Wednesday Writes

This year I decided to join up the YA Buccaneers SPRING WRITING BOOTCAMP. I'm hoping this will keep me motivated and on-schedule to finish my JAR OF HEARTS revisions in a timely fashion.

So my goal for Bootcamp: Simple. Finish JAR OF HEARTS revisions by the end of bootcamp, aka, the end of MAY (if not sooner).

I finished up my notecards of each chapter. Since I'm now at my parents house with my kids for the Easter break, I decided to print off the entire manuscript and work on it on paper.

What are you working on this week?

Monday Reads

HAPPY EASTER everyone!

This past week I read an AMAZING book and I DNF'd a book.

The amazing book was OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys.

It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.

She devises a plan to get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

This book pulled me in right from the beginning. The characters were interesting and well-rounded and the plot had me through the entire thing. What I loved best though was how well the author did atmosphere without having paragraphs and paragraphs of description. Definitely a must-read, especially if you like historical.

The other book I DNF'd... I won't say what it was. It's a book people love, but I just wasn't feeling it. The voice was super strong and the prose beautiful- both very different, which kept me reading at first, otherwise I would've quit in the first chapter. But by about page 80, I was starting to get sick of it all. I also knew pretty much how it would end, so after flipping through and reading different passages, I decided to quit. I hate quitting books. I worry that I'm missing out on something. Or that I'm just going through a book slump and maybe I should give the book a chance. But there are so many books I want to read, I need to start toughening up and putting books aside that I'm just not loving.

What did you read this week? Do you DNF books?

Friday Loves

So I'm writing this on Thursday night and currently I have a headache, I'm tired, and plain ol' ready for bed. It's hard to find loves right now.

*massages head*

*tries to think*

Oh yeah, some are coming to me know.

First on this week's LOVE LIST, is the movie HOME. I took my kids to see it for my son's birthday and it was super cute. Plus, it's impossible not to love Sheldon's voice.

My hands are in the air like I just do not care!

 

Second on my LOVE LIST, the season finale of SLEEPY HOLLOW, which me and the hubs finally got around to watching. The second season was just okay, but I loved the finale. SPOILERS AHEAD: I'm happy that Henry is gone (because man I was getting sick of him), I always knew Katrina would bite the dust one day (poor, poor Ichabod), and the last episode in the past was awesome. My favorite so far. Of course, I have a thing for the past, so... Hopefully next season will knock it out like the last episode did.

I'm trying Ichabod, I'm trying.

What are you loving this week?

Wednesday Writes

First off, let me say, HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!

 

So, moving on... (I swear, none of this post is an April Fool.)

 



I'm plugging away on revisions for JAR OF HEARTS, my YA mystery with a hint of fantasy. (I want to call this magical realism, but it's not literary, so I'm not sure what to call it.) I'm still jotting down notes on notecards for each chapter, and I'm about done that. After, I need to go back to the beginning and add some more atmosphere, and work on a few other details. Also, I really hope that I've helped and not hurt the pacing by moving scenes around so much.

I started out these revisions not knowing what to do or where to even begin.

But now, I'm feeling pretty good about this manuscript.

So what are you working on this week?

Monday Reads

I used to post every Wednesday for What's Up Wednesday- talking about what I'd read for the week, what I was writing, and what else was going on in my life. But since that has gone the way of the dodo bird, I had to decide, what next? I do best when I have structure and direction, so after thinking about it, I decided to take the idea of What's Up Wednesday, but spread it out over three days.
Monday will be MONDAY READS: all about what I've read the past week. Wednesday is WEDNESDAY WRITES: all about what I'm writing, revising, beta-ing, or whatever. And I'm going to stick with my Love List on Friday, but changing the name to FRIDAY LOVES. I'm going to try this out for a bit and see if it works. Hopefully, too, this will keep posts short, because I'm all about brevity.

So on to today, my first MONDAY READS post.

Kendra has always felt overshadowed by her older brother, Grayson, whose OCD forces him to live a life of carefully coordinated routines. The only way Kendra can stand out next to Grayson is to be perfect, and she has perfection down to an art -- until a cheating scandal threatens her flawless reputation.

