What Makes a Good Love Story?

I just finished reading Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare--and I cried my eyes out because it was just SO good!! And one thing I know about myself is that I'm a total sucker for a good love story. I love the tummy tingly feeling of two people finding out they like the other, of their touches, the obstacles, their kisses--I'm a sap and I love it ALL!

So I've come to the conclusion that I want to write a love story. Not just a love story, but a die-hard, kickbutt, do-or-die love story where you just love and admire the characters and root for them at all costs and think about them once you close the pages and swoon over the guy (because, hello, Will Herondale, anyone? :-p).

And that's gotten me thinking----What makes a good love story?

I put together my favorites (Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, Twilight, The Infernal Devices trilogy, and Wuthering Heights) and tried to find the common factors.

Here's what I've come up with!

1. They all have a charming/intriguing (sometimes hot) dude with some type of mystery. Edward's a vampire; Heathcliff is a gyspy child from who-knows-where; Will has a heart-wrenching secret reason for being a jerk; Romeo is from the family Juliet's family hates; Rochester has a wife that Jane doesn't know about.

2. There always seems to be a 3rd, interfering party that makes them question or that challenges their love. Cathy and Linton, Jacob, Jem (though I LOVE Jem too for Tessa, which I think is why their story was so heart-wrenching!), Paris wants to marry Juliet, and Rochester's wife.

3. They all have high stakes where the characters face the prospect of NOT being with the one they love. In some cases that's death. As for Jane, Tessa, and Cathy, it's marrying someone else; for Bella it was Edward disappearing on her.

4. And many end in death or misery because they risked EVERYTHING for their love, and lost. In this case, I'm thinking of stories like Anna Karenina, Romeo and Juliet, Lancelot and Guinevere, and Tristan and Isolde. I much prefer the happy endings though!!

And Jane Eyre is my favorite favorite favorite of them all. Sigh.

Can you think of any common factors I've missed? And what's your favorite love story?

Ode to Poetry

Every now and then I get this burning desire to read poetry. I'm no good at writing it, but I have a gigantic appreciation for people who can arrange words the way they can, to make something mundane sound so beautiful. Or who can put a different twist on objects, bringing them to life in ways I've never considered.

Like this:

"The good tree with its voice
Of a mountain stream
Knows my steps.
It, too, hushes.

I stop and listen:
Somewhere close by
A stone cracks a knuckle,
Another turns over in its sleep."
-from Summer Morning by Charles Simic

Stones cracking their knuckles? LOVE.

I especially love to read it out loud. I'll sit outside while my kids play and just let the words tumble over my tongue as I speak them (here I go getting poetic, lol):

"For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes, or no, or maybe--
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep."
-from A Ritual to Read to Each Other by Willam Stafford

Billy Collins' poetry is fabulous also. LOVE his play on words and ability to describe things:

"You are so beautiful and I am a fool
to be in love with you
is a theme that keeps coming up
in songs and poems.
There seems to be no room for variation.
I have never heard anyone sing
I am so beautiful
and you are a fool to be in love with me,
even though this notion has surely
crossed the minds of women and men alike."
(....skipping to the end....)
"We are all so foolish, 
my long bebop solo begins by saying,
so damn foolish
we have become beautiful without even knowing it."
-From Nightclub 



Do you love poetry? What are some of your favorites, I'm always up for new poems!!



"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination."
-From Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Writing Accessories and Girls Love Travis Walker

I love all things pink and fluffy. And I love writing. So it's no surprise I jumped to get this gem!

I know, I'm a total dork! But I love writing with my fluffy Aurora pen. I've always been one to write my stories on notebook paper first, and later transfer it to the computer. And incidentally, the story I started last night happens to be a dark twist on Sleeping Beauty. No connection to the pen whatsoever, the story just sort of morphed in that direction, but I'm having fun with it.

What about you? Do you have a favorite pen or writing tool?

AND!!!! My friend Anne Pfeffer's latest book, Girls Love Travis Walker, is OUT!! Anne's writing is fabulous, and she's come up with another hit!

To nineteen-year-old high school dropout Travis Walker, women are like snowflakes--each one different, but beautiful in her own way.

He can charm any girl he meets, and yet down deep he fears he'll always be a loser like his jailbird father. As the landlady threatens to evict him and his sick mother, Travis takes a job he hates and spends his evenings picking up girls at a nearby night spot.

When he enlists in a teen program at the local fire station, he finds out he’s amazing at it. Then he meets the smoking hot Kat Summers, enlists Kat’s friend Zoey to help him woo her, and falls in love for the first time ever. 

But he keeps the details of his life secret. His girl will never love him back if she knows the truth about him…

Check it out on Goodreads!! :D

To Shelve or Not To Shelve

I LOVE my critique partners. Can I just start by saying that? They have become my greatest friends and have been such great motivators, supporters, and help for my writing. So Liz, Morg, Anne, Juliana, and Ryan? Love you guys!

I have a YA fantasy I wrote a few years back, queried, rewrote it, queried, rewrote it, etc., and I finally gave up in pursuit of a new story. Last week Liz Briggs, the one and only (Love ya, Liz!), suggested I submit it again and got me to pull the story back out again. I'M SO GLAD SHE DID!

(Just because it's so pretty, here's the cover design I won from a blog somethingorother a while back. Sigh.)

