Currently!

I'm hopping on Katy Upperman's Currently post this week. Find out more about it here and join in! Thanks for the blogspiration, Katy :)

LOVING

The sun! We've had a super rainy summer (after a super rainy winter - man do I miss Boulder sometimes...) but the sun has been out for the past few days. It makes such a difference! Everybody in town is smiling.

READING

November 9 by Colleen Hoover. I tried the Crave app, which is a really cool idea. You get sent a couple of chapters a day, and the book is "enhanced" with videos, audio snippets, texts from the characters, images, etc. The first book up is November 9 and it's a perfect fit for this format! The problem is that the app only lets you read a couple of chapters a day, so I just bought the book because I was really enjoying it and I have no patience. At all.

WATCHING

The return of Fox Mulder. Why would anyone be watching anything else?

LISTENING TO

Season Two of Serial. This season is intense. I went in not knowing much about Bowe Bergdahl and I cannot believe his story. I listen when I walk the dogs and sometimes I scare them with my outbursts. Also, I am such a Sarah Koenig fangirl. If she put out an app where we could just listen to her shoot the shit about anything for ten minutes a day I would totally subscribe.

THINKING ABOUT

What's next. I was made redundant from my job at the end of 2015 due to massive restructuring (they moved jobs to bigger cities) so I'm not sure what my next step is going to be. For now I'm really enjoying time with my kids and the ability to focus more on writing

ANTICIPATING

Good weather! February is usually our best month for sunshine and warmth, so I'm ready to get outside and take full advantage.

WISHING

That my dog would get over his irrational hatred of my neighbour's car. It's been six years, Boomer. Stop the barking and deal with it.

(Alternatively...wishing that my neighbour would get a new frickin' car! It's been six years, surely it's nearly time?!)

MAKING ME HAPPY

Sunshine, more writing time, good books, and my new milk frother. Lattes at home whenever I want! Not much better than that :)

What's currently up with you?

3 Things I Loved about The Distance from A to Z by Natalie Blitt

The Distance from A to Z has so much of my particular brand of contemporary YA romantic catnip that reading it made me feel like this:

Image found here

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better (strong and driven girl, kick ass friendships, sweet boy, FRENCH…) Natalie Blitt would hit me with something new (Best. Book. Restaraunts. Ever.) and I would swoon all over again.

Blurb:

Seventeen-year-old Abby has only one goal for her summer: to make sure she is fluent in French—well, that, and to get as far away from baseball and her Cubs-obsessed family as possible. A summer of culture and language, with no sports in sight.

That turns out to be impossible, though, because her French partner is the exact kind of boy she was hoping to avoid. Eight weeks. 120 hours of class. 80 hours of conversation practice with someone who seems to wear baseball caps and jerseys every day.

But Zeke in French is a different person than Zeke in English. And Abby can’t help but fall for him, hard. As Abby begins to suspect that Zeke is hiding something, she has to decide if bridging the gap between who she is and who he is is worth the risk.

Three Things I Loved:

1. The friendship between Abby and her roommate, Alice. They support each other and make sacrifices to be there for each other. And they do it quietly, without making a big deal, because that’s what friends do.
2. Pretty much everything about Zeke. Because he was a good friend who gave really big hugs when required. Because he went out of his way for people. Because he had chapped boy lips and because the things he said in French AND English were perfect. Parfait.
3. The restaurants and THE FOOD. I haven’t been so desperate to visit a fictional town since Star’s Hollow. Cool cafes, quirky diners, and the most delicious French toast you will ever read about. Seriously, if this place is based on a real town then I am making it my next trip. Plus, the time spent in each different place perfectly evoked the period of life when you have time to sit around drinking coffee (or eating hangover food) and talk about life, art, and boys with your friends for hours.

Get it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

Panster to Plotter: Week One

Thought I had while writing my first book: I understand story rhythms so well that I don't even need to plot!

I was young.