 

Behind the wheel of her car, with Grayson asleep beside her, Kendra decides to drive away from it all -- with enough distance, maybe she'll be able to figure everything out. But eventually, Kendra must stop running and come to terms with herself, her brother, and her past.

This past week, I read PERFECT ESCAPE by Jennifer Brown. I had a hard time with this book and really wanted to DNF it a few times. I ended up finishing to the end, but I think I could have given it up and wouldn't have missed out. Not that this wasn't a good book in its way. I really liked reading about a character with extreme OCD, and the relationship between the two siblings. That being said, I felt like the MCs inner monologue was the same throughout. She would go back and forth between, I hate my brother he's ruined my life I can't take it anymore, to, I love my brother and maybe I can fix him. This went on through the entire book and I got a little sick of it. I wasn't satisfied by the end either, although it was realistic, it just didn't feel like a strong enough character arc (like, she just swapped back to, I love my brother). People will disagree, because I know lots love this book, but I just wasn't feeling it. :(

Now I'm reading OUT OF THE EASY by Ruta Sepetys and I'm LOVING this book so far.

What are you reading?

LOVE LIST #9

First on my LOVE LIST this week, a video made by Dove, not sure if it's a commercial or not, but it has such a powerful message and it totally made me cry. I found it on Facebook via HuffingtonPost. Check it out:

Another thing I found on Facebook was a funny Buzzfeed article: 23 Signs Your Jane Austen Addiction Is Getting Out Of Hand. Ah, Buzzfeed, what would I do without you?

And what would I do without gifs?

 

One thing I'm NOT loving this week: Zayn Malik has left One Direction. My inner thirteen-year-old is like, totally bummed out. 

Bye Zayn. 1D fans will miss you.

What are you loving this week?

What's Up Wednesday: Insurgent

WHAT I'M READING
I finished SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS by Sophie Kinsella. I got more into it by the middle, but it was a bit long and then it ended abruptly. I liked it better when the books were more standalone. I do still get a kick out of Becky's hijinks though. Then I read WHEN JOSS MET MATT which I liked, although their relationship was this one endless cycle and that's exactly how it started to feel- endless. I pretty much knew what would happen in the end and I just wanted to get to it. Now I'm reading PERFECT ESCAPE by Jennifer Brown.

WHAT I'M WRITING REVISING
Still working on JAR OF HEARTS. I've found my groove and I think things are going good. I'm still jotting down each chapter on notecards, but I've already started moving things around. I really hope I'm not messing it all up! Goal: keep at it!

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
I haven't really set goals during WUW posts. I usually forget. But I find having a daily goal, even if it's just, do a little bit, helps a lot. I don't have a set day or time I want to be done these revisions, I just want to keep up the momentum.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW
Tried out a new restaurant on the weekend- The Canadian Brewhouse. Food was good, I had a super yummy donair, but it was really loud in there (I sound like my mom). Also saw INSURGENT. I liked it, although I wasn't blown away. It's been forever since I read the book so I don't know what they changed/cut, but a lot of it felt familiar to me. Everything except that box. What was that??? ( I remember the message, and Tris giving herself up to go there, but nothing else to do with that box.)

LOVE LIST #8

Whoops, it's now 1:08 pm on Friday and I've just realized I totally forgot about my Love List for this week.

So, without futher ado...

I finished all three seasons of Sherlock. And while the plots didn't blow me away, the relationship between Holmes and Watson (Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman) totally made the show. I'll definitely watch next season.

Found this new song called House of Cards by Tyler Shaw which is excellent.

And a shout out to the FB group I'm part of called Querying Authors. They're awesome!!!

What are you loving this week?

What's Up Wednesday: Cinderella

WHAT I'M READING
I read I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman. I liked it, like I like all her books, but it was my least favorite. I had a hard time connecting to the MC. And while I liked the romantic subplot, I didn't gel with the end. I can't say more without giving spoilers. Now I'm reading SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS by Sophie Kinsella and it's of course very funny, if a bit long.

