A quick check-in on where I'm at, now that we're in Week 6 of Bootcamp!
YA Buccaneers: Spring Writing Bootcamp Check-In
Since the beginning of April, we've been busy over at the YA Buccaneers, hosting our 2nd annual Spring Writing Bootcamp!
Which has been perfect timing, because I've been crazy busy with revisions for my editor, since February -- and with my looming deadline of 4/17, I knew I'd need a little motivation to make that final push to finish.
And finish I did!
I'm beyond ecstatic to get through this first round of heavy edits. A lot was discussed up front on how to make WTWF the best it could be and I love the direction we settled on. In the end, I cut a lot of the muck and am really happy with where my MS is at now. Granted, there's still a lot of work ahead, but that first initial sweep is done, done, and DONE!
Next steps: I expect to have round 2 of editorial notes somewhere around next Friday, 5/1 and then it'll be back to the revision cave.
I also found out my expected publishing date (if everything stays on track) will be:
May 3, 2016!!!
May is such a good month for me, from my birthday, to when I sold my book last year -- so I couldn't be happier with a 5/3/16 pub date!
I've also heard that cover options should be ready to see sometime soon...and I can't wait!!! Whenever that happens, I'll announce the cover reveal information as soon as I can.
Until then, I'm busy reading an ARC of fellow Mouse-House author, Marci Lyn Curtis, THE ONE THING!
Guys, this book is so much fun and Marci's snark is AWESOME! I can't wait for this to come out on September 8th!
What else am I busy with? Well, some of you may know I'm expecting...and Baby Boy is due the first week of August! My husband and I are BEYOND excited and I can't wait to meet the Lil' Putter!
I've been working on the nursery and now that I'm sans edits for a couple of weeks, I'll be able to get a lot of it done! Our theme is Monkeys / Jungle and I'll be busy this week getting the walls done.
So with that, week 3 of our Spring Writing Bootcamp is complete and I successfully scratched off a big goal!
Spring Writing Bootcamp Goals:
- Finish first round of edits for Disney-Hyperion -- Due date: Friday, April 17th.
- Finish second round of edits for DH -- Due date: TBD.
- Read ARC of THE ONE THING by Marci Lyn Curtis
- Read / critique new MS for fellow CP (still waiting for the updated version to start)
- Work on new WIP (Read / revise current chapters): NOTG
- Plot new WIP: WITNESS
- Non-writerly stuff: Work on nursery!
If you're joining us this year for Bootcamp, I hope you've been making great progress in your writing goals -- and I'd love to hear all about them!
Spring Writing Bootcamp Check-In
My last check-in for April! You can see what everyone else is up to in today's YAB post!
APRIL GOALS:
- Work on my new YA Contemporary / Adventure WIP: NOTG
UPDATE: I haven't had a chance to do much on my WIP over the past few days, but...I will for sure have time to get to this in the coming weeks! I'm really excited about this new story and lots of great ideas are hitting me at the oddest times (gotta love my note taking app on my phone for cases like this!) - here's to a productive May! - Continue to read / finish CP's MS!
UPDATE: I was hoping to have my CP's manuscript done this past weekend, but with celebrating 90th birthday parties, ferry rides (see my chilly ferry pic there to the right!), and all kinds of other things, I didn't hit this goal - but I will get this finished, this week! - Host / participate in a Word Sprint or two!
UPDATE: Last week I hosted THREE FOUR Word Sprints! Many of you wonderful writers joined me and we got so much done, in so little time! I may pop in for an impromptu word sprint this week, who knows? - Cheer on my fellow Team Rainier writers!
- Read 5 books minimum.
UPDATE: I'm still reading DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS by Laini Taylor (that is a LONG book!) in addition to my above mentioned CP MS. Not sure if I'll hit my goal of 5 books for April, but we'll see!
MAY GOALS:
- My birthday is coming up this Thursday, so my goal for the first day of May is to just ENJOY THE DAY!
- New WIP NOTG writing goal: minimum of 10,000 words for the month.
- Host / participate in a Word Sprint or two!
- Same goal as April, cheer on the awesome that is Team Rainier!
- Read 5 books minimum.
It's the last month of our Spring Writing Bootcamp so what are your goals for May?
Spring Writing Bootcamp Check-In
Yes, I know it's Tuesday...and I'm a little late checking in.
It's been a crazy few weeks / months, but as of last Friday, things will hopefully begin to settle down a little. Maybe.
Regardless. I have high hopes for getting some serious writing and reading done. And I've already managed to check off a few things from list of goals!
APRIL GOALS:
- Work on my new YA Contemporary / Adventure WIP: NAME OF THE GAME (NOTG).
UPDATE 4/22: I wrote an entire chapter on Saturday. Not sure where in the story it will go (somewhere up close to the beginning), but I wrote it - and it was so much fun! - Continue to read / finish CP's MS!
4/22 UPDATE: I'm almost finished with the first pass / read of one of my CP's newest MS's - and I love it - you hear me HS? I LOVE IT! I've got two other CP's that I'm dying to read for (one is a re-read on a story that has been LONG OVERDUE - yes, KFO, I'm talking about YOU! And one CP that I'm finally getting to read an entire story for, for the very first time - yes, BG, that's YOU!). - Host / participate in a Word Sprint or two!
4/22 UPDATE: Yours truly will be hosting THREE Word Sprints this week: Wednesday - Friday, all of them at 2pm EST. Join me? - Cheer on my fellow Team Rainier writers!
- Read 5 books minimum.
