Sunshine and SCBWI

Hello there, Wednesday Warriors.  Welcome to another installment of What's Up Wednesday, a writerly blog hop created by Erin Fun and Jamie Marrow.  Click here to learn how you can play along.

We need a springy-er button...

What I've Been Reading:  This week I read two terrific MG books.  First, The Magician's Elephant, by Kate Dicamillo.  This story is told from a whole bunch of different character's perspectives and all the different story lines tie together neatly.  I was going to give it three stars because I kept getting tripped up by the flowery language, but then one scene totally made me cry, so I bumped it up to four!

Next, I read Freaky Fast Franky Joe by Lutricia Clifton.  I loved this book.  The story was so heartwarming, and the pacing was great.  It's about a trailer park kid who moves to the country with his dad and half sibs.  A really fun contemp MG.

What I'm Writing:  All I've really been writing this week are pitches for #pitmad, which is today, and so far no love for Braya (UNDER THE BLUE, MG Sci-fi).  I guess the day is not over yet, so I should keep my chin up.  

What Works for Me: I love going to my local SCBWI conference in the fall.  The speakers and classes are so helpful, and you get to meet some agents and editors in person.  I highly recommend if you have never gone before.  It is also a great place to meet other writers and potential CPs.

What Else I've Been Up To:  SUNSHINE ON MY FACE.  Yay for no more snow drifts.  At least not this week.  In Missouri, you are not really safe until June. 

Pickles and Barf

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop for writers created by Jamie Marrow and Erin Funk.  Click here for more information or to find out how you can play along.

What I've Been Reading:

This week I read PICKLE by Kim Baker.  What an amazing example of middle grade voice.  And it is super funny and cute.  This is the tone that I am going for in basically all of my MG books.

What I'm Writing:  I have been using the amazing website Fiction University to help edit my Mary Poppins re-imagined MG.  This site is awesome, you guys.  I gives you step-by-step, day-by-day ideas for editing, and lots of information if you are a newbie like me.

I have also been working on my outline for my April WIP, which is currently titled SMALL TOWN HERO, which will be a contempt MG.

What Works for Me:  I would like to preface this section by saying that really none of this works for me yet, or I would have an agent and a book deal.  So lets call this section "Stuff Niki has tried".  I was struggling this week to get all the points on my outline.  I usually try using beat sheets, but for whatever reason, I was having a hard time getting the scenes to flow.  Soooo....  I watched a comp movie.  Granted, reading a comp book and taking notes would have been better, but I can watch an entire disney movie during my kiddos nap time.  All I needed was a middle grade, fish-out-of-water story.  It didn't have to be too close to what I plan to write, I just wanted to analze the story structure.  So I watched the cult classic (don't judge me) CADET KELLY staring Hillary Duff.

While this movie was by no means a literary classic, it did the trick.  I now have an outline with all the scenes scribbled out.  What I need to do now is to go back and make sure that they are all good, move the plot along, tie together, blah blah blah.  But just like writing the actual novel, the outline comes in several different drafts.  At least for me.  So I have a good idea where that one is going now.

What Else is Going On:  We have the pukes here.  Specifically my children have, and my husband and I have been under the weather as well, so NO BUENO.

The Love Post

Is it Wednesday already?  That must mean it's time for another addition of What's Up Wednesday, a blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk.  For more info click here.

What I'm Reading:  I just finished A MAD WICKED FOLLY by Sharon Biggs Waller.  I had everything that I love in a great YA Historical Fic.  Love, Love, Love.

What I'm Writing:  I am in the fun and exciting part of writing wherein you don't actually write that much.  I have a shiny new idea, so I have been Pintresting, Wikapedia-ing, and daydreaming.  So far, I think I have a pretty good start.  This one is gonna be another MG, because me thinks that is my strong suit.  

I am also editing my MG Sci-Fi Adventure, UNDER THE BLUE.  I am waiting for comments from one more CP and one beta reader, and then that one should be ready to query.  

What Works for Me:  I am really trying to come up with a better way of outlining.  For real.  I don't like using Scrivener for it, because I need MORE ROOM.  I want my outline to be more detailed this time so I don't end up with 1500 words I am supposed to write about "Something bad happens..."  LOL.  

What Else is Happening:  My kiddos were some pretty sweet valentines.  Hope you had a day full of love as well!

Bootlegger's and Balls

What's Up Wednesday is a writer's blog hop created by Jaimie Morrow and Erin Funk.  To find out more and see how you can play along, click here.