WHAT I'M WRITING REVISING
I finished one CPs notes on JAR OF HEARTS and I'm working another's notes.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
Note cards. I don't always use them but they come in handy when you have to move scenes around. My CP has moved a lot of my chapters around in her edits, and it's hard for me to see if those changes make sense or not. So I'm going through her other notes while jotting each chapter scene onto notecards. When I'm done I'll lay them all out and hopefully see what works.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW
I saw CINDERELLA on the weekend. I thought it was lovely, although it was hard to really get into it with my six-year-old being so fidgety, the mom and kids in our row who kept getting up and going to the bathroom, and the row of kids behind me that kept kicking my chair. It was a beautiful movie though, colorful and magical. I wanted Cinderella to get a little backbone earlier on, but then again, I thought the movie did a good job of showing how a woman can be both strong and kind at the same time. (Instead of the usual strong/snarky heroines.)

 

Cate Blanchett's costumes were DIVINE.

LOVE LIST #7

This week has been a bit tough. I've had some personal issues going on and there have been some tears. Top of my LOVE LIST for the week has to be my husband, who should win an award for how supportive and understanding he is.

Our wedding day, almost fourteen years ago

 

One morning this week, when I was feeling particularly miserable, I decided to play Just Dance 2015 for exercise. A couple of songs in, I realized that I felt a lot better. So second on my LOVE LIST is the magic and fun of Just Dance.

What are you loving this week?



What's Up Wednesday: Reading, Revisions, and TV

WHAT I'M READING
This week I read PUSHING THE LIMITS by Katie McGarry which was a great book- totally sucked me in. Then I read LOOP by Karen Akins. I love time travel and thought this was a great concept. I also loved the voice of the MC. I felt like the love story could have been a bit swoonier though. Now I'm reading I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman.

WHAT I'M WRITING REVISING
I finished my WIP last week and went right into revisions on my old NaNo (from 2013) MS JAR OF HEARTS. Right now I'm going through in-manuscript notes from two of my CPs and then I'll get to the bigger issue stuff. You know when you get back revision notes and you think, HOW CAN I EVER DO THIS? And then you get to work and it all clicks into place and everything works out? Well, I'm still in that first part.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
I bought myself some notebooks because I have random notes spread out here and there and everywhere. So far I've compiled the notes from my most recent WIP and from JAR OF HEARTS. Doing this helped me to get back into the MS, and this way, I'll have everything I've ever thought/written/conceived of in one spot.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW
Not much. Family dinner at The Olive Garden. Catching up on Agent Carter and The Bachelor. Watched Million Dollar Arm. Bought tickets for Cinderella this coming weekend. PitMad today.

I want this outfit for Halloween. Or maybe everyday.

 

I also made this yummy banana bread thanks to a recipe from Jaime and I've been eating it for lunch like a super healthy adult.

What have you been up to?

Love List #6

The thing I LOVE THE MOST this week is FINISHING MY WIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course, this is how I felt writing the thing:

And then how I felt when I finally finished:

The thing needs a lot of work, including an added POV, but I'm taking a needed break to do edits on a past MS.

 

Another thing I love this week? Well, I ALWAYS love Taylor Swift, but I'm psyched that Style is on the radio now, since it was one of my faves off her album from the start.

What are you loving this week?

 





What's Up Wednesday: Relief and The DUFF

WHAT I'M READING
I finished HEIR OF FIRE by Sarah J. Maas, and while the book did grab me a bit more by the end, I was kinda disappointed. Even more so when someone told me it's going to be a SEVEN book series. I thought it was ending at four, so powering through number three was worth it. Now... I'm not so sure I'll continue. :(
After that, I read NORTHANGER ABBEY by Val McDermid- a modern day retelling. It was okay. I have so  many thoughts on this Jane Austen project happening that they might need their very own post.
Now I'm reading PUSHING THE LIMITS by Katie McGarry.

