Finding My Voice

I decided to write my post this week about voice. No, not the one you speak with, but the kind of voice that makes your writing…well, you. I was recently talking with a fellow YA writer about how a writer’s voice is the most important aspect to grasp.

I likened a writer’s voice to an artist’s style (sorry, I’m always going back to the art references. I have an art degree, so sue me). As an artist, you can replicate another artist’s painting, but that doesn’t mean that you paint in their style. Take Vincent van Gogh for example. Sure, I could try and paint Starry Night just like he did (trust me, it’s not fun. When I was an art teacher, one of my students wanted to try it so bad I let her. BIG mistake, HUGE), but so can a photocopy or scanner. Next time I pick up a paint brush, despite JUST painting like Vincent van Gogh, I won’t be able to replicate his style. Each artist needs to find their own way. I could paint 1,000 pictures but until I can nail down my style, they could all look like a different artist painted each one.

As an author, I want my voice unique, as every writer should. If someone were to read one of my books, they could read the first few pages and go “Yep, this is one of Tami’s books”. Does that make sense? Kind of like, you can read just one page of a novel by John Green and right away know he wrote it. There is no question. Despite Looking For Alaska, Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns all being about different subjects and taking place in different places (though all modern and contemporary YA), you just know they are by John Green. The same can be said for the entire top YA (or adult) writers. That’s why people become fans of a writer’s work and not just one of their books, because they are able to carry their voice throughout their work no matter the subject.

So yes, that is what I’m currently working on…finding my voice. Any tips on how to grasp carrying your voice throughout the story, while making your characters three dimensional people?

Class of 2k10 and the Latest Crusade: An update on our progress

Things are really coming along in our group of around 24 debut authors gearing up to launch our books with the Class of 2k10. Under my pen name, Judith Graves, I have a debut YA novel coming out on March 27, 2010 and was able to join this incredible author collective. We have our theme: Book Your Getaway. Our website is under construction We have a blog committee, a conference committee, one for swag and marketing.

What an exciting, hectic, crazy, emotional time this is for each author balancing the needs of 2k10 with their own writing/author promotions…oh yeah, and the rest of their lives. Their families. Their day jobs.

It’s getting to the point that I almost need a committee to help me decide what to wear in the morning. Okay, it’s not that bad, but I am appreciating the beauty of multiple opinions and fresh perspectives. Kinda how I imagine the alien in Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull felt when he reunited with his 12 other selves. Oddly enough, Indiana had some influence over us when we created our theme. His love of the written word, his adventures and imagination.

While I can’t blather on and give away all our surprises. I can reveal our logo. If you look back at the class program, ever present is the little “stick dude” serving as a mascot. We knew we had to rework the little guy to fit our theme and thankfully a talented artist stepped in to save the day. Here he is all his Indiana Jones inspired glory…




Whatcha think? I’ll post more details as our 2k10 adventure continues.

Using a New Medium to Spark Creativity and Production

It’s hard to find the time to write these days, and when I have a spark of creativity I’m not always in front of the computer or have my notebook with me. There are new ways to write on the go, which I just recently discovered.

The other day I was out running errands as a new idea came to me. It hit me hard like a line drive down the 3rd base line. How was I going to get to a notebook or computer in time to write it all down? I’m sure all of you have had these moments, where panic ensues and in the end you have no idea what that idea was. Of course once you’ve forgotten it completely, you know that it was probably the most brilliant idea ever, right? So as the words came flying at me (yep, not only the idea but actual WORDS), I rummaged through my purse, only to find my iPhone. “It has a Notes app,” I said shrugging and promptly opened the application up. I proceeded to not only type up my idea on the phone but the first few paragraphs. You would think it was awkward, but to be honest it wasn’t. That’s when I got an idea. What if I wrote a lot of the first draft on my iPhone, making it hard to go back and edit so I could just worry about the words as they came? It was a crazy idea, but I thought I would give it a shot and started to investigate.

Now, for those of you who have Smart phones, especially iPhones, you know there are way too many apps out there to easily find the good ones. Lucky enough, I found one that’s pretty darn good and thought I would share my research.

NoteMaster is a note-taking app that allows sync back and forth from Google docs. I’ve had the app a few days and used it yesterday to continue my story. It lets you sync certain files, folders or everything you have stored in Google docs. The sync is almost instant and the doc formatting comes back and forth pretty seamlessly. My only beef (so far) with NoteMaster is that the text is a lot smaller than it is with the standard Notes app that the iPhone comes with. For $4.99, I think it’s definitely worth the price.

