Taking a Break

Hey, everyone! I'm getting deeper into revisions now, and this WiP requires all the time I can give it. So I'm going to go on blog hiatus for the next month. I'll still be lurking around your blogs, though, and I hope everyone has a lovely April! I'll be doing this all month (though sadly not in London this time):

Happy Friday!

Revising the Mess

I’ve started revisions this week, and it’s looking like my process will be as piecemeal as my drafting was. There are a ton of big issues that need to be addressed first (some plot holes, character discrepancies, voice). That’s what I’ve been focusing on this week. Soon, I’ll move to smaller issues and eventually line edits.

One of my favorite tools of revising is the reverse outline. I take the draft and outline what I have, chapter by chapter. It’s such a simple way of finding where scenes should go and identifying weak spots in my story. It also helps a great deal with tension and character development.

Basically, I’m diving in. And I just have to keep reminding myself that even though everything looks like a complete mess right now, someday it will actually make sense. I hope. :)

Seneca Crane's Beard and Wildflowers

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. Hunger Games! Ahhh, I loved it so much. It was so intense!

2. Seneca Crane’s beard. That may have been my favorite part. :)

3. Milk Duds. My must-have movie candy. Yes, they’re so very unhealthy, but I crave them.

4. State parks. I went on a mini-road trip this weekend to Monument Hill State Park. So nice to take a spring day and wander around (as long as there aren’t too many mosquitoes!).

5. Wildflowers. The bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush are out in full force now! So pretty.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Musings: Audrey Hepburn and Instagram

1, Thanks, everyone, for your comments on Wednesday’s post! I’m going to be celebrating the end of this first draft by reading good books. And eating A LOT of chocolate.

2. I need to watch more old movies. Specifically, I think I need to do an Audrey Hepburn marathon—LOVE her. That may be my weekend plan. :)

3. Okay, does anyone use Instagram? I’ve got it installed, but I’m too confused to figure out what to do with it. Sigh. I have such important problems.

4. I absolutely adore movie trailers. I could spend hours watching them, even if I don’t think I’ll ever see the movies.

5. Hunger Games this weekend! FINALLY. Raise your hand if you’re going to see it!

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

I'm Done!

I finished the first draft of my current WiP! This was my fastest draft yet—it only took a month. I felt the entire time as if the voice and the story were just flowing from me. And I’ve fallen in love with it.

Revisions are going to be intense, I know. I need to do a lot of work on the characters and the descriptions and the dialogue. Really, I need to work on everything.

But for right now, I’m going to celebrate. Any and all suggestions for how I should best do that are welcome. :)

Independent Bookstores and Reading Nights

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. Living Proof by Kira Peikoff. I worked with her in publishing years ago, and she’s written this amazing thriller about human embryos and the stem cell debate. It’s got me completely hooked so far!

2. Murder by the Book. This is a bookstore near where I live in Houston, and it’s where Kira had her signing. How had I never been in there before? It’s such a cozy space with booksellers who give you amazing reviews of all sorts of books. Plus there is a super cute dog who howls on command. Everything you could ever want in a bookstore.

3. Tutankhamun. I’m going to see the Museum of Fine Arts exhibition on King Tut and his tomb today and can’t wait! I remember doing a report on him in sixth grade. Time to relearn some of that knowledge. :)

4. Sunday nights of reading. Last night was just the perfect curl up and read night. I’m slowly working on the stack of books I’ve been wanting to read for ages.

5. Almost being done with my first draft. I’m so close! I just need to fill in a few holes, mostly connecting scenes. It’s very barebones, but I think it’s got potential.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Musings: A Separation and Italian Afternoons

1. I went to see A Separation, the Iranian film that won the Best Foreign Film Oscar. It definitely deserved the honor! It was such a tense, beautifully crafted film. I can’t recommend it enough.

2. I’ve been reading a lot of current events and international relations books lately in my quest to be a more informed citizen of the world. And I’m loving it. Though I’m still reading a ton of YA books, too, of course. :)

3. Actually, my most recent Barnes & Noble order was an international relations book and a book about 19th century female writers. Gotta love my disparate interests.

4. I’m longing for an Italian afternoon: sitting in the sunlight in a piazza, eating good food, being surrounded by centuries of history. I need to get back to Italy soon.

5. I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming while cleaning this week. And my apartment thanks me for it.

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

Writing Piecemeal

The writing of my newest WiP has been some of the most piecemeal writing I’ve ever done. I’ve written the beginning and the end of the draft now, and most of the scenes in between, but I’ve skipped over several scenes or only half-finished them. It makes for an interesting “fill in the gaps” experience as I finish up this first draft.

I’m usually a much more linear writer, but there’s something so freeing about writing this draft. I’ve written scenes only when I have inspiration for them. Often, as I’m writing one scene, I’ll think of a wonderful line or piece of dialogue for a completely different part of the book, and I’ll jump to that.

