I’m a Master and a Cat Lover?

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

Okay, the first wasn’t hard to expect–I’m a Master of the Fine Arts in Children’s Literature, and I have been since October.  However, Hollins University only has one ceremony, and you bet after all the hard work I put into that program, I was going to walk!

And even though I’ve had my diploma for seven months, the ceremony made it feel official, just like the conference is making it feel real that I am taking a step forward in the journey toward publication.  I will be the first to say you do not need a degree to be a successful writer.  There are many people out there who prove this to be true; however, without my loving Hollins fam., I think it would take a lot longer for me to feel comfortable even looking into details relating to a conference.  Who would read my work?  Where would I turn for advice?  There have been so many people who have contributed to the successful completion of my graduate education, too many to thank, including my guy, family, professors, and friends.  Thank you to all!

Now you ask, a cat person?  I know, it sounds disgusting.  Cats?  I’ve always thought I was not a fan.  I didn’t hate them, just never liked them.  However, a little guy, with no name currently, popped into my life this past Tuesday.  And I CANNOT get enough of him.  Right now as I type, he’s playing hide and go seek behind my computer screen.  He’s four weeks old, too young to be away from his momma, and it seems that now I’ve taken that role.

I’ve always been a dog person.  Dogs are exciting, full of energy, and love people.  They depend upon people, just like I do.  I’m a total people person, well, depending upon which people.  But I’ll say this, I hate, HATE being alone.  I like to share every moment of every day, which I know drives some people in my life nuts.  When I see something that excites me, I generally chase after it full force, tongue flopping and all.

Now cats, they are loners, for the most part.  But no name, not so much.  I guess because he’s still a baby, he loves being around people too.  But with that being said, he also loves his alone time.  He crawls into this dark space under the couch and curls up to sleep.  I mean, I love to sleep, but I love my dark spaces even more.  Cats do not need people to interact with them to accomplish gratification, they play on their own.

So, where is this going other than I love the two most popular domestic pets out there?  I’m like both animals when it comes to my writing habits.   When I have a new idea, I chase after it like it’s a T-bone steak.  And when I’m wrapping up that idea or need feedback, I love and need the support of my writing pals.  However, my idea is my idea.  I like to curl up in a space by myself, generally the couch, and get to work.  I write when no one is around and can entertain myself for hours manipulating my story and characters.

It’s funny, the two sides of my personality that make up the writer I am, the published author I am hopeful I one day will be.  Here’s to both personalities being as stubborn as they can be, just like any pet, to achieve my goals.

PS-Pictures to come!

Deadlines

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

Okay, so if you know me, you know I’m a major procrastinator.  In work, in cleaning, in life, I’m one hundred percent an I’ll-do-it-tomorrow girl.

With that being said, I have fallen into a slump with my writing.  Oh how I miss the Hollins days when classes provided me with deadlines, or if I really wasn’t into the class, provided me a reason to work on my own writing and put off reading a book that was not of my choice.

But on Monday, Catherine, my fav. writing partner, and I purchased tickets to our first writing conference!

Boom!

It’s been like I’ve been on a writing roll ever since.

We will be attending the Texas Writers’ League Agent Conference at the end of June, and let me tell you, I cannot wait!

I’m in love with my current WIP, so when I couldn’t find my writing juices, I became really discouraged.  But recently, along with good news, the writing conference, encouragement from Catherine, and my own motivation to pursue my dreams, my passion has kicked in again, and I couldn’t be happier with where my WIP is going.

So, thank God for deadlines, dreams, and friends, and here’s toward moving forward!

Patience is a Virtue?

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

Patience is a Virtue?  Yes, I asked it as if the statement were a question, because in my world, I don’t understand how patience is a virtue.  I mean, let’s consider the definition of virtue as given by dictionary.com: “Moral Excellence” or “Conformity of one’s life” (“Virtue).  Okay, yay for moral excellence.  But…conformity?  How ridiculous is that?

Ridiculous.

