Saturday, October 31, 2009

BITE ME Dream Cast

Something I have done for all of my books is to try and create a visual of the cast of characters. This is the dream cast for the SNI for NaNoWriMo and is very much a rough draft - as I learn more about the characters through writing them - they often change. The other thing that WILL change are the names of my characters.

This is Leigh (Anna Sophia Robb) - my 16 year old MC, the youngest of five girls. She is tough, independent, snarky, but desperately looking to fit in somewhere. The M&M - tough candy shell, soft yummy chocolate center.

THE SISTERS

This is Katheryne (Lucy Hale), the oldest sister. Katheryne is 22 years old and the leader in every sense. She is focused on their task, dedicated and serious.

Natalie, (Demi Lovato) the twin sister to Sophia. Natalie and Sophia are 20 years old and have a strong bond. Natalie is athletic, strong, dark and powerful.

Sophia, Natalie's twin. Sophia is incredibly sensitive, caring and empathetic. She has the strongest gift and has been in love since she was 15 - but learned the secret at 16.

Elyse (Erin Sanders) is 18 and is the light of the family. She is joyful, and unburdened by her responsibilities. She is often the intermediary between Leigh and her sisters.
DA BOYS

Elyse's LI (Josh Hutcherson)

Natalie's best friend (Stephen Sraight)

Sophia's LI (William Mosely)
OH SO BAD... BUT LOOK SO GOOD...

Katheryne's LI (Mark Salling)

(Alex Davalo) Leader of the "created"

NaNoWriMo

Yep. I'm doing it. After drooling at the thought last year, I decided I really wanted to give it a shot this year. It doesn't hurt that I have a full on shiny new idea (SNI) that was just demanding to be written.

SNIP


Kick off is tomorrow.... I can't wait to start writing!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Casting NORMAL

NORMAL was inspired by a dream I had about 2 1/2 years ago. In my dream a confident, focused girl had the ultimate temptation put in front of her while on vacation- a gorgeous rock star who had fallen for her. I wrote notes and fleshed out an outline about this dream for future plot and added it to my SNI file. I can still see some visuals from this dream as clearly as if I had it last night. I have had this dream or a variation of it several times since then.

Fast forward to February 2009 - sitting in a dark theater with my daughter and her friend watching the Jonas Brothers 3D Concert movie. Going into the movie I didn't even know which brother was which - coming out I could only think about that dream I had. Something clicked and saw the book clearly in front of me. The movie really brought home the feel of the book, although my initial dream formed the plot and personalities of my characters - and my daughters certainly helped flesh out the mindset of uber fans.

Even though Camp Rock is much loved in my home - I was not interested in casting my novel with a repeat of the Camp Rock trio. So my cast only includes one of the Joni. Originally Jacob Roman was cast as Nick Jonas in my head... over the course of writing it I realized Joe is truly Jacob. Joe is now too old for Jacob but that's how I see him.

Handle with Care (the band) is more alternative rock than pop... but their ages and good looks have brought them the kind of fan-base that was previously reserved for boy bands.

The book takes place over a span of 3 years, so I've tried to reflect some of the age changes in my cast photos. Keep in mind that when casting a book, I'm often literally looking at a single picture and the look/feel that picture portrays to me - not necessarily the real actor or personality behind the person. (Also - obviously I didn't take these photos and do not want to take credit for something that isn't mind. I don't know where most of them came from over time but I hope no one minds me sharing them.)

ALYSON SULLIVAN - When I saw this first picture of Leighton Meester I immediately thought of Aly - only problem - she's missing Aly's bright blue eyes. The first picture would be Aly towards the beginning (age 17) and the 2nd of Aly around age 20.


Enter these photos of Jessica Stroup.... this is more like the Aly from my dream. Only imagine her with darker hair.


JEANA - Aly's best friend (Ashley Benton) is the one that forces Aly out of her head and to try and have fun. She is bubbly but wicked smart with takes people off guard.

THE ROMANS (brothers that form the band, Handle With Care)

Jacob Roman - this first picture of Joe Jonas is what made me finally realize that Joe is Jacob Roman as I see him. Something about his pose, the look on his face, the stage - it just screams Jacob to me. Jacob starts out 18 years old and ends at 21.

Andrew Roman - this has been difficult for me to cast, since I am having a hard time finding someone that captures the dream version of Andrew. This photo of Stephen Sraight is the closest I have found to really giving me the funny, sweet, innocent type of air that Andrew has. Andrew is 16 years old to start and ends up 19.

Tommy Roman - Jake T Austin just might work out for Tommy and his athletic, sporty, hard core guitarist. Imagine with super short hair... Tommy and Tanner are 14 (almost 15) to 17.

All of the Roman boys were hard for me to cast but Andrew and Tanner are the hardest. A youngish Jeremy Sumpter catches the unique look Tanner (Tommy's twin) has - with his lighter hair and blue eyes. Tommy is a complete introvert with a dry sense of humor and big brain.

Molly Quinn IS Caitlin Sullivan, Aly's little sister and Tanner's friend/LI. Molly with more of a strawberry blonde look would be perfect. Cait starts out almost 15 and ends up 18.

Devon Sullivan (Logan Lerman) is the youngest of the cast of characters. Aly's 12 (to 15) year old little brother is adorable and oblivious to the drama unfolding around him.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Naming my novel is harder than naming my children....

I had such a difficult time naming my kids. I love names. I love what they symbolize, the people they remind me of, the meanings behind them. Each of my kids have a first name and two middle names. So for three girls that is nine names. I would have given them four or five but my husband made me stop.

I thought when my book was finished a name would suddenly come to me and I'd be set. The working title is NORMAL - which mades me cringe every time I say it.

I'm in the process of heavily overhauling this and hope to begin querying it at the beginning of the year. I'm just guessing it will need a name by then.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The trunked novel

I wrote a novel over the span of ten years. I started when I was barely out of the grasp of being a young adult myself and completed the novel a married woman with a baby. This novel has no title but I call it Emma - even though my Main Character is no longer named Emma (but one of my real babies is now!).

I lost the novel when a computer died and the 3.5" disk it was on failed. (Told ya... old school). One day while unpacking after a move I found a copy of the book I had printed out. The thrill of seeing those words again spurred me to type it back out and finish it. (I saved it on a hard drive, an external hard drive, a CD-ROM and a flash drive - in addition to have printed it out... I'm learning folks!)

Yet, once it was time to edit it, I had lost the spark that caused me to write it in the first place. I still love my characters, and I knwo they haven't said everything that needs to be said, but I had other voices calling for attention (and no, my mental illness begins and ends with clinical depression so it wasn't "those" kinds of voices) and begging to be written.

So this novel sits, completed and loved, awaiting major revisions. Someday I whisper... someday.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Yes, it's true

I write. I write a lot. I've been writing short stories, poems, lyrics, novels since I can remember. I've shared my writing with very few people as I went along life. I dreamed of being a published author someday but never allowed myself to truly hope.

Here I am now, in my 30s and I am letting people read my writing. I found an amzing group of writers that have really helped me feel more comfortable sharing my writing and admitting out loud to the world that I am a writer.

I WRITE!

I'M A WRITER!

I have two completed young Adult manuscripts. I have three other works in progress and a plan for a novel that I'm going to do for National Novel Writers Month - I'm planning on writing another novel in the month of November. Crazy, I know.

I'm hoping to share my journey here as I learn to step out and share with the world that I write.