It's so interesting going back to a ms after having a break for at least a year from it. I've heard from several sources that it's good to take a break from a ms before going to back to edit or query it, and I totally agree! I have such a fresh outlook on the story, I'm able to see much better what needs to be cut, added, changed, etc. I have a lot of physical tells (My stomach knotted, my heart raced, etc.), and a few places where transitions weren't quite as smooth as they could be. In short, I'm an avid believer in letting a ms sit for a while. Stephen King has said to let it sit for at least six months. Before, when I heard that I was like NO WAY can I do that! I was always in such a rush to get this out, to get an agent before someone else comes up with a story similar to mine. But if a story isn't ready, that's not going to happen anyway. It's better to take your time and make sure you do things right the first time. I'm really looking forward to getting STOLEN TEARS spiffed up again and start putting it out there once more.

Have you ever shelved a project only to come back to it? How long do you wait before editing or querying a ms?

Struck

I've been doing some soul-searching lately. Maybe it's all the alone-time I've had lately in the early morning hours with a newborn baby, but it gets me thinking about things, about what's really important and what I want. And among taking care of and teaching my children, helping them to hopefully become who they're meant to be, and being the kind of wife/mother/person I want to be, and especially writing and achieving my goals with my books, I realize it all boils down to one important thing, for me.

Making the most of every day.

I know I can only do so much as one single person. But as Liv Tyler says in Empire Records, "There are 24 usable hours in every day." And I plan to make the most of it. Things may  not always go as *planned*, but if I do all I can, be flexible and take things as they come, I think I'll feel all the more satisfied and fulfilled when the sun sets, when I've got that next chunk of thinking time. And if not, tomorrow is a new day, another try. That's why this has become my new favorite quote:

I seriously want it in every room in my house, lol! Okay, maybe not every room, but it's such a good reminder that Today is happening now, and we can either choose to let it pass by like days sometimes do, or whether we will take Today and make it the best one so far!

Okay, sappy Cortney over. :-p

I'm Back!!!

Hello, everyone!!

After a long siesta of being pregnant and having baby number three a few weeks ago, I'm happy to be back and to jump into the bloggy world once more! I've missed blogging and writing! I took a break from *really* blogging and writing for the last few months, mostly because every time I would sit down to do either, I'd end up falling asleep, lol!

What's new with me:

• Beautiful baby boy number three was born three weeks ago!
• We started potty training the almost-three year old.
• I'm still working on writing and outlining my latest YA project--a spy-type romance. I've got about 30,000-ish words on it, and I'm so looking forward to feeling back to normal and getting more done on it!
• I splurged yesterday and got some fantabulous-looking books, including:

They all look so good!!!

What about you, anything new going on? What books have you read lately? I'm looking forward to bopping around your blogs soon!!

Fraction of Stone Cover Reveal!!!!

I'm so excited to announce that the cover of fabulous Kelley Gerschke's book, Fraction of Stone is revealed!!! Kelley is such a sweetheart, and her book sounds fabulous, I know I can't wait to read it!

Along with the fab cover reveal, there is also a Rafflecopter giveaway, which Kelley herself is here to announce. So without further ado, I give you Kelley!!!

*tosses confetti* *rolls out the red carpet*

Wow. I can't believe the day is here! Time for the FRACTION OF STONE cover reveal.

Before we get into that, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far. All the fine people who are helping with this cover reveal, my CPs/Betas, family and friends. And of course, thank you to Sapphire Star Publishing for helping make my dream a reality. (And also letting me have a huge say in how this cover looks.) I am so, so excited and feel so blessed.

To thank you all, there is a drawing for 2 ARCs of FRACTION OF STONE which you can enter to win at the bottom of this post! You can enter until December 14th at which point the winners will be chosen.

Okay, now that, that has been said. Here we go!

Book information:

Fraction of Stone by Kelley Lynn

Release Date: March 21st, 2013 by Sapphire Star Publishing
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:

Wind tunnels, torrential rains and earthquakes tear apart Casden. The cause of the world’s imbalance is unknown, but the mounting occurrences suggest there’s little time before life ceases to exist.

Rydan Gale and Akara Nazreth are the only humans with the ability to wield magic. The tattoo on their necks and the discovery of an ancient book, dictate they are the key to the world’s survival.

But the greatest obstacle for saving mankind isn’t the bizarre creatures, extreme betrayals and magic-fearing men hunting them.

It’s that Akara doesn’t believe the world is worth saving.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16160501-fraction-of-stone

Book Trailer:

About the Author:

Eventually the day came when the voices in Kelley Lynn’s head were more insistent then her engineering professor’s. So instead of turning to her Thermodynamics book, Kelley brought up a blank page on her computer screen and wrote. Somewhere along the way she became a Young Adult author.

Kelley was born and raised a Midwestern girl. She’s not afraid to sweat and fills her free time with softball, soccer and volleyball. (Though you probably don’t want her on your volleyball team.) She occasionally makes guest appearances as a female vocalist for area bands.

You can find Kelley hanging out at her blog, titled in her name, as well as the group blog she shares with her fellow critique partners, Falling for Fiction. Kelley is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators.

Kelley Lynn's Links: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks, Kelley!! And what are you waiting for--sign up sign up sign up!! :D