Thought I had while writing my second book: This one page outline kicks ass! Revisions will be soooo easy this time.

Thought I had during my zillionth (approx) round of revisions: SGD$@*$%$BSSNFJ**** (Imagine Tony Soprano swearing, then multiply it to the power of ten.)

I'm currently between revisions on an MG book that's been a challenge for me to get right. I need a break, so I'm going to try to fast draft a project I've been thinking about for awhile. It's in a totally different genre and I'm not sure it will ultimately go anywhere, but it involves a Pinterest board full of the cowboy from The Longest Ride, so I figure it's worth my time.

At the beginning of this month I read 2K to 10K by Rachel Aaron. It was awesome and just what I needed. I'm going to try and adapt some of the techniques she discussed to draft this project fast and smart. 

I'm writing this post because one of my favourite procrastination techniques is to read about how other people write, and I'm trying to give back to the procrastination community. You're welcome :)

Here's what I've done so far:

1. I wrote out all the major plot points I knew I wanted to happen, then turned them into a two page synopsis. It's rough and I'm sure it will change, but it highlighted gaps and showed me what I still needed to work through. 

2. I wrote a chapter by chapter outline, with a paragraph (or three) for each chapter. This was really helpful because I could plot out entire arcs and then jump around and add sneaky clues into previous chapters, which will save SO MUCH REVISION TIME. My paragraphs ended up a mixture of plot points, snippets of dialogue, and facts about characters' motivations and personalities.

3. I put the same table at the end of each chapter and went through checking and filling out the following:

• Am I moving the story forward?
• Is there new information?
• Am I pulling the reader forward?
• How does this fit with the two MC's character arcs?
• How does it fit with their relationship arc?
• Mystery clues and reveals?
• What do I need to figure out/research before I can write?
• Timeline?

4. I wrote down how long I worked each day, where, and the time of day. (Rachel recommended this to look for patterns in times of day/workplaces that are most productive.)

I ended up with 29 pages (10,500 words). It took me about fifteen hours (this *may* have included a few Pinterest breaks.)

Next step: Importing each chapter into its own Scrivener folder with files for my notes and my checklists.

Are you a panster or a plotter?

3 Things I Loved about Tied To Trouble by Megan Erickson

I know every review and comment about this book is going to mention bow ties, and I would dearly love to be an original, but that just isn’t happening. Because HOLY BOW TIES, BATMAN.

Sidebar: Watching Matt Smith’s Dr. Who will be a totally different experience after reading this book.

Blurb: Chad Lake only showed up at his sister's party for the free food, but when he spots an uptight nerd at the edge of the crowd, he can't resist trying to ruffle the guy's perfect bow tie and impeccable hair. The hottie's ready for him, though, and in the end, it's Chad who's left wide-eyed, his ears still ringing with the filthy things Bow Tie whispered in his ear. No one gets the upper hand on Chad. Ever.

Owen Hawkins has heard all about the cocky Adonis from Chad's sister--the same sister who holds Owen's career advancement in her hands. He has every intention of steering clear of the other man...until Chad's sexy taunts push him too far. There's something intriguing about Chad, and even though Owen knows that getting tangled up with the infuriating man is trouble, he can't seem to stay away...

Three things I loved:

1. The humour. It is dry and smart and also completely goofy, especially when we’re hearing from Chad. Ah, Chad. He is currently at the top of my “Characters Who’d be the Most Fun to Drink Margaritas With” list. He is hilarious.
2. The way Owen worried about Chad, even when Chad drove him absolutely crazy. I loved Owen’s caring nature, and we really got a chance to see it when he got concerned about Chad’s safety. He did his best to keep Chad physically in one piece (HELMETS, Chad!) but he also knew exactly what Chad needed to hear to heal his heart and his mind. Love Owen.
3. Watching Chad figure out the next step in his journey. Chad was in a place that so many of us reach: sick of going nowhere but not sure where to go and a little bit scared to chase after and share his dreams. I loved watching him get brave enough to try to change his life.

