Author: Elodie

Author of heartwarming, hilarious and hot romcoms with grumpy book boyfriends that make me laugh out loud and heart-pounding, haunting romantic suspense novels that scare the crap out of me. All of them hard to put down... I will never lose my French accent. You can email me at: authorelodienowodazkij@gmail.com
writing

Thank you!

Elodie

Before I start with this week´s “YA Highway blog carnival”, a little *Happy Dance* for Peggy Eddleman who just got a two-book deal with Random House Congrats again! (other people´s good news bring a huge grin on my face so I had to share…)

Ok now on to Road Trip Wednesday… Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. 

This week’s topic

What writing or publishing-related thing(s) are you most thankful for?

Stories. I am most thankful for the sad, happy, funny, emotional, dramatic, mysterious, scary stories I get to read. The ones that make me try to conceal my tears or my laughter in the train as other commuters wonder what may have trigger such reactions. The ones which helped me passed entire afternoons with a book in my hand as a child or teenager and enabled me to discover new worlds, different views. The ones that made me dream, escape, forget about time (or about my bed time – my husband keeps on telling me to just put the book down :-))…

And for the ones I now try to put myself on paper because they bring up all these emotions as well and because I hope that I, too, can bring this little twinkle in the readers´ eyes…

People. I am so very grateful for all the people supporting me in this process, especially my husband, my family, one of my best friends who takes time out of her busy schedule to read/comment when I have doubts and all the ones taking the time to read, to cheer me on, to share their experience (and YOU are part of it)

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Train, writing

No more excuses…a scary thought

Elodie

I commute. Every day I spend more than 2 hours in public transportation. I mostly can not write in the train because it is way too crowded. However, this will change and I am facing a “no more excuses” wall.

Let me introduce you to “Commuting just became more productive” aka my new netbookIt´s scary but it´s exhilarating at the same time: I invested in my writing. I will also get monthly tickets a tad more expensive that my current ones but which should secure a seat.  I will at least have 4 more hours a week to actually work on my novel (I cannot totally give up on the reading time ;-)).

I have to admit that it makes me a bit anxious, what if I realize that this extra time does not help cos I just get stuck? But as with anything writing-related, I quiet the little worry voice in my head and just take the plunge!

Uncategorized

Dirty Dancing…and a margarita (or two)

Elodie

Sunday will be my random post day where my posts will not be related to my writing nor to my commuting…

I started last week by a little poll on where did you think I was from…and while some thought I was from Canada or from Germany, I am actually French (but I do currently live in Germany). I spent about 7 years in the US and I called Maryland home during that time (but that´s another story).

I love the movie Dirty Dancing, I must have watched it at least 99 times and I love margaritas (on the rocks with salt). Oh and I love my husband. Well this week-end, I had the luck to go see the musical of Dirty Dancing, drink some margaritas and spent time with my wonderful husband…(if he reads this: thanks again baboo).

The musical was great, the added subplots were funny/interesting…

I just had one of those magical times, where the eyes shine a little brighter and where my smile just would not stop 🙂

Hope your week-end is going well too – what are YOU doing?

writing

Required reading…

Elodie

Yeahhhh, it´s Wednesday again…my second post for YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday does not make me a pro yet but I´m getting there one week at a time 🙂 This week’s topic: In high school, teens are made to read the classics – Shakespeare, Hawthorne, Bronte, Dickens – but there are a lot of books out there never taught in schools. So if you had the power to change school curriculums, which books would you be sure high school students were required to read?

My first thought was “Wow! So many books to choose from!” My eyes were shining and my fingers were itching to type away…until my second thought stopped me cold “Wow, so many books to choose from…”, my heart started beating faster, my fingers could not find their way to the keyboard…

This is indeed quite an important task. A reading list is not just about reading, it’s about learning, developing critical and social skills (yes I went as far as saying social skills) and to find out more about oneself.

