Jennie Bennett, Romance Author

I imagine some of you have written things, and given them to others to read. I don't know why, but every time I do this I get butterflies in my tummy. I pace back and forth and wonder if they think it's going to be garbage. That always leads to the thought that it probably is garbage and I'm just wasting my time going down a literary path. Then I always tell myself that I'll just keep writing because practice makes perfect, right? Although if no one likes this, and this is my voice, doesn't that make me doomed? Then again, writing brings me sanity, and well, you get the point. Of all the things I could choose to spend my time doing, I choose writing. The most emotionally draining, sweat inducing, unprofitable thing in the world. Of course I can say the same thing about motherhood, which is the other thing I spend my time on. I just have to ask myself, why I'm going through this torture? Do I really I have a bestselling book on my hands? No, honestly, I don...

I know I said I would only post three times a week, but I had no idea how hard that would actually be. I just have so much I need to tell you that I can't stay away. First I want to announce that I am going to be part of the Lor Mandela 400 days book blog tour! (see the button on the left sidebar) I had a really cool interview with L. Carrol (one awesome lady) that I will posting on Friday. *so excited* If your not following her blog or talking to her on twitter , you're totally missing out :) Second, for those of you who live in Utah, I did an amazing blog post for A local Wanderer about the place I live, so worth checking out! Third, I want to direct your attention to my new tab "life list club" go take a peek, and if you want to join me, just me know. More on this on saturday. Okay, I'm going back into my hole now. Everyone have a good day!

Sadly, Monday Best is no more. I know, I'm sad about it too. But since I'm cutting back, a few sacrifices had to made :( On a positive note, my book is coming along. I sent the first few pages to a few people, so I am hoping to have it fully edited in three or four months *fingers crossed* Of course I may go through and edit once more after that, but I will think about that later. Two more things - First I wanted to let you all know that my next door neighbor and good friend Krista (who wrote a pretty fun fantasy novel) has started a blog. Check it out here . Second, the lovely Deirdra at A Storybook World gave me the creative blog award! Isn't it pretty? I love the fairy green clothes, and the dream catcher. So fun! Moving on... As I said, I've sent the first few pages of my book out for people to review. (BTW, if you want to do the same, nudge me below, I'll be glad to exchange.) With this process I've come to realize that many people don't know of the ...

Yesterday when I started editing my eyes where opened to something. Something I knew and had been saying for a long time. It's like when you become a parent and everyone tells you that you're not going to get any sleep and it's going to be really hard. You already know these things. But the second you get that baby in your arms the reality of it hits you. So, now that I've started to edit, I realize this is going to take a lot of time . From the get go I've really been concentrating on blogging. Why? Because I love it . I love going to your blogs and getting to know you. I love it when you guys come here and comment and let me know what you think. But the fact remains that my book should really be my first priority . So I'm cutting back. I'll only be blogging three times a week . I want to visit you guys as much as I can, but I have to cut back on that too . So if you don't see me every post, I'm sorry. But I will pop in and say hello! I know ...

I've been seeing a lot of blog post lately where the author has been saying "I need motivation" So, I asked my peeps on Facebook - "what drives you?" and I got the general answer that it was about the vision of the "end goal" Then I thought about what drives me. First, let me say that I have been pretty lazy since I finished the 1st draft of my book. I haven't been writing . (Except on here, of course, but I don't feel like that counts.) Because of this I feel like I'm losing the skills I was just starting to gain when I came to the end of my book. I had a vision . I wanted to finish my book. I've been taking time off from it because it's better to go back to the book with fresh eyes . In that process I lost motivation , because, I gave up my schedule. The problem is, I love the book I wrote . I know I have a ton of editing to do, but that's the story in my head right now, and it won't leave. Therefore, I've come...

I realize that a good a portion of my readers have no intention of ever writing a book . I mean, who wants to spend four months writing, six months editing, and years finding an agent, getting published, and gaining notoriety? (if only it were that simple). Maybe you have a desire to write a book, but not the time to dedicate to such a daunting task? I have a solution. It's called keep the story going , and it's on Facebook. A few stories have been already been started (and you can start your own) All you have to do is go in and add whatever you think the next big plot twist should be . Write one sentence, write a paragraph, or tag-team with other writers in the room. "Back up a minute." I hear all my writer friends saying. We like to write, so why would we spend any time on this app? I'll tell you. Say you have that pesky writers block ? Say you just can't get out of the same rut with your characters? This app is an eye opener. I was on there the o...

