If you're a writer and you tweet, chances are, you've already seen the hilarious and informative hashtag #BadQueryingTips trending on Twitter. Basically, it's a what-not-to-do sort of guide for querying writers.

A few gems...

#BadQueryTips Always include attachments. The agents are sure to open them.
— Lynn(e) Schmidt (@LynneSchmidt) June 25, 2012

Once you've queried, call the agent every day to check up on your submission. Shows dedication. We LOVE that. #BadQueryingTips
— Julia A. Weber(@jawlitagent) June 25, 2012

Mention how much your mom loves your book and how she thinks you're better than that woman who wrote about vampires. #BadQueryingTips
— Rebekah Crane (@RebekahCrane) June 25, 2012

Fun, right? There's also #BadWritingTips :

Try to use a different synonym for "said" every time someone talks. It will show people that you know lots of words. #badwritingtips
— Leigh Ann Kopans (@LeighAnnKopans) June 23, 2012

Show AND tell. Your reader is simple minded. #BadWritingTips
— Julie Murphy (@andimjulie) June 23, 2012

Use the word "just" as much as possible. And "suddenly." #BadWritingTips
— Megan Whitmer (@MeganWhitmer) June 23, 2012

Anyway, what bad query or writing tips have you encountered before? Please share so we can all have a laugh (and secretly fix our mistakes when no one's looking. :D )

So here we are again. More lovely awards to pass around. Let's make the blogosphere shine and sparkle with bloggy love, right? I told myself not to ramble this time, so here we go:

The math wiz and blogger extraordinaire Tara Tyler of Tara Tyler Talks handed me 3 awards! Tara's been a longtime blogger friend. If ever you need a haiku fix, she's your go-to girl. :)

Again! Lucky me. :)

Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere.

Case in point: Matching pink dresses with my little sis! And what's up with the floppy, doily-looking collars?!? o_O

Last but not least, Alisha Klapheke of I Heart Words tagged me in the Lucky 7 meme. I met Alisha over at Agent Query Connect. She's a dear. Plus, she's got a cool ms she's querying at the moment. Good luck with that, Alisha! :)



I actually did this one before with my book, HIDDEN, so I won't do that again. Instead, I'll pick a different WIP--one that is long enough to have a page 77. These are the seven lines from my MG Fantasy WIP:




*****
Well, there you go. And now, on to the tagging part because, ya know, misery loves company. Er, I mean, 'cause these bloggers are AWESOME and they won't hate me for tagging them. Right? Right?!?? (I have chocolate.)

Fabulous Blog Ribbon:

1. T. Drecker
2. The Golden Eagle
3. M. J. Fifield
4. J.A. Bennett
5. Sherry Ellis

Kreative Blogger Award:

1. Mia K. Rose
2. Laura Barnes
3. Cat Lavoie
4. A.M. Supinger
5. Suzanne Payne

Stylish Blogger Award:

1. Bethany Crandell aka Rookie Riter (I know she loves awards that don't come with rules. :D )
2. Patricia Lynne
3. Stephanie Scott
4. Mooderino
5. Misha Gericke

Lucky 7 Meme Tag:

I'm tagging new blogger friends (hope they don't mind).
1. Lexa Cain
2. Kelsey Sutton
3.Tami Marie
4. Nick Wilford
5. L.S. Murphy (my agency sister! She just recently signed with my agent. Congrats, L.S.!)

As always, no pressure. Feel free to accept or ignore the awards. I know how busy you guys are. :)

I used to think I have a great memory. Back in grade school, there was a 6-stanza poem we were supposed to learn and memorize for a week. Our teacher wanted us to recite 1-2 stanzas per day so we could build up to memorizing all of the stanzas by the end of the week. Well, little me decided 1 stanza was too easy. So right after breakfast, while I was putting on my school uniform (yes, we had to wear uniforms!) I went through the poem over and over again.

Yep, I recited the whole poem that very Monday.

Nope, I didn't make one mistake.

Sigh. I wish I still have that good of a memory. I swear every time I get pregnant, some of my brain cells disappear. I rely on lists now to keep myself sane (and so I don't miss any important events). Yeah, I know people say forgetfulness is a symptom of pregnancy, but really, this forgetfulness goes way beyond gestation. Anyway, I AM rambling. The point, really, of all this...rambling...is I have blog awards I need to acknowledge and give away. Some of them I've forgotten about (picture me scrambling to read my old posts so I could see who left me awards from months ago). But I can't ignore them any longer because if I do, I'll NEVER get to them...evah. And my conscience would not allow me to be rude about it.

So! Here we go (starting with the most recent):

This one came from the lovely and talented Medeia Sharif, author of BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. (Flux, 2011). She's cool and awesome! Thanks, Medeia!!

Oh, right. The rules (almost forgot).

