Tips to Staying Sane and Entertained- What to Do When You Get Laid Off

Considering people are losing their jobs left and right, I thought I would share a few tips I used when I got laid off last February that kept me sane. I was jobless for six months and with the help of unemployment and a few small things I did to spread the money around, I was able to keep myself entertained.

1. When you run errands, do them all in one day. No need to go out every day and waste gas restarting your car. Plan your day so you don't back track.

2. Put aside a few dollars toward your favorite coffee shop/place to write and get a gift card. That way, you can keep track of how much you're spending. I did this with Panera. I would put $10-15 on a gift card and could only spend that amount in a week there. I would sit and write for hours (my favorite place to write) with a cookie and iced tea. It was heaven. Once I ran out for the week, I had to wait until the next week.

3. Instead of buying books, use your local library. If they don't have the book you're looking for, sign up for PaperbackSwap (US residents only I believe). For only the price of shipping (media mail rate so around $2) you can get any book that is available (including hardbacks). I've belonged to the site for 3 years now and LOVE it. I've said almost $500 (based on used book prices) since joining. They also now have Swap a CD and Swap a DVD, too!

4. Look for places around your house that are free/cheap to go that you haven't been in awhile. My husband and I went to areas of the city we never thought to check out. Outdoor activities are always free. Usually, local museums have days that are free/cheaper. Check your local city's offical page. You'd be surprised.

5. One word: Netflix. They have a free trial on their site. After that, plans are starting at only $4.99. As you know, from my post from last week, going to the movies is expensive! Instead, you can have the movies delivered to you at a fraction of the price. When I was laid off, I would watch a movie almost every day (we have the 3 movies at a time plan). It was a great way to stay entertained and catch up on all the movies I never saw.

6. When shopping for groceries, be smart. Look for things on sale, buy meat/veggies in bargain sizes and use coupons. You'd be very suprised how much you can save with a few coupons and price checking.

7. If you go out to eat, try Happy Hour (if you're old enough for Happy Hour). You'd be surprised how cheap and how many items are available during happy hour at a fraction of the price.

8. Most important, this gives you time to write, write and write. You can never spend too much time writing. I wrote half of my current book while I was off work. If you don't use the time wisely, you'll regret it once you're back to work.

9. A lot like #9, this also gives you a ton of time to read! I was a reading machine while I was off of work. Now that I'm back at work, I miss having so much time to read.

So, if you're going through hard times, how are you keeping busy? What are your tips to saving money, but still having fun?

Author Visit Number 1

Here’s a sequence shot of me proudly displaying my gift from the library for visiting the teen book club. My yellow lab, Willow, sniffed for quality control. The mug reads: Books with Bite @ your library.

I could blame the snowy, cold weather, or the girls basketball practice at the high school – but whatever the reason, I enjoyed my time hanging with the small but mighty group at my first author visit.

And so it was that I talked about writing vamp/were stories to two guys and their mother (Who, I think, also worked at the library.). Ah….teen book club author visit number one – how will I ever forget you?

Today was a gradual introduction to this new world of writer-on-the-road.

The world of technology glitches when showing booktrailers on a projected screen, which leads to momentary loss of the ability to breathe, only to resolve mysteriously in the nick of time.

The world of typing up a list of newbie writer resources (print and online) and photocopying 40 too many.

The world of singing a tune on your guitar and pausing half-way through to apologize for its “girlyness”.

So what if I didn’t really speak with anyone in my target audience? The most excellent hosting librarian, Tanya, took my list of resources and is going to purchase them for the library. And the guys’ mother is thinking about writing a book one day – so who knows…it’s all about planting seeds, right?

And – I also got one hell of a cool mug out the deal.

The Price of a Ticket

Everyone loves a night out on the town, right? Dinner and a movie is the classic date, or even a relaxing evening with friends. I love walking into a theater, smelling the popcorn, walking along the sticky aisles trying to find the best seat available. There’s nothing like seeing a blockbuster movie opening night as the crowd cheers and boos along with you.

