GUTGAA: Meet and Greet



Today kicks off Deana Barnhart's awesome blogfest, Gearing Up To Get An Agent, which for those of you who don't know, is a great way to connect with other writers, find CPs/ betas, pitch to agents and all sorts of other awesome writerly things like contests.

Today's post is a meet and greet, designed to allow everyone participating to get to know each other. 

To get things started, here's a little bio of myself, and a questionnaire. 

Hi! I'm Clare, a twenty-nine year-old, married, mother of two from the West Midlands, of England.

I've been writing since my teens, cutting my writing teeth in the world for fan fiction.  Now I'm following my dream of becoming a published author. I'd like to invite you to join me on my journey.

You can also find me at the following places:
Facebook | Twitter | Polyvore | Pinterest | Good Reads




I currently have two projects that I'm working on, Cupid - a new adult paranormal romance - which I'm writing the first draft of, and Sibylline Nights - a new adult contemporary fantasy - which I'm editing the first draft of.

-Where do you write? In my living room. I have a computer desk and arm chair that faces away from the rest of the room, but looks onto the trio of windows that covers one wall and offers a view of my balcony.

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see? To the left of my writing space is the floor, where my slippers that I've just kicked off are, and a t-shirt of my two-year old's, as he's in the habit of stripping off!

-Favorite time to write? In the morning. I find I'm most productive after I've taken my oldest to school, had breakfast and set my youngest up with something to entertain him. On a good day I can get three thousand words written before lunch.

-Drink of choice while writing? Depending on the time of day, it's either tea or Coke.

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
I very rarely listen to music while writing, I find it too distracting, and usually spend all my time making a play list, instead of doing any actual work.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
My latest idea sort of came to me out of the blue. I was on a paranormal romance kick, having just finished Kiersten White's fabulous Endlessly, and got to thinking about paranormal beings that haven't really been touched upon. I looked over to my bookcase, where my collection of Monster High dolls sit, and saw CA Cupid. That got me thinking about Cupids, and if it was possible there was more than one. The rest kind of flowed from there. 

-What's your most valuable writing tip?
Writ! Write as much as you can, and share what you feel comfortable with. Don't be afraid if it's rubbish, everyone starts out less than perfectly. But find a place - writing group, online site, blog, whatever - where you can share and get feedback on your writing. I make no secret of the fact I started writing with fan fic. I truly believe it gave me the confidence to start branching out, and try my own stories. Though I've learned a lot since then, and still have a lot more to learn, having written fan fic for five years gave me that boots to take the next step, and challenge myself.

Thanks for stopping by, and checking out my meet and greet post. I look forwards to getting to know all of you taking part in GUTGAA.

Please remember to stop by as many other bogs as possible, as this fest is all about meeting other writers and making new connections.

You can find the full list of participants here:


38 comments:

  1. Does your son strip down naked outside as well?
    Good to know more about you, Clare!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thankfully no he doesn't! :D

      Thanks Alex.

      Delete
  2. I still haven't mastered the writing fiction in the morning thing - I don't know why, it's as good a time as any lol!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL I guess everyone has different productive times. :D

      Delete
  3. Interesting post, I love hearing about how people got the ideas for their stories! And I agree about writing as much as you can!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with VikLit - it's so fascinating where stories come from.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Clare! I adore your idea of Cupid. I think it's a new idea in the paranormal genre. I wish you the best!! Looking forward to GUTGAA. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Candy. Your enthusiasm for it makes me want to continue with it, when things are tough. :D

      Delete
  6. I love your idea for Cupid, and how fast you knocked it out for NANO summer camp! Amazing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's not the terrible two's--it's the terrible T's. Two, three, ten, twelve, all the teens, the twenties and the thirties. After that it gets into the two hundreds so you're safe for a while.

    Lauren
    Lauren-ritz.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL Ain't that the truth! I have a nearly ten year old too! :D

      Delete
  8. I'm encountering so many people at GUTGAA who write early in the morning. Maybe someday I'll have to try that when I'm on normal time and not just getting up super-early due to jet lag. It does feel productive to get a lot done early on, as much as I love writing at the witching hour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can see how jet lag would hamper productivity. I miss writing at the witching hour, I can't go on all night like I used to.

      Delete
  9. I have yet to read the Paranormalcy series. I do own the first one though. Gotta get on that :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You really should read them, they're fantastic book! :D

      Delete
  10. Nice to *meet* you! Your advice about not letting fear stop you is great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice to meet you too, Nicole. Thanks for dropping by. :)

      Delete
  11. I also started writing fan fic, is great way to improve your writing.
    Nice to meet you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice to meet you too. I think fan fiction is an excellent way to build some confidence. :D

      Delete
  12. Kids are funny with their need to be nekid, hey? I've gotten a lot of eye rolls at the beach this summer because of my daughters flamboyant nature. :) Nice to meet you, and good luck with GUTGAA! I love the idea of using Cupid in a story by the way. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They sure are! :D And oh, I hate people giving you funny looks because of how you parent your own kids! Annoys the hell out of me.

      Nice to meet you too, and thanks for the compliments on my Cupid story. :)

      Have you got a blog I can visit you at? I can't seem to find you on the sign up list.

      Delete
  13. Great advice, and I love your blog. So very cute. Good luck with GUTGAA. Stop by and say hello if you get the chance. http://anjeasandro.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Awesome answers! I'm still amazed you get so much time to write with kids. Do you sleep? *LOL* My two year old likes to be naked as well. At least it's handy when eating and he doesn't get his clothes messy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Christine! I'm lucky, as Hubby works from home, so we share childcare! Yes, the nakedness is handy at dinner time! ;)

      Delete
  15. Love your writing advice, Clare! What a fun event. :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. What part of England do you live in? I lived on RAF Feltwell for four years. I love your idea for a book about Cupid and there possibly being more than one. That sounds like a really enjoyable read. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Now following you and wishing you luck with your writing!
    -Jenna

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm from the West Midlands, about 10 miles from Birmingham. :)

      Thanks for the compliments, glad you like the idea for Cupid and think it's interesting. :D

      Delete
  17. Also, ignore my comment about stopping by my blog. I clicked on a commenter's blogs she followed link and it brought me to you, but yay! I'm glad we've met!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL No worries! Glad we met too, hopping over to check out your blog too. And thanks for the follow! :D

      Delete
  18. I enjoyed Keirsten White's books too! I like the more lighthearted approach since some of the ultra-serious paranormal YA was kind of wearing me down. I'm looking forward to her new one.

    Here's my GUTGAA Meet and Greet Post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, that's exactly why I liked the series, too. Sure it had it's serious dramatic bits, but it was also a very funny book and I enjoyed the change from constant doom and gloom. Very much looking forwards to her new ones.

      Delete
  19. I love your Cupid idea! I'm actually writing a retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth right now. Good luck with your writing and thanks for your positivity in this crazy shared dream of ours and so many. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, glad you like the idea. :D

      You're doing a retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth? Awesome. Good luck with that.

      And you're welcome. Happy to encourage other writers. :D

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to read this entry, and comment. I really appreciate it.