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?

Rum Runners and Morgue Visits

Hello friends!  Let's play a little game of "What's Up Wednesday"!  WUW is a blog hop created by Jaime and Erin to help writers connect.  Click here to see how you can join in the fun.

What I'm Reading:  I just started BLACK DUCK by Janet Taylor Lisle. It is about a rum runner's boat during prohibition.  My "research reads" pile is slowly getting smaller.

What I'm Writing:  Still researching for my YA Hist Fic.  My outline is coming along nicely, and I have found answers to some of my pressing questions.

What Works for Me:  Field Trips!  Nothing inspires me more than visiting an actual setting in my work.    Midway through my first draft of COMMITTED (a YA Hist Thriller that takes place in an asylum) I took a little trip to a real asylum turned museum.  It was fascinating, and I got to add lots to juicy details and sensory images to my WIP.


PS- the weird look on my face is due to the fact that I was ALL ALONE in the morgue when my phone decided to do this weird malfunction with all the blurry orbs flying around everywhere... I snapped my selfie and got the heck out of there!

What Else is Going on:  My husband whisked the kids away to visit his parents last weekend, so I got three whole days to myself!  You would think I would have been really productive and gotten a bunch of stuff done, but really I did this:

My sister-in-law and I, goofing off.

PS- I realize that I have been the world's worst comment-backer, so if you comment this week I swear that I will reply!  Cross my heart!

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!