The rules for this award:

Hmmm. Five favorite books, eh? Tough to narrow down, but I'll try: (not in any particular order)

        

(Okay, so I couldn't just pick five. I am sorely tempted to add more because there are so many great books out there, but I had to stop myself.)

Next up comes from my gorgeous blogger friend from the UK, Nikki of Inspire Nordic. She writes about Scandinavian/Nordic language and culture. Cool, eh?

Oh, she gave me two. Thanks, Nikki! You're such a sweetie. :)

There are some questions I have to answer. I'll keep it short and sweet.

What is your favorite song?

Gah! I'm stumped. My "favorite" song changes all the time.

What is your favorite dessert?

Man, you're asking me at this point in my life where every dessert sounds good. Cake, cupcakes, lemon bars, ice cream, bread pudding, key lime pie...you name it, I'll probably gobble it up in seconds.

When you're upset, what do you do?

I have kids so when I'm upset, I have to hide in the bathroom. Not because I don't want them to see that I'm crying, or to shield them from the fact that I'm upset/angry/mad, but because the questions will NOT stop. What's wrong, Mommy? Why are you crying? Did you get a boo-boo?

What was your favorite pet?

Can't say it was my favorite, but I totally thought our pet turtle was cool. We let him loose around our yard (it was fenced-in), and then we couldn't find him anymore because he was really good at hiding behind my mom's flowers and bushes. After a year (maybe?), we found him swimming in our little fish pond. So we took him out and somebody had the brilliant idea to paint red and white dots on his shell so we'd have an easier time finding him. Uh, didn't work. He may be slow, but he was a master at evading us.

What do you prefer to wear, black or white?

Ugh, can't wear white. Do you know how hard it is to keep yourself clean when you have little kids around you? Yeaaahhhh...

What is your biggest fear?

That something bad will happen to my kids or my husband, or anyone in my family, really.

What is your attitude mostly?

I'm a pretty laid back person. I like to believe I'm a cautiously optimistic person (still positive, but not to the point of being blind, ya know.)

What is perfection to you?

Perfection is acknowledging we're imperfect. :D

What is your guilty pleasure?

Playing games. :)


Whew! This post is getting too long so I'll have to do the rest later. For now, I'm handing over these lovely blog awards to the following people:

The {Booker} Award:

1. Jemi Fraser: A fabulous writer and school teacher. Her students are very lucky.
2. Lynda R. Young: She always has fantastic, helpful posts about writing and social media.
3. Cherie Reich: She's a writer, a freelance editor, and a library assistant. She's all about books!
4. Stephen Tremp: 'Cause his book BREAKTHROUGH: THE ADVENTURES OF CHASE MANHATTAN is out and free on Amazon--today is the last day so grab a copy!
5. Emily R. King: This new mama knows her stuff. :)

One Lovely Blog Award:

1. Michelle Hauck: She's a lovely person, and she was gracious enough to let me babble on her blog.
2. Leslie Pugh: A sweetheart! She's so cute and warm and friendly.
3. Cristina dos Santos: Her blog's always full of heart. <3
4. Joyce Alton: All hail the mother"ship" of AQC's Speculative Forum. :)
5. Shallee McArthur: A lovely mama--she's going to have a baby, too. At around the same time I am. How cool is that? *belly bump!*

Stylish Blogger Award:

1. E. B. Black: She calls herself the "death author". Creepy cool, eh?
2. Kela McClelland: A lovely friend from Agent Query Connect. :)
3. Wendy Lu: Because, like me, she just recently embraced her inner diva...I mean, her real name. And I must say, it's a lovely name, Wendy!
4. Andrea Teagan: A new blogger friend. Hi, Andrea!
5. Alex Villasante: She's my newest follower! Hi Alex! *waves*

Enjoy!

P.S. Awardees, no pressure at all. You are free to accept or ignore the awards--I promise I won't get mad at all. I know how busy you all are. :)

Hello, lovely people! I'm sorry I've been MIA around the blogosphere lately. I'm finally in the last stretch of my pregnancy (ONE MORE MONTH! WOOHOO!), which means, lots of doctor appointments and naps. The fun part about having an excuse to put my feet up is that I get to READ a lot of books! Just this past week, I finished 3 YA books and I'm halfway through the 4th one. :D

The bun in the oven is almost ready!!

Reading always makes me happy. *happy sigh*

Anyway, a lovely blogger friend, Michelle Hauck of Michelle4Laughs--It's In The Details, asked me to write a guest post for her blog series, Getting The Call. If you're not sick of me gushing about how I landed my super fabulous literary agent, Julia A. Weber, head on over there to get the scope on my neurotic email checking, where my "fairly new" writing cave is located (hint: where the snacks are), and why you need writer friends who won't bat an eyelash if you start emailing them frantically because you don't know what to do next.

