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GUTGAA Meet and Greet!

Oh, I have SO been looking forward to this!! But, before I start, I need to send a huge apology to Emily R.King and Melodie Wright. I signed up to their What I Did Last Summer Bloghop, but it looks like I'm not going to have the time to participate. :( I've never backed out of a bloghop before, but as you may have noticed, I've been kind of out of the blogging loop for a while and now I'm struggling to catch up! Please go and check out Emily and Melodie's hop, though - it's fun! :D





NOW, onto GUTGAA! This amazing blogfest was put together by Deana Barnhart, and was designed to help writers in their quest to find an agent, plus help form connections between writers. The idea is genius and I am so excited to be a part of it!

So, I am going to begin with the meet and greet questions, and I'll be hopping around to other blogs later! :D

Bio: Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. Fiction writing has always been her passion, but she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites. Kyra's debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012.



-Where do you write?
 
I would love it if I had an actual office, but there is no room in my house for that, so I write either at the dining room table, or on my bed. 

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

A wall hanging from Romania, and the head of my huge Melman from Madagascar soft toy LOL! (It really is huge, it sits on the floor beside my bed!)

-Favorite time to write?
 
Usually the evenings are my most productive time, particularly between 8PM and 10PM.

-Drink of choice while writing?
 
During the day, coffee. In the evenings, water or cranberry juice. 

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
 
Mostly, I need silence, but if I am working on a particularly emotional scene, sometimes music makes me get into the right mood for it. 

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
 
This has never happened before, but the idea came to me in a dream! It's not anything super weird, it's still contemporary, but I couldn't shake it off, so I had to write it down! 

-What's your most valuable writing tip?
 
I think a lot of people will say this today, but the most important thing is to never give up. Keep working hard, and read a lot too. You'll get to where you want to be eventually!
 
Okay guys, that's me done! Follow the link at the top of the page to check out the other GUTGAA participants! :D  


 

Comments

  1. You're like a regular Stephenie Meyer with your "dream" book. Haha. Great to get to know you better!

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  2. Never give up! I completely agree! Love that your idea came in a dream - get dreaming some more ;) Meant to say have now finished Game On and Loved it! Go you ;)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Vik! :D

      Haha, I hope I have more inspiring dreams soon!

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  3. Hi Kyra, I love that your inspiration came in a dream. I bet you had a mad dash to the computer to get the idea down.

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    1. Ha, I did write it down quickly, but I let it stew for a while before I began working on it! :D

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  4. I love that this new idea came to you in a dream, and from what I've read of it, it's awesome! :D

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  5. I LOVE MELMAN, TOO!!!! Oh my goodness, isn't the the best. He and I share all the same hypochondriac traits, so I have a soft spot for that melancholy giraffe. Love him.

    So nice to meet you and best of luck with GUTGAA!

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    1. Lol, me too! I am a fan of giraffes in general, so when someone bought me a big Melman, I was ecstatic!

      Nice to meet you, too! :D

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  6. So awesome! I loved finding out more about you and your process :D

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  7. Never give up - so very true. Nice to meet you.

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  8. Awesome, Kyra! Its so true in this biz. Never give up. Thankfully there are amazing writers like you who remind us all the time. I was inspired by a dream once too. It's cliche, but that's cuz it happens all the time.
    And dont feel too bad about missing a bloghop. I had to miss one earlier this year too. There just arent enough hours in the day. :)

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    Replies
    1. Aww, thanks you!

      So true about there not being enough hours in the day! Just one more would help LOL!

      Delete
  9. You don't see a lot of people who really like cranberry juice. Too tart for me. But it reminds me of going to my grandma's when we were little. She must've liked cranberry juice, because that's all I remember drinking for breakfast.

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    1. LOL! I find the proper cranberry juice to sweet now, but I drink the kind with no added sugar, and it's yummy!

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  10. Hi Kyra! Nice to meet you. Good luck with GUTGAA.

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  11. Hi Kyra! We're definitely on the same page with the motto "never give up!" Congrats on your debut and I can't wait to hear about the new idea :)

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  12. There's a certain bond you share with someone who also writes on a bed. LOL. Can't wait to see what you have for us next time, Kyra.

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    Replies
    1. Haha! :D

      Thanks, Tyson! I am looking forward to sharing news about it soon!