Happy Monday all! I hope all those in the U.S. had a great father's day! I just wanted to thank everyone in advance for linking up. I read all of your posts and love to see the different views you all hold on life. This weeks inspiration phrase is *A Challenge I'll be linking up an old post I wrote about a writing competition and editing. Hope you all enjoy, and I can't wait to see what you post! &lta href="http://abookagirlajourney.blogspot.com/">&ltimg style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H7gXp5sNby1JebOaJgkg38eFfWy4UxeI1nJVRQEAeXyVmoT4ggFuEUqM5hFLP-VjCL2394-fuwRooBTpc6uKPiq7_7gNSK4QCwAQvWzyhCoQApWI1MCOkplqX8DUkIbxwmJdu1W7AX4t/s320/Best.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607135957817157554" border="0" /<>/a>>/div> Here are the rules: 1. If you don...

Before I tell you about today's awesome song choice, I just wanted to direct you to my new shiny blog roll. *sighs* isn't it pretty? Oh yeah, and I got a Facebook Author page , hop on over and check it out! Moving on. One of my favorite bands is One Republic. I resisted buying their latest album simply because I had the first and I didn't want overkill on my iTunes. Well, after still liking 'Secrets' when it has been played to death on the radio, I gave in. Today I'm going to share my new favorite song off that album. Can I just say I love Ryan Tedder's falsetto? Okay, done ranting. Here's the vid.

So... I was thinking, it's about time I started a blog roll. If you want your site to appear on my side bar, just leave a comment below and I will link you up! In other news, I've gotten three - count 'em - three blog awards! *Does the Carlton dance* Scott Niven has seen fit to bestow the irresistibly sweet and the stylish blogger award on me. Thank you! Bling and food, could a girl ask for more? I also received the versatile blogger award from Alex Megas ! The fact that he sought me out really touch me, thank you! I'm going to bestow these babies on the following: 1. The stylish blogger award goes to... eff at Groupie . I would say she is defiantly is in the know when it comes to good music. 2. The Irresistibly Sweet award goes to... Michelle at A Local Wanderer . Her sweet details about what is going on in my home state are so worth a mention. 3. The versatile award goes to... Rory at The Scottish Scribbler . His blog posts range from photos in his current area ...

Today I went looking for a father's day card for my hubby. I usually pick the most heartfelt card I can find. Something that puts into words what I can't seem to express. I picked up the first card I could find that might hold what I was looking for. I read it, and I almost bought it. Then I opened it up and read it again. Really? I thought. You're a writer, and you can't do any better then pick up some card that could apply to a thousand guys? No. I'm not settling for that this year. My husband has done so much for me, he deserves better. So here I am. I hate to give my hubby his father's day gift early, but I just had to get it off my chest. And I thought you guys might like it as well. Maybe you can steal it and give it to a special someone in your life. (You know, with your own twist) Cordell, It has been almost nine years since the day we meet. I sat across from you in a cafeteria and I somehow knew we would be married one day. I tried to fight it. I m...

Last week when I posted my little tidbit about breaking grammar rules I got a much bigger response than I was expecting. The number one question that was asked after my post was, how on earth do you use a semicolon? Which is kinda funny, because I had debated whether or not to put that in there. Since you asked, I thought I would do a little post to put my thoughts on the semicolon out there. I've read few things on the subject, but am, by no means, an expert. In order to understand the semicolon we must first understand the comma. I tend to way overuse commas, but I think we can generally look at the comma as breath. Anytime something doesn't flow, needs a break, or proceeds a conjunction we should use a comma. Okay, so what the heck is semicolon for, you ask? It's for combining two complete thoughts into one sentence. Which means, it should be used rarely. Although, there are times when a semicolon just makes everything mesh together much better. For example, say you wr...