I started to think about the novels on the curriculum in High School for me …more than 12 years ago and I found myself clearly remembering the one I disliked the most: Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (a clear hint for the poll on where I am from which you can find here :-))

I hated it, I hated the fact he was trying to find excuses for his mistakes (society was at fault). And then, it hit me. Yes I hated it but I had feelings towards it, I remember passionate discussions in class or with friends over a cup of coffee. It did fulfil its goals but it was more painful than with the ones I had true passion towards. This is what high school students should read: books they either love or hate but which get them talking and coming back for more.

So how about the reading list I would choose?  I wish students everywhere could discover the joys of classics which open up the mind so there would be some of those (including my favourites: Victor Hugo, Albert Camus, Shakespeare, Homer, Arthur Miller).

Now trying to limit myself to just a very few including some not conventional 🙂

Anne Frank Diary (this one is a must I think)

 Hate List – Jennifer Brown, Go AskAlice- Beatrice Sparks, Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson, Gone with the wind – , The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks

High school students should be encouraged to discover other worlds and themselves through literature, not only how the word itself is constructed…

What would be YOUR list?

writing

Can too much creativity kill…creativity?

Elodie

By the way, as you can see by my drawing, I should stick to writing 🙂

At first, this question may appear a tad silly. After all, don’t we, writers, want all the creativity we can get? Whatever the muse decides to throw our way?

  •  Yes.
  • Definitely.
  • Because we can rely on these little hints of plots, characters whenever we go through a dry spell (and they do happen, don’t they?)
  • Because it may become the next great story.
  • Because we just love those random ideas

However, I am finding myself being distracted by bursts of creativity which have nothing to do with my current WIP and I do not want to start working on something else. My aim is to finish this novel, to finally put the word “end” to a first draft…

I do write these other ideas down briefly to make sure I don’t lose them but it is a bit frustrating to see my inspiration not going the way I want it to be.

I find it more difficult to meet my daily writing goal.  I am going through one of these moments where I believe that everything I write will need to be tossed away once I go through the editing stage because none of the ideas or the scenes are as good as the ones I cannot currently write.

 Now my own little prep talk 🙂

 Luckily, nobody said it would be easy.  I’m up to the challenge because deep down I know that my WIP is worth it…Plus I know now that after this one is done, I will still have inspiration to go on to another project.

In the mean time if you have any advice, feel free to throw them my way…if you want to sympathize, please also feel free to leave a comment (I never say no to some cheering up)

Uncategorized

Week 44 – A little about me…and a poll

Elodie

This blog is now over a month old…(Hmm I should have made some birthday scones for it).

Thank you to everybody who is reading, commenting, passing by…You all make my day 🙂

I realized though that in the past month, I did not say much about myself (well except the fact that I commute, that I write and that I am a junkie for books) so here is a little tiny bit about who I am:

  •  I am 30 years old
  •  I am happily married to the love of my life and my best friend
  • I have wonderful friends and family
  • I like all sorts of foods (from fast foods to gourmet restaurants) and I do try my hand at cooking
  • I try to work out (here note the emphasizis on try) When I do, I like running, swimming and ballet.
  • I am a big movie and tv fan
  • I love karaoke (it does not mean I am good at it though)
  • I enjoy poker nights with friends (I am much better at poker than at karaoke)
  • My drinks of choice: margarita on the rocks with salt or a glass of red wine
  • I miss playing the piano and volleyball
  • One of my hobbies: photography
  • Little things make me happy (which I consider a gift) even though I am naturally anxious.
  • I speak 3 languages fluently (I can understand another one and have basics in Russian)

And now a little poll – let´s see if you can guess where I am from. You can comment to let me know how you found out and to tell me more about yourself 🙂

Uncategorized

Superpowers and kryptonite…

Elodie

YA Highway is a great place. I usually look around, read some posts and comments, just dipping my toe in the water but today I decided to dive right into it for “Road Trip Wednesday”.  Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. The question this week made me smile and reflect.

 Are you ready to find out what my writing superpowers are? How about my kryptonite?

Interesting take – superpowers…My MC has some she is not aware of, some other characters in
my WIP may not have superpowers per se but their their true nature with their qualities and their issues is a power on its own.

What about me as a writer?

My kryptonite(s) (yeah I may have several if I am brutally honest with myself):

–   Fear that my English is just not good enough. English is not my mother tongue and sometimes it makes me insecure about the words/expression I may use.