Why the sudden anger at the idea of becoming or being a patient person?  Because the world is testing me right now!  Yes, I feel as if the world is testing me in every way possible.  Good news, no news; good day, bad moment.  Yes, the good always outweighs the bad, but why should I have to be patient because expectations are no longer considered?

Maybe I’m venting.  Actually, I know I’m venting.  But it seems like in today’s society, we are people whose expectations go unnoticed because we’re too patient.  Don’t get me wrong, there are moments when patience is in need.  For example, one should be patient in a relationship (J would totally agree with this), one should be patient when attempting to become published (because if you’re not, the industry doesn’t care and will move on, with or without you), in friendships, etc.  But when is enough enough?

My job tests my patience every day.  And I enjoy my job.  I enjoy the tests, sometimes.  But sometimes, I just don’t want to conform.  I don’t want to conform in a society where our expectations are thrown into the storm to fend for themselves.  Because without expectations, what do we have?  Where is our motivation?  What will become of us?

I like a challenge.  I hope I can become more patient with age, but I hope to never become a conformist, especially when it comes to setting the bar high.

 

“Virtue.” Dictionary.com. 2012. Web. 4 May 2012.

“After all, tomorrow is another day” & “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a …”

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

So, life isn’t fair.  That’s what we grow up hearing, but it’s hard to accept it.  Even at 26, I need life to be fair.

My new motto however, now that I’m realizing it’s not fair, is tomorrow is another day and frankly, I don’t give a, you know what, about the bumps that occur in my present life.

It seems to be working so far.  Work has been a challenge, but then, when isn’t living every day not a challenge?  I take each curve ball that God throws my way with patience now, all thanks to the encouragement of my guy, family, and friends, and brush it off with the thought that I don’t give a dang and tomorrow will be better.  Thanks, Gone with the Wind, for the motivation.

What is fair?  That I put in hard work and take each query rejection or each challenge at work with the knowledge that I’m doing my best.  How can I fault myself when I’m giving 100%?  I can’t and won’t.  Life is too short to dwell on what I could have done.

Fortunately with my new positive outlook, I am entering Spring Break!  A break from work challenges, a break from the everyday routine.  I can write and read freely.  I can escape to my own imagination and throw the curve balls myself.

So I challenge you, my readers, to accept life as it is and get over the “BS” that life throws your way with a smile on your face.

**picture courtesy of IMDb**

Interview with Kirsten Hubbard

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

In celebration of the awesome upcoming books being released this week and my birthday, I have decided to do a giveaway featuring a Barnes and Noble gift card.  After reading Kirsten Hubbard’s interview below, I hope the winner decides to support an amazing author and check out her new release (tomorrow, March 13th), Wanderlove.  Check out the Confetti page for details on how to participate in the giveaway!  Thank you, Kirsten, for your participation!

1.  As your website describes the protagonist, Bria, as a girl trying to go bad, can you relate to your character in any way?

I think I was always somewhere in the middle as a teen. I certainly had my little rebellions (ahem), but was also a good student and yearbook editor and so forth. So no, I never aimed for “badness” – although I did seek excitement, but more in a late night, cinematic, “and in that moment, I swear we were infinite” kind of way. Which you could say is what Bria’s really seeking.

2.  As a travel writer, a reader can assume that you were inspired by the many places that you have visited.  Is there a specific place that inspired this particular idea?

I’ve traveled through Central America numerous times, but Bria’s particular itinerary was one I took with two girlfriends when I was 23. Parts of that trip, however, were return visits to destinations I’d adored on my first backpacking trip when I was 20, with my then-boyfriend/now-husband – specifically, Lake Atitlan and Caye Caulker (a slightly altered version of which became Laughingbird Caye). So there’s a whole lot of my personal (wander)love infused into Bria’s story and the places she encounters.
3.  What other novels, writing pieces, or ideas are you working on that your readers can look forward to in the future?

