“What’s Up Wednesday” is a fun weekly meme started by my friends Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk. From Jaime: It’s similar in some respects to the Currently… post, but it’s been whittled down to only four headings to make it quicker and more manageable on a weekly basis. You’re invited to join us if you’re looking for something to blog about, a way to let your blog friends know what’s been going on with you. If you’re participating, make sure to link your What’s Up Wednesday posts to the list on Jaime’s blog each week. That way, others can visit your post and check out what you’ve been up to.And now, here’s what’s up with me this week…And now, here’s what’s up with me this week…
Giveaway details at the end of this post!!!
What I’m Reading: I read a lot over the last week. I finished Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and thought it was absolutely adorable. I can’t wait for the follow-up, P.S. I Still Love You. Next, I read The Summer of No Regrets by Katherine Grace Bonds, which came highly recommended by Sara Biren, and I thought it was fantastic. Loved the unconventional family set-up, and the budding romance was sweet and different and rather mysterious, which was cool. Plus, the Pacific Northwest, and cougars! Then, I flew though Tammara Webber’s Easy, the most unputdownable book I’ve encountered in ages. I haven’t read tons of NA, but this one was quite different from the ones I have perused. While sexy and wildly entertaining, it was also beautifully written and emotional and deep. I’m so looking forward to reading its companion, Breakable. Now, I’m reading Kristin Rae’s debut, Wish You Were Italian, which is a discordant follow-up to Easy (Italian is very much “clean teen”), but I’m still loving it. Pippa is too cute, and the setting (Italy, obviously) is giving me a wicked case of wanderlust.
What I’m Writing: I finally finished my outline (it’s very detailed, but — I think — flexible enough), and I am super excited about this new project, guys. I wrote the opening chapter a few weeks ago and have since discovered that I started in the wrong place (as usual). So, yesterday I rewrote that first chapter. Now it fits nicely into my outline and my beat sheet. Much better.
What Else I’ve Been Up To: Still watching Gossip Girl. Still swooning over Blair’s clothes and Nate’s baby blues. I just finished Season 2, which was all kinds of melodramatic and awesome. In other news, on Monday I went to a book signing in celebration of the release of Of Neptune by Anna Banks, who’s a local author. I’ve yet to read any of the Syrena Legacy books, but I’ve managed to acquire them all over the last few days and I’m looking forward to diving into this new series (see what I did there?!). And, finally, I’m having lots of fun playing mama. The school year is winding down, and my daughter and I are soaking up the last few weeks of first grade, and making big plans for summer fun.
I had a lovely Mother’s Day! My girlie made me breakfast in bed (toast with honey and blackberries), gave me an adorable coupon book and a piece of art she made at school, and hung with me at the beach. Couldn’t ask for a better day. ❤
Also, I made easy (yummy!) homemade brownies. Here’s the recipe.
What’s Inspiring Me Now: My WiP! I’m having a blast working on it! I love this stage, when a project feels fresh and new and exciting. Hopefully it lasts a good, long while. Additionally, I’m finding an article by Janice Hardy at Fiction University called Four Questions to Ask to Make Your Scenes Pop really helpful. Great reminders for those drafting or revising.
And now… Today’s Giveaway
I lost my copy of The Baby Name Wizard during our cross-country move back in December — cue sad face. I searched for it for months because I love it for naming my characters, and because my copy had tons of names highlighted from seven years ago, back when I was trying to name my yet-to-be-born daughter. Anyway. I finally broke down and purchased a new copy, the 3rd edition pictured below, because I have characters who need names, like, yesterday. Wouldn’t you know it — I found my original copy an hour after the new one was delivered. After paging through the 3rd edition, I decided it isn’t all that different from the 1st, at least not in ways that matter for my needs. Plus, my old copy has sentimental value. So, that pretty new 3rd edition is up for grabs! Details below…
*Anyone who comments on this post will be automatically entered in the random drawing. If you already own this book or don’t have a need for it but would still like to comment, just let me know that you’re not interested in the drawing and I’ll exclude you.
*Giveaway is open through Sunday at midnight, and I will announce the winner in next week’s What’s Up Wednesday post, after emailing him/her.