WHAT I'M WRITING
Yesterday, I finished my WIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The funny thing is, despite all those exclamation points, I'm not even excited. Just relieved. This thing has plagued me from start to finish and I'm just glad to be done the first draft. It needs SO MUCH revision, it's too short, and I think it needs another POV, but for now, I want to set it aside and STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. Just for a little while.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
Having a daily goal. My WIP gave me such h-e-double-hockey-sticks that I haven't wanted to sit down and write, but I've been forcing myself to anyway. Just a bit each day. One thousand words. I manage it every time I get my butt in the darn chair. And obviously it worked since I'm done.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW
I mentioned on my Friday's Love List that I saw THE DUFF a couple of weekends ago. The movie was lots of fun, although there were a few things that bugged me (mean girl was one-dimensional, the mannequin scene was over-the-top and long, and Mae Whitman is NOT fat). I laughed a lot though and it made me want to reread the book since it's been so long.

Love List #5

This week's LOVE LIST is all about the videos.

Last Saturday I saw The Duff. I read the book a few years ago so I don't remember it well enough to say if the movie stuck to the book or not, but I really liked the movie. The scene with her and the mannequins dragged on a bit (like okay, she's a weirdo, we get the point), and it did get a bit HERE'S THE MORAL OF THE MOVIE at the end, but it was still hilarious and I loved it. Oh, and the mean girl was straight up mean girl without another layer, and I doubt it's like that in the book (is it?), and this was also kinda annoying. But otherwise, super funny. (I'm not selling this movie very well, am I? Just watch the trailer.)

I read in a mag that the scene with his twitching pecs was totally improvised!

Another love this week: Big Hero 6. I saw this movie with the kids when it first came out in theatres and loved it then just as much as I love it now. One of my fave animated films.

One of my favorite parts- the Baymax fist bump

My last love of the week isn't a movie, and I already mentioned it in my What's Up Wednesday post, but this deserves another mention. Richard Armitage reading Love Poems. LOVE POEMS PEOPLE. Audible definitely picked the perfect voice for this.

22 minutes of love poem bliss

What are you loving this week?

What's Up Wednesday: Love Poems and SpongeBob

WHAT I'M READING
I read THE CONSPIRACY OF US by Maggie Hall which I loved. It was like a YA Dan Brown but with less interrobangs (hallelujah), a little less history (which I actually missed), and more swoons (I love swoons). It ended on a cliffhanger and I really want the next book. Now I'm reading HEIR OF FIRE by Sarah J. Maas. I'm having a hard time with this book. I'm almost 200 pages in and just not feeling it. Like at all. This is where fantasy loses me- an entire book about TRAINING. Ergh. Not that the whole book is about that, but the MC has left the setting and the people of the last two books behind and I'm missing that. The subplots the author has brought in just aren't grabbing me. :(

WHAT I'M WRITING
It was not a great writing week for me. I got in 1k and that's it. Blah. But I got my pitch ready for PitchMadness, and rewrote my query and re-entered the trenches on Monday. All that took up a lot of time, not to mention my kids had seven school days off so of course I was busy with them.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
This is always a hard one to answer when I haven't been very productive! But I found something recently that has INSPIRATION written all over it. Turns out, Richard Armitage, AKA: the deep-voiced sometime-Dwarf, narrated some classic love poems and they're FREE on audible. One of the poems is one I used at the beginning of my MS JAR OF HEARTS (which needs more revisions). I don't have the audible app, but you can find some of the poems on YouTube.

There are three poems in this sample (someone has added the North and South soundtrack to the background), and the first one I use in JAR OF HEARTS.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW
My youngest turned six two weekends ago. We celebrated with just the fam on her actual birthday, then last Saturday we had her party where she brought two friends to a movie and then dinner and cupcakes at her favorite place- McDonald's. The movie she wanted to see was the new Spongebob, and it was PAINFUL. I don't even mind Spongebob all that much, my kids used to watch the show all the time. But this movie... BLAH. The kids liked it though, so there's that.

I also had to make a trip to the passport office. Because I'm Canadian, to be paid by a US publisher, I have to get my passport certified and fill out some IRS forms. Lots of fun. Anyone speak Accountant? Because I sure don't.
Anyway, what's up with you?

Manuscripts In A Love Nutshell

Here are each of the manuscripts I've written, summed up in one lovey (or non-lovey) sentence:

DAZE AND KNIGHTS: We want each other but circumstances are keeping us apart.

DAZE sequel: I want you, but you don't remember me.

SWAY: We used to want each other, now I want you but you don't want me.

