What’s Up Wednesday

May 1, 2013May 1, 201340 Comments

Today I’m jumping in on “What’s Up Wednesday,” 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.

Fantastic, right? So, here’s what’s up with me…

What I’m Reading: I just finished Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster. I’ll share more about my thoughts tomorrow, but I have to say… I was entertained by all the angst. Trav and Abby’s dysfunctional, co-dependent relationship kept me captivated. Yesterday I started Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta, which is predictably awesome so far.

What I’m Writing: *sigh* There’s the epic rewrite I’ve mostly sidelined but still think about often, and there’s the SNI WiP (the one that’s inspired by a Tim McGraw song), that I love, LoVe, LOVE, but has also put on the back burner. Mostly, I’m working on a requested revision of Cross My Heart that has mad potential thanks to notes from my amazingly brilliant and insightful agent. Motivation and inspiration and excitement are beautiful things.

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Running. No surprise there. I ended up with 171 total miles for the month of April, putting me at 665 miles for 2013. Not too shabby. We’ve had gorgeous weather lately, so my girlie and I have been spending lots of time at the various parks in our neighborhood. Also, I’ve been watching Game of Thrones obsessively. I love that show SO MUCH. Daenerys is so compassionate, yet such a badass. I’m swooning over the recent romantic developments in Jon Snow’s storyline (though I wholeheartedly agree with Forever YA’s comment about the bath coming first). And King Slayer Jaime Lannister, once one of my most loathed characters, has turned out to be so very complex and fascinating (that final scene with Brienne on Sunday night… Whoa.). If you’re not watching this show, start now!

What Inspires Me Right Now: Last month I flaked on Fat Mum Slim‘s Photo a Day Challenge, but I think I’m going to jump back on the bandwagon this month. I’m finding these prompts quite inspiring…

And, since I’m doing lots of writing and revising these days, I’ve been listening to plenty of emotional country music. I’m particularly loving Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee, and Tim McGraw’s Southern Voice.

In Other, Far Sadder News: Yesterday we had to say goodbye to our sweet dog, Lucy. My husband and I adopted her when she was six weeks old, just after we were married nearly ten years ago. She’s been with us through several military moves, the adoption of an additional dog (Daisy, who is currently very sad), the birth and subsequent growing up of our daughter, and several deployments. Lucy was spunky and sassy and loved peanut butter with unrivaled passion. As much as I’ve complained about her shedding, her sneaky naps on the couch, and her shrill litte bark, I adored her. She was a loyal and wonderful pet. We will miss you very much, Lucy Goose. ♥♥♥

What have you been up to lately?

Rock the Drop, 2013

April 19, 2013April 18, 201321 Comments

Yesterday I dropped four fantastic young adult novels in random public places around my town in the hope that four lucky readers would find and enjoy them as much as I have.

April 18th was Rock the Drop, a celebration of Teen Lit Day sponsored by ReaderGirlz, in collaboration with Figment, I Heart Daily, Soho Teen, and 826NYC. This was my second year participating; I’ve had such a blast with this event, and I love that it supports an amazing cause.

Last year I selected books for the drop rather haphazardly. This year I put a little more thought behind my choices. I went with a dystopian theme, and I dropped first books in trilogies with the idea that perhaps the person who happened upon each book would love it enough to either purchase the subsequent books in the series, or check them out from the library. Smart, right? 🙂

My first drop was on Cannery Row, a very touristy area of my very touristy town. The John Steinbeck bust was begging to have Divergent propped up against it.

I dropped Ship Breaker at the middle/high school bus stop in my neighborhood, and The Pledge at Pinkberry (YUM) just after school let out.

After all that book dropping (not to mention teaching a painting lesson to my daughter’s kindergarten class), I was very thirsty. A Starbucks iced tea did the trick, and I left Wither, my final book, behind for a lucky reader.

Tell me… Did you Rock the Drop yesterday? Which books did you leave around your town?

#RockTheDrop

April 15, 2013April 14, 201312 Comments

I had so much fun Rocking the Drop last year, I’ll most definitely be participating again this year. In fact, I’ve already printed my book plates and selected the novels I plan to drop (I’ll share more about my choices in the few days). This week my mom is visiting from Phoenix and I plan to enlist her help in my covert book dropping plans. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled!

Here are the details about this year’s Rock the Drop from the ReaderGirlz site:

Rock the Drop 2013

ReaderGirlz are happy to announce Operation Teen Book Drop 2013! On April 18th, ReaderGirlz will be teaming with Figment, I Heart Daily, Soho Teen, and 826NYC to celebrate YA lit in honor of Support Teen Lit Day on Thursday, April 18th. We can’t wait!