So why is the last movie I saw in the full priced theater the most recent Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? The prices. Now, I understand prices vary depending on where you live. Doesn’t everything? I can’t walk into a Target in Illinois and expect to pay the same amount for an item in San Diego. I get the whole ‘cost of living’ thing. Trust me. I probably make more in California than I would in Illinois.

But here’s the thing. Why are movie theater ticket prices almost DOUBLE in San Diego and Los Angeles-larger cities? In talking with a friend yesterday, I found out that her general admission ticket prices were $8 at peak hours (in PA). Other times it’s only $6. To see a movie here in San Diego, CA, you will find general admission tickets are $11.50…PER PERSON. Matinee? $9.00. Imax? $15.00. This made me look up the ticket prices for my old theater in the San Fernando Valley (basically Los Angeles)…$12.00 for general admission.

How do they get away with such inflation? Wouldn’t you think that movies would make more money in the long run if they were cheaper in cities with a larger population? How do teens afford to go with their friends? I know that I would see every movie I was interested in if it was a little less. In fact, I used to! We are seeing the same movie, having the same experience yet paying very different prices.

Can you imagine if books were to do the same? Would people stop buying books if they were almost double the price in larger/more populated areas?

So, do you still go to the theater often and if so, how much are tickets at your local cinema?

Fiction as Activism

"The Pen is mightier than the sword."

--Edward Bulwer-Lytton

I come from a family of activists. Most of my early memories are at protests, marches and rallies. It was a great way to grow up and I am grateful for it, because I feel that activism and awareness of the world around you broadens your writing and your mind. 

But there are some downsides. Mostly getting asked by people, over and over, why you're wasting your time with the silly writing rather than being out there, changing the world. 

I got asked this the other day. Several times, in fact. And I tried to explain then about the all-encompassing reach of fiction and how it can change you.

The person didn't get it.

Fiction can be activism. It can change people's perspective. It can change cultural norms. Why do you think books get banned or burned throughout history? Because words are powerful. 

YA Fiction, specifically, can have a huge effect on the world (at least in my opinion). Teenagers are the future (and wow do I sound like an old lady when I say that. Ha), and by opening their minds to different ideas, different ways of life, different religions, different morals, different politics, different sexualities, then we, as authors, are giving them a chance to broaden (and maybe open) their minds. To think about what it would like to be different. And even to relate to characters who are different from them, but they can still identify with on certain levels. 

One book can change someone's life. I fully believe that because one book changed mine. So how big of a step is it to believe that one book can change the world? Or at least part of it.

I am an activist. And I am a writer. Those two things are hopelessly tangled together in my brain, and it colors my writing. I write about gay teens, about sexuality and sex, about being a young woman in this world and all the dangers and joys that come with it, because maybe someday, I will be able to change someone's life out there.  

We'll see. But until then, I'm gonna keep on with my "silly writing".

Tess Sharpe

Nearest Book

You may have seen this game before, I first encountered it on Facebook. A quick search on the net shows it on countless blogs, too. But I love it and wanna play.

You game?

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (in a comment)
* Don't dig for your favourite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Here's mine from Dead is a State of Mind by Marlene Perez (the entire series ROCKS btw):

"Not half as much as I owe you, but I'm curious - what do you want a San Carlos yearbook for?" she said.

Not bad, hints at something suspect and has a location. Cool. Almost makes me want to zoop up my own Page 56 before Under My Skin goes to print...lol.

Okay - let's see what kind of wacky, deep or highly puzzling sentences are out there in YOUR nearest book.

Working 9 to 5: How To Stay on Schedule

Whether you’re a professional writer, trying to get published, or even a hobbyist it’s important to give yourself a schedule/deadline. It’s easy to tell yourself, “Yeah, I’ll get to chapter 18 after this episode of ____,” or “Before work, I’ll definitely get to those rewrites,” but never actually sit your butt in the chair and do it. I used to be that person. Sure, I wrote, but it took me twice as long to reach my goal. Daily life, both my professional and social, seemed to always get in the way.

By keeping track, either with word count, page count or by chapter, you can keep yourself honest. The key to a good schedule is to make it challenging, yet realistic. If you don’t think you can write a chapter every day, or even every week, don’t schedule at such a fast pace. You’ll only disappoint yourself and get so frustrated in the end you never get anything accomplished.