EPONINE: I want you, but you're my best friend and don't look at me that way.

JAR OF HEARTS: I don't want any of you because I think the three of you might be psychos. (But I might make an exception for one of you.)

UNTITLED CURRENT WIP: You want me but I don't want you.

Love List #4

Top of my LOVE LIST this week: Season Five of Downton Abbey. I finished it in the middle of the week and the last episode (the Christmas special) made me CRY wet, sobby tears. At least it wasn't the same kind of ugly tears as when Sybil died. I really liked this season though- I felt the drama was a little less over the top, yet still very entertaining.

 

I especially love this quote from the last episode, but I won't say who said it, or to whom:

 

"But that's the point... I do want to be stuck with you."

My WIP playlist is very tiny right now, but this week I did find one song that goes perfectly. It's HERO/HEROINE by Boys Like Girls, an old favorite of mine.

What are you loving this week?

What's Up Wednesday: Kingsman and Goodreads

WHAT I'M READING
I read ALL FALL DOWN by Ally Carter. I liked it, but it was probably my least favorite book by her. Her MCs are always a great mix of strong yet vulnerable girls, which I love, and this MC was interesting because she was unreliable. However, I felt like she had no clear goal for like the first 100 pages. I wanted her to be doing something. I liked it enough that I'll read the next book if there is one. Then I read ATLANTIA by Ally Condie. Also an author I like, and the book was good. I liked the premise and I breezed through the book, but I can't say that I loved it, though I don't know why. Up next- THE CONSPIRACY OF US by Maggie Hall.

WHAT I'M WRITING
Got around 6k written this week on my WIP. This thing makes me want to tear my hair out but I'm keeping at it. I have a feeling it's going to be way too short on final word count but I'm trying not to worry about that. I'd really like to get the first draft done before I get edits back on SWAY.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
Focusing on one project at a time. I've heard that lots of people jump back and forth between projects- writing a bit on one here, a bit on one there, revising something else, etc. I'm much better when I focus on one thing at a time. That doesn't mean I don't think about some of my other projects at times, but I don't let myself get distracted by them.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

Me and the hubs celebrated V-Day by seeing Kingsman: The Secret Service. It was a strange yet entertaining movie. Also, I finally joined Goodreads, which pretty much sucked away an entire afternoon of my life just adding books I'd read in the last couple of years, and I barely scratched the surface of my reading list. O.o

Love List #3

It's been an interesting week. My mind has been full of AgentMatch (not one request so clearly my pitch isn't working), websites (I want to create my own soon but it's hard to know what's the best way), Fifty Shades of Grey (haven't read it, won't see the movie, but the reviews and articles about it have been interesting), and of course my own WIP writing (is it good? does it suck? I need more voice, etc etc etc).

I did read a really great book though. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski. It completely captivated me from start to finish.

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

 

I can't wait to read the next book!

 

I also watched the first episode of Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (Cumberman? Freebatch?) I loved it and would've already watched the rest if I didn't have so many books to read! Soon, Freebatch, soon.

 

 

What did you love this week? And if you want to make a love list of your own, let me know and I'll check it out. Let's spread the love!

What's Up Wednesday: The Winter Blah's

WHAT I'M READING
I read Emma, a retelling by Alexander McCall Smith. Wish I could talk about this book with someone because I have lots to say about it, which I won't do here. The one positive I will say is that I loved the dry, understated humor throughout. Then I read The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski. I was so into this book that if there was anything wrong with it, I definitely didn't notice. Awesome awesome book! Next up, All Fall Down by Ally Carter.

WHAT I'M WRITING
I got in around 5k this week. I should hit 40k today, yahoo! I also finished beta-ing a YA contemp.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
Beta reading. I don't think I'm the best critiquer out there, but I find I learn as much reading for someone else as I do when others read for me. It pays to give back!

WHAT ELSE IS NEW
Not much. I swear, everyone I know is going on holidays sometime soon but we are going NOWHERE and won't be this entire year. Boo. The cold weather makes this even more depressing. I've started posting Love Lists on Fridays because I want to celebrate the positive and the things I go crazy for. Hopefully this will help lift the winter blah's too.

What's up with you?