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?

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'm reading YES, PLEASE by Amy Poehler. I've been reading mostly fiction lately so it's a nice change and I'm enjoying it. I've never seen Parks and Recreation so I'm going to have to check that out as well.

WHAT I'M WRITING: Still revising the MG mystery. At the moment it feels like they will put this in my obituary (She is survived by her two children, her pack of naughty dogs, and her nearly completed middle grade manuscript...) but I WILL FINISH it soon!

WHAT WORKS FOR ME: Caffeine. When I get up early to write I set out everything I will need for tea or coffee in the morning so that all I have to do when I get up is stumble to the kitchen and press the button on the kettle. My goal is to someday build a Pee-wee style Rube Goldberg Breakfast machine that will deliver coffee straight to my desk.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW: Serial is my new obsession. I took a road trip for work last week and listened to the first eight episodes and I. Am. HOOKED. Fascinating on so many levels. If you haven't listened, you really should give it a try. (And then leave a comment saying what you think because I would love to hear it!) 

What's up with you this week?

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. Last week was my first time, and I want to thank everyone for the warm welcome. The writing community is an amazing place :)

WHAT I'M READING: I just finished THIS SHATTERED WORLD by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner and holy wow. I loved it - if you liked THESE BROKEN STARS (and I'll just bet you did) then I highly recommend picking this one up when it comes out next month! 

WHAT I'M WRITING: Still working on revisions for my MG mystery. Interesting side note: it has been pointed out to me (nicely) that I may have too many references to plastic surgery, porn, and India in this manuscript. Why, brain, why? I don't spend a lot of time thinking about any of these three things, so what are they doing in my story?

WHAT WORKS FOR ME: Getting up early in the morning to write. With two nap-averse toddlers, two energetic dogs, and two persnickety cats (not to mention the job and the husband) I never have guaranteed writing time during the day, so getting my butt in the chair before the sun comes up is my best bet.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW: I have been eating spinach and kale! I am the world's lamest vegetarian (I hate pretty much all vegetables, except pickles*), so this is huge for me. I've been making Lola Berry smoothies and I've devoured whole CUPS OF SPINACH for breakfast. Positively Popeye-esque.

Thanks so much to Jaime and Erin and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to this week!

*Pickles are totally a vegetable because they are green and I read it somewhere once so there.

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!