Currently, I’ve been working at finishing one chapter in two days. To be honest, it’s a faster paced schedule than I would normally tackle, but fits with my work in progress. I wanted everything fresh in my mind, keeping the story fluid so that I wouldn’t have weird gaps or forget how my characters felt from chapter to chapter.

So, how do I keep track of my schedule? I’ve used many ways. Excel seems to work if you are going to go the word count route. I’ve been using iCal recently to track of my chapters. So far, it seems to be working. I haven’t been too stressed out about it; yet know if I don’t finish half of a chapter one day, I have to write the whole thing the next. It keeps me focused and on my toes.

Here’s the great part…the reward. I’ve talked with quite a few writers that give themselves rewards when hitting schedule goals. It could be as simple as watching an episode of your favorite TV Show, a cookie or even a song downloaded from iTunes. Whatever makes your heart flutter; it’s a way for patting yourself on the back and telling yourself “GREAT JOB!”

So, do you keep a schedule? If so, what’s your favorite method of keeping track and when you hit your goals, do you reward yourself? We’d love to hear from you!

Critique Partners--The Many Faces

I firmly believe that any writer should have at least one critique partner. Or more. In the case of Critique Partners, more is always better.

Good Critique Partners are like unicorns--rare, magical, with superpowers that will shock you.

No, really, it's true. If you can find a Crit Partner who you click with, who gets your writing, but who is also willing to be brutal at times when you are totally sucking, you are in Magical Unicorn Territory.

There are many different kinds of Crit Partners, and today, I am going to outline (and acknowledge the awesomness) of all of mine.

First up, of course, is the Crit Group I belong to, YA Edge, which this blog is an offshoot of. Tami, Tracy, Kitty and I crit each other on a chapter by chapter basis. Once a week, I'll get three wonderful critiques about whatever chapter I posted. What's really interesting about Crit Groups is they kind of evolve. In the beginning, when we didn't know each other very well, we were super polite about criticism and rarely would modify the actual language of the author, but rather give suggestions. But as we all got to know each other, become friends and become more familiar with writing styles, we got a lot less polite and way more involved. Nowadays I know that when I open a crit from one of them, there will be a ton of corrections and suggestions and comments, but I also know that most of that red is making my book SO MUCH BETTER. 

Second up is J, my crit partner who critiques my books as a whole (as I do hers). She doesn't get the book until at least the second draft. J is amazing and insightful, she always gives incredible suggestions on my heavy emotional scenes and is never afraid of telling me when the writing is getting too dramatic. 

Thirdly is A, who I've known since I was 12 and who has a ton of very embarrasing stories about me and my teenaged writing. Because I write out of order, A is the person who gets my books first in pieces through IM. Usually I have to give her a quick back-story to the scene, and then she reads it. Usually I accompany the scene with a question like "Is this too sappy?" or "Am I pushing a line here?" A will read the scene, answer my questions and give suggestions to make it better. A's quick saves and willingness to spend months reading bits and pieces of a book, not to mention listening to me talk about my characters  like they are real people make the writing process so much easier to handle.

Fourthly is MOMRA! aka the woman who gave birth to me in a cabin in the woods, aka my very cool Mom. MOMRA! is a journalist and copyeditor and takes great delight in scattering my manuscripts with RNA (Romance Novel Alerts). She is the Queen of Cutting Sap, Empress of the Rolled Eye and Princess of Correcting The Comma Splice. My mom gets the book before it goes out to agents. Usually this is the time where I have had every other Crit Partner go through the book and I've incorporated all their comments. I'm feeling pretty good about the book. And then MOMRA! shows me the errors of my ways and I end up rewriting the book two more times until I'm sick of it. It's a pretty hilarious process. We get into heated arguments over character choice and she writes increasingly irritated notes to me about how she taught me all this grammar, how can I not remember any of it?

There are many different kind of Crit Partners--what's important to keep in mind is that when you have a bunch of really great ones, ALWAYS AT LEAST LISTEN TO THEIR ADVICE. Sometimes they will save you from yourself.