Are you a pantser or an outliner?

As I'm writing my current WiP, I was motoring along with full steam until I ran into a block. This is usually what happens when I try to write on the fly. So, this question is interesting. Can you write better with or without an outline?

I do try to write without an outline. I like to see where my character takes me, an I often know what the ending is going to be. It's the damn middle that really gets me blocked. Then I find for the middle that I do require some basic outline (which I don't force myself to stick to). I guess this is just to help me have plot points that will help me find that path to the ending.

How do you write? Do you prefer an outline or are you a pantser?

What do you fear?

Fear. Nearly everyone has some sort of fear, whether it's spiders, dark, or even something simple such as fear of failure. I'm a weird one. I love spiders, snakes, dark and creepy places... I blame my cousins for taking me on thrill rides and haunted houses at carnivals when I was no older than 6... but change, I can handle change, but something about doing something so out of my comfort zone scares me. I like to know what to expect and what I'm doing, but I don't let that stop me from moving forward.

When writing horror, I like to explore the different fears, trying to create the right sense of emotion and fright in every character and scene. So, today I thought I'd list a few of the familiar, interesting and weird phobias that people can have.

• Achluophobia- Fear of darkness.
• Algophobia- Fear of pain.
• Astrophobia- Fear of stars or celestial space.
• Asymmetriphobia- Fear of asymmetrical things.  
• Atelophobia- Fear of imperfection.
• Bibliophobia- Fear of books. - Something I'm definitely not!
• Brontophobia- Fear of thunder and lightning.
• Cacophobia- Fear of ugliness.
• Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns.
• Didaskaleinophobia- Fear of going to school.
• Eisoptrophobia- Fear of mirrors or of seeing oneself in a mirror.
• Ephebiphobia- Fear of teenagers.
• Glossophobia- Fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak.
• Gnosiophobia- Fear of knowledge.
• Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia- Fear of long words.
• Mnemophobia- Fear of memories.
• Mythophobia- Fear of myths or stories or false statements.
• Necrophobia- Fear of death or dead things.
• Pentheraphobia- Fear of mother-in-law
• Phasmophobia- Fear of ghosts.
• Sciaphobia- Fear of shadows.
• Scriptophobia- Fear of writing in public.
• Sophophobia- Fear of learning.
• Verbophobia- Fear of words

This is only some of the phobias that were listed. Check out  Phobia List for even more. In my current YA horror, I'm actually using the simple fear of ghosts and the dark, mixed with the fear of memories (mnemophobia) because my character has amnesia. 

So, what are you scared of?           

Resolutions? Do you have any?

Every new year I aim to stick to a few resolutions I make... most of the time, the resolutions are broken by the end of January. Yeah, why do I make them then? I love giving myself some goal to achieve. Why I can't keep them is simple... Life!

Life gets in the way, especially when I say I'll eat healthier, do exercise each day or focus on my studies more. These sound easy to keep, but when life gets busy, it is easy to get lost in all the commotion and activities that are required to do. This makes it easier to pick up some fast food snack or something else to break the resolutions.

This year, my resolutions are going to revolve around my writing (and this year I'm going to keep them :D). I'm going to:

• Complete the novels I've started and query at least 1 more.
• Focus more on blogging on a steady schedule, as well as replying to comments and commenting on more blogs.
• Get out more reviews for my critique group.

I think these are resolutions I can keep this year.

What about you? Do you give yourself resolutions for the new year? What are some of your resolutions or why don't you have any?

2011 Stats & Winner

 

It's the start of the new year. It's supposed to be a time of fresh beginnings, and I guess it is. This year marks the start of a new career in a new town (yikes!). So, to finish off the year, here are some stats I achieved in 2011:

No of Books read: 51
No of Pages read (according to goodreads): 15669

Chalanges:
2011 Debut Author Challenge: 14/12 - success

2011 Aussie YA Reading Challenge: 5/12 - abysmal failure
2011 YA Reading Challenge: 49/50 - nearly there, yeah I actually read 2 adult books to push me over 50 (blame school work for that)

Last Book Read: Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita
Longest Book Read: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (594 pages)

And, now to really bring 2011 to a close, I have a winner to announce for my Christmas Giving Giveaway

And the winner is, picked from random.org:

Jovy Sauva who nominated her daughter to receive 2 books.

I will contact you very soon in regards to the books.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the contest. I hope everyone had a fantastic start to the year.

The Best of 2011... According to me

I can't believe it's already the end of the year. As an end to the year, I thought I'd put up a list of my favourites of 2011.

Favourite Reads of 2011:

5. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

 Why: A different take on Angels. Plus, there's the guy, Tucker.

4. Divergent by Veronica Roth

Why: This has been the year of the dystopian novel. Divergent included a unique world full of danger, secrets and control. What more could you want?

3. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

 Why: This was the first sci-fi I read and I loved the mystery and danger taking place in space.

2. The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roeker

Why: I heard a lot about Liar Society before it came out and I wasn't let down. Secret societies, lies and death. The ingredients for a perfect mystery.

1. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Why: Dystopian meets fantasy. This is like Xmen in a crumbling future, and I love Xmen.

Top releases of 2012 I can't wait to read:

5. Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Why: I loved Unearthly and can't wait to read the sequel.

4. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Why: Reincarnation, a countdown to something and a murder... sounds enticing, doesn't it?

3. Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Why: An underworld and tempting fate. Just sounds tempting.

2. Tempest by Julie Cross

Why: Who doesn't love time travel?

1. The Selection by Kiera Cass

 

Why: The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor... that pitch is just awesome

What are your favourite reads of 2011? What are you looking forward to?

Christmas Giving Giveaway

Since it's only a couple of days before Christmas I felt in the giving spirit and wanted to have a giveaway. This giveaway is a bit different. It will allow you to nominate someone else to receive a present. You will be able to choose whether the nominated person will receive a $20 gift certificate from Amazon or 2 books (which you can select).

But don't worry. Since this is all about the spirit of giving, you will also receive a choice of 1 book from Book Depository.


The contest will run until December 31st and the winner will be randomly selected on January 1st. I will email both nominated and the person who nominated to get shipping details. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

I'm Back

It is indeed a busy time of year with arriving back home, preparing for Christmas, preparing to move and preparing for a new job all at the same time.

I had a blast over in Japan. I did things I will probably never do again (yep, my brother even dragged me to a maid cafe... that was so... cutesy). It was also my first experience with Disney and Universal Studios and, even though it was in Japanese, I still thoroughly enjoyed all attractions and rides.

The best part of the holiday was that I got to spend my birthday at Disney. When we checked into the hotel I even got a birthday card from Mickey Mouse... I felt really special, and such a big kid.

Now I'm back and pretty much as soon as I was off the plane, the next day I was in the car for a fifteen hour car ride to look at the school where I'm going to be teaching next year... yeah, I've got a lot of homework because they managed to give me all the starting units that I can prepare for over the holidays.

Now, it's only a week away from Christmas and I'm busy preparing for a family Christmas, not to mention trying to arrange everything so I can move and start teaching late January. But, I always like to keep busy.

So, how has everyone else been?