Ready. Set. WRITE! (week 4) and Monday Reads

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
Finish short story: CHECK!
Continue JAR OF HEARTS revisions: CHECK!

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
-Revise and submit short story.
-Finish JAR OF HEARTS revisions. I'm just a few chapters away from being done. I'm feeling torn about the WIP though- part of me thinks I've done all I can, while the other part is worried that I haven't done enough.

ONE PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I REVISED
The Phantom of the Opera

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
The warm weather. It doesn't last long here in Alberta and I just wanted to be outside all the time enjoying it.

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
I love my MC. She's confident and a bit cocky, enthusiastic and dramatic, and like no one I've ever written before. I worry a little that she won't be likable, but it was fun to write someone who knows who she is (or at least thinks she does).

MONDAY READS
Still reading ROYAL WEDDING by Meg Cabot. It's a fun read, I just haven't had a lot of time.

Friday Loves: Call the Midwife and Royal Wedding

Can I first say what I do not love? That would be getting a golf-ball sized zit on my cheek just days before taking author photos. OF COURSE that happens. However, this is a Friday loves post, not a complainy post. And besides, my photographer wants to reschedule anyway so hopefully this growth will be gone by then.

So what do I love this week? CALL THE MIDWIFE.

I've said it before, but I'm in the middle of season 4 right now and it's soooooo good. I wasn't sure about the show without Nurse Lee, but it's still just as incredible. I still manage to shed at least one tear (if not a whole boatload) every episode. LOVE.

I also love reading another Princess Diaries book. I'm currently reading the new book, ROYAL WEDDING, and it's just as funny as I remember the old ones being.

What are you loving this week?

Wednesday Writes: Short Story

I mentioned on Monday that over the weekend I got this crazy urge to enter a short story contest. I've barely written any short stories, and I have less than a month to get one ready, but hey- why not, right? Honestly, I don't know why I want to give it a try, I just do. And I did.

Yep, I finished the short story! I wrote just under 4k on Friday, which was stellar. Then I hit a stand still and didn't know where to go from there. On Monday I stared at a blank screen and wrote about 100 words until finally I gave it up to work on JAR OF HEARTS revisions. Tuesday started the same, but I persisted, and ended up finishing the whole thing! WHOOP! It's only a first draft right now but I'm going to leave it for the rest of the week, work on more JAR OF HEARTS revisions, and then go back and revise it next week. Even if it comes to nothing, I'm glad I did it. It tested me in a completely different way.

What are you working on this week?

And hey, I'm being interviewed over at JR Yates blog today!

Ready. Set. WRITE! (Week 3) and Monday Reads

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
Finish critiquing a CPs MS- check!
Work on JAR OF HEARTS revisions- ten chapters done, check!

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
Continue revising JAR OF HEARTS
Finish short story

ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED
I heard about this short story contest due next month and for some reason I decided I wanted to enter. I rarely ever write short stories- they're not really my cup of tea- so I have no clue why I felt the urge, but I did and I ended up writing almost 4k of it in one day. So a word that sums that up is SURPRISED.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK
Busyness, as usual. I wanted to work on revisions every day but I found the days where I was doing other stuff (CP-ing, short story writing, and cover revealing), I didn't get any revisions done.

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP
For this short story I'm writing, I kinda love the MCs voice. She's really been speaking to me and I love that, especially since the entire last WIP I wrote that didn't happen at all. :(

MONDAY READS:
I finished BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott and thought it was great. I also finished THE LOST HERO by Rick Riordan and then the second book in the Heroes of Olympus series: THE SON OF NEPTUNE. I loved that one too, maybe even more because it's about Percy again and I love Percy. I'm taking a mid-series break though to read Meg Cabot's new Princess Diaries book: ROYAL WEDDING.

Friday Loves: Writers

I've read a lot of acknowledgement pages. Like most writers, before I even start the book I flip to the back to see who the author's agent is, and if I recognize any of the names. In all the acknowledgement pages I've read, I don't remember anyone ever saying thank you to people who participate in cover reveals. Maybe they do, and I just don't remember, or I wasn't paying close enough attention. Or maybe they don't because acknowledgement pages shouldn't turn into novels themselves. Who knows.