      Delete
  13. My last MS idea came to me in a dream as well! It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's awesome!

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  14. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who writes in her bedroom on her bed! Ha!

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  15. I'm a bed writer too. I do long for a home library to write in one day. Impressed with your stuffed animal-enormous!

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  16. I love cranberry/black cherry juice. And cran-grape. I'm not sure I could drink it straight for very long, but the health benefits are amazing!

    After reading your bio, I realized I forgot mine. Darn...

    So nice to meet you!

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's so good for you! :D

      Nice to meet you too!

      Delete
  17. This is so fun! :) Nice to "meet" another writer who shares a lot of things in common with me! I, too, write on my dining room table or bed, and at night, usually, so we have a lot in common! :)

    Congrats on publishing your first novel... love the cover!

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    Replies
    1. Isn't is awesome? :D Yay for having stuff in common - this meet and greet is amazing!

      Thanks so much!

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  18. I'm seeing Gearing Up everywhere! I wish I lived by the sea, although I did grow up near it in California. Good luck on finding an agent!

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    Replies
    1. Living by the sea is the best! :D

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  19. I agree, writing at night is the best. My brain doesn't function well in the morning. Hope to see you around!

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    Replies
    1. I'm the same - I need so much coffee to get me started! :D

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  20. Hi Kyra! Thanks for stopping by my blog already - for a night writer you sure did get to me early in the day! :) Good luck in the contest!

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    Replies
    1. Haha, I live in the UK, so it may not have beeen that early! ;)

      Good luck to you too!

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  21. Game On sounds really fun!!! I can totally relate to no office...someday!! :)

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  22. Ha! We totally gave out the same advice, and night writing is the best isn't it?

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    1. Lol, yes, lots of people said, "Don't give up!" :D

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  23. I wish I lived by the sea. I'm three hours from the pacific. I'd love to sit by the ocean and write. Have fun with the contest.

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    Replies
    1. Writing by the sea is so wonderful!

      Hope you have fun too!

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  24. When I was starting to think seriously about finally going back to a long-hiatused but never forgotten book, some of the stories and characters actually came back to me in dreams. I guess I remembered them deep in my subconscious, even after so many years of not having access to those files.

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    1. That's cool! That's happened to me before, it's quite odd lol!

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  25. "Never give up. Never surrender."

    Galaxy Quest, anyone?

    First, you totally look like someone I sat next to in church yesterday. Obviously not possible, but there's your random comment for the day. ;)

    I'm actually looking into doing freelancing (not a lot of jobs where I am!). Feel free to share any tips!

    And it's nice to meet you, of course. :)

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    Replies
    1. That was actually quite random LOL!

      If you need any help with freelancing, feel free to drop me an email!

      Delete
  26. No biggie, Kyra. I still love ya. ;)

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  27. Melman! Too funny. Yeah, busy day today for a holiday, and lots of events this week. Glad I'm all ready for Wednesday and the IWSG.

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    Replies
    1. Oh right, I forgot it was a holiday in the U.S yesterday! Hope you had a good day!

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  28. Writing in the evening is my favourite too :) Thanks for stopping by my blog, it's nice to meet you!

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  29. Hi Kyra! I used to write at the dining room table, but my husband is in there on his laptop all the time. He is so distracting. :)

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    1. Haha! It's difficult to concentrate when there are other people around!

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  30. Hello, Kyra! You won me over with your Melman toy. One of the best characters ever!

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  31. Yeah I chuckled at the image of your Melman stuffed toy too!

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  32. Nice to meet you through the blog hop! My best friend -- who grew up down the street from me in the U.S. -- now lives in Crawley, West Sussex. I visited her a couple years ago and we made it down to Brighton by the sea. I love it there and can't wait to go back!

    That's very cool that your story idea came to you in a dream. I tried to do that once but I came up against a black hole of having no idea where to take the story after the part from my dream. I bet revisiting that story would be really painful... :)

    Here's my GUTGAA Meet & Greet: A Girl and Her Diary

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    1. Fabulous! Brighton is amazing! I live in the far South West, in Devon. :D

      I had a similar problem at first, but I worked through it. I chose to make it a novella, rather than a novel which seems to have been the answer! :D

      Delete
  33. I actually came over here from the Fact or Fiction blog hop, but when I saw this, I decided to enter this one as well! I write on my bed a lot, too. =)
    ~Aidyl

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  34. One day I'll have to have a novel-inspiring dream, too. My dreams are so bizarre, I can't even imagine using one for fodder now. :-)

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  35. Good to meet you, Kyra and congrats on the novel release! And yay for another bed writer. ^_^

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  36. I've had stuff inspired by dreams a lot. I will read what I'm working on before I go to bed and then hopefully dream about it.