So, I missed you all last week!  I was without the internets for THREE WHOLE DAYS.  It was like a third world country around here.  I just took naps and used my phone's 4G like it was going out of style!

What I'm Reading:  I read two great books in the last two weeks.  

 I thought WE WERE LIARS was beautifully written.  The story was touching and horrifying at the same time.

I am a huge groupie of anything Rainbow Rowell writes, and this book did not disappoint.  She has a way of creating these characters that are so darn real you'd swear you'd met them before.  This one would probably fall under the category of magical realism, but that's not why you'd want to read it.  The relationship between the married couple is raw and amazing, so that's why I gave it a million stars.  

What I'm Writing:  I finished THE BOOTLEGGER'S LETTERS!!!  WOO-HOO!  I think it might be a hot mess, but at least it is first-draft-done.  I worked on editing my MG Sci-Fi UNDER THE BLUE, and have passed it on to another round of Beta readers, including my BFF's 5th grade class!  Truth: That scares me more than sending it off to agents!  LOL

I am in the super fun brainstorming portion of a shiny new idea.  I think it might be MG for me from here on out.  I just really hate writing kissing scenes.

What Works for Me:  For my last three novels I have written the query letter before I started drafting. That is an easy way to tell if your stakes are high enough, and if your hook is strong enough.  Always start a new WIP by asking yourself.  Who is my MC?  What does he/she want?  What will happen if he/she doesn't get it?

What Else is Happening:  My handsome husband took me to the Policeman's Ball last weekend!  It was amazingly fun, and I looked super hot, if I do say so myself.  LOL.

Robot Eye Editing

Hello, writerly friends, and welcome to another installment of What's Up Wednesday.  WUW is a blog hop created by Jaimi Morrow and Erin Funk to keep writers connected and encouraged.  For more information, check this out.

What I'm Reading:  This week's read was UNDER THE NEVER SKY...

I gotta say, while I love a good dystopian, this one just felt a little too familiar to me.  There isn't enough that's different about it to grab me.

What I'm Writing:   Last week-

This week-

So, not the 5K I dreamed about, BUT I did A LOT of editing on my MG Sci-Fi UNDER THE BLUE, which I entered in Sun vs. Snow.

What Works for Me-  I thought of something!  When editing, I like to copy and paste a chapter at a time into www.hemingwayap.com.  That way robot eyes can check for passive voice, adverbs, and super long sentences. Just yesterday I learned about www.editminion.com, which is the same sort of thing but checks for even more stuff.

What else is going on:  I entered Sun Vs. Snow this week, so I have been editing HARDCORE.  

This is my FACE after removing  70+ instances of the word FACE from my MS.  Look out JUST and APPARENTLY.  I'm coming for ya.

Hope you had a great week!

Upside Down and Drafting

Hello, writerly friends, and welcome to another installment of What's Up Wednesday.  WUW is a blog hop created by Jaimi Morrow and Erin Funk to keep writers connected and encouraged.  For more information, check this out.

What I'm Reading:  I stayed up late last night finishing UPSIDE DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.  It is about a family who endures Hurricane Katrina.  This is a heartbreaking read.  Like, I got real tears.  And amazing MG voice.  I highly recommend.

What I'm Writing:  Last week I was about here:

And today I am here:

You will note that the progress bar has turned green, so that is exciting!  But the ending to this thing is getting out of control.  I see some major rewriting in my future.  But maybe it will be one of those things where I put it away for a while and when I come back to it I find that it is bloody brilliant???  Maybe???  We shall see.  Oh, and my goal would be to get to 50K by next week.

What works for Me:  

I am running out of things that work for me.  And right now I am not entirely sure any of it is working for me.  Blah.  Sometimes writing is like, super hard.  :/

What Else is Going On:

We got a break from arctic temperatures here in Kansas City this last week, and my kid enjoyed some time outside.  

So what's up with all of you???

An Editing Checklist

Hello, writerly friends, and welcome to another installment of What's Up Wednesday.  WUW is a blog hop created by Jaimi Morrow and Erin Funk to keep writers connected and encouraged.  For more information, check this out.

What I'm Reading:  I am currently reading AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES, by the masterful John Green.  If you have ever watched Mr. Green's vlog and thought to yourself, "THIS is the guy who wrote THE FAULT IN OUR STARS???  All heart wrenching and romantic???  This guy is a goof ball!"  

