I've been reading constantly since I finished writing 50k for JuNoWriMo. I guess my brain was craving words that it didn't have to come up with. Some of my choices are for fun, some are review books and some are for the YA Buccaneers Summer Reading Challenge.
This week I read Captured by Love by Jody Hedlund, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (I'm still reeling from that one...), Pulled by Becca Campbell (its her latest novella and it has me so ready for her next novel), and One Two Three by Elodie Nowodazkij.
I'm still reading The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan. I'm also reading Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl and A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens along with a handful of other books... Yep. Lot's of reading.
My kids and I finished reading In Grandma's Attic by Arletta Richardson and we just started the first Mary Poppins book. I loved that book when I was little so it's so fun to read it with them!
What I'm Writing
I finished drafting my fairytale novel during JuNoWriMo. All fifty chapters of it. I've been calling it Mirra after the MC but I'm thinking of calling it Mirrors and Ice. It is sitting for a few weeks and now I'm working on some short stories that have been bouncing in my head and the novel I accidentally started. Seriously, I didn't mean to but I blinked and had 10k so I'm going with it. It's my first YA contemporary (think Gilmore Girls meets Anne of Green Gables meets rural Montana). Since I typically write fantasy I'm finding this to be very refreshing.
I have a fear of sharing my work so I stuck one of my short stories on Wattpad. You are welcome to read it if you promise not to ridicule my poor first attempt at cover art. The flower is actually a picture of my shower curtain.
I have a fear of sharing my work so I stuck one of my short stories on Wattpad. You are welcome to read it if you promise not to ridicule my poor first attempt at cover art. The flower is actually a picture of my shower curtain.
What Inspires Me Right Now
People that live quite lives with big impacts.
What Else I've Been Up To
Did I mention that I've been reading a lot lately? And writing accidental novels? Besides playing with my kids and finally dusting the entertainment center, that's about it.
YAY for quiet lives with big impact! What did you think of "Is Everybody Hanging Out with Me?". I really like her (though I don't watch her show b/c I don't have cable). Anyway-- I enjoyed it. And Tale of Two Cities-- what a book. I was supposed to read all of that in school but couldn't get into it then. I finally went back and read a lot of Dickens. Wow. My favorite is a tie between David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI don't have cable but I watch The Mindy Project on Hulu. I really enjoyed the book! She is so smart and witty. I'm reading A Tale of Two cities because on of the books for my reading challenge needs to be a book I hated as a child... I loved classics when I was a kid and I hated that one. I never even finished it. I'm hoping I can make it though this time around. The only other Dickens I have read is A Christmas Carol and I liked that one a lot.
DeleteHave fun reading all the books for your summer challenge ^_^
ReplyDelete50k is fantastic! Congratulations :D
Thank you!
DeleteI've been wanting to read We Were Liars and, after seeing it on so many different blogs, I'm thinking I should really get around to it soon. As for your writing - wow, 50 chapters?! That's still 50k words but, somehow, dividing up that writing into a large number of chapters makes it sound more impressive. What's your Wattpad username? I'd love to read that story you've posted there :)
ReplyDeleteThe book is actually way more than 50k... I finished in June but had 28k written already. I can't remember what the final word count was because I wrote several other shorter things during JuNoWriMo too.
DeleteMy username is Sarella.
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ReplyDeleteAck! I just wrote a comment and it got eaten. Here we go again.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of books you've read. Awesome! I need to read We Were Liars.
I love accidental novels. Sometimes the ones that pour out of you from nowhere are the best! I've been trying to write a contempary just to have a side project between drafting and edits for my UF series, because building two magical or fantasy or space worlds at a time would kill my brain, but I'm so bad with contemporary plot if I can't just throw monsters at people. :/ Yours sounds awesome. I'm a fan of the Gilmore Girls. Go you!
And congrats on putting your story up! I'll read it when I get a chance. Yay!
Have a great week!
We Were Liars was unexpected, which made me like it a lot. I thought I knew what sort of book it was... but I didn't really.
DeleteI've never written anything longer than a short story that wasn't fantasy. I'm hoping I can make this one work :)
Thanks for stopping by!
I still need to read Mindy Kaling's book. I just started watching her show now that it's up on Canadian Netflix. Tons of fun! Hooray for finishing the first draft of your fairy tale! I like the title MIRRORS AND ICE. It sounds perfect for a fairy tale. I have to say I love the sounds of this Gilmore Girls + Anne of Green Gables story you've started drafting. Awesome! Have a great week, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI really like Mindy Kaling! She is funny and relatable.
DeleteI'm hoping my story lives up to the hype in my brain lol. The Anne books are some of my favorites and I'm a hopeless Gilmore Girl addict. I love the dialogue in that show!
You are a writer, the words will just come! If i can get some time this week with VBS madness, i will try to read your story, and i promise not to laugh at anything unless you meant for it to be funny.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteOoo, Gilmore Girls meets Anne of Green Gables sounds fun! Nicely done on finishing the draft of your NaNo project! And I have to say that Mirrors and Ice is really great name. I love the imagery it creates! Have a lovely week! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm much happier with that name. It feels like it alludes to the story, which I love in a title. Thanks for stopping by!
Delete" (think Gilmore Girls meets Anne of Green Gables meets rural Montana)"
ReplyDeleteI'm sold! Love GG and Anne and all things rural :)
Wow, that IS a lot of reading! I have WE WERE LIARS and ONE TWO THREE on my list to read soon.
Wow, reading other writers blogs has shown me what a small world it is. I am working on a fairytale retelling and my MC's name is Mirea. Mine is an adult novel instead of YA, but what are the odds? Great minds, right?
ReplyDeleteSometimes accidental novels turn out the best. My latest, currently querying, was like that. I meant to write a short story. 96,000 words later . . .
ReplyDeleteHaha, accidental novels are great! It really shows an idea that needs to get out there...definitely good to just go with it!
ReplyDelete