This year, in addition to rocking out and dropping our favorite YA titles in public spaces for lucky readers to discover, we’re directing supporters of teen fiction everywhere to consider a book donation to 826NYC to help grow their library.

Here’s how you can get involved:

* Follow @readergirlz on Twitter and tweet #rockthedrop
* Print a copy of the bookplate and insert it into a book (or 10!) On April 18th, drop a book in a public spot (park bench, bus seat, restaurant counter?) Lucky finders will see that the book is part of ROCK THE DROP!
* Post the banner at your blog and social networks. Proclaim that you will ROCK THE DROP!
* Snap a photo of your drop and post it at the ReaderGirlz Facebook page. Then tweet the drop at #rockthedrop with all the other lovers of YA books.

Tell me… Will you Rock the Drop in 2013?

On SNIs…

April 2, 2013April 1, 201336 Comments

I am not one of those lucky people who has tons of story ideas constantly jumping into her head, rounded out and fully formed. In fact, I kind of hate those people. It takes me eons of pondering and mulling and brainstorming to build a story from from the ground up, usually beginning with a vague idea for a character who refuses to leave me alone. While setting and voice and romance come easy to me, it is always such a challenge to nail down goal, conflict, and motivation (the bread and butter of character-driven fiction), not to mention an actual plot with a beginning, middle, and end — a plot with ups and downs during which the protagonist makes decisions and things actually happen.

So, imagine my surprise when, just last week, I was driving down the road, rockin’ out to some Tim McGraw, when the chorus of a particularly angsty tune hit me hard. This song, its lyrics, its emotion… It was a novel waiting to happen. In fact, with a bit of tweaking and some serious creative license, it was a contemporary young adult romance novel waiting to happen. How perfect, because that happens to be what I like to write! Just like that, a whole story — characters and setting, GMC, inciting incident and climax and resolution — played out in my head like a movie, and it was glorious! I almost drove off the road in my hurry to get home and jot down notes.

Guys. I am so writing this story. I haven’t been this excited about a Shiny New Idea in ages. I’m going to put my rewrite on the back burner for a few weeks and focus solely on this new project because oh my gosh… It is just so inspiring! I started plotting yesterday (my first time plotting a brand new project with Scrivener — yay!) and I’m already completely immersed in these characters and their story.

Just for fun, here’s a sample plot point: Jenna’s first kiss with Tyler. She is bashful and has all the butterflies and he is swoony and awesome and way too good at kissing. At this point, we need to fall in love with them both so we don’t totally hate them for being crazy jerks later.

I’m giddy with the potential of this story! And now, back to work…

How do story ideas come to you? What inspired your current WiP?

I’m a (Re)Writer

January 11, 2013January 11, 201336 Comments

The other day I read a fantastic piece written by YA author Jessica Spotswood entitled On Being a Slow, Inefficient, Imperfect Writer. Jessica talked a lot about comparing oneself to others and insecurities, specifically those writerly insecurities we all struggle with from time to time:

…I’ve still been sitting over here, judging myself for it. And it’s taken all the fun out of writing for me lately. If it’s not fun anymore, what the hell is the point?

Right?!

In the spirit of Jessica’s wisdom, I’d like to share a recent epiphany I’ve had about my writing:

I am a REwriter.

I have to write something (a sentence, a scene, a story) wrong at least once before I figure out how it should actually be written. Sometimes it takes two tries. Sometimes it takes ten. Let me tell you… Rewriting can be a frustrating experience for this perfectionist. But it’s a process – it’s my process – and even though it can be tedious and wearisome, it’s how I get to know my characters and their voices and their motivations and their goals. It’s how I get to know my story. I don’t think I could do it any other way.

So, instead of worrying that my process is abnormal or stressing about the eons of time I spend getting a manuscript just-so, I’m going to take Jessica’s advice and respect the process. I’m going to learn to be okay with where I am and how I do things. I’m going to have fun!

Tell me… What kind of writer are you?

2012 in Review…

December 31, 2012December 31, 201238 Comments

Last year I posted a 2011 Year in Review. Not only was it fun to share the highs and lows of my year with you all, it was also fun to look back on all that had happened over the previous twelve months.

So, of course I had to take some time to reflect on 2012. While I wasn’t successful in ALL of my goals, I did meet many. I had tons of fun with my family, I grew as a writer and reader, and I made some fantastic new friends along the way. It’s been a busy year, full of changes, hard work, and lots of fun…

January

I blogged about goals, and decided on RESOLVE as my all-encompassing word for 2012. I also mused about the struggles of rewriting.