Well, I'm not sure what happened there... but my point is AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES has had me laugh-snorting every other pages.  Some of that John-Green-Quirkiness made it into the book this time, and I am loving it.  

What I am Writing:  My WIP (THE BOOTLEGGER's LETTERS) went from this:

To This:

But you will notice that I haven't worked on it today yet, so I hope I can add another 1K.  I did have one afternoon where my three-year-old was having a birthday party so writing went out the window.  So my goal for next week would be to add another 5K.  That would be good... yeah I'll try that.

I did get a few chapters of my MG Sci-Fi edited.  Some more.  Again.  I am hoping to have that thing ready to query sometime this year.

What Works for Me:  I haven't actually tried this yet but I think I need to develop some sort of editing checklist, because my biggest problem with editing is that I don't really have a plan.  I need to be able to check things off the list (like you can with drafting).  Problem is, I don't really know what that list should have on it.  Here's what I got so far:

1- Fix obvious mistakes (spelling, grammar, parts where I forgot people's names...)

2.  Go back and check for "to be" verbs, was, were, ing

3.  Check to make sure each scene is important and in the right order

4.  Voice check- make sure each characters voice remains constant

5.  Overused words- In scrivener you can go to Projects and then Text Statistics to see what words you use the most.  This is an important tool!

What else should be on my editing list?  Help a noob out!

What Else is Going On: My baby boy had his third birthday party at Legoland.  It was epic.

Revis and Research Placement

What's Up Wednesday is a blog hop created by Jamie Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers stay connected and encouraged.  Click here to find out more!

What I'm Reading:  Um... this is embarrassing, but still A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis.  Heavens, have I been reading this thing for like a month now?  In my defense, it is really long, and it is only just now getting interesting!  Ha!

What I'm Writing:

The Bootlegger's Letters:

I had some tricky scenes to write this week, as my MC is actually in the process of making her moonshine.   I had to keep double checking my research and solving all kinds of time-period problems, but I think I might have managed something plausible.   Incidentally, I totally know how to make booze now, so maybe we should have a party...
Goal for next week... Let's get this puppy to 30K.  Oh wait, is Christmas in there somewhere?  Well, that might not happen, but I like to aim high.

What Works for Me:
This is probably so dumb that all of you thought of it a million years ago, but I have started cutting and pasting the relevant research for the scene right into the "notes" part of the Scivener scene.  That way I don't have to flip back and forth between the "research" and the scene.  Plus I can never find anything in the research file anyway, and usually have to re-look it up, which wastes time, so this is a much better system for me.  Duh, right?

What Else is Going On:
Tonight I get to go out with some of my best girls and stuff our faces with cheese and chocolate at The Melting Pot!  I am pretty dang excited about it.  Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A Million Suns and Santa

It's time for What's Up Wednesday, a writerly blog hop started by Erin Funk and Jamie Marrow.  Find out more here.

What I'm Reading:  Still trudging through A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis.  Hasn't picked up much since last week, I am sorry to say.  And I am still reading my CP's Contemp YA.  Good stuff there.

What I'm Writing:  I managed to bang out a few more scenes in my WIP which is called THE BOOTLEGGER'S LETTERS.  I am almost to 20K again- which is where I was when I hacked out the boy POV chapters!  But it is going much better now.  My goal for the next week would be to add another 6K.

What Works for Me:  I recently took an online class from the University of Iowa called "How Writers Write Fiction".  That particular class wasn't all that amazing, but I'd love to take another one- with specific aspects of writing covered.  Has anyone taken one that they found very helpful?  Preferably FREE???

What Else is Going on:  We are in full swing Christmas mode around here.  I took the kiddos to see Santa this week.  They were so cute.  It's always a huge curveball what they ask Santa for, though.  This year my daughter wanted a cookbook and a REAL MasterChef Junior apron.  My son asked for a snowman.  I don't really know what to do with that.  Lol.

Starting from Scratch (almost)

Welcome to What's Up Wednesday, a blog hop created by Erin Funk and Jaimie Morrow.  You can read all about it here!

What I've Been Reading:  I have been reading my CP's manuscript lately, and I am really enjoying her edits.  And in my spare time I have been reading A MILLION SUNS, which I am actually having a hard time getting into.  It is the sequel to ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, which I thought was awesome, so I am going to press on.

