What I'm ReadingIt's been a couple weeks since I did WUW but I actually haven't read that much. I finished City of Heavenly Fire- the last Mortal Instruments book by Cassandra Clare. I liked it, but it was too long. I found myself getting bored in the middle, but the end wrapped up the series nicely. After that, I read Teen Idol and then How To Be Popular, both by Meg Cabot, both books I bought from my library for a whole $0.25 each. They were really fun reads. I forgot how much I love her as an author. (PS, I thought Teen Idol was better.) Now I'm reading The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell.
What I'm Writing
The last week of summer vacation was really busy and I did no revising whatsoever. Now that the kids have started school though, I'm getting back into my normal routines. Yesterday I did querying research and today, it's back to JAR OF HEARTS.
What Inspires Me Right Now
So this is the same thing I did for the last WUW I participated in, but I love this song and I think it's especially relevant for querying writers. I'm about to step back into the trenches for the third time and I know rejections are on their way. What am I going to do about them? I'm just gonna shake shake shake shake shake, shake it off, shake it off. (PS, I found out late last night that I did not make it into Pitchwars. What am I doing today? THIS.)
What Else I've Been Up To
I participated in WriteOnCon, had one last beach day with the kids, did some back to school shopping, am making my way through the seasons of Doctor Who (I'm on 4), saw If I Stay (loved it) and When the Game Stands Tall (also good). The kids started school yesterday except the youngest who starts kindergarten tomorrow. I can't believe it- all four kids in school! That means my mornings will be JUST ME. O.O
What have you been up to?
wow! All the kiddos in school! I'm not sure what I'm going to do when all of mine are gone. J/K! I know exactly what I'm going to do (after shedding a few tears), write! I love the shake it off anthem as far as writing goes, not a huge fan of the song, but I can get behind the message. Good luck with querying, I'm sending positive vibes your way!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the contest - I was nervous on behalf of the entrants! Hope you have some luck with querying soon! :)
ReplyDeleteI stopped The Mortal Instruments books after City of Glass. It was too stressful to follow. I don't think I could do 3 more books. I love Meg Cabot books. Teen Idol is one of my favorites. I never finished How to be Popular for some reason.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. :D
Alas, I didn't make it into Pitch Wars either, but that's okay because I can still do querying the old fashioned way :D Best of luck to you with that, and hope the revisions go well ^_^
ReplyDeleteI'm partway into a reread of the first three books in the Mortal Instruments series so I can continue on with the rest of it. I'm pretty happy to hear that the most recent one is the final one in an already overly long series. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of the Infernal Devices. (Based on what I've read of TMI already.) I'm sort of excited for you that you're going to have mornings free now. :-) Oh, the possibilities, right? Hope you're having a great week, despite the PitchWars thing.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that PitchWars. If you ever want me to critique your query, let me know :) Also, my kids are all in school now. I have two uninterrupted hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. :) Ahh, freedom (kind of).
ReplyDeleteYay for free mornings! Hope you get TONS of writing done! Love that T. Swift song. I miss her country vibe, but she's still fantastic. :-) Have a wonderful week, Melanie!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to catch IF I STAY soon, but it's not at my within-walking-distance theater and I'm being lazy about getting in the car and driving :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck in the query trenches!
Good luck with the querying! And yes, you just have to shake off the rejection. My CP's and I play the Query Game, where you buy yourself an awesome prize for the number of queries you send out or the number of rejections you get. It helps, it really does. (Because Prizes!!)
ReplyDeleteHope you have a fantastic week! Fingers crossed for you. :)
Melanie, I LOVE the title of the novel you're working on! Jar of Hearts? The title itself is a hook. Brilliant! It's always encouraging to know that other mother-writers get derailed during the summer months, as I do. But school is in session!
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