Most everything’s still too early to talk about, but I’m working on a couple more books set abroad – one that’s joyful, like Wanderlove… and one that’s super creepy.

4.  It is said that every author has their own writing routine; do you, and if so, what does it consist of?

I wish it didn’t include so much procrastination! When I know I need to sit down and write or revise, like Serious Business time, I make a mug of chai, set Leechblock to zap distracting websites, put on my gigantic earphones, turn on that book’s particular playlist – I have one for each story I write – and immerse myself. If that doesn’t work, I head to a coffee shop.

5.  What advice do you have for aspiring writers now that you are published that you wish you would have known beforehand? 

At the writing/querying stage, it’s always, always to write that next book. (Once you’ve finished the first, of course.) After you’ve sold a book, it’s not to wear yourself too thin in a promotional sense, especially right before your book comes out. Even though I heard plenty of authors advise me that very same thing, I think I overextended myself with my first novel. Ultimately, do what you enjoy, and a whole lot less of what you don’t – and write that next book.

Impossible to forget, hard to remember

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

The following quote from Elizabethtown is exactly how I feel right now, “I’m impossible to forget but hard to remember.”

My writing has been at a standstill for the past week.  I wrote a bit over the weekend but could only muster up enough brainpower to wrap up a chapter.  However, I have a theory for my Debbie Downer mood…

My Birthday.

Yes, that’s right.  My 26th birthday is what I believe is at the root of my head-bang-against-wall attitude lately.  Don’t get me wrong, I have a fantastic life and lots to be grateful for.  But I can’t help but dread the downfall after 25.  I know, I know.  I’m not old.  But it just seems like 25 should have been so monumental.  The year I should have gotten an agent, the year I should have finished not one, but two manuscripts, the year I could shout I’m an author.  And I can’t.  I guess that realization, that one more year has passed and I have not achieved my dream, is what is bothering me.

But I tell myself this quote, because I am impossible to forget.  Right now, the publishing world may not know my name and I may be hard to remember in the loads of queries that are sent each day, but I tell myself that with one more year of age means one more year of perseverance.  It will happen, whether I’m 25, 26, or 30.  That’s what a dream is about, embracing the accomplishment and the rejection.

So cheers to my upcoming birthday on the 15th.  If I can’t embrace my age, how will I ever embrace the tough world of becoming an author?

PS-stay tuned in for an author interview and giveaway next week!

Elizabethtown. Dir. Cameron Crowe. Perf. Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Paramount Pictures, 2005. DVD.

Seasons Greetings from Spring

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

I really truly believe I have a seasonal disorder.  This fantastic weather puts me in the best mood!  I’m motivated, I love my life…things couldn’t be better!

It’s days like this past week, where I can walk around with a slight breeze but the sun is oh so toasty that light a fire under my bum.  Though I wasn’t able to write because I wanted to knock some grading out-of-the-way, days like this past week (78 degrees) make me want to accomplish something.

It’s taken me a while to find my path, to find myself.  But for once, I think I’ve done just that–found myself.  I like my job (yes, finally!), I love where I live, my boyfriend and family accept me for who I am, faults and all, and my friends are always there for me.  Though I am not published yet, I continue to write.  And I can honestly say that I believe one day, it will happen.

I’m not sure what took me so long to get to a place in my life where I’m happy and can embrace my own fault, but I’m glad I’ve reached that point.  I think it has a lot to do with what my boyfriend, J, says, “Do you.”  And I do me.  All of the time.  Because if we lived our lives through others and their expectations, we wouldn’t be ourselves.  No one should covet what thy neighbor has is what my mom says, and she’s so right.  If I coveted what everyone around me had, I wouldn’t have the things I wanted, the things that make my life my own, the things that create me.

So maybe it has nothing to do with the early spring weather but more to do with where I am at in my own life.  Either way, I’m glad I’m able to enjoy my life in such fantastic weather and in the company of wonderful people who surly contribute to my happiness.