What I've Been Writing:  Well, that is the real question.  My WIP and I had a bit of a stand off.  I was trying to do DPOV, and found myself hating every blasted page.  I finally thrust it at my CP 20K words in, and she confirmed what I already knew.  His chapters were blah, her chapters were amaze balls.  That may not be a direct quote.  Anyway, I had to basically cut my word count in half by carefully removing his scenes, and then I had to re-write a few important scenes in my girl's perspective but I think it was well worth it.  The chapters flow now, and the voice is spot on, if I do say so myself.  And the best part is... I am not dreading heading to my computer each day.

What works for Me:  This month, just allowing myself to get behind in my word count goal, but to hopefully end up with a better product when I'm finished.  When it's not working, you know.  You feel it.  I'm not talking about that self doubt that we all have mid-way through our manuscripts (you know what I'm talking about, right?  Right?)  I mean serious THIS IS NOT WORKING feelings.  You gotta listen to those.  If it's not fun to write it, it's not gonna be fun to read it.

What Else is Happening:  I am still deep in the query trenches for my first novel COMMITTED.  I have had lots of interest, but I am still in waiting limbo.  Dear Agent, wherever you are, I AM WAITING FOR YOU AND I ALREADY LOVE YOU.  Love, ME

Conference and Computer

Technically, today is Tuesday, but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss another What's Up Wednesday!  WUW is a blog hop for writers created by Jaimi and Erin.  Visit this page for more information and to find out how you can play along!

What I'm Reading:  I just finished THE HATE LIST by Jennifer Brown, a YA author who I just met at SCBWI conference.  Jennifer taught several of the sessions and she was brilliant and practical.  It's also cool that she lives right by me.

What I'm Writing:  My YA HIST is going SLOW.  I keep telling myself it's because I know more now  but it might just be because I didn't sign up for Nano!   I decided I wanted my word count goal for this one to be closer to 70K, so I am giving myself to the end of December.  Right now I am at 20K, so I better pick up the pace!

What Works for Me:  I'll tell ya what works for me... MY NEW MACBOOK AIR!  It is a dream, people.  A beautiful, shiny, silver dream.  It's lightening on it's feet, and my fingers fly across the keys.  Compared to my old laptop... You have no idea.  One time it took me forty minutes just to open Scrivner on that beast.  So I am loving my new equipment.  What shall I name her?

What Else I've Been Up To:  As mentioned above, I got to go to SCBWI conference in Kansas.  It was so amazing and inspiring.  When I think back at going to conference last year, I can be really proud of all the writing progress I have made!  I felt like a real author this time around!

What's up with you?

Hello Friends!  Welcome to another addition of "What's Up Wednesday," our friendly neighborhood blog hop.  Creators Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk have information on their blogs about how you can join in the fun!

What I'm Reading:  I just finished VIXEN by Jillian Larkin.  While I enjoyed the period details and the plot, I found some of the slang a little overused, and I didn't think there was enough distinction between the three girls who were the main characters.  

Next on my Prohibition Reading List is LUCK OF THE BUTTONS by Anne Ylvisaker.

It is MG, and I have only gotten to the second chapter so far but I am loving the main character and the storytelling.

What I am Writing:  Still researching and outlining for my next project.  Sigh.  I miss drafting.  But I know if I don't do this front-end work I would just stare blankly at a blinking cursor during writing time, and that isn't any fun either.

What Works for Me:  I tried something new this time around that I thought I would share with you guys.  I wanted to get a firm grip on my MC girl's personality, mostly because it is quite different from my own.  She is scientific and logical, yet not afraid to break rules.  She is shy a lot of the time, and enjoys time alone.  I wanted to know what other kinds of personality traits often accompany these, and so I took a free personality quiz online as my character.  It was fun answering the questions for Amelia, and it made me think hard about what choices she would make in different situations.  At the end, the site gave me a whole slew of information about this type of personality in relationships, in stress, etc.  I liked it so much I did it again as my boy MC.  There are a lot of these tests out there, but here is the one I used.

What Else is Going On:  We took our Camper (named Lennie) and our two children on the last camping trip of the season last weekend.  The kids had a great time riding bikes and fishing.  I have often wondered (while packing for days for a one night camping trip) what is the magic of camping?  I think the reason we love it is because it forces us to stay in close quarters for several hours at a time!  No phones, no computers, no TVs (ok, we do have a TV in the camper, but we rarely use it.)  Good old Family Time with a capital FT!