I survived a winter storm that threatened my sanity.

A Million Suns (Across the Universe, #2)
I started the year off reading and reviewing a couple of awesome books: A Million Suns by Beth Revis and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

At the end of the month, my girlie and I welcomed my husband home from Afghanistan (yay!).

I raved about another favorite of 2012, The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour.

February

I blogged about my preference for character-driven YA, and shared my Two-Minute Tension Test.

I celebrated Valentine’s Day with BOTH of my loves!

I turned thirty-one. No comment.

I attended my husband’s Welcome Home Ball and had a *little* too much fun. 🙂

March

Pandemonium (Delirium, #2) I read and reviewed another 2012 favorite: Lauren Oliver’s Pandemonium.

I worked on a substantial revision of Where Poppies Bloom and resubmitted it to the agent I was working with at the time. (In case you’re wondering, I eventually came to the very difficult realization that Poppies isn’t going to sell the way it’s currently written. As of now, the story is “retired” and waiting for a rewrite that will hopefully come in 2013… Tough stuff.)

I had the pleasure of spending a long weekend in Vancouver BC with my husband. Such a fun, beautiful city!

Saw The Hunger Games. Awesome!

I blogged about my on-again-off-again struggles with procrastination (and why it’s not always a bad thing).

April

I successfully completed the A-Z Blogging Challenge, which was so fun! Thank you again to all of the hosts and organizers!

I Rocked the Drop!

I met a few of my favorite authors (Gayle Forman, Nina LaCour, and Stephanie Perkins) during the Seattle stop of the YA or Bust Tour.

I was invited to become an Operative over at YA Confidential. Love my fantastic new blogging buddies!

May

I participated in Blog Me MAYbe, brainchild of writer/blogger/all-around-awesome-person Sara McClung.

I blogged about The Page Sixty-Nine Test, a writer’s trick I learned from clever author Gayle Forman.

We moved from Washington to central California, and made a big ol’ road trip out of the ordeal.

After we settled in to our new house, I shared a little bit about how I plot stories and write first drafts.

My husband and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary!

Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky, #1) I read and recommended Veronica Rossi’s stunning debut, Under the Never Sky.

I shared my miracle cures for writer’s block, and started tackling a major rewrite of my YA contemporary manuscript, Cross My Heart.

June

Oh, look! Another outstanding 2012 book: Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfeld.

Around this time, I scored a few amazing new critique partners. I can’t even put into words how grateful I am for Temre, Taryn, and Alison!

My cutie pie got her very first library card, and had quite the Marilyn moment.

July

I posted about “gap books” and committed to reading a few of mine (including The Book Thief), and brought the “One Space or Two” debate to my blog.

I read and gushed about Kristin Cashore’s Bitterblue, my VERY FAVORITE book of 2012!

I completed my Cross My Heart rewrite!

My girlie and I made the loooong trip to Phoenix to visit my parents, my brother, and my cutie pie nephew.

My husband and I saw Brad Paisley and The Band Perry… Incredible!

August

I helped my sweet girl celebrate her fifth birthday…

… and watched as she headed off to kindergarten. Very bittersweet!

September

I tackled a frustrating revision of Cross My Heart, one that came with some bad-but-unrelated writing news. I threw myself a pity party, but that pain in the ass revision eventually made Cross My Heart what it is today.

I posted about yet another phenomenal 2012 release: This is Not a Test by the infinitely brilliant Courtney Summers.

Took a trip to Washington to visit family and see Tim McGraw(!).

I posted about taking a break and why it’s important, jumped on the “Currently…” bandwagon, blogged about how running parallels revising, and shared my take on Banned Books Week.

October

I visited an apple orchard with my girlie, and blogged about method writing (which, for me, involves A LOT of baking and running).

I talked about Cross My Heart, my “Next Big Thing,” and scored some awesomely encouraging comments in the process!

I wrote six words of advice for Teen Katy, which Erin L. Schneider combined with the advice of many other YA bloggers/writers into this amazing video.

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle, #1) The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. Perfectly creepy-weird. I couldn’t help but sing its praises!

I indulged my girlie and “dressed up” for Halloween. Little Miss Merida just LOVES this holiday!

November

I took a risk and signed up for National Novel Writing Month for the first time. The WiP I worked on is an upper YA contemporary romance. What else? 😉

I ran (and finished!) the Big Sur Half Marathon, meeting a goal I’d set for myself ages ago. I was exhausted at the end, yet so proud!

I blogged about all the things I’m thankful for…

…and raved about another amazing book, Hannah Harrington’s Saving June (not released in 2012, but one of the best books I read this year).

