Ready. Set. WRITE! Last week!

It's the last week of Ready. Set. WRITE! and I think I'm supposed to recap how I did on my goals for the summer.

Since I missed the first week, I never did make a big goal or goals for the summer. Mainly, I participated in RSW so I wouldn't get sucked into the laziness that is summer. So I think I did pretty good. I finished multiple revisions on EPONINE, not to mention writing the synopsis and revising the query. It's now on the WriteOnCon forums, and I'll be starting to query for real in September. I've also started revisions on JAR OF HEARTS. I'm nowhere near done- I have LOTS to do with this MS- but I've started and I know once I get back into a schedule come September, I'll be able to make better progress.

So that's it! I'm really glad I participated in RSW this year because if I hadn't, I don't know if EPONINE would have been query ready by now. So it was a great kick in the pants for me this summer.

How did you all do?

What's Up Wednesday: Shake It Off!

WHAT I'M READING
I read Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson. I thought this book was really great... once I got into it. But it took me like 150 pages to get into it. If I wasn't a patient reader, I probably would've given it up around page twenty. Now I'm reading the final Mortal Instruments book which is good so far but I'm wondering if it's also unnecessarily long. This is becoming one of my pet peeves. My reading time is precious people!

WHAT I'M WRITING REVISING
Working on JAR OF HEARTS. I have lots of revisions to make and I'm pretty unconfident (is that a word?) about the whole thing. Here's hoping I'm making it work, at least a little bit.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
The new Taylor Swift song. Love it, love her.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO
I finally submitted to PitchWars and made my bio which you can find here. I also went and saw Expendables 3 with the hubs and friends. NOT my movie choice but it wasn't bad. Antonio Banderas totally made the movie for me. He was hilarious. Also, sharing time lesson, hair appointment (I love getting my hair done!), kids dentist appointments, and lots of Doctor Who watching.

PS: I won't be around for What's Up Wednesday next week because WRITEONCON!!!

Ready. Set. WRITE! (Week 11)

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
I didn't revise as much as I wanted to on JAR OF HEARTS, but I did do some, so there's that.

MY GOAL FOR THIS WEEK
Revise revise revise! A little bit each day is the goal.

A FAVORITE LINE FROM MY STORY
I wish I could tune the beats out, snuff out every heart so I can finally have peace.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
Time. Always time. I need a time-turner. Or to be a vampire and then I wouldn't need sleep. Also and again, PitchWars. I've got my bio done and you can check it out here.

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
There's this certain character. And he's mysterious and quiet and looks something like this:

My PitchWars Bio

It's my first year participating in PitchWars and I'm super excited to...

Wait, what? I have to write a bio? And it has to be clever and make me sound awesome and all accomplished and stuff?

I never signed up for this!

 



No, okay. I can do this. So here's a little bit about me.

I started writing in grade two. Title of my first masterpiece: Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Bloody Mary.

Yeah, I don't know why I wrote that either, Simon

 

I didn't really take writing seriously until after I had four kids. Because, yanno, suddenly it seemed like the right time.

My kids, every time I sit down at the computer

 

I've been at this for five years. Sometimes it sucks.

 

Most of the time it's awesome.

 

I'm Canadian, eh!

 

I collect t-shirts. Like this one:

 

Even though I'm thirty-cough-cough, I still like boy bands. Don't judge me.

 

I sing loud and badly but play the piano better. I used to take dance (jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, swing) and I often dredge up old dance moves in my kitchen, bathroom, while driving, cleaning, ANYWHERE ANYTIME.

I think I look like this.

Or this.

Or this.

But I probably look more like this.

 

I don't like to be touched. So please don't hug me. Unless it's virtual. Those I can handle.

 

I'm a bit of a genre whore. I've written YA time-travel, YA magical realism, and Adult romance/retelling. My PitchWars manuscript is YA Urban Fantasy. It's a loose retelling of Eponine, the character from Les Miserables (in case you didn't know).

