The Blog
For My Peeps
Here are some projects for all you Peep lovers.
1. Peeps S’mores from Confetti (We made these for my daughter’s class. Super easy and fun.)
2. Chocolate Covered Peeps from Your Homebased Mom
3. Homemade Peeps from 52 Kitchen Adventures
4. Peeps Martini from The Martini Diva
5. Peeps Rice Krispie Treats from seriouseats.com
Thanks for stopping by!
Spring Projects
Today, I’m sharing some neat outdoor diy projects.
1. Moss Graffiti from reallol.com
2. DIY Seed Tape from giverslog.com
3. Re-Growing Celery from chickensintheroad.com
4. Heart-Shaped Seed Bombs from Mademoiselle Chaos
5. Newspaper Pots from Cottage Hill
Lessons From The Future
Wouldn’t it be great if we could go back in time and share some lessons we’ve learned with our younger selves? I think so.
My reasons for going back wouldn’t be to keep myself from making mistakes (these are learning opportunities). But to empower and encourage myself, especially when fear and doubt come after me.
So here are 25 things I’d tell my younger self:
1. Be yourself
2. Set SMART goals and do them
3. Don’t be afraid to walk/dance/write to the beat of your own drum
4. Just because “everyone” is doing something doesn’t mean you should
5. Celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small
6. Make and keep writing a priority
7. Read crafts books
8. Be true to yourself and your writing.
9. There is more than one way to write/blog/promo/network/etc
10. Remember why you started writing
11. Take up a hobby or two
12. Exercise
13. Let your family and friends know that writing is important to you
14. Don’t limit yourself or your writing
15. Make the most of your time
16. Set long-term goals
17. Know your definition of success
18. Be aware of your strengths and weakness
19. Thinking about writing isn’t the same as doing it
20. Be accountable to someone
21. Do whatever you can to keep writing fun
22. Be humble
23. Take mental breaks
24. Be professional
25. Don’t feel guilty for pursuing something you love
If you could go back in time, what would you tell yourself?
Click the links to learn what my writing buddies would tell their future selves:
Alexia Reed, Kristen Koster, Danie Ford, Emma G. Delaney
E-Reader Cases
Need a case for your E-reader? Check out these diy covers and cases for some neat ideas:
1. Patchwork E-reader Case from frizzylizzie
2. Hardcover E-reader case from booksprung.com
3. E-reader Cover from urbanthreads
4. Hardcover E-reader Cover from cometogetherkids
5. Crochet E-reader Cover from Little Birdie Secrets
6. Leather E-reader Case from Made By Me Shared With You
For more E-reader cover tutorials check out this tute filled link from Tipnut.
Thanks for stopping by!
Story Ideas
A couple of years ago, I was seeing plot bunnies everywhere. At the grocery store. At the bus stop. While reading. Even as I fell asleep.
I was a plot bunny magnet. PBL Cool K (Plot Bunnies Love Cool Kimberly).
At first, it was great. But then all the attention became distracting. I wasn’t making progress on my story because I was too busy dealing with story ideas.
These bunnies weren’t satisfied with Thanks. I’ll put that in my mental file cabinet.. They wanted me to do more with the ideas.
I didn’t want to get on the plot bunny blacklist so I created workbook in Excel to keep the bunnies happy and my sanity in check.
The workbook contains seven spreadsheets.
1. Plots – I list the title if there is one, a short blurb/logline and genre of each ida. The list contains recent ideas and some from the beginning part of my writing journey.
2. Names – My name bank. I’m always on the lookout for character names.
3. Musecrack – Alexia Reed and I came up with this term to describe anything that sparks story ideas. I visit this spreadsheet when I need motivation to keep plugging away on my current wip.
4. Scenes – I keep scene ideas here and also situations to put my characters in. (*evil laugh*)
5. Lines – This holds dialogue or description I’ve salvaged from wips, random lines that pop into my head and even opening lines.
6. Info – I keep track of resources, mostly books, that I’d like to revisit here.
7. Characters – Characters I can’t use at the moment wait here until I find a story for them.
I had an Aha! moment this week. Last year when the bunnies were harassing me the most, I was reworking on my neverending wip (I’d been working on it since 2006 
). I realize now that the plot bunnies weren’t harassing to be harassing, but trying to tell me it was time to let that wip go and move on.
I’ve moved on to another wip and writing is fun again. And my writing time is productive. Thanks plot bunnies.
How do you deal with plot bunnies?
