Ready. Set. WRITE! (week four)

It's week four of Ready. Set. WRITE! (week three for me) and a-here, a-we, a-go...

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
I finished my read-thru of JAR OF HEARTS and I have a list of revision notes ready.

MY GOAL FOR THIS WEEK
Start my FINAL revision for EPONINE. Do at least one chapter a day.

A FAVE LINE FROM MY STORY OR ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED
Pleasantly surprised.
JAR OF HEARTS was written last November during NaNo and I'm pleasantly surprised because it's not as much of a mess as I thought. Although it does need LOTS of revisions. (Don't they all?!)

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
Nothing major except I have so many books to read that it's hard to find time for writing. Alas, I'm gonna have the same problem this week, too.

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
I love the IDEA of this WIP. Hopefully with revisions I'll be able to execute the idea properly.

You can link up for Ready. Set. WRITE! here.

What's Up Wednesday: Utah and Michael Buble

What I'm Reading
I read Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King and I gotta say... I did not love this book. In fact, I had to force myself to finish it. Not that the writing was bad, because it definitely wasn't. It just wasn't my thing, nor did I care for the fact that it was dialogue light. I hate it when I don't love a book, but what can you do? Now I'm reading Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins.
What I'mWriting
I'm still reading my NaNo WIP JAR OF HEARTS. There are things that definitely need to be fixed, but right now it's just about remembering the story.
What Inspires Me Right Now
This guy, who I saw in concert (for the 2nd time) on Monday and he was AMAZING!!! Love him!

Too bad this isn't the real thing! ;)

This is the real thing but I'm just not close enough!

One of my fave songs from his newest album

What Else I've Been Up To
I went to Utah over the weeked to pick up my MIL who just finished an 18-month mission. It was two days of driving (one there, one back) and two days of being there. I went with my SIL and we did some shopping, saw TFiOS (where I bawled through like, the entire movie) and ate at our fave Mongolian Grill HuHot, and our fave Mexican place Cafe Rio.Yum, food! It was nice to be without the kids for a few days and I wish we had a bit more time there, but at the same time I'm glad to be back home.

Ready. Set. WRITE! (Week 3)

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
My goal was to read JAR OF HEARTS and I read 13 chapters.

MY GOAL FOR THIS WEEK
Finish reading through JoH.

A FAVE LINE FROM MY STORY OR ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED
I’ve never been in the beginnings of love, but I know how to act it. I can act anything.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
I was out of town for 4 days, so I didn't read as much of JoH as I wanted to. Ah well.

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
The MC. I said this last week too, but my MC in JoH- Trevi- is so different from Eponine, and it's fun to go in a completely different direction.

How did you do with this week's goals? Link up here.

What's Up Wednesday: Meat, Meat, and More Meat

What I'm ReadingI read The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan which was a great historical fantasy although I had a hard time getting a handle on one of the MCs- Ingrid. I do want to read the next one though. Then I read If I Lie by Corrine Jackson which was totally engrossing but the ending was so not satisfying (so there, lady who wrote that stupid article) but I get why it ended that way. Last night I finished Splintered by A.G. Howard. I have to say- I didn't love the book, mostly because I've never been an Alice in Wonderland fan, so it was just hard for me to get into it. I read until the end and the end was good, but I doubt I'll pick up the sequel.
What I'm Writing
While E is with one last CP, I'm reading my NaNoWriMo WIP. Just trying to refresh myself on it without actually revising yet. So far it doesn't suck as bad as I thought!
What Inspires Me Right Now
My girls dancing in their recitals! So proud!


What Else I've Been Up To
Last week was the hubs birthday and we went to one of his fave restaurants- Bolero. It's a Brazilian all-you-can-eat meat place where the goucho dudes walk around with meat skewers and you end up having to get rolled out of the place due to FULLNESS. Despite said fullness, we had gelato for dessert. On Saturday, our town had a Parade which the kids love because they get lots of candy. Then that evening we celebrated Father's Day with some family. I made tons of wings that take literally hours to make but they are super yummy. I think I'm still full from my meat-overdose!

What have you been up to? Link up here.

Ready. Set. WRITE!

It's been crazy busy around here lately and last week I totally missed the ball on Ready. Set. WRITE! But I like the idea of being accountable and having goals for the summer so I don't end up being lazy butt.

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
I didn't technically set a goal since I didn't do a post last week, but it would have been to finish up my revision on EPONINE, and I did!

MY GOAL FOR THIS WEEK
While E is out with a CP, my goal this week is to reread my NaNoWriMo WIP JAR OF HEARTS and take notes on what needs to be revised.

A FAVE LINE FROM MY STORY OR ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED
I'm glad Mark doesn't see the smile tugging at my lips because if he did, he would know. He would see the thing I've been trying for so long to hide from him. That I'm no good.
But this time, I'm happy about it.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
Sooooo busy!

