Thursday, December 17, 2009

I'm It!

I've been tagged & now I'm it! Nope, I haven't been playing with the students at school. It's a blog game. Julie over at The Climb tagged me, so now I have to answer the following questions and then tag someone else! Thanks, Julie!! :) This is making me a little nervous - I'm not always good at the whole sharing personal info thing. But I AM a good sport, so here we go!

1)What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
The last thing I wrote was a scene for my wip in which the male mc is creating a tracking device in Steampunk England. Fun stuff. The first thing I wrote that I still have (at least I think I have it...) is a sappy story about a gypsy man playing his violin while his caravan burns. His wife has died & he can't live with the memories. (I know, I know, but I was little!)

2) Write poetry?
Not a lot anymore. I wrote a lot in high school and college.

3) Angsty poetry?
Of course, I WAS a teenage girl for a few years :)

4) Favorite genre of writing?

Romantic mystery, with steampunk running a close 2nd!

5) Most annoying character you've ever created?
A very arrogant English Lord. It was from a short historical romance story I wrote years ago. He was a real creep, and annoying to boot. He gets killed in a rather horrific manner at the end. Felt good :)

6) Best plot you've ever created?
The plot from the ms I've completed is fun with a couple of intertwined subplots. I really enjoyed weaving the plots together.

7) Coolest plot twist you've ever created?
Can't tell you that, now, can I?

8) How often do you get writer's block?
I'm lucky. That rarely happens. There are so many stories yelling at me, I never have time to write them all down.

9) Write fan fiction?
Not on paper. When I was younger I "wrote" Star Trek episodes in my head when I was trying to fall asleep at nights (well, still do actually)

10) Do you type or write by hand?
Always on the laptop. I'd lose papers.

11) Do you save everything you write?
Yup. I'm a very organized file maniac. Sad, but true.

12) Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
I'm a pack rat. Don't throw anything out. So, nothing's ever abandoned - just waiting for me to get back to it :)

13) What's your favorite thing you've ever written?
That's hard. Probably a completed ms. Even though it needs another round of revision.

14) What's everyone else's favorite story you've written?
I haven't shared much writing yet. My 2 crit buddies have only seen parts of 1 story so far. :)

15) Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
I enjoy romance, especially with a mystery or some suspense added in. My completed ms is a romantic mystery.

16) What's your favorite setting for your characters?
That's a really hard one. Settings aren't as vital to me as characters or plot. Yes, they're important, but not enough for me to have a fave.

17) How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Two on paper. I'm finishing the first draft for my nano, and beginning another round of revision on my completed ms. Two stories are running around in my head as well.

18) Have you ever won an award for your writing?
I haven't entered any competitions, so no :)

19) What are your five favorite words?
Almost anything Italian - such a beautiful language! In English: love, peace & hope for the meaning, discombobulated for the sound. Recess for rather obvious reasons! :)

20) What character have you created that is most like yourself?
None of them really. Although bits and pieces of Ali in the first half of an ms are like me.

21) Where do you get your ideas for your characters?
Everywhere and who knows. They just "are".

22) Do you ever write based on your dreams?
Sure, but not often. My dreams are generally too crazy, disjointed & scary.

23) Do you favor happy endings?
YES! The world is so often unhappy. In my job, I see a lot of kids who don't or can't believe in happy endings. They need to have access to them somewhere. They need to believe and hope.

24) Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Yes. I think it's automatic. As a teacher, it's just part of me. It's not even conscious most of the time.

25) Does music help you write?
A most resounding yes. I put the iTunes on Shuffle and enjoy a wide variety of music. No playlists, just mix it all up.

26) Quote something you've written. Whatever pops in your head.
"It's my first mutilated mammal by mail."

Phew! I'm exhausted. You probably are too :)
So...

Calista Taylor at A Steampunk Reverie,
Jenny Martin at Book Binge,
Cat Woods at Words from the Woods...

TAG, you're it!! These wonderful writers/bloggers are some of my cyber-friends from AQ. There are so many more I could mention, but I'll limit myself to just 3. Enjoy their fantabulous blogs :)

P.S. If you haven't checked out Julie's blog, scroll back up and click on her link - you won't regret it!

28 comments:

Shannon O'Donnell said...

See, I told you I'd do better! :) Thanks for sharing - I like #7. This tag game is a great way for us to get to know each other better. ;)

Jemi Fraser said...

Glad to see you back so soon, Shannon :)

It is fun - not as stressful as I expected!

Elizabeth Bradley said...

That's a lot of questions, very interesting answers.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Discombobulated...awesome. And Star Trek episodes? Too cool. Love your snippet, by the way. I have a good feeling about your writing. I can't wait to read it. So good to learn more about you!

Daisy Whitney said...

Wow...good stuff. Quite the list! If I write in a coffee shop or airplane I listen to music -- usually show tunes! Thanks for reading my branding article on Lisa and Laura's site!

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

I absolutely LOVE the word discombobulated! Great pick. And - you'll have to teach me some Italian before I take a trip to Italy this summer :-)

This survey is one of my favorite blog things floating around out there! I had fun answering it, but I've had an even better time reading other bloggers' responses - like this one!!

Jemi Fraser said...

Elizabeth - Yup - a LOT of questions! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Carol - Thanks, you're too kind :) And, yes, I'm a total Star Trek diehard fan!

Jemi Fraser said...

Daisy - I LOVE show tunes as well! It was a great post of LiLa's blog :)

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Sara - they are fun!

I don't actually know too much Italian, but I live in a city with a ton of Italian folks & I love listening to it. GREAT restaurants here too!! :)

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Great to find out more about you, Jemi!

Your teaser quote is really interesting!

Sounds like you've got a lot of projects going on...my head would get too bogged down!

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Alix said...

Great questions and great answers.

You're right everything sounds better in Italian! And discombobulated is the best word.

Good luck with all your projects

jmartinlibrary said...

Thanks, Jemi! I look forward to answering your tag challenge in next Tuesday's blog post. This is a great way to cultivate our growing community of blogging writers. Kudos!

Helen Ginger said...

How can you not love the word discombobulated? I mean, really, it's fun just to say it. And this was fun, reading all your answers.

Helen
Straight From Hel

Elana Johnson said...

Uh oh. Happy endings? Nothing I write ends very happily. I don't know why. Maybe because I just can't get my broken characters to find that in only 75,000 words.

Fun post!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the tag! This is one time it's good to be it.

I enjoyed getting to know you a little bit more and agree that this is a great way to strengthen the writing/blogging community. It's nice to know there are so many of us out there and that we all have fun and unique histories, different ways of writing and interesting character quirks!

Thanks for tagging me. I'll go play now!

Cali MacKay said...

Thanks for the tag!! This was great. I love reading about fellow writers!

Anonymous said...

It was fun reading your answers :)

Unknown said...

Great to get to know you better, Jemi. Love these sort of posts :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Elizabeth SC - Thanks! Yup, my head is pretty full most of the time - little nutty, but so far it seems to work for me :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Alexa - Thanks you - it was fun :)

I love the Italian language! So beautiful!

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Jenny - I hope you have fun answering them :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Helen - Yup - my kids at school can always say discombobulated too. So much fun :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Elana - Send those poor broken folks over - I'll find them a happy ending :) Glad you had fun!

Jemi Fraser said...

Cat - Yes, I think these kinds of posts are a fun way to get to know everyone a little better. We're such an interesting group :) Have fun!

Jemi Fraser said...

Have fun, Calista - I'll look forward to your post :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Carolyn - Thanks - glad you had fun :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Quill - Thanks - writers are such interesting people - lots of fun to get to know :)