Spring Writing Bootcamp!!!

Over at the YA Buccaneers, we're getting our writing in shape this spring!

For the next three months, we're challenging YOU to set writing goals and actually stick to them. And to help you out, we're putting together accountability teams, inspiring and informative blog posts on writing and revising, annnnnd PRIZES to help keep you motivated!

Check out this post for all the details to learn how you too can get motivated to write, set goals, and sign up to be on a bootcamp team! 

And what are my goals for the next three months?

March:

I finished my revisions on WHERE THE WATER FALLS (my YA Contemp you can read more about here), sent it out to my CP's for a final read through, and am now making last minute changes based on their feedback. I will have these revisions done this weekend, so I can finally get it back to Super Agent Lisa no later than next week.

April:

If Lisa has changes she'd like to see, then I'll be working on those this month. Otherwise, I have a SNI I've been itching to write - working title: NAME OF THE GAME

May:

NAME OF THE GAME writing goal: minimum of 10,000 words.

So what are your writing goals this Spring? Need some extra incentive to get it done? All you have to do is join us, we'll make sure you're in tip top shape come June. I dare you.

And I promise, it will be fun - here's what you need to do:

1. Post your Spring Writing Bootcamp Goals on your blog.
2. Add your blog link
3. Join a support team if you want and/or support others on twitter and social media. Check out the YA Buccaneers Post for more details and info on prizes, etc.!!

What's Up Wednesday: 12.4.13

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by my ever-so-lovely YA writer friends, Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. The idea? Well, it's a great opportunity to touch base once a week with all of our blog friends and let them know what's up. Should you wish to join, head on over to Jaime's blog and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of her post! 

WHAT I'M READING:

I'm still reading ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell.

I think I might be in the minority here when I say I'm having a tough time getting through this one -- I've already set it aside twice to read something else, which I know is never a good sign. But everyone loved this one so I'm determined to finish it and now I'm about halfway in and will say, it's finally starting to pick up. 

I'm still thinking about ALLEGIANT though...not sure why this one is sitting with me for so long, but that ending...I just can't seem to let it go. If by chance you haven't read ALLEGIANT yet, hop on over to the YA Buccaneers blog as I'll be posting my review over there this Friday and will also be giving away an autographed hardback copy for December's prize!

WHAT I'M WRITING:

Still working on my revisions, but haven't been able to put serious time towards them in the past two weeks due to Thanksgiving -- and the fact we're having **new carpet installed today!

**I'm so excited for new carpet, but didn't think about how that would also mean several days trying to get everything in my life house moved out from any carpeted room (3 bedrooms, loft, hallway, 13 stairs, and a living / dining room), to the small spaces that won't be touched (um, that would be our two upstairs bathrooms and the downstairs kitchen / family room). Yikes...it's been a very dusty and interesting few days. But...yay for new carpet!

I do need to get back on the revision train and soon, which means I'll probably be joining a Word Sprint or five -- if you're in need of some writing encouragement, check out the YA Buccaneers site or #YABWordSprint on Twitter to find out upcoming dates / times.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW:

• Thanksgiving with my amazing family -- I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!
• So many wonderful friends.
• Plenty of good books to read!
• Catching Fire -- even though we had to sit in the 5th row, I still thought CF was fantastic. And it's inspiring to see yet another YA book make it to the big screen.
• Chilly weather and the potential for snow!
• 9 months of time off!
• Finding an incredible job in a market that hasn't been great.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO:

And speaking of jobs...I mentioned during my last WUW post that amazing job opportunities were on the horizon.

Well, after 2 days / 10 interviews and four months of waiting (my first round of interviews was the beginning of August!), I can finally say I've landed an amazing job with Microsoft, where I'll be over-seeing the visual merchandising for all of their retail stores. 

My husband has been with Microsoft for almost 15 years, so the company has been a part of our family for as long as we've been together. And while it's bittersweet to say goodbye to all this wonderful time off (9 months to be exact!), I'm tremendously grateful I even had the time off to begin with. And even more so that I found such an amazing job when the job market hasn't been so stellar.

I start this coming Monday, which also means I'll be a little absent around the blog-o-sphere for awhile while I adjust to being back at work. Not sure how I'm going to handle getting up at 5:15am after all these months of sleeping in...this should be interesting!

WHAT'S NEW FOR YOU TODAY? DID YOU HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING?

What's Up Wednesday: 11.6.13

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by my ever-so-lovely YA writer friends, Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk. The idea? Well, it's a great opportunity to touch base once a week with all of our blog friends and let them know what's up. Should you wish to join, head on over to Jaime's blog and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of her post! 

WHAT I'M READING:

I'm still slugging my way through FROI OF THE EXHILES.

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm having the hardest time with this series. Maybe it's because I have so many other fantastic books I can't wait to get to. Or maybe I'm just not that invested in the journey of Froi. While I'm liking his character much more than in the first book (Marchetta did an excellent job with his character arc), I'm just not hooked...at least not right now.

Then again, FINNIKIN took about half the book before it really picked up for me, so I'm thinking the same will happen here. At least I hope.

So of course what that means is I put FROI down last night and picked up ALLEGIANT instead -- and I'm over half way finished. While I really should've read the first two books over again, I just couldn't wait to get back into the land of Four.

I'm not quite sure what I think about it so far, but I'm looking forward to reading / hearing everyone's reviews of the final book and the series, once I'm finished.

I'm also writing this post from the Starbucks that's attached to my Barnes & Noble...so many great books are mere feet away from me, screaming for me to go in and buy them. Guess what I'll be doing today. :)

WHAT I'M WRITING:

While I really wanted to give NaNoWriMo a go this year, more important writing (read, revisions) will be taking over the month of November -- and most likely, December too.

I started in on my revisions for WTWF and I've been outlining some thoughts on how I want things to transpire. I'm really happy with how it's all coming together so far and I'm really looking forward to digging in on my MS since it's been almost three months!

Side note: if you're in need of some inspiration to write this month - especially if you're partaking in NaNo - the YA Buccaneers are upping the ante on the number of Word Sprints for the entire month. I hosted one last night and there will be another one this evening (8pm EST) and again tomorrow night (8pm EST) if you want to join -- #YABWordSprint.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW:

Since I'm a check list kinda girl, here's what inspires me:

• Friends
• CP's
• Family
• Fall
• Starbuck's Pumkin Spice Lattes -- I know I'm supposed to be off coffee, but I've let myself have TWO PSL's this fall. Two. 2. Barely counts, right?
• Having this time off to write.
• Getting ready for the Holidays.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO:

And another list to sum up my life lately:

• Revisions.
• Job hunting.
• All-day interviews.
• Costco-sized boxes of Kleenex (I have the longest running cold in history, going on my 3rd week! Ugh.)
• Christmas shopping (I know it's early, believe me, but my gifts to my siblings require some assembly that's going to take me a bit, so I started buying all the "parts" to get them out of the way).
• Revisions.
• Captain Phillips (very well done, Mr. Hanks, very well done).
• Celebrating (yes, I'll be celebrating signing with Lisa for a few more weeks, minimum. :)).
• Great dinners.
• Friends.

SO, WHAT'S NEW FOR YOU TODAY?