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  37. Melman: "I love you, Gloria!!!"

    Great thing to have in your corner :-)

    Great answers for the meet and greet. And a wonderful writing tip.

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  38. Great advice, Kyra! That's the thing I find I need to remind myself of most frequently. ;)

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  39. awesome answers kyra! a dream? really? ha!

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  40. Evenings are the time I write too. That's when the characters are the most talkative :)

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  41. Love Melman! I used music the same way, if I need that extra umph :)

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  42. Melman from Madagascar... hah! I love it. :D

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  43. Great answers. I am also a night time writer. Welcome back. I was away from blogging for quite a while this summer and I am trying to find my rhythm again.

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  44. Hi Kyra! Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier today. I must admit, I am pretty much in love with England so I think it's wonderful that's where you're from. Huge Beatles fan too, so you've got the right last name too. AND your WIP came to you in a dream, just like mine. That's it. We're destined to be best friends. (I promise, I'm not a psycho.) :) Glad to meet you and best of luck with your writing!

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    1. Haha, I love the enthusiasm, and I love new friends! Lovely to meet you!

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  45. Hi, nice to meet you! It's cool you were inspired by a dream, my dreams are so wacky I wouldn't begin to know how to write a novel from them lol

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    1. I am usually the same, but this one worked somehow! :D

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  46. I've seen dream inspiration mentioned a lot in the last 24 hours on blogs, which is funny 'cause I only saw these mentions AFTER I posted about my own dream inspiration yesterday ;)

    Great meet & greet post, Kyra!

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    1. Thanks, Trisha! I was also surprised by how many people drew inspiration from dreams!

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  47. I love dream inspirations! It was fun to read all your answers.

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  48. I like listening to So What when my characters need to be more bad-ass. But I normally stick with silence, too. Which so far as I'm reading these meet and greets seems rare.

    See you around!

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  49. An office is on my dream house requirements list! Happy GUTGAA

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  50. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and commenting :) You'll have to try the movie score method of writing one of these days ;) And I hope you get a writing space/office one day - it's makes getting down to business for some BIC time just that much easier!

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    Replies
    1. I sometimes use Harry Potter soundtracks, which are mostly instrumental. :D

      And yes, an office would be so good!

      Delete
  51. Lovely answers. I really agree with your writing tip. It's so easy to give up.

    And I'd love an office, too. :)

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  52. Wow, your prime writing time is my prime brain-dead time. :) Nice to meet you, and look forward to seeing you around GUTGAA!

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    1. Haha, yes a lot of people say they find it hard to write at night!

      Nice to meet you, too! :D

      Delete
  53. Never give up!!! I couldn't agree more :)

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  54. Hello Kyra! Nice meeting you! Enjoy GUTGAA!!

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  55. Love the advice! Thanks for sharing

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  56. Hello from GUTGAA...How cool is it that you get your book ideas from dreams...Do you write down your dreams when you wake up? Hope to read more from you.

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  57. Just stopping by to say howdy! So many bloggers here at GUTGAA it's hard to try to meet everyone. But I'm trying! Good luck!

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  58. I'm all over the dream inspiration. Our subconscious selves know how tell a good yarn.

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  59. Hi there! I'm still trudging through the huge GUTGAA list! Best to you. :)

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  60. Hi... I just wanna say how absolutely IN LOVE I am with the look of your blog! It's so colorful! I'm a very visual person and it really appeals to me. I didn't have time to go through every blog listed on GUTGAA, so I picked ones at random... and your title stood out. I'm glad I picked it! A lot of my ideas come from dreams but lately music has been inspiring me. I'll definitely have to check out Game On! Good luck!

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  61. I'm a little late to GUTGAA, but your blog is very distinctive! Looking forward to following!

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  62. Offices are overrated! I'd love to see the giant toy; I have a giant bear in my office that hubby gave me when he proposed to me. That bear is 16 years old! Thanks for stopping by!

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse, visiting my fellow GUTGAA participants!

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