It's that time again! Time to link up your best post! I thought this week I would give you a little prompt to give you an idea of what you want to link, or not. Just some inspiration :) The theme is: Something New If you like, link up a post about something new you did, or saw, or learned, from anytime. I'm going to link up my very first post, the one that started it all. Which is really going out there for me. I think my first post was a little strange, but I was new to blogging so please have mercy on me! Go ahead and link up! &lta href="http://abookagirlajourney.blogspot.com/">&ltimg style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H7gXp5sNby1JebOaJgkg38eFfWy4UxeI1nJVRQEAeXyVmoT4ggFuEUqM5hFLP-VjCL2394-fuwRooBTpc6uKPiq7_7gNSK4QCwAQvWzyhCoQApWI1MCOkplqX8DUkIbxwmJdu1W7AX4t/s320/Best.jpg" alt="" id=...

I have HUGE NEWS! If you follow me on twitter , you already know. But for those of you who don't, I still want you to be in the loop. *throws confetti* I wasn't expecting it to end here. Those of you who have seen my word count tracker, you know I wanted to write a lot more. But it just felt right. It was the place. So does this mean you can go buy my book tomorrow, or even next week? Sadly no. There will be massive amounts of editing, but like I said in my meme I'm just taking in the view for a little while. I'm actually going to step away from the book for about two weeks. This is so I can go back with fresh eyes and find the true story behind all my words. What will I be doing in that time? Editing some books for friends, writing short stories, and possibly even holding a contest*! I am so excited for the future. I feel like good things are on the way! ____________________________________________________________________ *more details to come

This week I'm going to a much more modern song you probably hear on the radio 20,000,000,000,000,000... times a day. But the visuals in this video really inspire me almost more than the music. I love the chalk dust dance, makes me miss my old dancing days. The rhythm gets my blood pumping and is perfect for writing action scenes. There's really nothing more I can say about, it. You just have to listen and watch for yourself. Ah, the sweet, sweet, sound of a beating drum. Love!

In my current work in progress, I have four characters who each hold a power over one element. Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. (Well, technically the power holds them. But I don't really want to get into logistics right now.) So I've been trying to study these elements and figure out ways for my characters to use them. My main character, as most of you know, holds the power of the earth. Therefore, I have been spending a good deal of time standing barefoot in the dirt during all kinds of weather conditions. I got the chance to stare at a campfire the other night and think about how fire looks and moves and acts. Wind is unavoidable for me since I live right next to a canyon. I also shower everyday, so you can imagine that I'm around water. The funny thing is, I already have the information stored in my brain. I've spent countless hours (mostly as a child) digging in the dirt, twirling in the wind, and splashing in the water. Yet, somehow my brain didn't really unders...

Today I had the chance to interview my second winner Jodi from The Scribble Den! She was really fun to talk to and I hope you enjoy her interview as much as I did! 1. For those who don't know, why don't you tell everyone what your blog is about? My blog is about the journey of life. I am a voyeur by nature and love watching, learning and analyzing. It is about trying to understand and navigate through our lives and how we feel and experience as we do. I also like to share not only my life journey, but my writing journey albeit a slow journey at the moment! I like to think of my blog as a place where I can be me, without judgment, where I can share my introspective self and share the journey with others through their comments and thoughts. Sometimes it can be deep other times light hearted. At the very least I hope it is interesting! 2. Are there any books that have made an impact in your life? I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird at school and it has stuck with m...

If you haven't heard about Elena Johnson's Possession , you either don't read book blogs, or you've been dead. It's only the hottest book just out. So I joined a blog hop to share in the possession love here . The theme of the hop? A time you broke the rules. To be completely honest, I'm not really a rule breaker. I've always been a 'keep your head down and follow the instructions' kind of gal. But I have broken oh, so, many writing rules, I'm probably even breaking a few right now, this run on sentence for example. So I'm going to go over a few common grammar rules I've struggled with myself. 1. Commas - I still don't have them quite figured out, but there is one thing I can tell you. If your writing a list of things (i.e. hairbrush, comb, and deodorant) there should always be a comma before the 'and'. It's a common misconception to leave it off. DON'T. 2. A LOT - a lot of people spell a lot like this -alot. This is ...