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
I love the character of Eponine- the one created by Victor Hugo, the one revised by Schonberg and Boublil, and the Eponine I've made my own. (Although sometimes I hate her too- she can be a real jerk.)

If you want to join Ready. Set. WRITE! you can link up here. Good luck!

What's Up Wednesday: NOT The Fault In Our Stars

What I'm Reading
I read The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd which was pretty good. I had a couple of minor issues with it but nothing to keep me from requesting the sequel from my library as soon as I finished the last page. Then I read Easy by Tammara Webber, probably the first NA I've ever read. Unless you count Fangirl. That's NA, right? Anyway, I had no clue what Easy was about so I was a little shocked by the first chapter, but I enjoyed the book. Now I'm back to historical fantasy with The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan.
What I'm Writing Revising
Almost finished with my revisions!!! Today, hopefully. Once I'm done, I'm sending it to one final reader and then one more revision before... QUERYING!
What Inspires Me Right Now
I took part in Vicki Leigh's cover reveal for Catch Me When I Fall on Monday- you can scroll down to check it out. I haven't read the book but a CP of mine has and just hearing how it's gone from early draft to contract to cover reveal is pretty awesome. I'm excited for Vicki and also for the day when I hopefully have my own cover to reveal!
What Else I've Been Up To
I wanted to see The Fault In Our Stars on the weekend (and I'm going to be supremely jealous of anyone who did) but instead, because I was with the hubs and my BIL and SIL, none of whom want to see that, we went to Edge of Tomorrow. It was actually pretty entertaining. The best thing for me was how Tom Cruise starts off as a sissy! Ha. The action was pretty intense too.

Anyone see TFiOS? How was it? Hopefully I'll get to see it in a couple of weeks.

COVER REVEAL: Catch Me When I Fall

It’s cover reveal day for Vicki Leigh’s CATCH ME WHEN I FALL! Lots of awesome stuff going on, including a giveaway! But first, here’s a special message from Vicki:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc59e3yLhOs&feature=youtu.be

And here’s what CATCH ME WHEN I FALL is all about:

 

Recruited at his death to be a Protector of the Night, seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent two-hundred years fighting Nightmares and guarding humans from the clawed, red-eyed creatures that feed off people’s fears. Each night, he risks his eternal life, having given up his chance at an afterlife when he chose to become a Protector. That doesn’t stop a burnt-out Daniel from risking daring maneuvers during each battle. He’s become one of the best, but he wants nothing more than to stop.

Then he’s given an assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a clinically depressed patient in a psychiatric ward. Nightmares love a human with a tortured past. Yet, when they take a deep interest in her, appearing in unprecedented numbers, the job becomes more dangerous than any Daniel’s ever experienced. He fights ruthlessly to keep the Nightmares from overwhelming his team and Kayla. Soon, Daniel finds himself watching over Kayla during the day, drawn to why she’s different, and what it is about her that attracts the Nightmares. And him.

A vicious attack on Kayla forces Daniel to break the first Law and reveal his identity. Driven by his growing feelings for her, he whisks her away to Rome where others like him can keep her safe. Under their roof, the Protectors discover what Kayla is and why someone who can manipulate Nightmares has her in his sights. But before they can make a move, the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped. Daniel will stop at nothing to save her. Even if it means giving up his immortality.

 

CATCH ME WHEN I FALL will be available on October 23, 2014 in both paperback and e-book formats from Curiosity Quills Press. For more information, visit the book’s Goodreads page.

 Now, there can’t be a cover reveal without a giveaway, right? Lots of authors stopped by and donated some fantastic books to help Vicki celebrate. You don’t want to miss out on these! Here’s what you can win:

·         An e-copy of HEIRS OF WAR by Mara Valderran

·         Two query+first chapter critiques from YA author Emily Stanford

·         Two full manuscript critiques from YA author Emily Stanford

·         An e-copy of WITHOUT BLOODSHED by Matthew Graybosch

·         A paperback of DESTRUCTION by Sharon Bayliss

·         An e-copy of KIYA: HOPE OF THE PHARAOH by Katie Teller

·         One query+first chapter critique from YA author Katie Teller

·         An e-copy of DARKNESS WATCHING by Emma Adams

·         A copy of DESCENDANT by Nichole Giles

·         Two signed copies of DIVIDE by Jessa Russo

·         An e-copy set of EVER and EVADE by Jessa Russo

·         A copy of UNHINGED by A.G. Howard

 Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win! All prizes will be accompanied by a Dreamcatcher swag package from Vicki Leigh.

 Thanks for stopping by!