Overall: two amazing characters who have super hot sexy times in and out of beds and BOW TIES. Highly recommended :)

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

3 Tips I Loved from 2K to 10K by Rachel Aaron

One of my writing goals for 2016 is to read one book a month about craft. I started with 2K to 10K: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love by Rachel Aaron.

In 2011 Rachel wrote a blog post about how she went from writing two thousand words a day to regularly knocking out ten thousand. The post was extremely popular with us writer types because WE ARE ALL DESPERATELY SEARCHING FOR MIRACLES.* 

This book builds on her post and several others from her blog, as well as including new material. It is well worth the 99 pennies she is charging.

*My assumption. No writers were interviewed.

3 Tips I Loved:

1. Know what you're writing before you write it. She advises dedicating at least five minutes at the beginning of every writing session to jotting down a quick description of what you're going to write that day and suggests including things like "back and forth exchanges of an argument...blocking out fights...fast descriptions."

I found this REALLY helpful. I always have a rough plan of what I want to happen in a scene, but a bit more detail definitely makes the words flow faster!

2. When you get stuck it's because you don't know something. This is in reference to plotting, and she talks about how your entire plot isn't "borked" (bonus for using the word borked) when you get really stuck. No need to panic and let your dog eat your laptop so you never have to see your novel again! Instead, take a step back and discover more about your characters, their world, and why the event in question is actually happening. If the usual fixes aren't working she advises writing down in "ludicrous detail what's going on in the world at the moment the plot is stuck...especially map out exactly what the villains are doing."

Ha! Gotta love it when the villains save the day.

3. What every scene needs to do. Her criteria for a scene is that it advances the story, reveals new information, and pulls the reader forward. This is a good reminder no matter where you are in the process. I have used similar criteria for my scenes in revision, but her advice to plan out scenes in more detail before writing means that I will save a lot of time by knowing exactly what each scene is supposed to do before getting it down on paper. Probably a lot of people already do this of course, but I've always been more of a "Ooooo, a scene in a library would be cool!" kind of writer.

Verdict: Highly recommended! There are no miracles (sorry) and you may have seen some of these tips before, but the way she brings everything together and describes her own process is really helpful and it made me feel excited about sitting down to write.

Get it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Three Things I Loved about No Interest in Love

This was my first Cassie Mae book and it was so much fun that I will definitely be reading her others. Friends (um...sort of...) to lovers, a road trip, people falling down...So. Much. Catnip.

Blurb:

When Jace Carver snags a minor part in his buddy’s zombie flick, he suddenly starts getting noticed all over the place. Even Hollywood megastar Carletta Ocean—known for her extensive “research” with her male co-stars—wants Jace for her new rom-com. The role could be a game-changer . . . if Jace nails the audition.

As Jace’s agent, Shaylene Kwak is all business, and isn’t about to let her favorite client blow this opportunity. Since their college years, Shay has been immune to Jace’s charm and rock-hard body. But long hours in close company have a way of wearing down even the best defenses, and when their platonic teasing turns into serious flirting, Jace and Shay are no longer able to resist what’s been right in front of them the entire time.

Things I loved:

1. The screwball comedy. This book had some moments that reminded me of classic screwball films like Bringing up Baby (I laugh hysterically just looking at leopards. Totes awkward at the zoo.) The situations Jace and Shay find themselves in are just ridiculous in the best way and I laughed a lot while reading.

2. The way it played in my head. Jace is an actor who sees his life as a film and assigns himself and everyone else roles (Miss Leading Lady, Mr. Kickass Lead...) and Cassie Mae's writing style really lends itself to that. The descriptions were fabulous, especially of the physical comedy, and I could see Jace: The Real Life Movie in my head the whole time I was reading.

3. The media references. I LOVED the use of a certain Internet meme that Jace and Shay were involved in and felt like that shared history really added to the story. I also loved all the film and TV references. I am probably the only person alive who has never seen How I Met Your Mother,* which features heavily, but Cassie did such a great job explaining the characters that it didn't even matter.