Flappers and Campers

Hello, Wednesday Warriors, and welcome to What's Up Wednesday, a writerly blog hop hosted by Erin Funk and Jaime Morrow.  Visit their blogs to find out how you can play along!

What I'm Reading:  I am trying to read through a huge stack of comps for my November WIP, and the one I am currently devouring is VIXEN by Jillian Larken.   I love it when historical fiction can be cool and edgy and relevant to today's readers like this one.  Hopefully my own will turn out that way as well.  Which brings me to...

What Am I Writing:  I am currently outlining for my Nano project.  It is a fun YA set during prohibition, called THE BOOTLEGGER'S LETTERS.

What Works for Me:  This is probably not that helpful of a tip, but right now I am querying my YA Historical Thriller COMMITTED, and of course you have to keep track of who has received all those brilliant letters.  I personally like to hand-write out the agent's name, agency, date, and response in one spiral notebook.  That way I don't have to open up a spreadsheet file or any of that nonsense.  Something about handwriting that big "R" after each agent's name makes you feel like you are really accomplishing something, right?

What Else is Happening:
  
Getting ready to go on our last camping trip of the season this weekend.  Can't wait for snuggles and S'mores with these guys!

Bootlegging and Outlining

What's Up Wednesday time!  For more information about this blog hop created by Jaime and Erin visit their blogs.  It just a fun way for writers to stay connected!

What I'm Reading:  I am about half way through MOONSHINER's GOLD by John R. Erickson .  I am trying to read a bunch of books set during prohibition before I start my nano project.  Even though the story is not close to mine, I think it's a good way to get those kind of voices in your head.

What I'm Writing:  I am outling my nano project which I think I have titled THE BOOTLEGGER'S LETTERS.  The hook is "Breaking Bad meets You've Got Mail set in the Prohibition".  My word count goal is 70K for this one, as it is YA, and I am a little bit intimidated by that number.  That's a lot of scenes folks!  I am not one of those people who "overwrites" and has to cut my word count by half.  Not. At. All.  So this will be a challenge for me.  I also joined an online modern day moonshiner's forum this week with a profile and everything hoping to meet some "expert consultants".  The things we do as research...

What Works for Me:  I am trying a new thing with my outline this time where I include a column in the spreadsheet for Conflict and Goodies.  Conflict is exactly how it sounds.  I want to make sure there is tension in every scene.  Goodies are just the little bits that make a scene exciting to read (and write).  I want to make sure there is something interesting and fun or exciting in every scene as well.

What Else I've Been Up To:  I had a near nervous breakdown with my two year old this week and after throwing a teensy tiny fit to my husband, I convinced him that Mama needs a break.  Two mornings a week of Parents Day Out?  Yes please!  I am so excited!  I will actually get to go to the dentist, or go get my eyebrows waxed.  I love my son, but gosh it will be great to drop him off!  LOL

FANGIRL's Biggest Fangirl

Hello, My Wednesday Writerly Friends!  It's time for another episode of "What's Up Wednesday", the blog hop that keeps us writers connected.  To find out more, or to see how you can play along, check out Jaime's Blog.

What I'm Reading:  I am about halfway through with Rainbow Rowell's FANGIRL.  I am probably the only YA writer in the world that hasn't read this one, am I not?  Well I am loving it.  Rowell nails voice.  Period.  Her characters pop off the page when they talk, and I dig that.

What I'm Writing:  More queries for COMMITTED this week, and even a few requests (YAY!)  I am almost done with third-round edits of my MG Sci-Fi story, UNDER THE BLUE, and I am getting ready to pass it on to Betas.  And I have started researching for Nano in November.  I will give you more details on that when I have them.  Haha.

NEW QUESTION:  What Works for Me:  Well, I have written four novels now, and my method has definitely evolved.  In my first attempted I believe I googled "How to Write a Novel" and found beat sheets.  Those might work well for other people, but I had trouble getting from beat to beat.  In my next attempt, I made an outline which I ran out of about 20K into the story... ooops.  Had to improvise after that.  By my third book I at least knew that my average scene length was 1,500 words and that I could comfortably write that in one setting.  So that gave me a better idea of how many scenes I needed.  How long are your scenes usually?  Is there an industry standard?

What Else is Going On:  My two year old is driving me up a wall.  One minute he is ridiculously cute, the next minute I want to beat him within an inch of his life.  Someone please tell me that a disobedient/defiant child can grow into a healthy member of society?!?  I need success stories in the comments.  Like, "My child was horrible, but then he turned four and started to listen to everything I said..."

