter, I still prefer to read about younger protags. I have a difficult time losing myself in books with a protagonist who is in her late 30's. Maybe because after 25 everything seems to stay the same anyway?

What are your thoughts on putting the Adult in Young Adult? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

R.S.

On the Secret Circle

Back in 1992 L.J. Smith wrote the first novel in the Secret Circle series. I only read the first book recently when I rediscovered the series because of the new show on the CW.

I read all four of the novels in two days, and loved every minute of it. About the time Diana was introduced with her sunlight and moonlight hair, I realized I'd read it before.

Then again, I've read so many books I can't remember half the titles, and the descriptions are so generic most of the time I couldn't tell from them either.

Now, am I the only one surprised a series written in the 90's is just now becoming a television series?

Granted, aside from the title, the names and the fact the characters are witches, the show is nothing like the books. (In fact, half of the characters aren't even in the show).

I've come to expect this from Hollywood.

Shows and movies are rarely like the amazing novels they were adapted from.


Okay, those fans of Janet Evanovich and the Stephanie Plum series might point out that the movie rights for One for the Money were purchased in the 90's when the novel first came out, and the movie is just now-- kind of-- coming into 'life'.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know.

R.S, why should it be any different with television shows?

Uh, maybe because it's television?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the show for what it is.

A teen drama full of angst, stupidity, and sex. It is the CW after all. It's like Buffy without the Vampires or the kickass slayer abilities.

** Side note** If you've seen the show, did you notice each episode seems to begin with the same two people in bed together? 


What books or series of books have you read that you'd like turned into movies or shows, or wish hadn't been touched by the hands of Hollywood? When it comes to the screen play, where does creative license end and butchering begin?

R.S.

On Finding My Niche

The other day I posted about branding myself, and you can read that post here.

While branding myself is important, I realized that at some point in the near future I was going to need to decide who my target audience is. 

Would I write for young adults or for women in the 30+ range. 

I enjoy reading both types of novels, so obviously I couldn't make my decision based on what I read, but maybe I could decide to write both. Maybe in a few months or years I'll have an amazing story that needs to be written that won't work for YA. 

So I'll write it, and I'll use a different name, and I'll really be able to work on that multiple personality disorder. 

For right now though, I've come to a decision. 

I'm going to focus on YA, because that is what  I enjoy most. 

*sigh*

Now I feel better. :)

R.S.

On Branding Myself

Before you ask, no I'm not talking about taking a hot poker and burning a design into my skin. I like tattoos--obviously, since I've got several of my own, but I draw the line at burning my flesh. 

What I am talking about is #mywana.

The other day I read We Are Not Alone: The Writer's Guide to Social Media, an amazing little read by the Social Media Maven, Kristen Lamb .

Of course, reading this has caused me nothing but grief.

Okay, maybe not grief.

 It is after all, an amazing book, full of insight and knowledge that anyone looking to make use of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and (gasp!) the dinosaur known as Myspace, should purchase, read, and use wisely.

In WANA, Kristen makes sure you know you are never alone during your journey toward social media excellence, and I learned so much from reading her words. 

First, being that I've been going about this blogging thing all wrong.

I've got to brand myself.

Just do it.

Sure, that's been taken already, but I was smart enough to take R.S. Emeline a year ago.

I did that much right at least.

I branded a name. The name that will go on my books, and the name that is attached to my twitter account so everyone who follows me or sees my tweets will associate the awesome words with R.S. Emeline.

Now of course, there is more to do.

I've been blogging daily for a while now, and there have been times where the blogs were good, and others when the posts were only so-so.  I want to change that.

I haven't settled on whether I'm going to be a Young Adult author, or a Romantic Suspense author. Sometimes I think I'd like to be a writer like Meg Cabot, or maybe Nicholas Sparks.

Regardless of what genre I choose or chooses me, one thing Kristen recommends is writing subject focused blog posts. This also means I'll be working on quality, not quantity. It's likely I won't be posting daily anymore, but expect to see posts once or twice a week.

As always, if something happens that I find amusing or interesting, I'll post those tidbits as well, but it's time to focus my writing and my priorities for social media.

I'm a writer.

I'm an author.

Hear my warrior yell.

R.S.

If you're confused by social media, or want to get more bang for your tweet, check out Kristen Lamb's Warrior Writer's Blog. You won't regret it. You'll laugh, you'll smile, and you might realize social media is something you can make work for you. :)

On Somewhat Wordless Wednesday

King Furry
Isn't he beautiful?

On A Day Off From Blogging

I didn't blog today. Not because I've suddenly decided to give up writing to become the world pole vaulting champ, but because it's October and I got to start my Halloween decorating. *squeeee*

I even have ghost lights around the Windows. Inside of course. What good would they do me outside where I couldn't enjoy them?

R.S

What are your favorite decorations for Halloween? Is October 31 as awesome to you as it is to me?

On Music in Our Family

Music has always been a huge part of my life.

It's rare that I'll go an entire day without listening to some form of it.

My ring tones are songs.

I randomly burst into made up songs-- like a bad  horrible amazing musical.

Eat your heart out, Disney.

I listen to music when I share, when I workout, and when I do my hair.

My phone has hundreds of songs on it.

I have an ipod for the car filled with hundreds of songs, and an ipod for when I want to tune the world out.

If none of the music I have fits my mood, I'll go to grooveshark.com and listen to streaming music there.

Sometimes, like when I was pregnant with the Munchkin, I'd watch CMT and GAC--just to hear the music.

Itunes is my Kryptonite.

I'd go as far as to say it's E-V-I-L.

All those songs at my fingertips, just begging me to download them.

*Sigh*

The Niece and I will dance around the house to anything that catches our fancy, and we'll laugh and giggle like loons as the Munchkin mimics us.

It's a happy feeling.

Music has started showing itself in another way in our home.

The Munchkin will randomly break into her own songs, and she'll sing them anytime, any place.

Her favorite venue seems to be the dinner table, but she seems to enjoy the potty equally well.

Maybe it has to do with the acoustics in the bathroom?

Recently, the Munchkin and the Marine had an impromptu jam session in our living room.

Mary Had a Little Lamb seemed to be the favorite.

Some days, I really love my life.


R.S.

On the Munchkin Growing Up

Every day I am amazed by the things my daughter knows and does. Seeing her spell her first name-- which I admit is really long for a little kid to spell, and her last name makes me smile.

Knowing she can spell words like cat, dog, and hat also brings a grin to my face.

She isn't going to be my little girl much longer.

This makes me both happy and sad.

What a vicious circle.

I wouldn't change a thing.


R.S.

On A 'Splash'

On the back of the Wishbone Ranch dressing bottle the directions for use say a 'splash' of the dressing. Unfortunately, they don't define 'splash'.

Since I'm 'big' on following the directions (okay, I'm not really, but let me pretend) I splashed some dressing onto my salad.

Do you realize how messy a splash can become?

Yikes!

Anyway, I splashed the dressing onto my salad and I said to the Niece who was enjoying her own 'splash' of dressing, "A Tsunami is still a splash, right?"

How do you 'splash' your dressing? Do you use just a little, like the spray from the ocean? Are we talking white water rapids kind of a splash, or do you take the figurative bull by the horns and Tsunami splash those leafy greens?

I figure, as long as it's just a splash...


R.S.