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A Deadpool movie in which....

….he bumps into the Stan Lee cameo in the movie and just goes down on his knees and goes “oh my god, It’s God, and he’s dressed as a school crossing guard!”

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FUCKING FINALLY

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“Be brave enough to write something that’s bad — as long as you finish it.”

Marie Lu, author of THE YOUNG ELITES (out Oct. 7!) and the New York Times best-selling LEGEND series, on how to make progress as a beginning writer. Listen to her full interview here, or on iTunes or Stitcher!

(via firstdraftwithsarahenni)

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Steve’s first shield was neither the shield he had before he saved the 107th, nor was it the vibranium shield we’ve all become accustomed to. 

Steve’s first shield was Bucky. 

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I really love this.

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Rose and Lissa's friendship has always been the most powerful thing in these books to me. Sure, Dimitri is hot and Adrian is so flawed yet perfect who wouldn't love him. But nothing engulfs me more than the emotion of the bond the two girls share. It spans beyond just a simple friendship and becomes something more. Something that cannot be defeated. And even though they have problems, their love for each other never ends, it simply grows, developing into something even more powerful than before. 

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Vampires? Not so much. High school friendships and female empowerment and loyalty? Yes, please.

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This was the first song given to Emma. And it's still the one that influences me the most when writing her.

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That one where I can't form words...

Which is totally ironic given the subject matter of the blog. 

So I've got BIG NEWS. HUGE. MONUMENTAL. Are you ready for it? I don't think you are. Not even a little bit. Nevermind, I'm just not going to tell you.

Seriously, Tom. Calm down. Okay, here goes...

I've cast Jesse Eisenberg to play me in the movie version of my life.  No wait, that was Warner Bros and he's playing Lex Luthor. 

Good. I was worried you'd abandon me to run to your own blogs to cover the breaking news about Jesse's new role. Or you know, explain why anyone else would be better for the role. I mean he isn't even a girl and my hair isn't near that curly. Sidenote: Jesse would do an awesome job of playing me except for all the, you know, social interaction scenes. 

Ah yes, the big news...the news that has me all kinds of freaking out! 

I HAVE AN AGENT!!!!!!!!!! The fantastic, wonderful, Louise Fury of The Bent Agency is MY AGENT!!!!!

I know, right? 

Yes, Tom, we are all very excited! Like this calls for a million more of these !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a lot more AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHSSSS!!!! 

So short version of the story....

In August of 2010, I started querying for the first time. It was with a completely different manuscript, which if you've been around for the process you know I'm still totally obsessed with that work. But I still hate all 7000 versions of the query letter that I wrote for it. And the lack of response in the matter became a little overwhelming.

There was a point where shelving that manuscript became the best idea at the time, and I tried with another project I had been working on.  

Then came SCRAPPED. If you don't know me very well you may not know that I've had the same best friend for 20 years, Ashley, and she's kind of a big deal in my life (as one would expect after 20 years). SCRAPPED started out as this epic birthday present for her.

Then when the final draft was completed it become a Christmas present too. But after reading it a million times and helping me perfect it, she made me promise her that I would query it. I only had to send out 5. If I had no response, she'd let it go. 

But it had a response. And then another. A few full manuscript requests happened before I decided to enter Pitch Madness with SCRAPPED. I never expected to make it through the slush reads. But I thought, it doesn't hurt to try. And then I did. And I made it to the Agent round where I was put on the fantastic Brenda Drake's team. As Ashley described it, it was like trying out for the women's baseball league and learning you were a Rockford Peach. 

SCRAPPED generated a lot of attention in the game. And I walked away with several requests. But what I really never expected was THE OFFER. 

That's pretty much what I looked like when I saw the first email expressing interest. And when I had not one, but two offers of representation. But when I got off the phone with Louise it looked a little like this:

And after a couple days of dance parties and thinking it over, I made the fantastic decision that has lead me to where I am now.

Basically: 

Yes, Tom. Indeed it has. 

And I am already so eternally grateful just to get to this point, and there's so much more insane, wonderful good stuff to come.

But since I am super duper thankful, I have to say thank you to the phenomenal Brenda Drake and her insane organization skills that are changing lives all the time with these fantastic contests (seriously, people of the interwebz enter them, you never know what will happen).

I want to also thank all the people who had to listen to me nervously rant over the last few years, who told me I was a Rockstar and I could do anything. I'm warning you now it will probably only get worse from here.To the people who read SCRAPPED in the early days and helped me realize what it was and see how it could be even better, thanks.

And to Louise, who is crazy enough to take a chance on a girl who expresses herself through Hiddleston memes and gifs and still thinks there's a chance for a writing career there, I am so incredibly thankful and beyond excited to be working with you.

*cue the orchestra for the long winded girl who said this would be short*

And of course, thanks to Ashley, because without her SCRAPPED literally would not exist. I know you hate when I say that, best friend, but it's true. 

So, there it is. The blog of epicness. I'm represented. A card carrying member of Team Fury. Get used to me saying that a lot too. It's just going to happen. But like I said before, there's so much more to come so... 

Take us out of here, Troy and Gabriella!