So anyway, whether I'm allowed to or not later, or if I forget, for my Friday Loves today I want to thank everyone who so readily agreed to take part in my cover reveal yesterday. I'm constantly amazed by the writing community and how writers help each other out. Sometimes we put ourselves in competition with other authors because they got an agent first, or a three-book deal, or whatever. But we don't need to do that! We build each other up, we work together. I've seen it. Each person who volunteered to be part of my cover reveal is proof of that, and I'm so thankful.

So here's my Academy Award Speech, except with links. You could never get links at the Oscars.

I'd like to thank Michelle Merrill, RuthAnne Frost, Prerna Pickett, Jaime Morrow, Tyler-Rose Counts, S. L. Hennessy, Vanessa Eccles and the YA-NA Sisterhood, Laura Brown Teckman, Cathrina Constantine, Kristin Van Risseghem, Kathleen Allen, Maggie Findlay, Vanessa Reeves Rodriguez, Emma Wicker, Jennifer Rose Egan, Karen Mahara, and Anne Marie Hilse.

You girls are the best!!!

SWAY COVER REVEAL!!!

It's COVER REVEAL DAY!!!

I'm so excited for this cover and this book and for EVERYTHING right now!!! You could cut me off in traffic or spill beer on me today and I'd probably just smile and say, IT'S MY COVER REVEAL DAY! That's the kind of mood I'm in.

I wrote SWAY way back in 2011 (!) and I can't believe it's only months away from seeing the real light of day. If you haven't heard me babble about it before, it's a modern-day PERSUASION (by Jane Austen) retelling that takes place in LA (and a bit in Vegas too, cuz yanno Vegas is a prime drama-filled setting). Here's the blurb:

Ava Elliot never thought she’d become a couch surfer. But with a freshly minted—and worthless—degree from Julliard, and her dad squandering the family fortune, what choice does she have?

Living with her old high school friends, though, has its own drawbacks. Especially when her ex-fiancé Eric Wentworth drops back into her life. Eight years ago, she was too young, too scared of being poor, and too scared of her dad’s disapproval. Dumping him was a big mistake.

In the most ironic of role reversals, Eric is rolling in musical success, and Ava’s starting at the bottom to build her career. Worse, every song Eric sings is an arrow aimed straight for her regrets.

One encounter, one song too many, and Ava can’t go on like this. It’s time to tell Eric the truth, and make a choice. Finally let go of the past, or risk her heart for a second chance with her first love. If he can forgive her…and she can forgive herself.

 

Aaaaand, without further ado and messing around and all that jazz... here's the cover!

I was super nervous to see my cover because I'm picky-picky sometimes, but I love this cover! I love the font on the title, I love the colors, and I love the couple. I love that they incorporated a piano for my MC Ava and the background lights for Eric. I love it so much I just want to smoosh it.

 

SWAY is coming this winter from Samhain Publishing. You can add it on Goodreads here. Eeeek!

Wednesday Writes: Check-In

Since I'll be keeping track of my writing goals with Ready. Set. WRITE! my Wednesday Writes posts will be just a short check-in. I thought of quitting them altogether until RSW is over, but this will give me that one bit of extra accountability to make sure I'm staying on track.

As of Monday, I set a goal to finish critiquing a CPs manuscript and work on revisions of JAR OF HEARTS. I finished critiquing on Monday, and on Tuesday I revised three chapters of JofH. So I'm well on my way and feeling good. I also wrote up a 1st draft query for JofH and sent it to a CP to see what she thinks. I'm hoping to have this MS ready for PitchWars starting in August and I think I'll make it since this is third of fourth (or fifth) revision now... clearly I've lost track. But I think/hope/pray that this MS is getting to where it needs to be.

If you want to participate in Ready. Set. WRITE! check out the link above. And stop back tomorrow for my cover reveal for SWAY!!!