4/22 UPDATE: So far I've read FEVER and SEVER by Lauren DeStefano, to close out that series - which I thought was okay. I started in on the beast of hardbacks - what is 613 pages of DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS by Laini Taylor, and I'm about halfway done. And as mentioned above, I'm almost done with my first pass on a CP's newest MS - so that means I still have ONE more book to finish before this month is done!
MAY GOALS:
- NAME OF THE GAME writing goal: minimum of 10,000 words for the month.
- Host / participate in a Word Sprint or two!
- Same goal as April, cheer on the awesome that is Team Rainier!
How is everyone else doing? I hope your writing and reading is coming along for the month of April...but not to worry, we still have May ahead of us, too!
What's Up Wednesday: 03.12.14
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!
Well hello writing world! It has been FOREVER since I participated in a WUW post -- seriously. The last one was back in early December. Yikes.
See, I wasn't lying.
So bare with me as I dust off that WUW hot air balloon and remember how this all goes!
WHAT I'M READING:
I just finished the RAZORLAND series by Ann Aguirre yesterday. I thought the first book, ENCLAVE, was good - after all, I have a thing for zombies / mutants! The second book, OUTPOST, was even better - and we got to know the characters that much more. By the third installment, HORDE, I was totally hooked...and it's not often I actually like the third / final book in the series the best! If you're a fan of Carrie Ryan's THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH series, then this is another set of great zombie reads that won't disappoint.
I started in on IGNITE ME by Tahereh Mafi last night and I just have to say how much I love her writing style. Everything about her writing poetically flows and makes it so easy to get lost in the words. I have to admit that I can't quite remember how the last book ended...so I probably should have read the first two over again, before diving in to this one. *le sigh*
I've also started in on a new WIP from one of my CP's - and I can already tell I'm really going to like this one!
WHAT I'M WRITING:
I finally finished my agent / CP revisions for WHERE THE WATER FALLS and emailed it back to Agent Lisa on Saturday. And can I tell you how good it feels to finally have that done? Good. As in seriously good. Even great. Better yet, STELLAR!!!!!!!
It was my #YABbootcamp writing goal for March -- and I buckled down and finally finished the last couple of chapters...reread it to make sure I was happy, then sent it on it's way.
Now, it's in Lisa's hands. And I'll standby patiently to see what she thinks. If all goes well, I might actually find myself on submission -- words I've been waiting a very long time to say.
But before I get too excited about the possibility of submissions, I need to wait to hear what she thinks. So I'm here...waiting...yep, still here.
WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW:
My awesome team from the YA Buccaneers Spring Writing Bootcamp:
TEAM RAINIER!!!!
I'm so utterly impressed with the turn out for the bootcamp and honestly, when Bridgid and I were first brainstorming ideas for what we wanted to do, I don't think either of us had any idea what we were about to unleash!
I'm excited to work with these ladies, along with everyone else, over the next 3 months - and I honestly can't wait to see what amazing writing feats take place!
WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO:
My new job has been incredibly busy. So much so, that I've had to prioritize my time over the past couple of months to focus on work. But oh how I've missed everyone in the writing world -- and I realized that I truly am miserable when I'm away for too long.
The week before last, I had the opportunity of flying out to Hartford, CT. to open up Microsoft's newest retail store at the Westfarms shopping mall. It was seven very long days of prepping the store and getting everything organized before the actual curtain dropped on Saturday, March 1st. We even stayed to attend the store opening concert that Microsoft puts on, hosted by the ever entertaining FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE.
And even though it was sometimes 15 - 18 hour days, we did manage to make a trek over to see the homes of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe. It amazes me that two literary greats managed to live within twenty yards of one another -- and the houses? Amazing. That's a picture of Mark Twain's home up there to the left!
I was also able to snag limited edition copies of HUCKLEBERRY FINN, TOM SAWYER, and UNCLE TOM'S CABIN - so I was definitely a happy girl when all was said and done.
So what have you been up to lately? I'd love to hear all about it, since it's been waaaaay too long!
Spring Writing Bootcamp: Check-In #1
As part of the YA Buccaneers Spring Writing Bootcamp, I posted my goals here the other day!
Today is the very first Monday check-in and I'm happy to announce:
I've already completed my goal for March!
I know, I know...it's only the 10th of March and I still have 2/3 of the month to go! But, I swear I didn't cheat. Pinky promise I didn't set a lame goal. Because I set this one late last month when I was neck deep in agent / CP revisions and was thinking it would take a lot longer. It's just that everything kind of came together over the past couple of weeks and I was able to push through much faster than expected. I tied up a few loose ends this past week, re-read my MS in it's entirety, and was able to hit send to my agent on Saturday. And man does it feel great!
I won't hear back from her for a couple of weeks, as she has a ton of reading that came in just before mine - but I think I'm okay with that...and I could definitely use the time to maybe relax just a little. Or, yanno, start in on my April goal?
Aside from that, I'm super excited to also share that we've announced the Accountability Teams for our Spring Writing Bootcamp -- and can I just say, I have THE. BEST. TEAM. EV-VER!!!!!!
TEAM 2
- Erin L. Schneider
- Jennifer Pickrell
- Elizabeth Briggs
- Alessa Hinlo
- Sorcha
- Stephanie Allen
- Anne Dewvall
Yep, we're Team #2, and we're otherwise known as:
I know I may be biased, but I have no doubt in my mind that this team is going to BRING IT. We've got some lofty goals (okay, some more so than others) and by the time this three months is up, there is going to be some amazing writing by all. I'm already so proud of this team for stepping up to take the challenge, so I know that's only a glimpse into what's to come.