*I know. I'm lame. I've accepted it.

Recommended for anyone who loves movies, road trips, and laughing. (So pretty much everyone, right?)

Find it on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble

I was given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Three Things I Loved About the Eversea Books

There are two books in this series, plus a holiday novella. I bought the first one when it was on sale for 99 cents and then immediately inhaled all of them. 

There was no sleep, there was only Jack Eversea.

Blurb from Eversea:

When his co-star and real-life girlfriend is caught cheating on him by the tabloids, A-list hottie, Jack Eversea, finds himself in sleepy Butler Cove, South Carolina. Jack hopes the sultry southern heat in this tiny coastal Lowcountry town will hide him not only from the tabloids and his cheating girlfriend, but his increasingly vapid life and the people who run it. He doesn’t count on meeting Keri Ann Butler. 

(I read somewhere that this was inspired by the Robert Pattinson/Kristen Stewart break up. Not sure if it's true but it caught my attention.)

Three things I loved:

1. The way that Keri Ann views Jack's fame. I've read a lot of books about civilians who date film/rock stars and dealing with the paparazzi and hordes of other women is always mentioned, but Keri Ann was also worried that being with him would impede her own growth as a person and her career. I liked that she was thinking about he would fit into her world, not just the other way around.

2. The sneaky peek into the world of Hollywood dating. My love of trashy magazines is pretty much the only thing that gets my ass to the gym, so I have a weakness for Hollywood gossip even though I know it's all probably as real as the Feejee Mermaid (and none of my business anyway). 

3. The longing. I'm all about the longing when reading romance and Natasha Boyd did a fabulous job of bringing Jack and Keri Ann so-very-nearly-almost together but not letting them quite get there (poor things - but all those cold showers probably cut their power bills in half).

Check them out!

Book One: Eversea

Book Two: Forever, Jack

Holday Novella: My Star, My Love

Ready. Set. Write! Week 12

Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog check in so writers can cheer each other on and support each other. Check out one of the lovely host bloggers (Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij) for more details :)

How I did on last week's goal: I skipped last week because my children passed on their preschool plague and I was sick for almost two weeks. So sorry I did not get around to comment the week before! We all ended up on antibiotics with various complications. Such fun :)

My goal for this week: 2,000 words. Not go to the doctor's office (they are starting to think I am a stalker).

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised:

Stalled due to sickness. 

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Being stuck in the house with two sick toddlers. It was no joke, my friends. I had fever dreams about reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? over and over and over again.

Something I love about my WIP: I love that I am ready to get back into it. I couldn't write for the last couple of weeks, but I did think about it a lot, which was fun. 

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 10

Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog check in so writers can cheer each other on and support each other. Check out one of the lovely host bloggers (Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij) for more details :)

How I did on last week's goal: So close! I wanted to hit 5,000 and I got 4,500.

My goal for this week: Write 2,000 words and survive two sick toddlers (it's winter here and we are getting all the preschool germs).

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised:

A quick peek in the mirror told me that I looked like exactly what I was: a Medusa-haired loser with ice cream stains on her shirt, melted chocolate on her nose, and (oh sweet baby Kardashian whose name I cannot remember right now) no pants.

No. Freaking. Pants.

I’d just thrown a cat at Ben Easton and then shown him my underwear.

This was bad on many levels. 

The biggest challenge I faced this week: The total and complete lack of a montage moment. You know in Footloose when Willard is learning to dance and it all happens in three minutes and there's a snappy song AND he gets to wrestle with a young Kevin Bacon?

Writing is not like that. AT ALL. It takes soooo much longer than three minutes and some days it is all I can do to stay in the chair and eke out 250 words and there is NEVER a young Kevin Bacon to wrestle with.

Alas. This week was more of an endless slog than a dance montage, but some weeks are like that, right?

