Jennie Bennett, Romance Author

Hey everyone! I'm preparing for some family to come visit this weekend so I didn't have a time to write a huge long post. Instead you get a little writing funny. Enjoy!

What in the world is a Favicon? I hear you asking. Well, see that little stack of books up my URL? That's a Favicon. I just wanted to take you all on a quick tutorial of how I created mine. I like Favicon's becasue it sets your blog apart from a sea of orange B's. Just start with an image:  The image must be a .jpg (most images are).  As you can see, this image is much too large to fit up in the teeny-tiny space up in the blog address bar. So the next step is to shrink it. I used Shrink-pictures .com. All you have to do is add the image and select the smallest size setting (100 pixels in this case). It will then send you to a page where you must download the image, this will be sent to a temp file so make sure you save it to your hard drive. This is what it looks like after. Of course, it is still too big. Plus the favicon has to be square, and this image is not. The solution? Iconj . Just insert your image in this nifty looking box - and out comes the code link for your...

Maybe I should change the title of this post to "Venting about the WIP Wednesday" becasue it feels like that's all I do. Then again, I so need to get this off my chest and you guys are a great audience. Thanks for being here for me :) Like I said last week, I found a new fervor for Earth Song after the writers conference. This is in large part due to the two events I talked about yesterday (not to mention the awesome support system of writers attending). With that passion I wrote 10,000 words in a week. But then I had part of my manuscript critiqued again. First, let me say that I appreciate harsh critiques. How can I improve my writing if I have no feedback?  Even so, I am not the thickest skinned when it comes to my writing. I got two critiques back to back that pointed to the same thing - my world building skills severally lack. Of course this made me ask myself if I am really cut out to write high fantasy. I'll even admit that I cried at the thought. After some ...

Hello and welcome to part II of my four part series on The Leagues of Utah Writers Roundup. As you can guess by the title we are going to be talking about finding the happy in your writing again. Sarah Fitzgerald taught the class with that title and we also heard a very inspirational speech from Rudy Ruettiger. If you've never seen the movie Rudy then you won't know who he is. So I'm going to give a quick recap of his younger life. This is a picture of the actor that played him (also known as Sam Wise Gamgee) This --- is the real guy.  Anyway, Rudy had a dream. He wanted to play football for Notre Dame, only he wasn't cut out for it. He was short, thin, and not athletic enough. Did that stop him? Not in the least. After a lot of hard work and never-ending persistence, he got his chance. He never gave up. His football story is amazing in itself, but he didn't quit dreaming. He got the idea in his head that his story should be made into a film. He didn't think h...

I'm just popping in real quick to announce the winners of Friday's giveaway! The books go to - Chantele from My Writing Bug ! Wahoo! And the winner of the critique is - (source) Peggy from Will Write for Cookies ! (Can I tell you I'm excited she won becasue I want to read her work?) Congrats guys! Shoot me an e-mail jenniefire (at) yahoo (dot) com to claim your prize!

I can hardly believe it, but it has been three months since the #lifelistclub began. In celebration, we're going to have little party.   (source) Wait, how did all those people get in here? I only made enough cookies for three dozen.    (source) Hum, I might just have to horde them for myself.  As a checkpoint to when our goals began, we are all doing a little recap of what we've accomplished so far (or haven't accomplished in my case)  As far as writing/revising goes, I think I've kept you well updated. I'm nowhere near the place I wanted to be, but I am learning to be patient so that my book can shine :) Here are my other goals and my progress: 1. Play with my kids everyday, get down and dirty -- I've been trying to take them somewhere everyday that disconnects me from the computer and allows me to really enjoy them. I'm going to keep on, keeping on. 2. Workout for at least one half hour three times a week -- I actually got pretty close to my goal weight, ...