 About Vicki:

 

Adopted at three-days-old by a construction worker and a stay-at-home mom, Vicki Leigh grew up in a small suburb of Akron, Ohio where she learned to read by the age of four and considered being sent to her room for punishment as an opportunity to dive into another book. By the sixth grade, Vicki penned her first, full-length screenplay. If she couldn’t be a writer, Vicki would be a Hunter (think Dean and Sam Winchester) or a Jedi. Her favorite place on earth is Hogwarts (she refuses to believe it doesn’t exist), and her favorite dreams include solving cases alongside Sherlock Holmes.

 

Vicki is an editor for Curiosity Quills Press, a co-founder of The Writer Diaries, and is represented by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

 

You can find Vicki at her website and blog and on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, and Goodreads.

Rafflecopter link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0de5901/

I AM NOT ASHAMED

I'm sure if you were anywhere on the Internet yesterday, you read or at least heard about that article about how adults who read YA should be ashamed or you saw the hashtag #PromoteaYAInstead.

Now I know there will be many posts about this, a lot more brilliant and insightful than mine. And I know I already stated this on Twitter and Facebook. But I am here to announce again that I AM NOT ASHAMED.

I read YA. I write it. But guess what? I read adult, and write that too. Currently on my bookshelves waiting to be read are books by Rick Riordan, Rachel Harris, Dan Brown, Jennifer Armentrout, Elizabeth Gaskell, Lee Child, and Patricia Briggs. My bookshelves are a mix of classics, chick lit, adventure, fantasy, and YA everything. It was actually only five years ago or so when I really started reading YA, but I love it.

Some of my YA bookshelf

I LOVE YA. And I'm not here to say why. For one, there have been/will be others who will explain all the merits of YA better than I ever could. For two, I. Don't. Have. To. Explain. Myself. I love it. That's that.

What I find sort of funny (sort of not) about that article is the idea of being ashamed in the first place. As a kid, as a teen, there were many things I was ashamed of. I was ashamed of playing with Barbies at twelve when all of my friends were too grown-up to play with them. In front of certain people, I was ashamed to admit how much I read. I was ashamed of good grades and ashamed of bad ones. I was ashamed of liking *NSYNC at twenty. I'm not gonna lie, it took me awhile, but I've long passed the point of being ashamed of what I like, what I write, what I do, who I am. These things that make us unique, that's what makes the world interesting. That's what makes for great conversations, and beautiful art, and most especially- books that we can't put down. I'm not ashamed of loving Twilight (even though it's become the *cool* thing now to hate it). I'm not ashamed of bawling while reading The Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief and Eleanor & Park. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I still wish I'd gotten a letter to Hogwarts. I read YA, and I write YA, I devour YA, and I love YA. And I'm not ashamed.

To the lady who wrote the article: it's okay that you don't like YA. And it's okay if you want to judge me for reading it, because it won't stop me from loving it. I love YA. And a la Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

Oh, and just so you know, I also like One Direction, trashy magazines, wedge sneakers, musicals, and nerdy t-shirts, and I'm not ashamed of those either. ;)

What's Up Wednesday: Success and Revisions

 

What I'm Reading

I finished Dreams of Gods and Monsters and I have LOTS of opinions, some of which I shared on Monday's post. Then I read School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins which was a great, fun, quick read. I loved her Hex Hall series so I'm glad she continued it on with a new character. Now I'm reading The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard.

What I'm Writing

I started my revisions on EPONINE last Wednesday like I said I would. YES! I've done eighteen chapters and 141 pages in the last week. My goal is to be finished by June 18th because I leave on the 19th for a quick trip to the States, which doesn't really matter but it's something to aim for.

What Inspires Me Right Now

THIS.

What Else I've Been Up To

I took my ten-year-old to see Maleficent on the weekend. I didn't really want to go but my daughter did and I was actually pleasantly surprised. At first, all I could see was Angelina Jolie with weird horns, but then I got into the movie and forgot it was her. The imagery in the movie was beautiful and the twist was really good. (Also, I couldn't help but think of chimaera when I looked at faerie Maleficent. Anyone else?)

What have you been up to?



 

 

May Reads

It's been awhile since I've done a best book of the month post but I read a lot in May and some are definitely worth mentioning.

Sentinel, Into the Still Blue, The One, and Dreams of Gods and Monsters were all series enders and all good. I have lots to say about DoGaM- it was a good book, I was into it most of the way through, but I did feel it was unnecessarily long. The last hundred pages or so were a bit blah- I think it could've ended earlier, and I really didn't like it when she would repeat scenes from different POVs. HOWEVER, I did like the book and the characters and she has a great voice and everything about her writing is so vivid. It just could've been... shorter, IMO.

My fave book of this bunch is definitely Cress. It's funny because I don't even like sci-fi that much but Cress was just so exciting and well written and page turning. It was just one of those devouring books- I couldn't get enough, and I can't wait to read Winter.

So what was the best book you read in May?