Wednesday, November 5, 2014

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers connect and encourage each other. I'm a long-time reader, first time What's Upper :)


WHAT I'M READING:

I have been gulping down Sarah Rees Brennan's Lynburn Legacy books this week. Imagine if Veronica Mars moved to Midsomer and discovered a Hellmouth. (I'll just give you a moment to absorb how awesome that sounds...OK...now RUN AND GET ALL THE BOOKS!) Highly recommended. If you get the first one you may as well just pick them all up because you won't be able to stop.

WHAT I'M WRITING:

I got a second round of notes from my agent two weeks ago so I'm working on revising my upper MG mystery. It's contemporary but with an historical twist. I'm also sneaking in some research on my shiny new idea which means lots of reading about the London Zoo during the Blitz and golden age comics. SHAZAM.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME:

Scrivener. I started using it during my first round of big picture edits for my agent, and it is amazing. I don't know how I wrote without it. It's perfect for mysteries because it's so easy to make notes about clues and you can use the split screen to look at two scenes at once and remember what the holy Halifax you are supposed to be doing. I am just using the most basic features at the moment but looking forward to learning more.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW:

Both of my toddlers have been sick, so I've been to the doctor five days in a row. Then my husband and I bought ourselves a nice dinner to celebrate surviving two sick toddlers - and we got food poisoning. So really, what's been up at my house is just about everything :)

For my less disgusting answer...

Invisible tea is a HUGE hit with the toddler set this week. The dog is less impressed.


Thanks again to Jaime and Erin for the blog hop and I look forward to seeing what everyone else is up to!


13 comments:

  1. I loved the Lynburn Legacy series! And I love Scrivener. As I work from detailed outlines and need separate documents for characters, worldbuilding etc., I don't know how I coped without it!

    Best of luck with the edits! :)

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  2. Scrivener is great! I need to get back on using it.

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  3. I loved Lynburn too! I feel like it doesn't get nearly the buzz it should but I push it on my students every chance I get (I even taught the first book last year) and they always love it.

    I feel like I will love Scrivener someday--especially when I get into real revisions! It looks so shiny and useful. Glad it's working for you now!

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  4. Is it bad I am terrified of Scrivener? I stick to my nice MS Word. Good luck with your revisions, Carrie. I know you'll get them done and I can't wait to read your book. #TeamHowland 4Evah. :-)
    Sorry to hear about the sickness in the house and hope it goes away soon….with invisible tea, I hope :-D

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  5. Oh, my gosh. When it rains it pours, doesn't it? Hope everyone in your household starts feeling better soon!

    I'm a fan of the Lynburn books, too. I still need to get my hands on Book 3 though. I'm eager to see how she wraps everything up. As for Scrivener, I've had it on my computer for ages now, but have never sat down and taken the time to learn how it all works. I've always just defaulted to Word. I really do think I should give it a try sometime though. Hope you're having a wonderful week and it's so nice to meet you! :D

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  6. I LOVE the Lynburn Legacy series! It's so funny and heartbreaking at the same time, and the world is amazing. I can't wait until I'm done writing my demon series so I can read The Demon's Lexicon!

    Scrivener seriously changed my life. Before that, I was trying to make every chapter its own Word File, and it was total chaos. I love it.

    Good luck with your MG revisions!

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  7. Sick babies are no fun! Hope they get to feeling better!

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  8. Sick kids plus food poisoning- that sucks big time. I hate it when the kids are sick because they all seem to get sick at the same time and then I do as well but I have to take care of them and it's not fun at all.
    I've never read anything by Sarah Rees Brennan. I'll have to put her on my TBR.

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  9. Your research sounds amazing! London Zoo during the Blitz....um yes please! (can I read it now?) (how about now)? ;)

    And I'm so sorry about all the bad juju sickiness around your house. That is that absolute pits. Hope your week is looking up. :)

    If the dog isn't impressed by invisible tea, try invisible biscuits.

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  10. As man, being sick is the worst! Especially when you have kids. I love the Lynburn Legacy! I'm anxiously awaiting the last book from my library. Your MG sounds fantastic!

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  11. Yes yes yes to Scrivener! Their corkboard feature has been a lifesaver for some of my more plot-heavy WIPs, and when I dared do NaNo a few years back, the little target wordcount tool did most of the work for me, haha.

    Sorry to hear about the household sickness, ick! I hope you bounce back to normal ASAP! Have a wonderful week!

    - Caitie

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  12. Thanks for the book rec; those sound great. And yes, Scrivener is amazing and wonderful.

    Feel better soon, get rid of the kids' sickies, and have a great week!

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  13. Hey, great to meet you! I keep wanting to do more with Scrivener, but I never seem to get around to it. Maybe I'm just too set in my ways, or maybe I need to set a date to just dive in and tread water with it! (Or maybe I'll start swimming right away.)

    I'm writing two books for Nanowrimo this year, and let IWSG bump me from WUW this week, but I'll be back soon. Maybe I'll post a What's Up Thursday tomorrow...

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