In slightly less positive news, I parted ways with my former agent and began querying new agents. I didn’t blog about the ordeal until later, but this experience put a bit of a damper on an otherwise extraordinary month.

I WON National Novel Writing Month! (No matter that I haven’t touched the manuscript since November — I still love it! And, I plan on finishing the first draft and making in CP-worthy during the month of January.)

December

I accepted super-agent Victoria Marini’s offer of representation. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Victoria, and I look forward to seeing what the New Year brings in the way of manuscript submissions!

I got to go to Disneyland! Seriously. The happiest place on Earth.

I read and recommended yet another amazing 2012 book: Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNarama. Love, love, love!

I celebrated my husband’s birthday WITH him for once. It was a fantastic day full of The Hobbit, Buffalo Wild Wings, and homemade birthday cake.

I co-hosted the Class of 2012: YA Superlatives Blogfest with Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, and Alison Miller. Such a great turn-out this year. My To-Read list grew about a mile!

And last but not least, I celebrated the holidays with my husband and this sweet girl, and took some time to reflect on the passing year.

Phew!

Tell Me: How was your 2012? What are your hopes for 2013?

Big Changes and Amazing News…

December 5, 2012January 29, 201383 Comments

So… Last month I quietly removed the “Represented by…” bit from my blog and Twitter bios and posted all cryptically about being down in the dumps. The reason? My previous agent and I parted ways. While the split was amicable, I was left feeling really, um… grouchy. I know I’m not the only person who has severed ties with her agent, and I know there are far bigger problems in the world, but in my world, the split felt huge and devastating and hopeless. I was smack in the middle of trying to win National Novel Writing Month, suddenly agentless, facing the oh-so-daunting query trenches.

Boo.

But, it wasn’t all bad. I had a complete and polished manuscript (Cross My Heart, for those of you who’ve been around this blog awhile), a decent start on a blurb that would soon become the meat of my query letter, and a few priceless referrals from writing buddies and industry insiders. Plus, I had my trusted friends, people I was able to turn to when I needed to vent, when I needed help with said query letter, and, eventually, when it was time to celebrate. (THANK YOU, Taryn and Alison and Temre and Elodie!)

I queried while I NaNo-ed which, while overwhelming, kept my mind busy. I racked up a few requests, and a week after I sent my first query, I received a phone call from a lovely and enthusiastic agent who wanted to represent me and my work. Oh my God. I was ecstatic. And relieved. And astonished. It took me two-and-a-half years and three manuscripts to snag an agent’s attention my first go around; it was difficult to process the swiftness with which this second effort went down. To make a long story short, I emailed the other agents who had already requested my work, as well as those I’d queried and hadn’t yet heard back from. A few passed on the initial query and a few never responded, but I somehow ended up with numerous fulls out to be considered.

Over the course of the next week, I received several kind and complimentary passes. I also received a couple more offers and had a couple more phone calls. To be honest, each agent I spoke to was delightful in her own way; I’d be lucky to work with any of them. But still… one stood out. She was just SO passionate and knowledgeable. She understood my characters and their journey, and seemed to love my story in all the same ways I love it. Her revision suggestions were stellar, and even in the weird between-offer-and-acceptance phase, she was super quick to respond to my emails and inquiries. As if all that isn’t enough, her reputation in the writing community is outstanding. She’s pretty much a perfect storm of awesome.

On Monday night, two whirlwind weeks after I sent out my first query letter, I formerly accepted an offer of representation from Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency.

Guys. I could not be more thrilled!

Celebratory flowers from my husband, who is amazing and has put up with all kinds of crazy over the last few weeks . ♥

I wasn’t going to blog today, but…

October 25, 201216 Comments

Oh my gosh… Have you guys seen this? It makes me so happy!

I love The Office!

And then there’s this…

…which is pretty much the cutest idea ever. I’ve already signed on to participate, and you should too! Here’s the form.

Finally, please do read this wonderful post about the author-character-reader relationship by my CP Temre Beltz, who writes brilliant middle grade stories and is lovely and gracious and kind.

Happy Thursday, friends!

To NaNo, or Not to NaNo…

October 16, 2012October 16, 201238 Comments

I *think* I might participate in NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.

For the uninitiated, NaNo-ers spend the month of November writing an original novel. You “win” by writing at least 50,000 words by November 30th, which averages out to be less than 2,000 words a day — totally doable. I’ve gone back and forth about participating, but I figure, what’s the worst that can happen? Even if I don’t win, at least I’ll end up with some new words. And if I do win, I’ve got a pretty sizable chunk of a crappy first draft to complete and revise and polish into something not so crappy. Why not, right?