On the Same Page

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

I recently visited my girl friends for one of their daughter’s first birthday.  You would think that graduating the same year would put us in the vicinity of being on the same page in some aspect.  But nope, to each his own.  We couldn’t be more different. And we like it that way.

There are times when I am jealous of my friends–Mal loving the career she is about to embark on, Candice living in our nation’s capital, and Meg having a family of her own.  But there are certain dreams and goals I don’t think I could achieve if I had anyone’s life but my own.

For one…

I love my freedom.  That sounds completely selfish, but I love having the ability to pick up and travel, write late into the night, meet friends on a whim, and change my mind whenever I want.

No, I’m not where I need to be to have exactly what my friends have, but that’s what’s so great.  I’ve created my own page, my own story.  As the cheesy flyer in my classroom reads, “You are the author of you own life.”  And I am.  I want nothing more than to live my life, with my guy, in Richmond, teaching, aspiring to write, and visiting my family every chance that possibly presents itself.

So here’s to accomplishing goals and loving your life. <3

Are you a Weasel?

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

I have never believed in writing groups.  I have always found them silly, a waste of time, especially since I was obtaining my MFA from Hollins.  Classes seemed like enough work, critiquing something to death.

However, my amazing friend, Catherine, formed a group made up of some our Children’s Lit girls and it. is. amazing!  I don’t know how I have ever made it through the day, week, month, semester without it.  Though I do not find enough time in my weeks to write at all sometimes, I have found that this writing group drives me.  I have a reason to write.  Others want to read what I am writing.  I think I forgot what the sensation felt like, for someone to critique my work.  It’s scary and invigorating at the same time.  I find my fingers aching to have a few moments at the keyboard.

Maybe the goal isn’t to be read, but a to want to do better.  That’s what the writing group does for me.  I know someone is reading it (which is a nice ego boost), but at the same time, I’m bettering myself.  My writing is becoming stronger, my ideas are flowing.  Amazing.

Our writing group has brought me back to why I allow myself to be so vulnerable to the publishing industry, throwing my heart and soul into an idea, querying the piece, only to be rejected.  Because I couldn’t live without it.  You might be wondering by this point (if you’ve read this far) why there is a picture of a weasel on this post.  Well, our writing group likes to call ourselves the weasels.  It started as a joke, but as I read up on the Long-tailed Weasel, it fits our personalities perfectly.   We are territorial and quickly adapt (how could you not when a piece of your heart is getting ripped to shreds by your choice!) (“Long”).  Our WIPs are our life.  We are vulnerable, anxious, territorial, and adapt to suggestions.  Writing groups allow us to be ourselves, weasels.

So thanks, Cat and the other weasels (Jaime and Rachel!)!  I am now a believer in writing groups.  And to anyone who has a passion, I encourage you to find others who share it.

“Long-tailed Weasel.” Itsnature.org. <http://www.itsnature.org/ground/mammals-land/long-tailed-weasel/>. Web. 23 January 2012.

Blogging: Graffiti with Punctuation

Posted on by jessrsheaffer

No, I didn’t come up with the description–the clever line can be found in the movie Contagion.  In the movie it is intended to be a derogatory statement; but isn’t it true?

As writers, we’re leaving our mark on the world.  Whether we’re blogging, writing a paper for a professor, or published, we’re all painting the world with our words and imagination.

Graffiti is a beautiful art, destructive but beautiful.

That’s how I feel about writing–it’s a beautiful but destructive thing.  At times, it can take over, leaving me debilitated from meeting the rest of my every day duties, or how about rejection?  Isn’t that destructive to our ego?  And then, there’s always bad writing that is published, aren’t we destroying the minds of those readers?  Either way, beautiful and destructive, it’s who we are.  We choose to represent ourselves through our artwork, and though we may not write to become published, we want the world to see our work.  We want the world to appreciate the beauty we’ve created.

Work Cited:

Contagion. Steven Soderbergh. Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, and Jude Law. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2011. Film.

(The picture above was taken by me, so excuse it if the symbol means anything negative)