Alright folks, it's time for another challenge from Rach Writes . Here are the rules - Write a blog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should: include the word " imago " in the title include the following 4 random words: " miasma ," " lacuna ," " oscitate ," " synchronicity ," If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional and included in the word count), make reference to a mirror in your post. For those who want an even greater challenge (optional), make your post 200 words EXACTLY! Ready for the challenge? Here we go! Imago Sunset "Listen up! We have one more sweep and then we're done.This time no one better oscitate along the way. Grange just got his stomachpumped; I can't imagine he'll be better anytime soon." The group of men nod but I raise my hand. "Sir,wouldn't a...

CANCELLED is free on Smashwords CODE WR45A but only through tomorrow! http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/88799 Today's post is super special becasue I have blogging buddy and new author E. A. West with me. This is her first interview and I feel honored to have her around. Her book Cancelled is now available on Smashwords and Kindle. For those who don't know, tell us about your book, Cancelled. CANCELLED is the first title in my Red Ink Collection, stories that echo the real-life romantic w recks we gossip about at the brunch table. Johnathan Michaels is a robotics engineer in love with his business par tn er, Alexis Rodriguez. It's finally good timing for them to begin a relationship, and they bond over saving their company's first multi-million dollar defense contract. But just as they capitalize on the three years of friendship and transition to a romance, a previous one-night stand visits Johnathan to return his shirt. Pregnant. And it's his. From there, Joh...

Thanks to the Utah League of Writers Conference I have a new take on my book. I was starting over because I was unhappy about my inciting incident, but this conference made me change my mind about that. So now I'm going back to my old manuscript and hammering it out again, but this time with a more positive outlook. Onto this weeks business! I've gotten two awards this week -- the first is the Versatile Blogger Award from Elizabeth Varadan at Her Fourth Wish Blog . The second is the 7X7 award from awesome blogger friend Kelly over at Writtled . Since I've already done the Versatile award several times and you had endure the ten facts about me last week I'm only going to be highlighting the 7X7 award. With this award we are suppose to talk about a blog post that matches the description given to us. Most Beautiful: First Steps - This is the story of what got me into writing, and every time I read it I am inspired again. Most Helpful: Probably Editing tools becasue a l...

As promised, today I am going to talk about the writing conference I went to - the league of Utah Writers Roundup. The best part about it was meeting awesome blogging friends -- From left to right Abby , David , and me. But I learned so much too! I want to share some of my knowledge with you so I am going to be doing these posts in four part series. Today (as you may have guessed from the title) we are going to talk about problem in our story. If you haven't heard of John Brown it's high time you looked him up. Not only did he write this book - But he is a great speaker as well. He compared the problem in the story to the engine of the car. If you don't have a problem you aren't going anywhere. Yes, we need to have Character, setting, plot, and text, but without the problem there is nothing to drive the story forward. He gave some great examples to prove his point. In Jurassic Park if there where no dinosaurs what would the story be? Everyone goes to the zoo, the end. ...

Happy M onday! I had a great time at The League of Utah Writers Conference and I promise to tell you all about it tomorrow, but today I wanted to talk about organizing your blog reading list. First up, if you haven't already meet, let me introduce you to Google Reader. I came into the blogging world already knowing about this gem. Therefore, I assumed everyone else did. (I'll give you a hint, I was wrong) This, my friends, is a life saver when it comes to reading blogs. It's almost like having an e-mail inbox just for the blogs you follow. I like to keep all the blogs I'm reading in list style (not expanded view) so I can quickly scroll through and see what each blog is offering. There was a long time when just scrolling through and reading worked for me, but now that I'm following 400+ plus blogs, the whole thing can get a little overwhelming.   So last weekend I was bemoaning this to new blogger and next-door-neighbor Krista at I Take the Pen. Now, Krista is a co...