So, I’ve been reading up on NaNo, and I’ve found some pretty fantastic tips about how to “win” without losing your mind. I thought I might share them here because even if you’re not NaNo-ing, there’s still plenty of quality information on writing in general in the links below.

Happy perusing!

Nine Reasons to Consider Joining the NaNo Silliness – Anne R. Allen

Tips for NaNo First-Timers – YA Yeah Yeah

Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo – Storyist

NaNoWriMo Tips from Veterans – FictionWriting.About.com

The Carpool Lane: Inspiration for NaNoWriMo – YA Highway

How to get Quantity *and* Quality Out of NaNo – Taryn Albright

25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo – Terrible Minds

**ETA: My official NaNo name is katyupperman. You should totally add me as a writing buddy!

Tell me: Have you even participated in National Novel Writing Month? Will you this year? Do you have any tips to share with me, the newbie? 😉

The Next Big Thing…

October 2, 2012September 30, 201261 Comments

Last week my lovely friend Caroline Richmond tagged me in a post entitled The Next Big Thing, which consisted of a WiP-focused questionnaire she first saw over at Miss Snark’s First Victim. I had so much fun reading about Caroline’s WiP, I thought it’d be fun to play along using my own work-in-progress.

So, without further ado…

What is the working title of your book?

Cross My Heart

Where did the idea come from?

The characters, really. Love-interest Max came first, then protagonist Jillian, and then (eventually) the story built itself up around them. Over the years, lots of angsty, tear-jerker-type country songs have aided in its conceptualization.

What genre does your book fall under?

Contemporary YA. More specifically, it’s a romantic drama.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I’m a self-professed old person, therefor I know nothing about teen actors. I have no idea who the people pictured below are (movie stars? models? randoms?) but they’re just how I see Max and Jillian in my head. Cute boy with spikes and an angular jaw. Girl-next-door-pretty teen with dark hair. Perfect.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Aw, man… I suck at one-sentences synopses! How about a tiny snippet from my full pitch? It paints a fairly decent picture of what the story is about:

After a rash but steamy mistletoe kiss, Jillian begins to realize that her growing affection for hot-but-hurting Max extends well beyond friendship. But their clandestine kiss must remain clandestine, because according to Jill’s ever-elusive father and Max’s fracturing sister — Jill’s best friend– Max is utterly off limits.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m lucky to be represented by Vickie Motter of Andrea Hurst Literary, who is enthusiastic and savvy and awesome. In my perfect vision, Cross My Heart will go the route of traditional publishing.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I wrote the first (poor) draft in a month, June of 2010. That’s right — over two years ago. I queried it unsuccessfully, then sat on it for about 18 months. Then, this summer, I rewrote the whole story using the two main characters (totally re-imagined) and small bits of that original first draft. I ended up with a product I’m proud of and confident in.

May we see an intro?

Here are the first few lines:

The pounding at my window comes late, and it scares me shitless.
The last of the trick-or-treaters have called it a night. My father and stepmother have long since stowed the leftover fun-sized Snickers bars and diligently checked the locks; they’ve been asleep for hours. The house is quiet and inky dark, too big for our family of three. It feels particularly hollow tonight, which might explain why I’ve been tossing and turning, chasing sleep for hours.

What other books would you compare this story to?

Jennifer Echol’s upper YA contemporaries are comparable to the tone and romanticism of Cross My Heart, and it’s similar to Sarah Dessen’s novels in its focus on family and friendships and the way relationships change with the coming of age. A recent comp might be Huntley Fitzpatrick’s My Life Next Door.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Many a Taylor Swift song, I’m pleased to say. Also, the music of Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum, and various Classic Country musicians. My earliest, cherished critique partners, who never hesitate to compliment my voice, and my more recently found critique partners, who are brilliant and lovely and generous. Also, my husband, who’s so very supportive and shares some of his best attributes with Cross My Heart‘s Max.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Um… kissing. Lots and lots of kissing. And romantic tension. There’s lots of that, too. Also, baking (Jillian’s an aspiring pastry chef), Western Washington, holidays, football, secrets, lies, and betrayal. And I’ve heard that Jillian can be humorous — sort of sarcastic and dry — so that’s fun.

So, now I get to tag a few friends in the hope that they’ll tell us all about their Next Big Thing…

Jessica Love
Temre Beltz
Alison Miller
Sara McClung
Rebecca Behrens

And you too! If you decide to post about your Next Big Thing, please do link me in the comments of this post so I can stop by and check it out!