Awesomeness

So today I have two little announcements to discuss with you all.  First up:

Look at my new header!

Isn't it fantastic?!?  Oh my gosh- I'm so super excited!  Here's the whole story:

Back on June 24th I participated in the Thrill of it All Blogfest celebrating Tara and Heather Gardner's new books by posting a thrilling poem I wrote for the occasion.  Tara and Heather loved the poem and awarded me with one of four prizes they had designated for the bloghop.  Mine was a Tara Tyler originally designed blog header.

You can tell by looking at it that Tara is seriously talented at making these things but here's why she's even more amazing: while the two of us were e-mailing back and forth discussing the design of the thing guess what else was going on?  Tara was launching her new book!  That's right- all month long Tara has been popping up all around the web doing interviews, sharing news and promoting Pop Travel which was released on July 7th.  And this past Saturday she hosted her book launch party!

Now, I don't know about you- but I can't imagine being that busy and still managing to help out a fellow blogger by designing a header for her little blog!  Tara is just too amazing and I am so incredibly thrilled with what she created.

So, if you think the new header is awesome (and how can you not?), take a minute to head by Tara Talks and let her know what great work she did.  And while you're there, check out the blog schedule for the remainder of the year because she's got more interviews, more info on the path she traveled to publishing and a ton more fun stuff coming up now through December.

Tara- you rock my world!  Thank you SO much.

Next up: The Tree of Life is still going strong and yesterday my piece was added to the many brilliant authors who have already contributed.  Take a second, head on over there, and let me know what you think!

Actually writing the piece was so much more fulfilling than I was expecting it to be.   I mean, don't get me wrong- I was expecting it to be really fun but I wasn't prepared for how much the process itself would effect the writing. 

First off, writing to music is not something I'm used to.  Sure, sometimes I'll have music playing in the background while I'm writing- but it mainly functions as white noise to keep my brain plugging along, not as somthing I play to stimulate creativty.  Having a song seve as the source of an idea is a completely different animal and I was so impressed by how the process effected me.  I am trully in awe of Audiomachine and the music they've created and having been so inspired by my one track I am now determined to buy this album so that I can keep it in my back pocket and use it as a secret weapon against writer's block.  If you haven't checked it out yet, go give a listen.  Seriously- amazing stuff!

Secondly, writing collaboratively is a very different process.  The last time I did it was around a campfire while on a Girl Scout trip and back then it consisted of a pass-along story that you would expect 8 year olds to come up with.  I.E:  "As he entered the haunted house he heard a terrifying shriek and then..."  "And then my dog Buster came and rescued him."  "Hey!  You can't do that!"  "Yes I can- it's my turn!"  ...you get the idea.  This time around was, needless to say, very different.  I re-read the story up to that point to try to get a feel for where it was headed, what contributions I wanted to include, and where I imagined the story going.  I ended up reminding the reader of an earlier character who hadn't been seen for a little bit but has, I believe, much left to do in the story as well as using one of three new characters that hadn't played a part yet.  The reader comments lead me to believe I did a good job with it and Sam's feedback when I sent it to her was incredibly kind.  I genuinely can't wait to see where the next writer takes it and I'm looking forward to reading as it continues to evolve. 

I owe a HUGE, giant, heart-felt THANKS to the truly awesome Sam for inviting me to participate in this amazing project!  I've had such a blast!  Your genius in coming up with this just astounds me.

Make sure you check out the story and keep following- It's gonna be quite a story by the time it's all done!