Wednesday, January 22, 2014

What's Up Wednesday

Its time for What's Up Wednesday!

What I'm Reading  I read The Fault in our Stars by John Green over the weekend.  It is the first book I have read for my TBR pile challenge.  I knew it would be good and I knew it would be heart wrenching.  I wasn't disappointed.  
  I'm currently reading Crown of Midnight by Sarah J.Maas and If There is Something to Desire (100 poems) by Vera Pavlova.  My chapter a day classic is Anna Karenina (as it will be several months...) and I'm still working through Writing 21st Century Fiction by Donald Maas.

What I'm Writing  I made progress on my fairy tale WIP and realized that I am lost in my own plot twists so I'm rereading parts of it to try and sort it out.  My main character is currently cursed and is an inanimate object which is proving to be a challenge to write...  Perseverance may be in order.  And coffee.  Lots of coffee.

What Inspires me Right Now 
 I walk the tightrope.
A kid on each arm
for balance.
- Vera Pavlova

What Else I've Been Up To  I'm really not sure.  I know I've been doing something but everything I can think of is mundane such as dishes and laundry.  Oh and rescuing the cat from a toddler with a toy sword.

What have you been up to?

32 comments:

  1. I love The Fault in Our Stars. It's one of my all time favorite books.

    I hope you have a great week!

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  2. I joined the 2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge as well. What a fantastic idea! I'm not sure which books I'll be reading just yet, but there are *plenty* to choose from. I'm so glad you enjoyed TFIOS. I put that one off for a long time because I knew exactly how heart-wrenching it would be. I'm so, so glad I finally caved and read it. I think we're *both* going to be reading our respective Tolstoys for many days to come lol. ;-)

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    1. Heehee, I have plenty to choose from too. I'm glad that I read it too. It was worth it and yes, I see lots and lots of Tolstoy infused days ahead :)

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  3. I've heard of writing yourself into a corner, but writing your MC into an inanimate object--that's a new one on me. Sounds challenging... I hope you can make it work. :)

    All the best to you, Sarah!

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    1. It was intentional and its vital to the plot but I didn't know how hard it would be to write once I got to that point... At least my story has magic so she can still think and project her thoughts to some extent. It adds some interesting limitations though. (insert deep sigh and head shaking) Have a great week!

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  4. The Fault in Our Stars is one of my absolute faves. John Green is my literary idol. Were you reading it in advance of the movie release? I do that a lot, I read a book months, or even years before the movie comes out so that I'm familiar with the story but not too familiar with it - because then the movie would feel like a rerun.

    That said, I've got to go read Mockingjay like, now...

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    1. The movie release was part of why I wanted to read it now. I hate seeing the movie without having read the book first lol. I loved Mockingjay.

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  5. Good luck with the WiP. It sounds fascinating :D

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  6. I have tried and failed to read through Anna Karenina. I usually get about 40 pages in and then it sits. I like the chapter a day method, though realistically, a chapter a week would work better!

    I'm wondering for your plot points, if something like Save the Cat's beat sheet or Michael Hague's storyboarding materials might help. I've very slowly been learning how to map out plot points and both of those have helped. You can search both online. :)

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    1. I'm hoping I can stick it out. It has the shortest chapters ever so I'm hoping to read a couple a day. I really don't want this book to take me all year lol.
      I will have to look up those methods. I've read some about the Save the Cat one and (loosely) use it. I need to use a bit more structure for sure.

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  7. Most of the time I wonder what I've been doing! I know I've been busy but...
    I can't wait for TFiOS movie! I hope it's true to the book.

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    1. Me too! I hope I'm brave enough to watch it. Love it but its so sad.

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  8. Ha! "A toddler with a toy sword" love that image. (Though, poor cat!) I LOVE the Throne of Glass series, and Crown of Midnight kind of blew me away. Hope you enjoy it! Good luck with all your writing and coffee drinking. :)

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    1. I enjoyed the first book but the second is amazing so far. I'm off to go read it now...

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  9. The Fault in Our Stars is a really good one!

    Yes, rescuing cats and toddlers from each other can eat up a lot more time than people who aren't moms would think. Yes, i remember those days.

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  10. Hiya

    I loved Throne of Glass, I first came across it back when she was writing on Fiction Press. For some reason i missed that Crown of Midnight was out. Heading over there to pick up a copy.

    Have a great week.

    Angel

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  11. I put off reading THE FAULT IN OUR STARS for the longest time because the subject matter hit too close to home, but when I finally did read it, I loved it. And it made me cry, of course. I hope you love CROWN OF MIDNIGHT as much as I did. I thought it was even better than THRONE OF GLASS, which is saying something.

    Keep persevering with those plot twists! :)

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    1. It is definitely a tear jerker. I'm glad I read it though. I am loving Crown of Midnight so far and I agree that it is even better than the first one.

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  12. The Fault In Our Stars is so good! I also really enjoyed Crown of Midnight - I can't wait for the next in the series. I do need to read more classics, though!

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    1. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be pining for the next book as soon as I'm done with this one. It is a wonderful series. I barely read any classics last year so I thought I'd make an effort to remedy that this year :) In a very slow, chapter a day sort of way... but still better than last year.

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  13. Ooh, I'm totally intrigued by your fairytale WiP. Just the small bits you shared sound very interesting. I hope you get it all sorted out. Have a great week, Sarah!

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    1. I'm hoping I get it sorted out too, I really love this story and it makes me happy that its intriguing :)

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  14. John Green. The Fault In Our Stars. Oh that book. It was so powerful. I can't wait to see the movie.

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    1. Powerful is a great word to describe it. I really can't wait to see it but I'm scared at the same time cause its such a sad story.

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  15. Coffee can solve all problem, even having your MC be an inanimate object for part of the book :)

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  16. I still need to read The Fault in Our Stars, but I have read Crown of Midnight and thought it was fun. You're reading a lot of books! Makes me want to get back into it. :)

    Good luck untangling your fairy tale WIP. I have definitely done that before where I lose the plot in all of my...plot!

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  17. An inanimate object? Wow, that sounds like a challenge. Hope the writing is going well. :)

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