(source)  I have my bag packed and I'm leaving for the League of Utah Writer's Roundup! But don't worry, I'll be back on Monday, and I'll make sure to let you all know how it went and what I learned! Happy writing :D

As writers I think it's important to be in touch with our emotions. I want you to take a moment and really think about how you feel when you write. Most of the time it should be a good feeling. Now, I know that sometimes those feelings get stuck. I most often turn to music for my inspiration (as you know if you've follow me for a while) but sometimes images do the work just as well. Here are a few pictures that I think tell a story for themselves. In this one I can just imagine something terrible is about to come out and get her. Just think of the journey this bear must have taken to get to this place, all alone. Could this be the start of some great concert pianist? Flirting - with books. That's the best kind. And this one is representative of my life. I found all of these images on We Heart it . What has inspired you today?

Today's update is going to be short and sweet becasue I need to get busy writing! Starting over feels amazing and I can't believe how easy the words are coming compared to before. I'm learning to be patient with the whole process and just enjoy . To spread the happiness here is a fun video to keep y'all laughing. Have a great day!

Good morning! (or afternoon, or evening, or whenever you happen to be viewing this post) . Today I have decided to enter the end of The Summer of Bloggerly Love over at Michelle Simkins blog. The challenge is to write a TRUE story about some kind of love. Since I want this super cute fantasmic pink heart - I am going to share a story of platonic love (this not really a platonic story, but it's not romance either). The entries need to be e-mailed, but I wanted to share mine with you. *** First Sight The day I found out about you I felt queasy in my stomach. There were so many questions and no answers. Others had been through this before, and I expected them to know how I felt. They didn't. No one could know how I felt about you. My head was still spinning the first time we went to the doctor. How was I going to do this? I didn't know if I was ready. Yet, I had made the choice. There was no turning back now. A salt and pepper image and the thump of your heart. I thought you ...

Happy Monday! Today we're gunna have a little fun, and what is funner than tag? Kerri Cuevas over at Craft Junkie tagged me. The mission, to tell 10 random facts about myself. The timing couldn't be more prefect with the campaign going on. I was trying to figure out a way to get to know everyone, and what is better than this? After I've posted my facts, I'm going ask a questions about you guys that I want you to answer in the comments, then I can feel like everyone got a fun tag. :) Ready for the randomness? Let's go! 1. I took dance classes from age 3 - 18 (with a couple years off in between) and I seriously miss it.   I'm the one with the short poofy hair in the middle. ( The 80's called and they want my hair back ) 2. In high school I accidentally took the most advanced art class without any pervious art experience. In my defense, the class was called Drawing I. Here is a little sketch from that class :   3. I have a picture of myself worthy of Awkward F...

Hello and welcome to another Life List Friday! This month is uber special becasue in two weeks all the blogs will be doing giveaways and reporting on their goal progress. And I have a couple books that you guys might like to win!  This week I'm hanging out at Sonia Mederios's blog, so check that out when your done here :) Today I have the honor of have #lifelistclub co-founder Marica Richards with me again. Wahoo! Take it away Marcia -- Some say, "Live in the moment or you'll miss out on what'shappening around you". Others say, "Steer toward your goals and don'tveer off the path". I say, 'Focus on what matters most and you'll have the best ofboth worlds'. Choosing what matters most will allow you to live a life ofsignificance. The single-minded folks heading for success in all things willtell you not to get distracted by anything and keep your sights on your list oftasks to reach your goal. The laid-back, creative types will encourag...

About a month ago a friend invited me to use Spotify. Apparently it's all the rage in the UK. So, I looked at it. I thought it had some cool music, but than gave it up. I almost uninstalled it because I wasn't sure what purpose I would use it for. For the past few years I have been depending on iTunes for my music fix. I had set up a small budget each month to buy new music when I wanted it. I always used that money very carefully. I made sure I wanted the song in my library forever . Basically, it had to be a song that I just could not live without. Back to my story. I went back on Spotify one day because I was looking to see if they had a certian song that I didn't really want to buy, but I did want to listen to for bit. Then it struck me, "If this app is going to let me listen to whatever songs I want, why won't it let me make a playlist?" I right clicked on the song and guess what? I could add it to a playlist. Even better, it pulled in my iTunes songs an...