–   Time. I know it´s an elusive concept and my superpowers find a solution to this particular kryptonite but still, I just wish I could sit down hours at a time and just type away. I don´t do that enough.

–   Showing vs telling. Why? Well because right now this is the topic which bothers me, which I am improving day by day but  I know when I will finally be in the revising stage that there WILL indeed be revising to be done on that front 🙂

My superpowers…

–  Dialogues. I can make them flow. The voices are real and they just work. I am grateful for that

–  Plot and subplot. I have several subplots in my WIP but they all serve THE plot. They do not appear to be out of control (yet) and I can still remember little details so that I do not contradict myself between one subplot and the other.

–    Patience – this goes  back to my kryptonite “time”. I know I cannot dedicate more than a certain amount of time to writing per day and that´s ok because my goals are realistic and step by step I am getting there.

–  Love,passion and dedication (they all go into the same superpower pack :-)) I love writing, I simply do (with the ups and the downs)

So what is YOUR kryptonite? And what are your superpowers? Don´t forget to let the other
peeps at YA Highway know!

writing

No “Kiss and tell”…but “Kiss and show”

Elodie

For the past two weeks, I have reached my goal of 300 words a day (or more).

The more I write, the more I start to ask myself “is what I am writing actually any good?” This question comes and goes…Here I am not talking about the plot but I am thinking about the intricate delicacy of the writing art.

Right now, my brain focuses on THE question: am I doing enough “showing” or am I way too much “telling”?

I am especially asking myself as part of my WIP is a diary and it requires extra strength to make sure that this part of the novel is not only telling but it also showing.

So for those of you out there who are going through the same as me, here are some of the best articles I have read so far on the subject:

Happy to read your tricks, don´t hesitate to share 🙂

 

Observations, writing

Week 43: Reading, reading, reading…

Elodie

“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries.”

Descartes

Commuting means that I have time to read; even if I am standing up I usually have a book in my hand… I have an eclectic taste: I read thrillers, historical novels or biographies (currently devouring everything related to 16th and 17th century France), classics, romantic novels, war novels, YA…I am thinking of writing reviews once a month on this blog on top of my regular posts.

My husband is getting desperate (is there a show called Desperate Husbands? Could be a nice spin-off…note to self: need to stop my mind from wandering while I type)

I usually go through at least 3 books a week. My sister did let him know that I always loved reading. I did immerse myself in Victor Hugo when I was about 7 or 8. As a teenager, I could happily just lay in bed on a rainy afternoon with a novel in front of me (ok sometimes even when it was not raining…I am such a dork)…My husband, on the other hand, mainly reads technical books or biographies and he does not have much time to turn the pages so he does not understand why I buy myself so many books. I am starting to hear regularly “Where are you going to put them?” “Do not dare moving my helicopter!” and does use threats such as “if you don’t (insert verb), I will throw all your books away…”

I thought about buying a kindle but am not ready to give up the feeling of pages turning via my fingers, the weight of the book next to me when I fall asleep dreaming about what I have just read.

I love when I cannot put a book down because I just want to know what happens. As an aspiring writer, this is what I would like for my readership, to be able to take them away for a few hours to a different place, a different time…I even get that funny feeling when I fall in love with a book, one that I know I will re-read in the future because the words have touched me in more ways than one.

Some day, one day…maybe somebody will ponder about my stories…

Happy reading to all!

Observations, Train

Week 42 – Ranting about coughing…

Elodie

No I am not coughing as I am typing this. This post will not be about my writing even though I am very pleased to announce that I almost reached my goal of 300 words per day this week.

However as a commuter I urge my co-commuters to realize some basic facts: we’re in a small place together, we might be pushed against one another, creating more intimacy than what we ever intended, sitting or standing…so if you do cough or sneeze please make sure that it does not reach the other person.

I assure you there are ways to avoid these little accidents…

This was just a little rant as for the past two days I thought about opening an umbrella, carrying a mask or just anything to avoid the little drops coming out of other passengers.

I understand one has to go to work but please, not putting something, anything in front of your mouth when you are coughing/sneezing is just plain wrong.