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Found this article. Found it incredibly helpful. Be sure to go read the full story, but these are the ten questions the author (Lydia Netzer) covers in it:

1. At what point did you feel like “Ah, now the story has really begun!”  2. What were the points where you found yourself skimming?  3. Which setting in the book was clearest to you as you were reading it? Which do you remember the best?  4. Which character would you most like to meet and get to know?  5. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book?  6. If you had to pick one character to get rid of, who would you axe?  7. Was there a situation in the novel that reminded you of something in your own life?  8. Where did you stop reading, the first time you cracked open the manuscript? (Can show you where your first dull part is, and help you fix your pacing.)  9. What was the last book you read, before this? And what did you think of it? (This can put their comments in context in surprising ways, when you find out what their general interests are. It might surprise you.)  10. Finish this sentence: “I kept reading because…”

Some of this could be easily adapted into roleplay critiques, though it’s primary use is, of course, novel writing.

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Gorgeous

having fun defacing IGNITE ME covers for the first time!

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In light of reading STARGIRL

Look, I know how to blog. Shocks me too. But I just read STARGIRL and I had to comment on it. 

If you have never read the book, here's a brief rundown. STARGIRL is the kind of person most people find really odd. She shows up at Leo's high school one day as if she were a whirlwind of non-conformity in a place where being different is entirely unheard of. She changes her name when she feels it doesn't suit her, she sings happy birthday to everyone with her ukulele in the middle of the high school cafeteria, and she doesn't ever feel uncomfortable doing it.

Reading STARGIRL I was proud to realize that I was identifying with her more than I did the kids in her school. More than even Leo, who told me the story in awe of this girl who wasn't afraid to stand out. And in light of that realization, I started thinking about my own eccentricities that make me more STARGIRL than normal. Because like Archie says, she is more us than we are. 

How I know I'm a STARGIRL

I will always be the girl whose husband fell in love with her while she was in Hermione cosplay, at work, where no one else was dressed up. I will be the girl who firmly believed Anakin and Padme make excellent children's names, but Luke and Leia are a little absurd. I will be the girl who flies across the country to see a concert, or to watch a musical, or to help her best friend sneak into the place where she got married just so you can recreate the moment because you missed it the first time (and who doesn't need a picture on their anniversary). I am the girl who makes a muppet of herself and then carries it through NYC while her polka dot socks protect her feet from scratchy shoes. The girl who made musicals out of any subject and charged her family to watch them (everyone had to have a ticket). I'm the girl who was known as Green Haired Shannon the entire first year of college, who sends her little brother coloring sheets while he's in Basic training, and who wakes up to watch Lazy Town on Sunday mornings at the age of 30 (and freaks out even more when Robbie Rotten is her Grinch during a Broadway show). 

I don't know if there's a Leo out there somewhere whose life I have changed, or a Hillari who I have infuriated with my lack of concern over the fact that she hates me, but I do know that I'm always going to be the strangest, happiest version of me I can be...and somewhere there's a bunny hop calling my name.

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Ten things...

Going to start doing random ten things lists. This week is:

Ten things I'm fangirling over at the moment.

Because let's face it there's a 12 year old girl inside all of us waiting to squeal. 

10. The new Vampire Academy teaser for the teaser trailer. Yep, 15 seconds of random clips from an only slightly longer trailer. Still worth freaking out over. 

9. My Legend of Korra dvd set I got for my birthday. Because nothing is better than watching one of the best shows on TV over and over again. 

8. San Japan. Or rather helping out at my friend Adam's table. He's an awesome artist and you should all buy a print someday. Like today. 

7. Heroes of Cosplay. I don't have cable, so I won't be watching it live or anything. But OMG THERE'S A SHOW ABOUT COSPLAY ON TV. 

6. The new Doctor. Sure it's been over a week, but I am still so excited to see what Peter does with the Doctor's character. 

5. Percy Jackson. I haven't been able to see Sea Of Monsters yet. So I'm still in the geeking out because I don't know what I'm in for stage. 

4. Villain Month. It's actually next month, but I am counting down the days til the DC villains take over the covers of the entire universe's comics. Gotta catch them all! 

3. Austin Teen Book Festival. This is also next month, but they have been announcing so many cool things! It's going to be so awesome this year. Like every year. 

2. LEAKED FOOTAGE. Usually I'm not a fan of spoilers or leaking footage meant to be a secret, but this is Spiderman, and Captain America, and Guardians of the Galaxy, and OHMYGODTHISISGOINGTOBESOAMAZING. 

1. CITY OF BONES. ONE WEEK! THERE IS NOT ENOUGH CAPITAL LETTERS IN THE WORLD TO CONVEY THE EXCITEMENT OF HOW MUCH I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE. AAAAHHHH!!

That's it. Just a fangirl freak out list that I had to share. What are you freaking out about?

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at the TMI last mall tour event

jamie: what is shipping?

cassie: it stands for relationshipping. that means you want two people to be in a relationship.

jamie: so i can ship cake?

cassie: you need to pair cake with something.

jamie: can i ship me with cake? i'd be JAKE!