I loved Beth Revis' ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (book #1 of her trilogy) and so I was really excited when my local library finally had a copy of book #2, which is A MILLION SUNS. This book did not disappoint. :) I can't wait for book #3 to come out!

For my spotlight on Across the Universe, click here.

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Blurb (from Goodreads):

Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. It’s been three months. In that time, Amy has learned to hide who she is. Elder is trying to be the leader he’s always wanted to be. But as the ship gets more and more out of control, only one thing is certain: They have to get off the ship.
****

And just for fun, here's a video of the author answering fan questions about the book:


Enjoy!

I'm a shy person. A certified introvert. So when someone asks me for an interview, my initial reaction is always to cringe a little before saying yes. It's a good kind of cringe. The sort of cringe that means, "Really? You think I have important things to say? Okay."

Good thing this is not an oral interview. Anything of the written kind, I can easily deal with. :)

So, after much rambling, I've been INTERVIEWED! My dear friend, Joyce Alton, threw questions at me--nicely, I may add--over at her blog Yesternight's Voyage. I met Joyce at Agent Query Connect back in the days when I was a flailing newbie at this whole writing thing and was eagerly grasping all I could learn from the fabulous AQC forums. Joyce is more popularly known as Clippership, the "mama" of the Speculative Fiction forum. She always gives excellent writerly advice, and in her blog, she constantly updates her followers with publishing industry info--helpful stuff for those who are looking to break in through the book biz.

Anyway, check out the interview and also Joyce's blog, if you have the time.

Have a lovely day, everyone!

You all know me as Cherie.

Writer Cherie, Cher-Bear, Cherie Larkins... (I also got dubbed other, uh, unusual nicknames such as Sparkly Pants, Bumpit Goddess, Sparkles, Vampy, but we won't focus on those names for now. Alright?)

Cherie is my childhood nickname. It's what my family and old friends call me. There's always been a sense of comfort with the use of this name because it's reminiscent of my days as a kid, running around barefoot while I play tag with my childhood friends. It's also easy to say and spell.

But even this kid has to grow up some time. And that time has come.

When I was asked to write an author bio, it suddenly dawned on me that I needed to decide which name to use. Should I stick to the name I've branded my online persona with, or should I go with my real name? I didn't really view Cherie as a pseudonym; after all, it was my name, albeit not the one my mother gave me after I was born. It was the name my friends shouted when they wanted me to come out and go climb trees with them. It was the name my cousins used to greet me at every family gathering. The name my mom would yell if I forgot to do my chores. But everywhere else--school, church, government forms and IDs--I wasn't Cherie. I was someone else. Someone who was more intricately me.

And so it is that I've decided to reveal the real me for all the world to see.

Hello, my lovely friends! Can you believe it's already June? Where the heck did May go? There was so much going on last month, it went like a blur. May was also the last full month of school for my little one--which meant, LOTS of school activities and events. Last week, I barely survived a field trip. This week, there was a musical play to go to, and an art exhibition later that evening (okay, I confess I skipped the exhibition. I already saw my daughter's artwork so there was no need to go back to school twice. Plus, I was starving. This mama's eating for two, ya know!)

Anyway, there's my excuse for being sporadic around the interwebz. Did I also mention that I've been napping two to three times a day lately? Can't help it, man. If we're driving somewhere that's longer than 10 minutes, I'm guaranteed to fall asleep in the car (I was in the passenger seat, people! I don't drive and snooze). Stopping by great-grandma's house to say hi? Yeah, I conked out on the sofa after giving hugs and air kisses *mwah mwah* Here's hoping I didn't snore...too loudly. Or if I did, they were all too polite to tell me.

Well, since I was forced to shun social media due to my "busy, busy, busy!" schedule (of naptimes and food breaks *snort*), it was only natural that I should turn to ANOTHER form of social media to avoid violent withdrawals. Eh? What's that? It doesn't follow logic? Whatev.

Introducing my latest addiction obsession entertainment:

Because, you know, I have all the time in the world...NOT! Actually, I downloaded the app on my iPhone, so while I was waiting at the clinic today for my prenatal appointment, BAM! Pinterest on the go. Pin this, pin that. Better than playing Angry Birds for the umpteenth time, I'm telling you.

But what I love about it is the ability it gives me to VISUALIZE stories.

I love Art. I love visuals. It's in my blood. I can't help it. I've been wanting to join Pinterest for-E-V-E-R but was too busy napping to ask for an invite. And now that I have it, I'm IN, I might very well go pin-crazy. You can kinda tell just by how many pins I've already managed to add to my board entitled: Inspiration for HIDDEN.

Yep.

Definitely pin-crazy.

Good thing there are no actual pins involved.

Are you on Pinterest, too? Or do you consider it another *gasp* waste of time?