It is time for What's Up Wednesday!
What I'm Reading I am trying to add some middle grade books to my reading list so right now I am reading Storybound by Marissa Burt and Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. I'm also reading Where Yesterday Lives by Karen Kingsbury. Yup, I'm back to reading a stack of books all at once. I am really enjoying Storybound. It is such a fun fantasy story and reading MG is refreshing. I love YA but its good to step out and read something different. The book I'm reading aloud to my children this week is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald. It is fun watching them giggle over a story I enjoyed when I was little.
What I'm Writing I am still drafting my YA novel, Simmer. It is now 41k words long. I am hoping, hoping, hoping that it will be at 50k by the end of June. I am realizing that for my world to be more authentic I am going to have to spend some time researching old time sailing ships and other nautical themes. Ships, the ocean and the shoreline play a major role in this book and I want the setting to be as rich and beautiful as it is in my mind.
What Else I've Been Up To I cleaned out my closet, does that count? Probably not. My oldest son is going to a vacation Bible school downtown all this week so the younger kids and I have been going on "the great bakery quest". We used to have a bakery that we could go to for a special treat. It had huge muffins, sandwiches with homemade bread and all kinds of cookies. When we moved away I thought it would be easy to find a new place for us to go. It has been a year and we still haven't found the perfect place. We are going to fix that this week. We have tried out three potential places and there is at least one more we need to check out. So far our favorite place is a little coffee shop down by the bay. It has the most delicious cinnamon rolls, not to sweet, lots of cinnamon and a warm, buttery glaze. My kids loved it there and so did I.
What Inspires Me Right Now Today I am feeling inspired by my husband's tolerance of my weird writing habits and how much of my time it takes up.
Yum - love the smell of a bakery! Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is a wonderful book. Even thinking about it brings a smile. Good luck in hitting that 50,000 and have fun with the research :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteLOL! Amen to that last one. My hubby has finally come to grips with reality and had therefore adopted a video game for the hours of wifelessness. I just hit the 55K mark, and am hoping my WIP will be done in two weeks. Yay! Keep at it, eh?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making it to 55k! And yes, keep at it :)
DeleteEeep I want cinnamon rolls so badly right now... Mmmmmm yummy!
ReplyDeleteResearching ships and sailing sounds like a lot of fun! Enjoy!
I've wanted to go back for another one all week. I might cave and go get one soon. I'm pretty excited to learn about ships and I live on the coast so that should make it even more exciting.
DeleteGood luck on the 50k word goal. I know what you mean about the writing with spouse tolerance. And any form of cleaning always counts.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I don't think I could write if my husband wasn't understanding about it. It can be rather all consuming some times. ( lots of times....)
DeleteI love reading my son my childhood favorites too. I hope your research goes well. I think it's great you're so dedicated to making the nautical setting of your story authentic. Good luck with your writing endeavors this week as well as in your bakery quest! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love that my kids are old enough to listen to longer stories now. I'm hoping I can pull of an authentic setting. I usually write from my imagination but I love books with a rich setting that piques my interest in something I don't know much about and am trying to achieve this in my own writing.
DeleteGoodies!! Enjoy them (:
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteOoh, both of those MG books have been on my list. I think I'm going to take like a week this summer and just dive back into MG (my first love.) I'm kind of wondering if my next project (far off yet, as I'm still mid-first draft on my current one) will be MG...hmm.
ReplyDeleteAnd the bakery quest sounds like the very best kind of quest there is :) Enjoy!
I have been thinking of trying to write a MG book too. I didn't think I'd want to until recently, as I love YA, but now I am getting all of these ideas for younger readers. If you start one let me know! We could encourage each other.
DeleteYes, cleaning the closet counts! Kudos to your husband.
ReplyDeleteThanks :) Closets don't always seem like they show enough to count but they do make life easier when they are clean.
DeleteResearch is one of my favorite parts of writing. (I get too lost in it sometimes) Enjoy! Also, can I come with you on your bakery quest?! Sounds yummy and fun!
ReplyDeleteSure, we'd love company on our quest :) I foresee myself getting lost in my research too. I'm excited to start!
DeleteThe Deltora books by Emily Rodda are great MG fantasy/adventure.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestion! They have been added to my TBR list.
DeleteI'm glad you found some time to read more books and clean the closets, as well as to search for the perfect bakery. Hope you do find one that all of you love so you don't miss the other one so much. Have a lovely weekend. Your husband gets the gold star for allowing you time to write D
ReplyDeleteThank you! So far the cinnamon roll one is still at the top of our list. It was amazing.
DeleteResearch is also one of my favorite parts of writing. I've heard great things about Story Bound. Maybe I'll need to pick it up! :-) Great job on drafting your book. Just keep going. You can do it! There is always time to revise/edit later. And wooooo gold star to your husband for giving you time to read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement! Story Bound is highly entertaining. I think my son will enjoy it in a year or so.
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