Something I love about my WIP Writing: I'm going to cheat on this one and change the question (I'm a rebel, Dotty!)...

I love this community. I have been hit with some real life stress bombs in the last few months, and it's easy to stop writing at times like that. In the past I have done exactly that, but I didn't this time. Reading your posts and getting encouraging comments has really motivated me to sit down and write, and I want to say thank you :)

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 9

Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog check in so writers can cheer each other on and support each other. Check out one of the lovely host bloggers (Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij) for more details and to join in. It's never too late to start!

How I did on last week's goal: I wanted to get 3,500 words and I did 7,000! This may or may not have caused me to scare the cat with my awesome dance moves.

My goal for this week: I am going for 5,000 words this week.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: 

Begin Again.

After confessing to being a serial early chapters polisher last week I ended up THROWING MY SHINING BEAUTIES AWAY because I realized I was starting at the wrong point in the story, which is why all the polishing in the world wouldn't make those chapters work.

Yup, I pulled a Michael Finnegan. 

The biggest challenge I faced this week: The siren song of Stars Hollow. The only way I can get any writing done is to eschew (I have no idea how to actually pronounce that word. Does it just sound like a sneeze?) TV. 

Sadly, all I wanted to do this week was curl up and binge on Gilmore Girls until my speaking words-per-minute rate tripled due to overexposure to Lorelai.

But I didn't. Because I really want to finish this book. And then I really want to finish the next one. Because I really, really, really want this writing thing to work, and the only way that will happen is if I keep my butt in the chair and my hands on the keyboard.

(Sadly, overexposure to Lorelai CANNOT triple your typing words-per-minute rate. Life is so unfair sometimes :)) 

Something I love about my WIP: I love that I want it so badly. 

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 8

Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog check in so writers can cheer each other on and support each other. Check out one of the lovely host bloggers (Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij) for more details and to join in. It's never too late to start!

How I did on last week's goal: I wanted to hit 3,500 and I managed 3,000. Not all the way there, but I am happy with that number.

My goal for this week: I am going for 3,500 again. Victory shall be mine!

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: Alas, most of it was total crap. I just couldn't seem to figure out where I wanted to go. Why is there no GPS machine (with a cool English accent) for novel writing?

GPS: Where do you want to go?
Me: I'd like to pass quickly through their past relationship and then head into the present conflict.
GPS: Try 500 words of witty dialog about an evil childhood cat and then make him kiss her best friend in the bathroom. 

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Do you remember the cloud dough incident from last week? Well, letting them play with the rest of the cloud dough OUTSIDE was also a mistake. 

We are going to have to power wash the deck.

You never see that shit on Pinterest.

In non-craft related challenges...

I keep rewriting the first few chapters even though I KNOW it is ridiculous because I can always go back and change them later. I do this every single time. It's like I need them to be perfect before I can move on. So I'm trying to just write and not edit as I go. Results are mixed so far but I am hopeful!

Something I love about my WIP: The first few chapters are really tight ;)

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 7

Ready. Set. Write! is a weekly blog check in so writers can cheer each other on and support each other. Check out one of the lovely host bloggers (Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij) for more details and to join in!

How I did on last week's goal: I wanted to hit 3,000 words and I got nearly 4,000. Woohoo! 

My goal for this week: I'm going for 3,500 this week. Go big or go home, right?

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: 

"The minute I got to the party I knew it was a mistake. I should’ve been home, huddled under the covers while mainlining ice cream and regretting my foolish choices. That is the appropriate response after punching the big red self-destruct button on your own life."

The biggest challenge I faced this week: My own idiocy. I tried to be a crafty mom and made cloud dough (flour mixed with oil to make it moldable) for my toddlers. Great idea, right? Um, yes, but it is WINTER here so they played with it inside, and I maaaay have slightly overestimated their ability to stay at the table.

There are now shining white handprints all over my house. It looks like Max Evans has been healing everything: curtains, furniture, pets...