Lyn Midnight over at writers write about writing tagged me in a little get-to-know-you game. So now I get to torture you all with my amazingly bad answers, then make you do the same :) Crazy questions coming up - 1. Do you think you're hot? More like mildly spicy. 2. Upload a picture of the wallpaper you're using at the moment : I love ethereal nature scenes. 3. When was the last time you ate chicken meat? Thursday night -fajitas. Yummy! 4. The songs you listened to recently: Unfortunately, the last song I heard was the Chuggington theme song. And it's still stuck in my head (chuga-chuga-chuga-chuga-chuggington!) There - now all the mom's of three-year-old's will have it in their heads too! 5. What where you thinking as you were doing this? Wow, I have no life. 6. Do you have nicknames? What are they? My full name is Jennifer Ann Relf Bennett, most people call me Jennie, a few call me Jen, and my brother still calls me Jenniefire. Tag 8 blogger friends: Sorry I...

Happy, happy, Monday everyone! I had an amazing weekend! My meme inspired me to go do some hiking! Nothing clears your brain like being in nature. So inspirational! Here is the weekly blog hop. Hop on and meet some new bloggers! &lta href="http://abookagirlajourney.blogspot.com/">&ltimg style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H7gXp5sNby1JebOaJgkg38eFfWy4UxeI1nJVRQEAeXyVmoT4ggFuEUqM5hFLP-VjCL2394-fuwRooBTpc6uKPiq7_7gNSK4QCwAQvWzyhCoQApWI1MCOkplqX8DUkIbxwmJdu1W7AX4t/s320/Best.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607135957817157554" border="0" /<>/a>>/div> Here are the rules: 1. If you don't already, follow the host website (http://abookagirlajourney.blogspot.com) 2. Grab a button and put it on your site so others can find their way back & share in the fun. (put...

This week we are going way back, 13 years to be exact. I was in 8th grade and I had just purchased my first "angry girl/teenager" album. Most of the songs where about heart break and how everyone else was messed up. But one song stuck with me throughout the years, and even though I've listened to it over, and over, and over again. I still love it. Something about the way her voice is so smooth and mellow, and how lyrics speak of not quite finding your place, it makes me want to cry every time. For you listening pleasure - Natalie Imbruglia's Left of the Middle. By the way, I have no idea what this show is! This was just the video with the best sound quality, so close your eyes and be cradled by the music. I also wanted to let you guys know that I am totally up for suggestions of new music or old favorites that I can use in this spot. So, let me know what is inspiring you this week!

Firstly, let me draw your attention to a new little feature on my sidebar, a word count tracker. This gives you guys an idea of my goal, and how my book is coming along. If you don't see it moving, I need motivation! Plus it leaves me accountable to you guys :) The other day the oh so articulate Angela V. Cook at The Starving Novelist tagged me in Writing Meme. The theme? Writing is NOT like a box of chocolates. The purpose? To explain what writing is really like. What can I compare writing to? Well, I went back to my past. You probably don't know that until I was 12 (and went to Disneyland for the first time) my family had never been on a vacation that didn't involve camping and hiking. If we stayed in a hotel, it was only out of complete necessity. It was also the cheapest place in town (i.e. the budget inn, motel 6, etc.) So today I'm going to compare writing to hiking. When you start a hike, you have high hopes. You have a goal in mind, you want to reach the top...

Due to my brain exploding a misunderstanding, I am going to feature two lovely ladies on my blog. The first is V over at The Half Baked Music Snob . I had to the chance to do a little interview and find out more about her. It was really fun and I hope you like what she had to say as much as I did :) Me: For those who don't know, what is your blog about? V: My blog is mainly about music and about how I love obsessing over it. But I also write about myself and about how everything is so boring and pointless in life and about how I'd love to personally kick people like Ryan Murphy in the eye for ruining some of my favorite songs for me. (Ryan Murphy is the creator of Glee , BTW) . I also keep writing that I love coffee. I have no idea what I'm trying to prove with that. I doodle a little bit, so you will find a very pathetic doodle popping up on my blog every now and then. So, if you like music and if you like insane people then you'll like my blog :) Me: What was...