*Giveaway is open internationally (while this book focuses on name popularity in the US, I personally think it’d be helpful to anyone, anywhere). Writers and actual baby-namers alike are welcome to enter. 🙂
Tell me… What’s up with you today?
katyupperman.com 
Brownies! YUMMY! I seriously get a happy rush when I look at them. And that makes me sound like a crazy person 🙂
Food lust aside…
Wow, you did a lot of reading this week. I’m planning to start summer binge-reading very soon. I’m aiming to finish up a couple series and to get in plenty of YA contemporary.
Yay for being in a good place with your WIP! Hope you have another great week.
(You can exclude me from the drawing)
Jen, those brownies aren’t *quite* as good as the Nutella ones, but they’re quicker and pretty tasty. Good for when you don’t have a whole jar of Nutella sitting around. 🙂 Hope you get to start your reading binge soon!
EASY was the first New Adult book I read, and I loved it! Glad you’re feeling inspired about your new WIP.
Janice Hardy’s blog is super-helpful! I loved her series on plotting, it really helped me to figure out my outlining process.
Have a great week!
I agree with you regarding Janice Hardy, Emma. I find myself bookmarking so many of her posts! And yes, EASY was fantastic. I bought BREAKABLE the other day and the sales girl at Books-A-Million was fawning over the series while she rang me up. I was like, “I KNOW!” 🙂
I had no idea that TO ALL THE BOYS…was part of a duology! That makes so much sense, given the fact that a lot of things felt unresolved to me. I feel much, much better now. And I might just have to reread EASY so I can read BREAKABLE. Lucas’ POV? Yes, please. 😉
Best of luck on the new project. Sounds like you’re super prepared to dive right in. I need to take a page from your book and make a very detailed outline. I’ve gotten slack with my plotter tendencies lately. (Pantsing so doesn’t work for me.) I’ll have to make sure I use that list by Janice Hardy. She has some fantastic resources on her blog!
Hope you’re having a wonderful week, Katy! And thanks for the brownie recipe. Yum! 😀
Uh, yeah. I skimmed through a bit of BREAKABLE, and Lucas’ POV is pretty darn steamy. I’m looking forward to seeing things from his perspective. I love him because he’s not the typical NA controlling jerk face. 😉 And yes! I sort of wanted to toss TO ALL THE BOYS across the room when I finished! And then I went to Goodreads and saw that there’s another installment coming and I was super relieved. Can’t wait to see what comes of Lara Jean and Peter! Have a good one, Jaime!
Good luck with your WIP! I’ve found having some sort of outline helps, even if it’s just chapter titles or general notes.
I started a new names blog a few months ago, and have a number of name-related posts by my main blog. I always cringe when I see obviously predated naming trends in a book, movie, or tv show. Why in the world would you use a Top 100 name from the past 5-10 years on an adult or teen character?
I’m super particular about the names I choose too, Carrie-Anne. That’s why I love THE BABY NAME WIZARD. It’s super specific about when and where names were/are popular. It’s a great resource! Have a great week, lady!
Your pic with the gelato made me laugh because I have that same brand of gelato (different flavor though) and had just taken it out to eat the day you Instagrammed that pic! Also, still totally love that collage of C at the beach! It’s totally frame-worthy and so cute. Makes me want to go to the beach (and we totally could in this heatwave we’ve been having).
Yay for being inspired by your WIP! I hope that continues. 🙂
I saw that CA’s been crazy-hot these last few days! Hope you and Loki don’t melt! And that’s for complimenting those beach photos — I sort of love them too! The first one in the collage is my fave. 🙂 Have a great week, Alice, and stay cool!
Wow, you’ve been productive this week, Katy! Congrats on the progress with your WIP. I know what you mean about starting in the wrong place–I did that with the early drafts of my current QIP (Querying In Progress–EEK!). I’m glad you had such a wonderful Mother’s Day. Keep up the awesomeness!! 😀
Colin, I love the term QIP. 🙂 And thank you! I’ve been trying to make good use of my time. Have a great one!
Katy, speaking of name wizards… how do you pronounce yours? Is it Kay-tee or Kat-e? (I always say Kay-tee in my head) 🙂
Way to go on the WIP progress!! and I LOVE the collage of C at the beach- the face closest/on the left makes me laugh so hard. It is such a face I would make and my mother would get mad at me for 😉 even to this day. “Can’t you make a NICE face?” lol. I always say “life’s too short to be serious” I haven’t been writing bc ya know…stuff behind the scenes 😉 but I’m excited to dig back into Sadie’s story with new revisions soon.