(Sadly, this still worked out better than my last crafty mom moment when the toddlers fed a whole batch of peanut butter play dough to the dog and he spent the rest of the day puking up the stickiest and most disgusting substance the world has ever seen.)

Something I love about my WIP: I can't stop thinking about it.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 6

You guys. Thanks so much for the support last week. I was feeling a bit lost about writing in the face of real world drama (so inconvenient) and it helped SO MUCH to know that I wasn't alone. Special thanks to Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij for setting up RSW :)

If anybody out there is sitting on the fence about participating then hop off that sucker right now and put up your own post! If I wasn't checking in with other people then I would probably still be on the sofa watching Nicholas Sparks movies (totally legit life choice btw) instead of writing.

You guys are awesome.

How I did on last week's goal: Nailed it! I did more than 2,000 words and got a rough outline typed up.

My goal for this week: I'm going to up my game and try for 3,000 words.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: 

"I love it when a plan comes together."

I'm still near the beginning, but this week was the first time that I felt like I really understood the characters and where the story is going. 

Best. Feeling. Ever.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Sleep. My children have given it up, and therefore so I have I. Coffee intake is approaching danger levels :)

Something I love about my WIP: It's making me laugh. In a good way.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 5

I missed last week but I am back to Ready. Set. Write! with a vengeance :) Thanks to Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij because without this blogging support I wouldn't have pulled it together to get back to my desk this quickly. It works, people!

How I did on last week's goal: I made my 2,000 words! 

My goal for this week: 2,000 words is working for me :) I'd also like to take all the little notes off my phone and enter them into an actual outline on Scrivener.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: To be perfectly honest, most of what I wrote last week was craptastic at best, but I was in the chair and the words are on the paper and some weeks that is good enough.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Unexpected real life issues have really made me think about the role of writing in my life, and whether or not I am delusional for basically spending all my free time in my head and thinking of it as a career path. Because no matter how many times I tell myself that I would write no matter what (and I would - just not as much), I also have to face the fact that I am an adult (*shudder*) with certain responsibilities of the small person kind, and sometimes I think I should be putting that energy into something with more security.

So I skipped a week of writing to ponder, and I would love to say that I spent that time in serious reflection, but I mostly watched Scott Eastwood in The Longest Ride on iTunes and sent my friends texts about hot cowboys.

See? TOTAL ADULT over here, guys.

Then I got back in my chair and did my 2,000 words. 

So I guess I'm delusional. 

But happy. 

And fond of cowboys.

Something I love about my WIP: One of the characters is a snowboarder and I am loving writing about the mountains. I miss them.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. Write! Week 3

I am loving Ready. Set. Write! so far :) For anyone who doesn't know, it's a summer (winter for me) writing intensive for writing/planning/revising and is hosted by Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij. Everyone sets some goals and then updates with a brief post on Mondays so we can cheer each other on and hold each other accountable.

Fun, right? Check out one of the host blogs for cool buttons and further instructions!

How I did on last week's goal: I missed one day, but still managed 2,000 words which is sooooo much better than nothing!

My goal for this week: I'm going to say four days of 500 words because I have some work drama happening this week (ALWAYS SO FUN) and I may need a night off to sit on the sofa drinking wine and watching The Longest Ride trailer on my laptop.

Because that's just how I roll when the going gets tough.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised:   

Hear me baby? Hold together.

I've been skipping around, playing with scenes I have in my head and getting to know the voices. Will these scenes ever actually fit together? I'm going to channel my inner Han Solo and say YES.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: Real life was super distracting this week. What's up with that? Don't these people know I've got s*** to do?

Something I love about my WIP: The kissing.

How was your week?

Ready. Set. WRITE!

I am really excited to be starting Ready. Set. Write! this week. It's a summer (winter for me) writing intensive for writing/planning/revising and is hosted by Erin Funk, Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Elodie Nowodazkij. Everyone sets some goals and then updates with a brief post on Mondays so we can cheer each other on and hold each other accountable.

