New Years Resolutions and New Jeans

Usually I don't even come close to fulfilling my resolutions for the year because they're so far out of my reach. Last year I didn't even make any resolutions so I wouldn't have to feel bad if I didn't accomplish them. This year I tried to make fewer goals and make them more attainable. Maybe I made them too easy, cuz so far I've fulfilled several of them.

1. Enter my African Snow White novel, Kala of the Kongo, in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest. Check.

2. Do a cleansing diet for one month in January and lose 10 lbs. Check.

(Hurray! Time to celebrate with a new pair of jeans. Hmm, which one should I choose?)

3. Put music to some poems for a writing contest awards gala in April. Check.

4. Revise Mystic Mound, my modern-day Beauty and the Beast novel. I'm making slow but steady progress.

How about you? How are your new years resolutions coming? And what are your rewards for completing them?

Favorite Character Blogfest

I'm participating in this Favorite Character blogfest.

The blogfest runs from January 23-25.Here's how it works:

1. Decide which of your characters you'd like to introduce everyone to, and choose a snippet about this character (preferably no more than 200 words) to share about this character. (A snippet from your manuscript would be awesome, but if you're not comfortable with that, you can choose to do a character sketch--something to show us your character and writing.)

2. Between January 23-25, tell us who your favorite character you've written is and why and post your snippet.

3. Hop around to other participants to check out their favorite characters and a bit of their story.

Here's my entry:


Novel: Kala of the Kongo, an African Snow White tale

Favorite character: Adulfuh is a young warrior prince, who reluctantly helps the main character, Princess Kala, on her quest. This is their first meeting. He has just shot and killed a cheetah that attacked her when he showed up and startled it. He doesn't know Kala is a girl since she's disguised as a boy hunter. She's angry at him for killing the cheetah because it has a cub. He can't understand why she's angry with him for saving her life and and thinks she's incompetent for not shooting the cheetah herself. 

Snippet about character:

Adulfuh stepped closer. “That’s a fine bow you carry. Would you like me to show you how to use it?”

I backed up a few paces, clutched the magic bow that never missed tightly to my chest, and raised my chin a bit. “I already know how to use it.” The bow had belonged to my father until he died. After that, Nganga, the palace magician, gave me the weapon in secret. From then on, disguised as a boy, I sneaked out of the palace to hunt whenever I could get away.

“Watch carefully,” Adulfuh said, apparently determined to teach me a lesson or show off his skill. He lifted a bow from his back and threw a stone at a tree.
A bird fluttered up in the air, wings pumping like bellows fanning a fire. Before he could release an arrow, I rose and shot the bird from the sky in one fluid motion. Take that!

Adulfuh gawked at me. “As you can see, I’m an excellent teacher. After only one lesson, you’re already a better shot.” He winked.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s a shame you’re not as quick with a spear as you are with your wit.”

Contest Winner!

The winner of the book giveaway is:

 Anaavu

Congrats! Please email me at: alicebeesley at hotmail dot com within one week to claim your prize. Include your address, and let me know which book you want, and I'll get that out to you right away.

Thank you all for participating. If I don't hear from the winner within one week, I'll chose another winner, so check back next week.

Books I'm Reading and a giveaway!

Right now I'm reading Ally Condie's Crossed. Her writing is so fluid and beautiful and poetic, and she's really good at getting inside her characters heads, which I enjoy immensely. The setting is patterned after Southern Utah, which is one of my family's favorite mini vacation destinations. It reminds me of all the canyons we've hiked and the indian ruins and rock art we've seen over the years.

I'm also listening to Jame's Dashner's Scorch Trials on audio book while I exercise and clean my house. His descriptions and the things his characters say and do frequently make me laugh out loud. I was drawn into the story right from the beginning. The characters and setting are so unique and yet he describes them so well they seem real. You never know what's going to happen next. It's a real page turner. I don't want to stop listening, so I'm getting a lot of exercise and cleaning done. I can't wait until the first Maze runner movie comes out in 2013!

Because I live in Utah, I'm fortunate to know both of these authors and see them at conferences and book signings. James promised me an interview for my writer's group podcast writing snippets. I need to get those questions to him asap. So look for his interview soon at www.writingsnippets.com.

I'm also reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand with my husband. It's an amazing true story about an Olympic runner who becomes  prisoner of war in Japan and the horrible things he goes through and how he survives.

So what are you reading? I'd love to know and anyone who comments on this post will be eligible to win a copy of one of these amazing books! The winner will be announced Jan. 23rd. Best of luck to everyone.

New Year's Resolutions for 2012

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Now it's time to get organized and make some goals. Here are my goals for 2012 just in case you're interested:

1. I'm doing a cleansing diet in January and will follow the Mediterranean Diet after that.

2. I plan to have my current novel, MYSTIC MOUND, a modern-day Beauty and the Beast story, critiqued by my writer's group, do a revision after that, and then start sending it out to agents.

3. I'm going to enter KALA OF THE KONGO, my African Snow White story, in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest in January or February.

4. I want to start on a new novel I've been plotting about a futuristic society that's been taken over and enslaved by terrorists. A group of mismatched teenagers, who've been trapped in the basement of the high school since the invasion, have to learn to work together to escape.

5. As far as my music goes, I was asked to write a song that I'll be performing at a church program in March.

6. I've been asked to put music to some winning poems for the American Fork Art's Council Writing Contest: Utah Voices/Poetry On Canvas. I'll be performing those with some friends at the annual awards Gala in April as well.

7. I'll also be performing the last Saturday of every month at Wingers open mic night in West Valley at around 8:30.

8. I will continue to cowrite songs for hire with some talented young local singer/songwriter/musicians.

What are some of your goals? I'd love to hear about them!