Bonus Post!

It is Saturday, and I am at the Writers Conference. I have to say that at first I felt very out of place. The hotel is beautiful, and not somewhere I would usually stay. I feel a little pampered! Once the lectures started I felt much more comfortable being around other people that love the same things. It was refreshing to not have to defend my love of fantasy, or discussing characters, or how to construct a plot.

I did pick up the two writing samples I submitted, and am happy to report that while the comments were constructive, overall the critiques were good. My worst fears were not confirmed: no one said that I suck, and that dreaming of being a published writer should be forgotten.

With both stories I was actually told to add description. This comment made me laugh out loud as something that I have had to work on was being LESS descriptive. Apparently now I've cut out too much. Maybe after adding in a bit more I will hit that sweet spot between too much and not enough.
While the comments on my Romance were interesting I was much more anxious to get the comments back on the fantasy I will be self publishing this year. Here are the final comments on Through the Mountains:

"This is an interesting beginning with good tension between the characters and enough intrigue to keep the reader wanting to read more. Delete redundancies and add description to really make your story a page turner."

What great feedback! I am so excited and really anxious (in a good way :) ) to get back to work on my fantasy series.

Until the next time, keep writing my friends!

What's Up Wednesday #3

Well I made it to week 3 of my little experiment. Yay!
I had the sudden realization that next week is Easter. Holy crap, it feels as if New Years was just a week ago. How did Easter sneak up so quickly?

Maybe it's because I was so busy looking forward to my first writers conference this weekend! I've tried to not think about it for one main reason...I submitted two samples of writing for written critique. I almost had a heart attack clicking the button to send the email, but then I thought, "I used to submit this for a grade...why am I worried about about a persons opinion?".
Yes I gave myself a pep talk. I'm actually quite good at it by now in my writing career.
After clicking that button on my mouse, I tried to put that out of my mind and focus on the fact that I get to go listen to a bunch of great lectures on writing, editing, and self publishing, as well as experiencing everything with my great writing group.
But now that it's right around the corner I am actually looking forward to seeing what comments the person critiquing will write. I submitted the first ten pages of the story that I will be publishing August 1st, which I've had several people read, so It'll be interesting to get an outsiders perspective.
The second submission was the first ten pages of the romance that I wrote in November during NaNoWriMo. This I am really excited to get back as NO ONE but me has seen it. I have not allowed anyone to read it, even my the people who usually read my work right after I write it have been kept in the dark. So I literally have no idea what the comments will be.
Maybe I will post an extra post on Saturday reporting some of the feedback...if I don't chicken out ;)

I do want to run a little experiment, if you, dear reader, would play along.
 If you found this from my personal Facebook page, COMMENT on the post link with your favorite COLOR.
If you found this from my TWITTER, tweet me your favorite number.

Until the next time I post, Keep writing!

What's Up Wednesday, #2!

Well we made it through another week! *cheering*
I think this week I will post the "About" me section that will be posted on my writers page, as well as put on my books. Let me know what you all think!
Next week will be more of an update on what is going on. Exciting things coming this way soon!

A transplant to the Midwest from Washington State, Malinda Andrews lives in Wisconsin within a stones throw of Lake Michigan. By day she works as a desk jockey, but by night, and sometimes on her lunch break, she escapes the ordinary by writing. The love of writing started young (she credits, or alternately blames, her parents for her love of reading and writing) and she followed her passion for the written word into college. Forgoing financial security, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in December 2012. 

The novel that started it all; Through the Mountains, was dreamt up when Malinda was sixteen. Though the assignment was only a ten-page short story, Malinda handed in the first twenty-five pages of her novel. Despite her passion, it would take until the last semester of college for inspiration, planning, experience, and momentum to culminate for the novel to be finished.

An avid reader, Malinda also enjoys crocheting, watching TV and movies, book shopping, hiking, camping, and spending time with her chinchilla and cat. 

What's up Wednesday

I think to give myself more motivation to post on here, I am going to start doing "What's up Wednesdays". For these blogs I believe I am just going to talk about what is on my mind, things I see, what I'm reading etc. I think that will be some incentive, and take the pressure off of trying to be clever.

So here goes!

Lately I've been spending more time at my local Starbucks, not because I drink coffee- which I don't at all- but rather I seem to get more work done out of the house. This past weekend, while waiting for my drink I browsed the bulletin board...this is what I found:

"A starry night of Swag" -Adult Prom

First off...
WHAT?
An adult Prom? That atrocity of an event I went to when I was 17 wasn't enough? They need an adult version just in case people weren't scarred already?

Second thought..SWAG? Seriously. That is their theme. 

I understand that this is now how the kids talk, sadly even people in my generation, but my brain literally ground to a halt when I read the poster.
What ever happened to class? Where did acting sincerely and with kindness go? We need these things back! This runs along the same line as "Yolo". When did "Carpe Diem" stop being understood?
Really, I am not that old...I will be 25 in April...I don't think I should feel so disconnected from how people think, talk, and act. But I have found that it's not even the younger generation that is lacking in respect, honesty, and forthrightness. Several times I have found men and women my own age that talk and act much younger.

Maybe all the other adults I ran into as a kid where right; I am an old soul.
My head just can't wrap around the concept of "yolo", "swag", and whatever else this generation decides is how we should act. I'll just continue to shake my head in disbelief and hope that the generation after this one learns a thing or two about being an adult and treating others with respect.

And losing "swag" and opting for class and charm seems like a good first step to me.

Whoops..Again...

Well clearly I have an issue with commitment when it comes to this blog thing. Whoops.
But lots have happened in the last few months!
I gave my first book, Through the Mountains, to a friend to be line edited.
I have since received the book back, and made the changes needed.
My writing group and I have all signed up for a writing conference at the end of March.
I have ordered, and received business cards for networking.
And the most exciting...
I have met with the artist who is designing my cover!!
I have set a release date of August first for self publishing!! 

I am so excited! After years of saying that I am writer, going to school for writing, writing 5 novels, I am finally going to be self publishing.
As excited as I am, I am also dealing with more than my share of anxiety about it, and I need to tell myself to calm down more often than I'd like. It really isn't that scary. Plus, isn't the goal to have people I don't know read my writing? But then my subconscious takes off again, reminding me about all of the negative responses it could have.
I think I need to take my anxiety and lock it in the same box my inner editor is locked into during NaNo. To help alleviate those fears, I have found some great support through my writer friends, as well as lovely communities on both Twitter and Instagram.

I would like to sit here and make a commitment to writing on here once a week, but I just don't know if I have that much to say! All I can promise is that I will try to keep the posts on here current with what is happening in my life.

Until then, keep writing my friends!