Abigail Mumford

tweet-a-leedly-dee

February 8, 2011May 9, 2011 abby mumford

the most unfamiliar part of the night was not when i hopped offline to meet some online friends at last monday’s boston kid lit tweet-up* in central square. (*tweet-up: when a group of people, connected by twitter and a theme [in this case, children’s literature] decide to meet up in the real world.)

it wasn’t when i walked through the streets of central square and went left instead of right and crossed instead of staying on the side i was on. nor was it when i remembered this area of cambridge is my own personal bermuda triangle.

it wasn’t when i heard “abby?” from behind me and turned to find @pebbleinmyshoe. apparently her definition of “i’m going to be a half hour late” is “i’m going to be right on time.”

it wasn’t when i walked into the room and saw some unexpectedly familiar faces (@caseygirard) and met some of the ones i’d only interacted with online (@bostonbookgirl, @briquinlan, @mitaliperkins).

it wasn’t when i discovered @briquinlan isn’t actually a sweetheart…well, she IS, but not the piece of candy that her avatar (this) depicts. so anyways, what i mean is that she is a hilarious and curly headed writer.

it wasn’t when i discovered that though i’d only talked to a handful of these people before, the topic (all aspects of children’s literature) was comfortable. from production to writing to agenting to illustrating to selling to reviewing to trends to ebooks, this was what brought us together and what kept us chatting for 2+ hours.

it wasn’t when i heard excited exclamations of “oh, abby of the sunglasses fame?” or “abby from twitter??!!” (my profile pic is one where i’m wearing sunglasses, so i guess i was a little incognito myself as i wasn’t wearing any that night. [i may be cool, but i don’t wear my sunglasses at night.])

it wasn’t when pebbsie and i found out that anindita knows jandy nelson (author of THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, one of the most stunning, gorgeous, and haunting novels ever written) meaning we were now only two degrees separated from the genius that is jandy nelson. nor was it when people couldn’t hear past our screeching and thought we said the title was DIETS EVERYWHERE. or (as pebbsie thought they said), GARBAGE EVERYWHERE.

the craziest part of the night was during the group introductions when i had to stand up and say “hi, i’m a writer.”

feelings

it’s time to focus

February 4, 2011January 31, 2011 abby mumford

as i’m delving deeper into my writing, it occurs to me that i need to be writing more. not in the blogging, twittering or emailing sense, but in the noveling sense.

exhibit A

exhibit B

exhibit C

i will probably limit myself to writing blog posts (and commenting on others), as it may be the distraction i need, but other than that, i’ll probably seem a bit absent from the interwebs for awhile. i need to buckle down and write, so that’s what i’m doing.

*enters writing cave*

feelings

setting the mood

February 1, 2011December 19, 2011 abby mumford

i’m in the midst of discovering my writing process. here’s what i know so far:

i balance on the line between plotter and pantser. (writing out the full plot before i start writing vs. writing with no tools, no outline, willy nilly, by the seat of my pants). i need to have a list of a few major events that occur throughout the book. these act as guidelines making sure i stay on track, but getting the characters from one point to the next is where i can expand, expound, expunge, uh, let the creative juices flow.

the next trail along my path of discovery is music. i cannot write with music on. the lyrics (WORDS written by ANOTHER) infiltrate my mind like little zombies who eat my brain and turn me to mush. me slumped and drooling over the computer isn’t a pretty sight not to mention the drool could short circuit the laptop causing an electrical fire that could burn into a large, more damaging fire. so in the interest of fire safety, i write in silence.

(note to self, don’t ever google image the word silence again. it’s nightmare inducing.)

BUT, music does something that nothing else can. it sets the mood. it gets my mind churning. when trying to get into the brain of a teenage protagonist, music helps to tap into those emotions (oh, ALL those teenage emotions), so i find it beneficial to pump the jams before writing. however, my current WIP’s playlist is only 3 songs. how do you find songs that relate to your story and your characters when it’s music you wouldn’t normally listen to?

*puts headphones in*

research time.

feelings

happy birthday, EVM

January 28, 2011March 1, 2012 abby mumford

the last of my siblings’ birthdays is that of my younger sister. it’s the only one that falls on a blog posting day, so ~~the baby~~ sister E gets a full post to herself. how very last child of her. :) i’ll refrain from singing because that would blow out your ear drums, shatter the glass windows, and cause a volcano to erupt somewhere far from here. i don’t want to do that to you or to her as she turns 19.

when i turned 19, there were parades and parties and a prince that popped out of a fudge cake. that didn’t happen when you turned 19? what did?

in real life, when i turned 19, the year was 2000. a new millennium for my last year of being a teenager. there weren’t any hoverboards ala back to the future, but i was hovering on the edge of independence. i was starting my second semester in college, so i was over the scariness of leaving home and enjoying the perks of collegiate life. i knew people. i was invited to parties now, i didn’t just crash them. lacrosse season was about to hit its stride. i took my first creative writing class. the words were stilted and awkward, much like me. i started to understand exactly how awesome my parents were. the friendships i’d tentatively formed first semester solidified. i left campus mid week. i took snowboarding lessons on a mountain in virginia, which is truly only a big hill. simply stated, the swan song of my teenage years was sweet, tough, uplifting, silly, serious, awesome, and surprising. i was turning into an adult with each class, practice, decision, game, lesson, and party.

i wish for the same things for sister E, but in ways the delight and surprise and sparkle and are coordinated just for her. she may have surpassed me in height, but she’ll always be my kid sister.

happy last year of your teens, E. go get ’em.

general

i.o.u

January 25, 2011January 31, 2011 abby mumford

jeannie moon to the rescue. here i am pondering what to tell you all when i find out she nominated me for a “stylish blog award” which means it’s now my turn to (a) reveal some secrets about me and (b) pay it forward.

PART A. facts about me.

1. i have never dyed my hair.

2. i used to have two holes pierced in each ear. now i only have one. i used to have my navel pierced. now i have none.

3. fingernails gross me out.

4. i have 2 plants in my office, a bamboo shoot and uh, something else. bamboo is basically a weed and so i couldn’t kill it if i tried and the second flower “likes sunshine and heat and indoors.” i can literally see it growing. it’s insane and kind of awesome, but it’s making me look like i have a green thumb. it’s a lie. a LIE i tell you. i think nameless flower is supposed to bloom sometime next month, but the whole “plant it outside in the spring” thing is going to be the death of that plant. you see, neither my apartment nor my work has a gardening plot. and thus, my lack of green thumb strikes again. at least i can enjoy the nameless flower for awhile longer.

5. my new netbook arrived and i spent last weekend writing. (note to self, remember to bring glasses home from work!) an unintended, but awesome side effect of owning a tiny computer…the screen is so small, it’s really annoying to look at the internet on it, which means i’m not tempted to do so which means WRITE ON with yo bad self.

6. my favorite gum is this which is nearly impossible to find anymore. the only store (and believe me, i’ve looked everywhere) that sells it anymore is a local place near work. they look at me funny when i buy 6 packs. i can’t help it. i’m addicted to this gum.

7. sleeping is my favorite. napping too.

PART B. pay it forward. so a lot of the names on jeannie’s list are ones that i would have listed, but the point is to introduce new blogs, so here are a few more than 15 MORE noteworthy blogs for you. their words inspire, teach, or provide a distraction. and now, i bequeath the stylish blog trophy to:

adriana kirilova

carrie harris

elizabeth ryann

ellen oh

embrace the detour

flirty baker

gina choe

the grateful project