currently reading: liane moriarty

i haven't done a post about books in a while, but don't worry, i've been reading. i've been reading so much, it's scary. ok, maybe it's amazing. :) 

but instead of taking all three of these books separately, i thought, since they are penned by the same amazing author...ms. liane moriarty, you should just go pick up all three. if you're not a fan of summer reading and you can only do one or two, i'll give you my little reviews for selection's sake. 

my favorite was BIG LITTLE LIES.

my second favorite was WHAT ALICE FORGOT.

and you can guess what the 3rd place was. 

BIG LITTLE LIES is hilarious and real. it is centered around a few kindergarten parents' lives in australia. it has it all. laughs, stone cold truths, and silliness. i'd pick this one up first.  

WHAT ALICE FORGOT is very interesting...a good lesson in taking inventory of our lives. alice falls off some gym equipment and loses ten years of her memory. she's relearning how different things got from 29 (which i am) to 39. she's trying to recall things, feelings, circumstances. she's trying to put the pieces back together. she's trying to remember her kids, for goodness sake. and you're learning along with her. it's a great read. just do it.

THE HUSBAND'S SECRET was my least favorite among these, but only because i read the others...someone has to come in last! however, it was very well told. and like BIG LITTLE LIES, there are multiple characters' point of view, and you discover, little by little, what the secret is and how far one secret can reach. how it can change all the lives around you. 

so here's your reading list for june. OH and of course, FALLING STARS should be on there. shameless promotion? yep. 

when to kill the story

i had a very interesting conversation with one of my very best friends yesterday. it was our second phone conversation in under two hours, which, i am laughing when i say is not unusual. lindsey from pennsylvania is the kind of person you talk to as much as you can for many many reasons.

linds when i got to see her in PERSON finally this year :) 

in a nutshell, she's energy incarnate. synergy, too. i have discovered so much from just talking to her on the phone about characters still in the formation process. i was about to say 'accidentally discovered' but i decided not to. it's not accidental. she's my writing person.

since i write mostly about writing on this blog, i'll leave it at that, but you should know she's a lot more than a writer. she's a beautiful singer who will be singing with me should i embark on a book tour, will definitely be singing with me at my launch party in two weeks time, a wife of a beautiful husband david, puppy mom to tyson and penelope. she's someone i should have been friends with forever, someone i wish i'd gotten closer to prior to choosing my bridesmaids. and yes, she's my writing person. 

ok, maybe i didn't 'leave it that'...i've never been very good at that.

so, our conversation (#2) of yesterday was about a dilemma of hers. she's been writing a story for a while now, and while it's good, very good actually, she's been kind of sort of wanting to stop writing it all together...but she's so close...but she doesn't want to release it...but she's so close!

that's the problem isn't it? that when you have worked on something so long you think you simply must finish it based on principle. that it would be a shame not to. that it says something about your inability to "finish what you start".

these are funny, but writers BEWARE! :) 

lindsey has an amazing idea for a story, one she's been harboring for a long time, one that will absolutely make her tick, make her proud. it's one about her sweet brother andy. i won't go into detail because it's not my place just yet, but it's good. and i think it will be everything she's been gearing up towards by writing this first novel.

she asked my opinion, which is possibly dangerous, as i like to use my words. but here is a bullet pointish version of what my answer was (just in case any of you are in this predicament, whether it be writing or something entirely different.)

• i wrote a story called sentences as my first attempt. it was my first idea ever, the push to get out of writing just a song and more of a story. it was a strong idea...strong because it stole my attention and passion just enough for me to do it. 
• it was too heavy. too much for a first novel, (much like my first song "good for goodbye"–see music in menu) but like i said, it was a topic useful enough for me to do it. so i wrote a lot of it. 
• enter another idea, a lighter one, one i titled from the desk of a serial monogamist. you still haven't read it or anything, but it's written and waiting for the right time to debut. 
• writing serial monogamist helped me get all my kinks out, oil the hinges, get to the end of a story...but just because i finished it doesn't mean it was the right first book to put out into the world. 
• enter ANOTHER idea: falling stars. finally, i stumbled not the right one. and you've heard me talk about that process all over this blog so i won't go into that. 

what did i do with the first idea? is it still waiting to be written, finished? will it lie in trial and error heaven forever, shelved indefinitely? NO! NO! i cut it up for parts! i'm salvaging what does work, what i actually did a good job on. 

i am currently taking most of the characters (names and all) and putting them into a YA series i have working on the side. the characters go to the same school, but none of their plot lines are the same. the point of the book is not the same. the title is not the same. but you better believe i'm not letting it go to waste. 

i made this for lindsey, and i'm regretting that decision :) 

the point is...and there is a point: don't let all these quotes tell you that if you don't finish this idea, you're not a bonafide writer. that if you don't finish this one, you'll never finish that one. that the better idea rolling around in your head is not actually better...it's a distraction. SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER. 

and for goodness sake: stop playing by the rules. you're a writer, and there are none. for better or worse. 

ok, so i'm a writer: i'm a PUBLISHED author!

this post is a little late, but friday, may 1st, was a BIG day. it's a day i'll never forget. it's the day i became a published author. no, nothing happened, i didn't become an "overnight success" or bestseller. there were no cakes or star-shaped cookies (although i do intend on making some soon just for fun).

but friday was different, alright. it was a mental difference.

if you've read my blog for any length of time, you know this has been a for-real journey. it's been a fast roller-coaster, a slow roller-coaster, a hurry up and wait coaster. it's been a stuck coaster.

i started writing my first manuscript in the summer of 2011 when i lived in california and had just gotten off tour. we moved from west hollywood to santa monica ten days after i rolled off the bus and once we were finally in one spot long enough to breathe,  i felt the urge to do something outside music. on tour, leading up to tour, recording the album, music is the only thing you're able to think about. it's not a 9 to 5. it's a 24/7 lifestyle.

it started with an idea for a song i think...anyway, all i know is that i remember thinking wait, that's not a song idea. it would take too long to get to the point. that's more like a character in a book...more like a chapter in a novel.

writing a novel was some lofty goal i'd always dreamed about. keyword: dreamed. it's something you never actually think you can do. i mean, i hated to write papers in high school and college. and the idea of writing hundreds of pages was not something i could see myself doing.

but just having the idea was enough for me to not care so much about the page count. that said, if you get an idea...just freakin' start writing. see where it goes. it might take you years, it might take you a few months. you may hate it, OR you just might finish that manuscript and get an even better idea in the process. (that's what happened to me)

that first book has been shelved for now, but not because i don't like it anymore. it's just not the right timing with falling stars and the sequel. but the best thing about books? there's no expiration date! same thing with authors. age works FOR you in this business!

anyway, this post isn't about me getting some big, amazing news. it's about the late night edits, the sheer amount of edits, my faithful early readers and their honest feedback, the songs written, the belief by so many people in my life that this was actually going to happen even when there was no proof, the odd jobs, the second jobs, the hand cramps, the tendonitis for goodness sake, the amount of journals and sketchbooks and pens i purchased. it was all so worth it and then some.

for all the days i was not a published author, now i am. and it feels cool, i'm not going to lie:)

if you're an aspiring author...i hope this pushes you to keep going. like i said, it's so worth it!

love, ashlyne