Tuesday, January 20, 2015

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. Want to join in? YOU TOTALLY SHOULD! Head over to Jaime and Erin's blogs to find out more :)



WHAT I'M READING: Oh my goodness. I have developed a New Adult OBSESSION. It's totally new for me and I CANNOT STOP reading it. I started with INSPIRE by Cora Carmack and then I read a few more of hers (like, maybe all of them) and then I just kept clicking.

You guys, I am reading them so fast that I am actually EMBARRASSED to put all the titles on goodreads because surely everyone will think I have given up on life and am locked in a room somewhere, eyes glued to my Kindle, neglecting my hygiene and responsibilities.

It's awesome, obviously.

WHAT I'M WRITING: I have been doing some research for my next project, which is fun. I had my first interloan experience! I also just got some more notes back on my WIP so will jump back into revising soon.

WRITING GOAL: Must. Revise. But.


There once was a girl from Dunedin
Who found that she couldn't stop readin'
To stop and revise,
She thought, would be wise,
Before both my eyes begin bleedin'

WHAT WORKS FOR ME: Thanks so much to Katy Upperman and Rebecca Barrow for recommending First Draft with Sarah Enni! This podcast is amazing and so inspiring. She interviews YA and MG writers about "writing, community, and the importance of place in a creative life." I listen to it while I walk the dogs and they have never been so tired because I just want to keep going :)

WHAT ELSE IS NEW: Um, not much, because my exciting NA reading obsession is taking up most of my time. Someone is probably going to have to confiscate the Kindle if I want to get these revisions done.

What's up with you?

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

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. Want to join in? YOU TOTALLY SHOULD! Head over to Jaime and Erin's blogs to find out more :)


WHAT I'M READING: I just finished The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson and loved it. Think Ocean's Eleven in middle school. So fun and really well plotted.

WHAT I'M WRITING: I FINISHED MY MG MYSTERY REVISIONS!!! SOUND THE TRUMPETS!!! (Or, you know, maybe just whistle or something.) I will now wait to hear back from my poor agent, who is probably swamped because everybody had time off over the holidays to write things and send them to her.

WRITING GOAL: My goal this week is to NOT open my revision document and obsess about the changes I made and if they are good enough. That obsession is sooooo 2014, man. Instead I'm going to play around with a couple of new ideas and do some brainstorming.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME: I have been loving Sara Zarr's This Creative Life podcast. She speaks to authors about their writing lives and publishing journeys and how they deal with social media and all kinds of other interesting things. I listen to it while I walk my dogs and find it really inspirational. It's been going since 2012 so there are quite a few back episodes and I'm just kind of skipping around (The Stephanie Perkins episode was great!). (She also talks to other creative types, but I'm starting with the authors so haven't listened to those yet.) HIGHLY recommended!

WHAT ELSE IS NEW: It's 2015! Happy New Year! I hope all of you had lovely holidays. My parents have been in town visiting me their grandchildren, so we've been busy and it's been lots of fun. It still feels a bit strange to me to have Christmas in the summer, even after ten years in New Zealand, but I'm loving the warm weather and sunshine. 

What's up with you this week?