To learn how my writing friends deal with their story ideas, click the links below:
Alexia Reed
Kristen Koster
Danie Ford
Emma G. Delaney
Book Crafts
1. Book Page Necklace from Happy Hour Projects
2. Vintage Paper Flowers from Krista Sew Inspired
3. Book Page Garland from Simple As That
4. Book Clutch from runawaydiy.com
5. Book Page Postcard by emaurian
Bringing Characters To Life
This week my Accountability Group is sharing how we make our characters come alive within our stories. Make them three-dimensional. Before I can do this, I have to make the character real in my mind. I’m going to use the heroine from my bridesmaid wip to illustrate this process.
Step 1: Pick a Name. Sometimes my characters come with a name. But most times I have to find one. I also need a name before I can start writing. My name search begins with my name list (I write down any names I come across that I like). If nothing on the list strikes me, then I’ll check baby name sites, name generators and even onelook.com.
For the heroine of my bridesmaid story, I wanted a name that wasn’t common when she was growing up. A name that would have made her seem different than her classmates. After testing lots of names, I settled on Deven which I found on babynames.com.
Step 2: Find a Face. I look for a face to put with the name. A few times, I’ve started this process already knowing what the character looks like before they had names. When I don’t know, I hit the internet. Pinterest.com and tumblr are great resources for finding faces for my characters.
Here’s Deven:
Source: picasaweb.google.com via Kimberly on Pinterest
Step 3: Create Backstory. This is where I learn why the character is the way he/she is. Why they do or don’t do things. See what drives them or what keeps them from moving them. I do this on paper and free write whatever comes to mind, not censoring any idea. I flesh ideas out, discarding the ones that dead end or are eh and flagging the workable ones. The flagged ideas are reworked and rewritten longhand until I’m happy with the result.
Initially, Deven was the youngest of three siblings and had felt her family didn’t take her seriously because of her place in the birth order. After some rewriting and mulling, Deven’s parents adopted two children when she was six. This makes her believe her parents weren’t happy with her so they went out and found children who would make them happy. So she grows up feeling inadequate and has a need to prove that she is a good person and capable.
Step 4: Find Issues to Exploit I look at the character’s backstory and find issues I can use to create conflict within the story and within the character.
One issue I exploit with Deven is her need to prove she’s capable. Her efforts usually have the opposite effect. She acts first, thinks second. This tendency gets her into all kinds of crazy situations and also puts a strain on her relationship with her family.
Step 5: Write! As I work on the story, I discover things about my characters. I love these surprises.
While writing a conversation between Deven and her mom, I learned Deven got drunk at her grandfather’s funeral and made scene. I also learned during another scene she suffers from coulrophobia– fear of clowns while writing the first chapter. So of course, I wrote a later scene where she has a run in with a clown. 
To learn how my writing friends bring their characters to life, check out the links below:
Whispers in the Dark
Hmm. The title of this post seems better suited to musing about plot bunnies.
Anyway, I was listening to my running playlist today while I ran. Whispers in the Dark by Skillet came on. I’ve heard the song many times before, but this was the first time that I actually listened to the lyrics.
I realized it was the perfect song for the heroine and hero of my current wip. It fits the vision I have for their relationship. Where they’ll be at the end of the story.
So this song will be getting lots of play time while I write.
Enjoy the video!
Business Card Holders
Need something to keep your business cards in? Check out the ideas below.
1. Business Card Organizer from Benign Objects
2. Paint Chip Card Holders from DesignVerb
3. Fabric Business Card Case from Jennifer Ladd
4. Altoid Can Business Card Holder from Julie Ann Art
5. Brown Paper Business Card Holder from Maize Hutton
6. Postard Business Card Wallet from Country Living. This would be cool using a book cover.
Story Research
Doing research is near the top of my favorite writing tasks. I love learning about new subjects. I have to be careful though because I’ll get lost in my research and/or I’ll be attacked by homeless and hungry plot bunnies.
And I won’t make any progress on my story.
My story idea list exploded while I researched mythology and lore of various cultures. I was so busy listening to plot bunnies, I couldn’t dedicate time to work on my wip.
Thankfully, I’ve gotten better at dealing with plot bunnies while I’m doing research. 1) I decide what I’m looking for before I start, 2) use a timer, 3) have a notebook to jot down info that piques my interest.
When I’m in research mode, I’ll start with the internet to gain a basic understanding of the topic. Then I’ll go to my library system’s online catalog and put holds on books related to the topic.
I like that the internet gives me instant access to all kinds of information, but I prefer to flip through a book. I also like the mobility of a book. I read it while I’m waiting in line at the post office, sitting at the bus stop or lying in bed.
My library system is on the small side, but it is partnered with other small systems in the state. This means that I and other patrons have access to loads of books. I have found some cool books.
Here are a few I used for my paranormal wip:
1) Alone-Stokes Short Manual of the Amharic Language
2) Women Warriors by David E. Jones
3) The Encyclopedia of Spirits by Judika Illes
What’s your favorite way to do research?