I also have yet to read EASY (really want to) but another NA I loved was SOMETHING ROYAL. It’s like a grown up Princess Diaries where this girl finds out she is royalty but struggles between being a monarch and a regular college kid. It’s SO fun. Highly rec’d. Fluffy and easy read;…maybe for the beach? (I do warn there is SERIOUSLY steamy scenes in there)
You say “seriously steam scenes” like that might detract me or something. 😉 I haven’t heard of SOMETHING ROYAL, but I’ll definitely keep at eye out for it. And you should read EASY! I put if off for awhile because I’m not a huge fan of NA books and the formula many of them seem to follow (with a few notable exceptions!), but EASY totally won me over. Different sort of girl, different sort of guy. Great writing! Hope you CONTINUE to have a great week, Rachel! ❤
Oh, and my name’s pronounced like Katie. I get a lot of “Catty” and “Kathy” though. 🙂
Every time you talk about Gossip Girl, it makes me miss it!
I just put EASY on my TBR and I’m still waiting for WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN from the library. Also, I love Anna Banks. I’ve read the first two books and I’m excited to read Of Neptune.
I’m really looking forward to reading my new Anna Banks books — I’ve heard great things! And I bet you’ll like EASY. I was very pleasantly surprised by how deep and well written it is. Have a great week, Melanie!
Your Mother’s Day breakfast in bed sounds so sweet! What a cutie your daughter is for making you honey-blackberry toast. I’m practically drooling over that photo of the brownies. I’m trying to avoid goodies lately, and I’m feeling awfully tempted to go whip up something chocolate now lol. So glad to hear you’re feeling excited about your new writing project and that things seem to be falling into place with it now. Hope you continue to have a blast working on it this week! 🙂
I fully support your need to whip up something chocolate, Erin. 🙂 Hope you get lots done in the next week, and have a good one!
I always love your baking pics 🙂 And I’m a huge fan of details outlines.
Yay! Glad to hear from a fellow outliner! I feel like most of the writers I know like to wing it. Just the thought gives me anxiety. 🙂 Have a great week, Lori!
How fun to hear how much you are loving your WIP. I love it when that happens. 🙂 Okay, I have to tell you that, as soon as I scrolled down far enough to see the brownie picture and then I read that your daughter made you breakfast in bed, my brain immediately went to: your daughter made you a breakfast of brownies in bed. Which would make her the best daughter on the planet! Toast with honey and blackberries sounds pretty good, too. 🙂 Have a great week!
Okay, brownies in bed would be the absolute best. But, my six-year-old isn’t allowed to use the oven without supervision, so… 😉 Hope you have a great week too, Kitty!
Wow! You are definitely getting a jump on your summer reading. So many of those sound like fun reads.
Glad you had such a fun Mother’s Day. And toast with blackberries…your daughter is such a sweetie.
And I love that stage at the beginning of a project where you are so in love with an idea. Hope it carries you away.
Have an amazing week!
Thanks, Kris! She did a good job with Mother’s Day breakfast. 🙂 Hope you get plenty done this week… Have a good one!
I totally have EASY on my nook–bought it last year and never read it. Glad to hear it’s awesome! Maybe now I will finally read it, haha…
And I love making detailed outlines, too. Things change, but I love having at least an idea of where I want to take things. Makes it much easier to get started.
Oh, you should read EASY. It’s VERY good. Also, I’m always happy to be acquainted with a fellow outliner! I cannot fathom how people write by the seat of their pants. I would end up with the biggest mess of a story ever!
PS: I have a baby names book so you can exclude me from the drawing 🙂
Got it… Have a great week, Crystal!
Oh a giveaway! Sure I’m in. 🙂 Jealous that you’ve finished your outline, but that’s awesome! I’ve taken a step back and am doing some plotting (what? me?!) then I’ll do a full outline (who am I?) then I’ll be writing. Looks like we’ll both be doing new WIP’s this summer!
Best of luck with that plotting, Liz. Who knows… Maybe you’ll fall in love with the process and become a dedicated (obsessive) plotter. Like me! 😉
I loved To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, I’m a huge Jenny Han fan. And I’ll definitely need to check out Easy. It’s the one NA I continue to hear about that I’ve yet to try. Maybe I’ll make some brownies to enjoy with the new book rec 😉 Thanks for sharing your latest reads and recipes, Katy!
Yes! EASY and brownies are a wonderful combo. The characters in the book actually eat brownies at one point, so there ya go. 😉