Existentialism on Monday Night

Sometimes you get a text that says "I need you" from one of your best friends because they're having an existential crisis and you realize that everything you tell them are things you needed to hear too.

I could try to explain it to you but instead I think I will just share a song that was popular and relevant when I was in high school. And try not to think I'm old and irrelevant. 

xoxox

L.S. Mooney

I'm having Deep Thoughts thisThanksgiving

Every couple of years Thanksgiving falls on November 27 and makes itself an especially emotional holiday for my family. This is one of those years. You see, November 27 is my uncle's birthday but my uncle died in a tragic car crash in 1988.

I never had the opportunity to get know my uncle (I wasn't born until 1989) but the pictures and stories that my family share inspire a special kind of missing in me. Almost a kind of missing out mixed with sadness and a huge helping of wondering how my life might've been different knowing him. I'm overcome with that feeling today.

This would be his 52nd birthday but he only made it to 25. 25. The same age I am now. I have heard so many wonderful things about him and the richness of his life that realizing he was only my age rocked me. He lived so much for being so young. I don't feel like I've lived half that much in the same amount of time.

A secret source of pride for me has always been that people say I'm like him. My grandmother says it, my mom says it, his best friend who still keeps a piece of his wrecked car in the glove compartment says it. As a little kid (before I knew the details of his crash) my favorite Match Box car and the one I said I wanted when I grew up was the car he died in (let me tell you how creepy that was for my family). Honestly, even now that's still my dream car and I can't convince myself otherwise even though it should be weird. Maybe I just like the idea that I've got something in common with him. Something just for me when everything about him is second hand.

When I turned 25 last month I felt old and like I had nothing to show for it. I had a great birthday and I can't complain about my first month or so of this age but it hasn't been spectacular either. But that's no one's fault but my own. Thinking of my uncle, I can't help but feel like I'm wasting time.

So, today, with my uncle in my heart, I pledge to live this year of my life to the fullest. To have fun, to reach out, to celebrate, to learn, to love, to grow, to be me. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to do that.

THE CATASTROPHIC HISTORY OF YOU AND ME was a catastrophe for my feelings

THE CATASTROPHIC HISTORY OF YOU AND ME by Jess Rothenberg. 

This freaking book. I picked it up because it immediately made me think of Giselle and since I'm all about reading the things similar to my WIP (yes I know that makes me weird) I snatched it up and devoured it. And you should do the same. 

This book had me in tears. That awful pain behind your eyes, I WILL NOT CRY, kind of hurt that sneaks up on you and makes you die a little. Books that claw at my emotions like that are pretty rare but this is definitely one of them. In the best way possible. 

As Brie, the girl who literally died of a broken heart, progresses through the stages of grief, she finds that her life was not what she thought it was and her death isn't what she expected either. The range of human emotion in this book is crazy and by that I mean crazy accurate. I don't want to spoil anything so just trust me when I say you will love Brie's attitude and voice as you laugh and cry right along with her. 

What's Up Wednesday #8

(how freaking cute are the new autumn WUW buttons?!?!)

1. WHAT I'M READING
   Yesterday at the library, I picked up THE CATASTROPHIC HISTORY OF YOU AND ME by Jess Rothenberg and I am so excited to get into it. I started the first chapter (artfully titled Don't Your (forget about me) which makes my Breakfast Club-lovely heart purr) and the voice has me already. When I read the cover blurb, I immediately thought of Giselle (and my WIP by extension and I knew I had to read it. I know some people avoid things similar to what they're writing but I actually find it super helpful.
   
2. WHAT I'M WRITING
   I'm still slowly working on the GiselleBook but did I mention it was slow? So I'm writing some new words for G4 too. I got GREAT feedback from by CPs Jenny and Alex so I am all about making this MS the best it can be.
   
3. WHAT WORKS FOR ME*
   Lately, daydreaming has been so productive for me that I don't know if I can actually call it daydreaming. I've been getting an idea - sometimes related to my writing, sometimes not - and just going with it. Those idea journeys have taken me to some interesting places and given me some cool new ideas. I have a new little idea notebook that is just for these musings. It's a bizarre thing to look through but it's kind of cool too.
   
4. WHAT ELSE IS NEW
   I really like grad school, I am drowning in musical drama, I am bizarrely happy with life. Who am I? 

No, you just turned 25!

