"Old" People Writing for Teens V

Strange internet magic.

Sage, did you get to walk through the light and sound tunnel in Detroit? That is one of my favorite airport features in the country.

I'm committed for Camp Nano in April. That means I have no excuse not to finish my edit this month.

Internet, how do we feel about the name Jasmine? I have nothing but past negative associations with it, but the character rather sprung into being with the name attached (Jasmine Wells). I'm tempted to rename just for the associations, but maybe that's silly. It's a perfectly good name.... right?

I don't fly enough. I live 2 hours from Detroit and I don't even know what light tunnel you are talking about.

Jasmine is okay. Must admit I have associations, but that doesn't mean you won't change them. Sometimes characters pop in my head with name and personality and everything and I just have to leave them as is. One exception, in my last MS my MC didn't have a name, which is part of the premise of the book. By the end she is called Nona, but I hadn't decided that until I'd mostly planned everything else. One of her LI's was Jonah, and he appeared in my head fully formed. Changed him to Joshua because Jonah and Nona was just wrong!

I like Jasmine. Smells great & edible . According to behindthename.com, it ranks #103 in the US so I'm not alone. As for the last name, Shouldn't Jasmine normally go with tea or rice or essence?

It's a well of tea, or well of rice, or well of essence?

Jasmine, thumbs up.

I have nothing else to add. Brain filled with too many ideas for next project, I'm nervously awaiting some beta feedback, and I'm also beta-reading.

jtrylch13 said:

I don't fly enough. I live 2 hours from Detroit and I don't even know what light tunnel you are talking about.

Jasmine is okay. Must admit I have associations, but that doesn't mean you won't change them.

One of her LI's was Jonah, and he appeared in my head fully formed. Changed him to Joshua because Jonah and Nona was just wrong!

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There's a sound&light tunnel in the airport that is an art installation of some sort. I went through it on some awful, hectic, unhappy work trip, and came out the other side a happier human. I would have gone through again, but I'd have missed my flight.

Enjoy it here!

I don't have any good associations with the name, but I can't really say that's any reason not to let her have it (though it is a bit of an annoyance to me...) She is Wells of Jasmine. I'd never considered that.

Jonah and Nona sounds horribly twee.

Ellaroni said:

Jasmine, thumbs up.

I have nothing else to add. Brain filled with too many ideas for next project, I'm nervously awaiting some beta feedback, and I'm also beta-reading.

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Thanks.

I love/hate that "my brain is too busy, please try again later." I'm not allowing myself to write until I finish my edit, so I did all of my plotting. That didn't help at all.

Christabelle said:

I did. My first request for a partial! I'm still shaking. LOL

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Congrats, Christabelle! (I kinda got the impression the Pitch Madness folks would let you know what to do about requests, but maybe I just imagined that.)

Netz said:

Congrats, Christabelle! (I kinda got the impression the Pitch Madness folks would let you know what to do about requests, but maybe I just imagined that.)

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Thanks so much, Netz! I got a email right after I posted. I got everything together and sent my partial in before bed.

Christabelle said:

Thanks so much, Netz! I got a email right after I posted. I got everything together and sent my partial in before bed.

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Hooray! Good luck!

Sage, traumatize away! I'm pretty sure I totally freaked an old dude out on a plane once because I was writing an pretty emotional scene with some violence (and since it's first-person contemp, it could seem like a journal).

CoffeeBeans, I like the name Jasmine, though I'll admit it reminds me of Aladdin.

Yay! Christa! So excited. Hope there's more to come.

Thanks for the link Coffee Beans. I don't live in Detroit, but we visit a lot. so it kind of feels like my city and I just love hearing good things about it. And there really are some great things to see in Detroit!

So I thought i would be trapped with the kids field trip today, but hubby took the kids there and we didn't need to stay and she ended up not needing me to come pick kids up, so yay! I had a whole day of writing, got through some important scenes that I just loved, and wrote 4600 words today. I'm actually about 5 or 6 chapters from the end I think. Hard to say exactly. Not only will this be the fastest rough draft I have ever written, but also the shortest. Which should be obvious, but considering I usually write 120k behemoths to start, this is going to be great! Adding to seems far better than taking away.

So much good news in here lately!

Let's see...

Christabelle - Congrats on getting IN to Pitch Madness and hooray on getting a request!!

Smiley - Congrats on getting into grad school! That's wonderful!

Rachel - Hello and welcome!

Stiger - Hoping along with you that your agent decides it's ready for sub! That would be so exciting for us here, too!

JT - I hope to learn to draft that fast! You just may beat me! I've had the opposite problem. I think I have a clear slate and then little things slip in and obliterate my writing time. I have one more scene to write, gah!

Sorry if I missed anyone's news. I've had ADD where this thread is concerned lately... too much reading between errands or something.

Today I'd hoped to write, but instead I took my 8yo daughter to 3 appointments that were unplanned as of yesterday! She twisted her ankle last night, so she had a doctor's visit and an X-ray visit, and she also complained of pain in her mouth for two days straight. A trip to the dentist proved it to be a canker sore I couldn't see. Expensive day!

Awww Raged! Hope your little one gets better. Sick/injured children are the worst. You'd much rather have yourself suffer than your kids.

I associate "Jasmine" with Aladdin, rice, and my friend's pet rabbit when we were kids (named after Jasmine in Aladdin, but oddly, that white bunny is the first thing that pops into my mind when I hear the name).

Ragged, sorry about your doctor day. Hope your kid feels better soon, though!

I heard back from my agent yesterday. She loves my ms, but has some edits before we sub. I really like all of her notes, though, so I'm good with it. No major rewrites, but still a lot of work. I'm down to do whatever it takes to make this the best book I can possibly write.

Hope everyone is staying warm. We're literally iced in here. There are inches of it outside. It looks like snow. I posted a pic on twitter. Christa, I'm hoping it melts by Saturday!!

Stiger, that's great news about your MS. Good luck with edits.

I can't believe how quickly my new WIP is coming along. Feels like the floor is going to drop from under me. I know it's going to need a LOT of edits, but I'm so happy with it right now I don't even care.

So I went to IMDB to see why Gina Torres reminded you of Jasmine and HOLY CRAP her list of appearances is huge. The only thing I think I've seen her in is Firefly though.

HEP WITH CONTESTS!

Help fellow Awers. I wonder if you could direct me to any legitmate YA book cover contests going on right now. i don't mind feeS that range from $20 to %40 entrance fee. What i've seen out there is very confusing and a bit complicated and deceptve.

You'R help would be much appreciated.

yourS, in need tri

*headdesk* I forgot to say I got into library school (grad school). So so thrilled. Waiting on another school. Eeeek!

Stiger good luck with edits!

I really liked the name Jasmine.

Smiley, I think I follow you on twitter. Except I didn't know it was you.

Sage said:

Ha, really? I just know Firefly, Angel, and some fantasy thing, maybe involving Cleopatra?

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She's been a guest star in everything. I remember her popping up in Alias, Bones, Castle, FlashForward, etc.