Fun, right? Check out one of the host blogs for cool buttons and further instructions!

How I did on last week's goal: My goal was to write 500 words a day for five days last week and I did it, which is excellent because I really just need to get back in the habit of making myself sit down and get the words out.

My goal for this week: I just want to keep rolling with the 500 words/five days formula for now.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: If this WIP was a student its report card would say this: X lacks focus but has potential.

The biggest challenge I faced this week: The same challenge I face every night, Pinky - TRYING TO STAY OFF THE INTERNET. 

Something I love about my WIP: I've written MG in the past but I'm playing around with something aimed at an older crowd, so it's fun to let my characters swear. I have toddlers and can't swear in real life anymore so I'm meeting my profanity needs on the page :)

How was your week?

Out of the Slump: My Epic NA Book Binge

Things I have NOT done in the last two months:

• Watched TV
• Any housework beyond avoiding health code violations.*

Things I HAVE done:

• Read over 100 New Adult books.
• Kept children and pets alive. (The plants...meh.)
• Thought about 20-something guys' abs. A lot.

My one click finger is going to need physio and I am seriously sleep deprived, but I don't care.

Now, I'm a Middle Grade girl from way back. I've always written MG, and the bulk of what I've read for the past few years is MG and YA. They're what I love and what I know and that will never change, but I was in a major reading slump. I didn't take enough chances: I knew what I liked and I stuck to it. 

Slumpity slump.

When I was in high school I read anything and everything. I'd start the day at Sweet Valley High and go to bed with Anna Karenina. I binged on stories and stayed up too late and didn't care about genre or audience or language. 

I haven't read like that for a long time, but two months ago I fell in love with NA and I didn't look back. (Duh. Like I was taking my eyes off that Kindle.) I read everything I could get my hands on. Some of them were absolutely amazing. Some of them really, um, weren't. I didn't care. I gave them all a chance because this whole NA thing was new, and different, and exactly what I needed. 

Hey, it's hard for writers to read. Books are our entertainment, but they're also our job. We're not just reading for fun: we're looking at the language and the character development and mapping out the pacing in our heads. 

But I haven't been doing (much) of that lately. I've just been devouring stories to the point of giddiness and I honestly haven't been this happy in my reading life for years.

So if you're in a slump I highly recommend trying something new and completely different. If it includes hot hockey players with killer abs then SO MUCH THE BETTER IMHO, but whatever lights your fire, obviously.

And if you want any NA recommendations then just ask! I'll be updating my goodreads soon...but that takes up valuable hockey player abs reading time, and you know how it goes, right?

*Yeah, actually this is just normal.

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: My New Adult obsession continues and I just read the first three books of The Ivy Years series by Sarina Bowen. AMAZING. Highly recommended.

WHAT I'M WRITING: I finished another round of revisions. This was challenging as the whole point of the revision was to really cement my MG voice and all I wanted to do was read about smexy hockey players and talk about abs. 

Must. Eschew. Abs.

WRITING GOAL: Finish outlining my new project. 

WHAT WORKS FOR ME: I really love making outlines, especially in Scrivener when I can use the corkboard and create index cards for each scene. 

Outlining is exciting because I can SEE the WHOLE BOOK and I fall in love with the characters and it all seems easy and obvious and like I will probably be able to knock the whole thing out in a week or two. Then I start the actual drafting and remember that this whole writing thing is actually really hard work :)

WHAT ELSE IS NEW: We have had lots of family visits this summer (only two weeks on our own since the end of November). It was nice to see them, but I cannot deny that I am looking forward to having more time to myself for writing and reading and just sitting around in slobby clothes and not talking about the weather or my great aunt's ex-boyfriends or what our old neighbor who I don't even remember is up to these days. 

Mostly I just want to wear my jammies until noon and eat peanut butter and jelly for dinner if I damn well feel like it. And now I can.

Happy days :)

What's up with you?

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?

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?