Conflict and a Funny Video

Check out my post on the UCW blog today about The Proper Care and Feeding of Conflict.

And also, I love this video. 

"I've been living my life, not wasting my time reading. What do you think I am? Some kind of dork?" 

That is awesome.  

How to be a Crazy Writer in 5 Easy Steps

Today I'm posting over at the Utah Children's Writers blog about how to be a crazy writer. I'm sure you're thinking now, "Well, yeah. If anyone is crazy, it's Erin."

Thank you very much. I'll take that as a compliment. (And no, I don't care how it was intended.)

Also, I want to share this video because Jackson Pearce makes some of The Best author vids I've seen...

(But what is she saying? Is she trying to tell us it isn't like this??!)

A To Do List

Today I need to....

1: Run. (oh yay.)
2: Take pictures of a craft.
3: Submit craft to FamilyFun.
4: Help Sam with the craft he invented (it's actually quite clever)
5: Remind him there is no guarantee FamilyFun will buy it (don't start counting those chickens yet, buddy.)
6: Clean up Nerd Night stuff....I'll have to post about that fun event next week (it was so fun.)
7: Clean up some of my crafty mess. (I said Some. I did not say All.)
8: Plan a family Princess Dinner Party with Zoe....she's been wanting to do this all week. (Mmmmmm, pink noodles and purple jello)
9: Laundry.
10: Write......(Wait. I should have put this above laundry....)

What's on your To Do List for today?
Need some new tunes to help you along?

How about some fun songs from Lenka? I love this chickadee's music.  So great....

Love. Them.

I love crazy creative people.

And that is probably why I love these guys...

Ok Go....wow, they really take some risks, right? I mean, can you just picture this planning session. Someone  says, "Hey! I have an idea. Why don't we have a big marching band go tromping around a field?"

And then someone pipes up to add, "Sure sure. That would be great. But what we really need are some Random Grass People to leap up and join in. Yep. That will do it."

These guys are awesome. Anyone else a fan?

And how 'bout this one...

They kind of remind me of the teletubbies. (but I still love it)

I can't seem to tear my eyes away from this one...

How do they come up with this stuff? Amazing, right? So. Amazing. I love the messages written with their feet at the end.

My kids love to watch this one....actually they love all of them. But my boys definitely love this machine....

And are you kidding me? Ok Go AND The Muppets? How cool is that....

I often hear Patricia Lee Gauch in my head.  "Go crazy!" she told us over and over again at Chautauqua. And she's right. Just go crazy.  Think big. Take risks.  With everything. Why not? Try something new. Step out of your comfort zone! 

Ok Go could have made lame moody videos that you watched once and never wanted to see again. But  instead they used Random Grass People.  Yep. They went crazy. And I think it has worked rather well for them. 

Maybe my book needs some Random Grass People...

The Myth of Writer's Block

Do you believe in it?

Many have jumped feet first into  NaNoWriMo this month. Not me though. Nah, I'm deep into ErNoWriDec.

Yep.

It stands for Erin's Novel Writing Decade.

That's right, people. I'm trying to write a novel in 10 years. And I'm feeling pretty good about my progress.  It looks like I'm almost half done.  Can I get a Woot Woot? I should totally throw a party.

Ok. Ok. I am planning on buckling down on Jasper and getting loads done this month. Loads. Not a very specific goal, now is it? How about getting Draft #4 done. What should I call this draft? I think it needs a name. I'm kind of tired of saying I'm working on Jasper. I mean, I like the name. That's why I picked it (and it was long before I read Twilight, people. So there.)

So what should I call this draft?

Susan? Suuuuuuu-san! Are you all picturing that blob from Monsters vs. Aliens? Or is that just me.....

Pain in my tuckus?

Bane of my existence? Nah. That's a bit harsh, right? My manuscript might run off to hide in the corner if I go around calling it that.

Best Novel Ever? Well. It could be true. Eh....maybe? But. This could give my manuscript a big head. Although they say if you expect great things from people they will rise to your expectations. Does this work for inanimate objects? It could be worth a shot.

Alright. Never mind. I guess it's just Jasper.

Jasper Draft #4. *sigh*

Hopefully I don't get Writer's Block this month. Actually I don't believe in it. It's a myth. If you can't write it's because you're not writing. If you don't know what to write, figure it out. It's a simple as that.

Now sometimes I don't want to figure it out. And that's when I get the dreaded Crafty Writer Syndrome. This is when I hit a rough patch in the novel and suddenly feel the itch to get crafty. I whip out some dental floss, old records and craft paint and make a cutesy wreath for the front door (alright. I didn't. But I wonder....)

Or maybe I suddenly feel the need to start collecting old copies of brightly colored Reader's Digest Condensed Books because I saw some cool things made from the covers (ok. This one I've done. Now if I could just remember what the cool things were....)

If you're currently procrastinating writing, here's an excellent distraction from author, Jackson Pearce....

Ack! I love that. So. Stinkin'. Funny.

How to French Braid... Wonky Style...

Yep. I acquired a new skill recently. Wonky french braiding. 

I've been wanting to learn to french braid for awhile now. Finally it hit me....I should look it up on YouTube! And I found this video....

And although I need to practice a quite a bit more, I'm pretty proud of how they turned out....

   (my pictures are being all weird...anyone know why this happens?)

Zoe was so excited about her hair that she instructed each brother when they came home to "look at my french braids!" and her daddy, too. So cute.

Busy Busy Busy

Today I am...

*Making treats for the Big Workshop tomorrow.

*Laughing at my silly girls.

*Thinking about ugly curtains, weird fabric combos, obsessive tendencies and how to hook readers as I polish up my first 10 pages for the workshop. Ack....why am I such a procrastinator?

*Hoping the no-bake cookies (we call them Haystacks) Weston made for his presentation about Washington county today are ok. They were a bit gooey. Did he add too much milk? Not enough oatmeal? I'm not sure....

*Hoping to squeeze time in somewhere to work on Chapter 2 since I'm on Rewrite #3 of Jasper and trying to stick with My Crazy Goals. I'm jotting down notes like crazy. Jasper is almost always on my mind these days. It's like a giant puzzle that is always in front of me, begging to be finished. But as soon as I find one piece I see I've lost twenty others....

*Being glad I managed to get Emmett and Sam's Reflection Literature entries ready (finally!) this morning in time for them to get their names in for the drawing. Next week we need to get their art entries done.

*Trying to get everything done so I can have a Wii tournament with my handsome cowboy tonight. I've been out with girlfriends for the last two nights (went to see a Shakespeare play one night and had my writing group, Pub Club last night). And I miss him.

*Being grateful for Lana and Em. This month marks the Pub Club's 1-Year Anniversary. We can't believe it's been that long! But, boy, we can sure see how we've each grown as writers. I love those girls and we have the best times together.

*Doing laundry. Blech. Laundry. But I like it better than dishes.  Oh yeah, the dishes....

*Noticing the pile of half-made leggings for my girls. Hopefully I'll get them done before they outgrow them.

*Loving this video...

*Wishing I managed my time better and didn't surf YouTube for Muppet videos. Wait. No, I take that back. The Muppets are awesome.  I wish they'd bring back The Muppet Show. The Muppets are never a waste of time. Right?