I know I’m going to have a lot to do when it comes time for revisions, especially in terms of character arcs and timelines. It’s all pretty much a mess right now. But I’m loving it.

How do you write? Do you try to go linearly, or do you let yourself jump around?

Rainy Weekends and Hunger Games

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. Rainy weekends. I got so much writing done this weekend. And there was plenty of time for curling up with a good book, too.

2. Sarah Dessen books. As spring brings sunny days and warmer temperatures, I know I’m going to be re-reading my favorites of hers soon—she evokes summer in such a beautiful way.

3. The livestock show. I’m going again today to eat barbecue and look at a bunch of cows. Which is actually a whole lot of fun. :)

4. The Hunger Games movie! It’s so close! I need to figure out a Katniss costume, stat. Or maybe I’ll just do crazy makeup and go as someone from the Capitol. :)

5. My Google search history. For my new WiP, I’ve had to google the British procedure of arresting someone, the statute of limitations, and other very suspicious things. If the police ever confiscate my laptop, I’m going to look very shady.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Musings: Good Books and Nutella

1. There are so many wonderful books coming out these days! Every time I go to the bookstore, I see titles I’ve been longing to read. Thank goodness for the library or I would be completely broke!

2. I’m reading The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht this week. And I’m loving it. I’ve taken to reading a few chapters before I go to sleep, letting myself dive into the words. It’s just beautiful writing.

3. So, I purchased a jar of Nutella at the grocery store this week. And I may or may not be eating it by the spoonful.

4. That trip to the grocery store was much needed, though. I hadn’t had time for it in a couple of weeks, and I was eating meals of peanut butter and crackers for a while there. No joke.

5. It looks like it’s going to be a stormy weekend here, so I’m hoping for some productive writing time. There’s no better atmosphere for writing than a good thunderstorm, don’t you think?

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

Why You Have to Read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Hazel knows her life has a time limit. Thanks to a miracle drug, her cancer has receded for the time being, but she knows it will come back, and it’s terminal. At cancer support group, she meets Augustus Waters, a survivor with one leg, an irresistible sense of humor, and a way of looking at the world that captivates Hazel and the reader. He takes Hazel on the adventure of a lifetime.

It’s so hard to pitch this book, because even though the characters have cancer and deal with facing death and question what they’ll leave behind, this isn’t a cancer book. It’s a book about love and the meaning of life and death and just…absolutely golden. Seriously, this book changed my life. I read it in one sitting, and after it was over, I spent hours thinking about it and the questions it raised. John Green’s writing is, as always, beautiful and clever, but it’s the characters that really stick with you. That never let you go.

It is quite possibly my new favorite book. It’s the book I’m going to buy several copies of and send them to friends and beg them to read it. Because Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters need to be their best literary friends. And they need understand how deeply this book affected me.

All of this to say, please read this book. You need it.

House Hunters and Wuthering Heights

Things that make me happy, even on a Monday:

1. House Hunters. Especially House Hunters International. That show makes me want to move to a foreign country just so I can see all the fun apartments and beach houses.

2. Sunny days in the winter. I love sitting out and soaking up the sun, even if I have to be wearing a sweatshirt while I do it. There was a lot of reading outside this weekend.

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I can’t stand the main characters, but something about this book—the writing, the setting, the gloom of it all—hooks me. I’m rereading it for about the fifth time right now.

4. Roses in full bloom. They’re just gorgeous, aren’t they?

5. Critique partners. I’ve said it before, but thank goodness for critique partners! They can tell you what works and what absolutely doesn’t, and I love them for that.

Happy Monday, everyone! Anything making you happy this week?

Random Musings: Rodeo!

1. I went to the rodeo last night! For those of you who don’t know, I adore the rodeo. Watching bull riding, listening to some of my favorite country artists in concert, eating foods that are hilariously (but deliciously) fried—all of it makes me happy. I saw Lady Antebellum this year, and they were amazing. Some pictures:
A huge, live longhorn

Kind of blurry, but a bull rider

And Lady Antebellum

2. I finally got the productive writing week that I needed! The new story I’m writing has just been pouring out, and if it keeps up, I’ll have a first draft done by the end of March. I’ve got my fingers crossed!

3. It’s kind of freaking me out, though, because although I’m usually a planner, I’m pantsing this one. I have only a half-page outline, a very brief main character sketch, and rough ideas of secondary characters and plot twists. I’m going to have to revise the heck out of this one, because it’s going to be a gloriously jumbled mess.

4. I’ve been reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer this week, and goodness, I’m loving it. I’ve never been much into sci-fi, but this adaptation of Cinderella with Cinderella as a cyborg had me hooked from the first few pages.

5. I’m looking forward to a weekend of productive writing, a friend’s birthday party, and a much-needed haircut.

Happy Friday, everyone! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?