I can't tell you how many times this weekend I heard the words "oh, 25! That's the last big milestone then it's straight on to 30." While that doesn't exactly instill me with confidence, I am stoked to make this year the beginning of exciting adventures.
My birthday resolutions are as follows:
1. Make new friends/meet new people
2. Have new adventures
3. Find happiness in unexpected places
I'm pleased to report that my birthday weekend alone has already pushed me in the right direction. I started off early by tagging along to my sister's work happy hour on Friday where I even gave my number to a really cute guy she works with. I hit up a local production of Grease before staying up way too late to finish a grad school paper when there were other things I would have rather been doing. My actual birthday dawned and i spent most of the day in class (boo) but then watched Josie and the Pussycats with my family (this movie is so quality) before hitting the town with friends. I met up with that cute guy for birthday shots of Fireball (nectar of the gods why were you unknown to me?) then danced the night away at the drag club with my girls. While there, I got a tarot reading by a queen named Kitty who was so on point that I'm still thinking about it. On the way back to the car, we got caught in a torrential downpour that left us soaked to the skin and shivering but I really didn't care.
I could not have asked for a better birthday weekend. It set the bar high for the year to come but I'm ready to hit the ground running.

You don't get to call me that!

I will be turning 25 in just a few days and I'm trying not to freak out. It doesn't help that last weekend I had a musical fundraiser which plopped me right in the middle of a bunch of old high school acquaintances and one in particular that somehow made me revert to my raging 16 yr old self. I haven't decided if that is a good or bad thing yet. 

But this relates to writing I swear! When I wrote G4, I based a minor character off a boy I went to school with that everyone called by a shortened version of his name. Just as my MC, Mirella, does, I always called that by his whole name when I had a crush on him and when I moved on, I adopted the shortened version (also like Mirella). Sometimes I take "write what you know" a little seriously. #sorrynotsorry

Anyway, I ran into that boy at my musical fundraiser (you don't even want to know the details) and as I relayed my encounter to a few friends, I noticed the gradual shift back from short name to full name. As if that wasn't worrisome enough (Lavender, you are not 16 and five minutes after seven years does not change ANYTHING!), my best friend noticed it too. "You haven't called him that in years," she proclaimed as she waggled her eyebrows. 

So this tiny, insignificant encounter that I first found so interesting because I wrote something similar into my book has now got me thinking about names and diminutives. Several of my characters have nicknames used throughout the book but they are also referred to by their full names. I realized that as I complete this first pass of edits, I HAVE to examine my placement and use of short vs full names and those types of habits etc because what we call people matters. Would Mirella's dad only call her Songbird when she's singing or all the time? Would he only use Mirella when he's mad? Would it matter when her long-lost best friend calls her Miri again for the first time. Are these details important? After my recent experience, I have to think that the answer is YES. 

What do you think? How important is naming to you? Have you considered the role of nicknames  in any of your writing? 

Is My Retelling Worth Telling? (And info about my new WIP)

I'm over at TGNA today talking about retellings and my four easy questions to help you decide if your retelling is going to be awesome. Below are my answers to those questions in regards to my new retelling project: LOVE'S GRAVEYARD.

First, identify your original - Giselle, the 1841 romantic ballet. Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giselle

1. What is different about your version? What makes it unique and separate from the original?
My idea is for a NA contemporary retelling. No ghosts, no graveyard, no magic. A different time, a different country, a different ending (kind of). 

2. Do your readers need to know the original to appreciate your retelling? And will those who do know the original appreciate small details of your work?
Absolutely not, part of why I want to write this is to bring what I think is a powerful story to a new audience. However, those familiar with Giselle will appreciate names - especially the character named after the original choreographer.

3. Related to the previous questions, what elements of the original do you want to keep, re-purpose, or otherwise incorporate?
I plan to keep the general character cast the same. They've got new jobs, etc. to fit the setting but they're essentially the same characters. Also the daisy and he loves me loves me trope that appears several times in the original libretto will be seen (one of those tidbits for fellow Giselle lovers). The themes of forgiveness and powerful love will hopefully remain as well.  

4. How do you draw inspiration from the original?
I've performed in the ballet Giselle 3 times and seen it on two other occasions so I bring a lot of personal experience to this project. However, Claire Legrand (WINTERSPELL) had an awesome suggestion since her book is a ballet retelling as well. She suggested viewing all the versions I could get my hands on and listening to different arrangements of the score. I was already drawing heavily on the libretto but broadening my base of inspiration has already proved really helpful. 

So those answers helped me see that I could write this story. That I should because it's different and new and I'm passionate about it. I hope the questions can help you, too!

xoxox
L.S. Mooney