With a Pitch-Pitch Here and a Pitch-Pitch There...

It's what day of the week now?  Wednesday you say?  Well then, it's time for... "What's up Wednesday," a blog hop for cool writers such as myself.  If you want to know more about WUW or how you can join in the fun visit Jaime Morrow's blog.

What I'm Reading:  I am about half way through ABOVEWORLD by Jenn Reece.  I found it on a list of MG Sci-Fi, and I may end up using it as a comp for UNDER THE BLUE.  Does anyone have any other good recommendation for a middle grade sci-fi story?

What I'm Writing:  A whole lot of query letters!  It is actually making my brain hurt a little.  Especially the right side, which longs to write something more creative than "I look forward to hearing from you."

What's Inspiring Me Right Now:  I got really nice comments from my non-mentors for Pitch Wars, and they all pretty much said to just keep going.  Which I plan on doing.  I also got two requests from PitMad yesterday, so fingers crossed!

What Else is Going On:  My Kindergartener has lost two teeth in the last two weeks!  Tooth fairy has been working overtime!

Up To My Elbows in Edits

Hey Everyone!  I just realized (with a jolt) that it was once again Wednesday, and I have been missing in action for the last couple of weeks from our friendly neighborhood blog hop!  What's Up Wednesday is a fun way for authors to connect.  Find out more on Jaime Morrow's blog.

What I'm Reading:  I just finished UNGIFTED by Gordon Korman, and I loved his MG voice.  I thought the plot was clever and the characters were fun. Some of the Goodreads reviews said that they felt like gifted students were being stereotyped in this book (no social skills,  Starwars fans, etc.) , so that is something to consider, but overall, I really liked it.

What I'm Writing:  I am deep in the editing trenches for the next couple of months y'all.  I have three manuscripts that need work, so that is what I'm writing.  Not very exciting, I know...

What's Inspiring Me:  I have really enjoyed the twitter community and support surrounding Pitch Wars.  For me, it's a little bit like buying a lottery ticket.  Your chances of actually winning aren't that great, but the weeks of dreaming are worth the price of the ticket.  I did get pages requested from one of my mentors, so I consider that a win already.  At least it means my query and first chapter aren't total crap, right?  Not so inspiring is Writeoncon for me right now.  I have had some comments that were a little harsh, I feel.  But I guess all of that helps me get better, right?  

What Else is Going On:  My daughter started Kindergarten, and so far she is loving it.  I miss her during the day, but not as much as my two year old son does.  The two of us have had a lot of one on one time lately, so that is good.

Hope you all have been keeping busy!  Let me know what you've been up to!

Revisions and... More revisions

It's time for What's Up Wednesday, a blog hop sponsored by Jaime and Erin.  You can look here for more information and how to play along.

What I'm Reading: I just picked up GUY IN REAL LIFE by Steve Brezenoff at the library, but I haven't even cracked the cover yet.  I'll let you know what I think later. Here is the the Goodreads blub:

It is Labor Day weekend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and boy and girl collide on a dark street at two thirty in the morning: Lesh, who wears black, listens to metal, and plays MMOs; Svetlana, who embroiders her skirts, listens to Björk and Berlioz, and dungeon masters her own RPG. They should pick themselves up, continue on their way, and never talk to each other again.
But they don't.
This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other's lives, who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn't belong in their lives. A story of those moments when we act like people we aren't in order to figure out who we are. A story of the roles we all play-at school, at home, with our friends, and without our friends-and the one person who might show us what lies underneath it all.

UPDATE:  I actually DID start reading this yesterday and it is pretty much ELANOR and PARK meets READY PLAYER ONE, two books I adore, so I am pretty into this one!

What I'm Writing:  Hopefully this category will be pretty boring for a while because I finished my draft of MARTY PERKINS (my Mary Poppins remake), and I have two (okay three) other drafts that need serious editing, so that will be my mantra for the next several months.  Although, I do know what I want to write next and it will be hard to resist...

What's Inspiring Me:  PITCH WARS!!!! Oh my gracious, if God would smile on me and have one of these amazing mentors choose my manuscript to critique I would SMILE SO HARD.  And jump up and down!  Maybe even pee my pants a little, who knows?    

What Else is Going On:  My teeny tiny baby daughter is starting Kindergarten in just a few short days!  Mom is not okay with this.  Not okay at all.