 

So there's a little bit about me. Now we're besties and you can pick me as your mentee- I'll do anything you say. Just, no hugging.

I mean pick me. PICK ME.

 



 

What's Up Wednesday: Ed and Richard

WHAT I'M READING
I finished How To Love by Katie Cotugno which I LOVED. And then last night I finished Ruin and Rising, the final book in the Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. The book was good, the ending wrapped up nicely, but sadly I wasn't wowed. I think it's because both the Darkling and Nikolai- two of my fave characters and the most compelling characters in these books IMO- weren't as prominent in this book. That's probably what took the wow factor down for me. Up next, Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson.

WHAT I'M WRITING
I finally started revisions on JAR OF HEARTS. I'm adding a POV which is HARD for me because this is the first time I've ever done dual POV. It's SCAAAAARY. Anyway, I did a few chapters Monday but nothing on Tuesday since I went to the beach, so hopefully today will be more productive.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
It always seems to be music for me. I bought Ed Sheeran's new CD and it is AWESOME. I LOVE most of the songs (like the rest), but here's just one for your listening pleasure:

Ed Sheeran: ONE

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO
The hubs took three of the kids to Ninja Turtles on the weekend. I really didn't care to see it, so me and the oldest daughter went to Into the Storm, which I liked (and she LOVED). They made the movie almost like a documentary, which was interesting, and the effects were definitely tension-inducing, but I never really connected to the characters. Except Richard Armitage. Because he's Richard Armitage. ;)

Ready. Set. WRITE! (Week 10)

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOAL
Um... crappy. Like, CRAPPY. I read one paragraph of my first chapter of JAR OF HEARTS and THAT'S IT. But I wasn't doing nothing all week, I swear. I wrote my synopsis for EPONINE and revised my first chapter and also spent TONS of time on the PitchWars mentor blogs and on their twitter feeds, trying to narrow down my picks.
MY GOAL FOR THIS WEEK
REVISE JAR OF HEARTS! (That's me, yelling at myself.)
A FAVORITE LINE FROM MY STORY
Here's EPONINE'S first line:
On my own, I bounce a ball of magic between my hands.
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
Aside from PitchWars, my husband took the week off from work which wasn't great for my productivity. He spent a lot of the time working on developing our basement and wanted my help so I spent some of my week getting covered in drywall dust. Good times.
SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
I love how this WIP took me somewhere I hadn't gone before in my writing. I had to dig deeper and darker within myself and I love how it stretched me.

What's Up Wednesday: MUSICALS!

WHAT I'M READING
I read Alienated by Melissa Landers which I looooved. Then To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han which I also loved. The voice felt young to me, but that's not a complaint, merely an observation. I love reading all different types of characters. Then I DNF'd Otherbound by Corrine Duyvis which I feel really bad about but I just couldn't get into it. :(   Now I'm reading How To Love by Katie Cotugno which is totally un-put-down-able. In fact, I bet I'll be done sometime today.

WHAT I'M WRITING
Um, nothing. Yikes. Pitch Wars is sucking up my time!

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
Musicals! I love musicals and last week I got to see two. First, Wicked in Calgary which was good although the story felt a little weak. Songs were great and Glinda was excellent! Then while I was in Cardston (Alberta) visiting my parents, I saw The Scarlet Pimpernel. The costumes, WOW, the costumes! And it was SO funny! You should have seen these dudes dress up all froufrou! My parents live in Cardston and every summer they have the best theatre. There's usually three or four different shows playing and I manage to get to one each year.

For Good from Wicked

 

Creation of Man from The Scarlet Pimpernel

(this is an older performance from somewhere else, but this song is hilarious)

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO
Aside from all the musicals, I also took the kids to the pool a lot last week. On the weekend... GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Way better than I thought it would be. I mean, it's MARVEL, so I figured it would be good, but still, it blew my expectations out of the water! Definitely see this movie!