Right before buying NoteMaster, I wanted to see if anyone I knew used it. I Twittered asking if anyone had it and YA author Heather Hanson responded that she hadn’t but to let her know what I thought if I went ahead and got it. We twittered back and forth and she pointed me in the direction of another app for the iPhone that could be really useful—Docs to Go. With this little app (two versions, one is $4.99, the more expensive is $9.99) you can view, edit and create Microsoft Word files. You can even view excel, pdf and more! With the more expensive version, you can send and receive attachments via Microsoft Exchange email.

I’m sure there are more amazing apps and programs out there for all you tech savvy people! Those are the few I have dabbled in. It’s great to know that at any time I can pull out my cell phone and start writing!

Have you tried to use a Smart Phone to write your book?

iPod Shuffle Game

Okay, it's Labour Day (or Labor Day, to my US friends who obviously have a thing against the letter "u"...lol...), this is a time to celebrate all things rebellious and worthy of putting up a fight. In light of this, my blog post for today is a veritable parade of give-it-to-the-man sentiment. It's a music game - we're channelling the union songs of old - but with a twist. I first saw this as one of my friend's notes on Facebook and am embarrassed to say I could only get three from her list. But I enjoyed the challenge. So here we go...

The iPod Shuffle Game

Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first lines from the first 10 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.
Step 3: Place any answers in the comments section, where if you’re correct, you can claim bragging rights.
Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game start your own!

Alright here’s my list. I’ll even give you guys a few hints – they span from the 70’s to current and most are rock or alternative tunes. They may not be work/labour related, but they'll help you rock in the end of summer. Don't forget to post your answers!


1. Tell me that you’re alright, yeah everything is alright

2. I guess you’re right and there’s nothing I would say to you this time

3. Hit the beat and take it to the first line, yeah, yeah, yeah

4. You know he’s not the one for you but that’s no fault of mine

5. Did you see the sky I think it means that we’ve been lost

6. All our times have come…here, but now they're gone

7. When you came in the air went out

8. I hear a voice say don’t be so blind

9. Sha-la-la…ships are docking, planes are landing

10. Give me a kiss, give me a kiss, I want to find out what I missed

How Writing a Book is like a Hockey Season

As a lot of you know, I took the month of August off from heavy writing. I did do some editing and wrote my blog posts, but that’s about it in the writing department. Now I’m back in the game and it feels great.

I’m going to make a really bad analogy, just warning you...

Fall is just around the corner which also brings hockey season, my favorite time of the year, as well as the holidays and NaNoWrimo. I have the same excitement right now for my current WIPs as I do for the new hockey season. Here is how I’m going to spin this to compare hockey to writing…again, stick with me.

When I sit down to write each day, I don’t know what is around the corner, even if I have an outline or synopsis written. I always make sure to let the story flow and the characters to lead me down the right path. I personally think that if you try and stick with your outline/synopsis to the letter, your work can come out feeling stagnant and lifeless. So may not agree, but for me I never know exactly what my characters will say or do until I’m in the scene and literally writing their next moves. Writing a book is like an 82 game season of hockey, you have to take each game or chapter as it comes and not think about the daunting task of writing the whole book. Editing, you can compare to the playoffs. You get to see your hard work polished. If my “team” or the cast of characters in the stories take it all the way to the finals and Lord Stanley’s Cup, writing ‘The End’. Will I finish telling their story? Will it end in victory with an agent or a book deal? I guess I’ll never know unless I dive in and play each game, or in this case write each chapter the best I can. Not knowing how it will end (and maybe you DO know how your story will end, but can never predict how far or successful that book will become) is always the fun of it.

I hope that my favorite hockey team, the LA Kings will make the playoffs this upcoming season, but I won't know until they hit the ice and play the grueling 82 games. Maybe if I time it right, I can see them go all the way as I type my final words, The End.

My Name is Tami and I'm Addicted to Buying Books

Just like a lot of you I'm sure, I have a huge list of TBR books at home. Buying books is my addiction. I feel like I have to run out and buy the ones I'm most excited about the first day they come out, even if it will sit on my shelf and wait to be read. I feel like I should be in some AA-type group for my problem, but there are definitely worse addictions in this world!

Anyway, I have a few books that I can't wait to dive into. If only I could find a job where I would get paid to read all day! Wouldn't that be awesome!? I thought I would share a few that are staring at me every day when I walk into my office at home saying, "READ ME!"



Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

If you haven't read the first book in this amazing series, please stop reading this post and go to your local indie store and purchase The Hunger Games. You will not regret it. I think it was one of my top three books I read last year and I'm sure Catching Fire won't disappoint. Released yesterday (Sept 1), Catching Fire is probably one of the most anticipated books in the YA world to come out in 2009. Being the way I am, I went out at lunch time and bought it right away. The difference between this book and many others, it will never see my TBR list. I started it last night. :)

A little off topic, but I thought I would share a funny story. When I went into the store to purchase this book, I practically skipped to the counter to be rung up. The employee looked at the cover and said "That's a nice cover...Catching Fire." So of course, I couldn't help myself and went into how much I loved the first one, etc. She goes, "Yeah, the cover reminds me of you." I didn't know what she meant, and I'm sure my face showed my confusion. Then she did this weird thing with her hands and said, "You know, like, it reminds me of you." Again with the confused look from me. Then finally it was time to leave, with book in hand I said my parting words, "Umm, thanks I think." WHAT DID SHE MEAN? So bizarre.


Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

When I bought this book last Tuesday, I was amazed at the cover. From the picture online, it looks a lot like the other Ellen Hopkins books but to me didn't have the appeal, but boy was I wrong. It's stunning in person.

About two months ago, I decided to give Ellen Hopkins' books a chance. I had shied away from them since I started reading YA because of the way her books are told, in literary prose. I thought I would have trouble sinking into the story, but again I was wrong. From the moment I opened the first book I read of hers, Crank, I was mesmerized and read it in one sitting. I couldn't get enough and bought Glass the very next day. Since then I've read Burned and can't wait to get Impulse, Identical and of course, now Tricks. Each story is captivating and my only complaint is that the stories have to end. I love all her characters and the fact that there isn't a topic she won't dive into. I may have to wait and read Tricks, only because I will be sad to see it not sitting on my TBR pile.


Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Just like the other two books I can't wait to read, I bought Rampant the first day it came out. I've been waiting for this book since I heard the premise. What's not to like about killer unicorns and a unicorn hunter? It takes a new spin on how we think of unicorns and it's nice to have a new mystical creature on the scene (not that I don't like fairies, zombies, vampires, etc.)

I have read all of Diana Peterfreund's books and if Rampant is as good as those, I can't wait. It will be a big fight between Tricks and this book for which to read after I finish Catching Fire.



What are a few books on your TBR list that you can't wait to jump into?

Long Way From Home….or is it?

A little over a year ago I put down my guitar, took up my pen and devoted myself to the goal of becoming an author. No more long rehearsal hours with the band after working at my full time job, no more saving for bigger and better gear, no fighting with venues to cut us the cheque – no fighting amongst ourselves.

I also stopped giving guitar lessons and recording songs for other musician friends. In a very short time I’d severed all ties to the life I’d been living since high school. Gear hauling. Setup. Tear down. Sound check. These words were removed from my vocabulary. I was no longer a working musician hosting open mics, playing funky coffee shops, pubs and small folk music festivals. I’d heard the call of another – writing fiction – and if I was going to be any good at it, fitting it into my already hectic schedule wasn’t an option. Something had to give.

Music and me were through. In order to write novels, instead of tunes, I had to completely alter my mindset. Quit music cold turkey. Ditch the rhyming dictionary and mode charts, sell the extra gear and keep only my “babies” – my Thunderbird bass, my Dot Studio guitar. It was time to let my calluses fade. I’d become just another music fan instead of a musician/singer/songwriter.

Or so I thought.

After months of telling myself (whenever I’d sit at the piano or pick up a guitar) - that’s not me anymore, I’m a writer now – I finally realized that music will always be with me. I love words, I love music. Even when I write I have tunage blaring. I may not commit to being in a band again, but I’ve been writing songs here and there, recording bed tracks and melodies. I’m finding a balance between my two loves.

I look back at this “home video” video we did for my last band, Rustic Charm – the tune is called “Long Way From Home” – and I can celebrate the time I had collaborating with my band members, my friends. The video is simple…it shows us in all our average glory. I came up with the idea, borrowed a camera and basically documented an average day for us. It’s a tribute to the dog days of band life:



I have different sorts of collaborative friendships now – with crit partners, my editor and publisher. It may not be face-to-face, but we email, Skype and chat. They get my jokes and yet can reel me in when I step over the line (which is more often than naught). We talk like my characters are the kids next door. I sit out on the deck, just Dot and me. I strum a few chords – hmmm….might be a new tune brewing. Life is good.

Here’s to charging after your dreams – the more, the merrier.