Category: The Writing Journey

Friday Five: On taking a break…

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As you may know, I’ve been working feverishly on a revision. And by feverishly, I mean I’m sitting in front of my laptop whenever a I have a quiet minute. When I’m NOT working (I have a family that, while fantastic, demands a fair amount of my time), I’m mentally obsessing about when I’ll be back at my computer, typing away.

Honestly, I was starting to get a little burnt out on my revision. My motivation was lagging and my creative inspiration was drained almost dry.

Until yesterday…

Yesterday was a very busy day. I was up at 4:30am and didn’t go to bed until after 10pm. I didn’t actively revise AT ALL. That’s a rarity, and all day I was feeling distantly guilty and a little bitter about my lack of time to work. I just want to finish this revision, you know?

But… yesterday was a really good day.  

1. I had an excellent run, and was home before the sun came up.

2. I got to volunteer in my girlie’s  kindergarten classroom. I got to spend time painting with adorable five-year-olds who told me sweet stories about their families and their favorite colors and the things they like most about school.

3. I had brunch at a very tasty restaurant with a very good friend. The girl talk was much needed and much appreciated!

4. I completed my first ever Bikram Yoga class. That’s twenty-six postures in ninety minutes in a one-hundred-five degree room. It was so freaking hard, yet I can’t wait to go back!

5. And, I found my first ever four leaf clover!

Moral of the story? Sometimes a day free of outlining/writing/revising can be a GOOD THING. While part of me wishes I’d made some progress on my WiP yesterday, a bigger part of me is grateful for the break. I feel refreshed and inspired and motivated, ready to tackle revising again today.

Tell Me: How often do you take a day off from writing? What do you do to reclaim your creative inspiration?

One-Word Wednesday

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Happy Wednesday, friends! Here’s what I’ve been up to lately…


Exploration
{Headed out to hike Big Sur.}


Flailing
{This is how all literary masters do it, right?}


Glorious
{Sunrise on my running route… Why I get up at 5 a.m. to pound the pavement.}


Veggie-licious
{I’m experimenting with a vegetarian lifestyle… It’s been almost two weeks, and I’ve only fallen off the wagon once (turkey burger at a barbecue). Despite that one little slip, I don’t miss meat much at all.}


Flora
{Everywhere! Our town has the coolest farmers’ market. Yesterday my girlie and I went and came home with plums, smoked salmon, avocados, fresh flowers, and that super cute, hand-knit hat she’s wearing. JUST what we needed!}


Charming
{Love Carmel by the Sea so much!}


Heart-wrenching
{This book yanked me out of my reading funk in a major way. I loved it SO MUCH. Seriously… I smiled, I swooned, I stressed, I cringed, I *almost* cried. I just wanted to hug Zoe and Will so much, and the final pages… CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM. Add Nobody But US to your Goodreads shelf, and PLEASE pick this book up when it debuts in January!}


Sweet
{The girl and the Fudgsicle. :)}

Tell me: Now that summer is coming to an end, what will you miss most about the season of sunshine?

Pity Party

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I’m throwing myself one, here and now.

While I try to keep the tone of this blog generally upbeat, I’ve been feeling very blah lately. My blahs, I think, stem from a few different catalysts. May I elaborate?

One, news I’ve been anxiously awaiting pretty much the entire summer finally trickled in and… it was not great. Two, I’m smack in the middle of a revision that, while necessary (and awesome), is giving me more than its fair share of fits. Three, my daughter is in school now, all day, every day, and despite the much-needed additional work time, I’m a little lonely. Four, I can’t for the life of me get into a book. I’ve been picking up and putting down the same two for a week-and-a-half, and neither of them will hold my attention. And five, the winding down of summer… Eh. I’m a fun-in-the-sun girl, and I always feel a little down when the weather starts to turn.

Transition and change and the unpredictable can be tough, and lately I feel like I’m seeing A LOT of all three.

So, yeah. Boo hoo.

The good news is: I’m not alone! Posts throughout the blogosphere have cemented that over the last week, particularly this one from Caroline Richmond, and this one from Christa Desir. My writing friends make me feel normal, and for that I’m grateful.

In that spirit, I invite you to join my pity party. It’s right here, right now, and since you can’t bring brownies or Bud Light, I welcome you to leave a gripe (big or small, important or insignificant) in the comments . We can all take a few moments to wallow together, and then we can let our crap go and move onward, toward a better week. A happier week!

So, what are you bringing to my pity party?

Admittedly, it’s hard to be *too* grouchy when I get to spend afternoons laughing with this girlie.

FINALLY!

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Over the weekend, I finished my WiP with these words:

I couldn’t stop smiling. I STILL can’t stop smiling. There are few feelings better than knowing you’ve drafted an entire story.

Technically, this WiP was a re-drafting, or a rewrite. I imported scenes from the original story (which I wrote in June of 2010), but approximately 80% of the manuscript is new material. The characters are reimagined (I love them so much more now!) and their story is fresh and more complex. The romance is more authentic, the conflict bigger, and the stakes higher. It’s far from perfect, but for the first time in a long while, I’m truly excited about it.

And now I get to tackle my slightly intimidating list of revision notes:

  I much prefer revising to drafting, though, so I’m looking forward to diving in. Time to make this manuscript shine so I can send it to my brilliant CPs and, eventually, Agent Vickie (cue nerves!).

As the summer carries on, my blogging will continue to be sporadic, but I’m slowly crawling out from my cave of WiP madness.

Yay!

Where are you in your writing journey?

D is for Delusions

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Delusions.

All writers have them. In our heads, they often masquerade as confidence. Confidence is a GOOD thing. We need to be confident, to believe that our work is (or will one day be) worthy of being read, and that our efforts aren’t for nothing. We need confidence in order to press on.

Delusions are confidence’s evil step-sister. They keep us from moving forward, from honing our craft, and from growing as writers. They can be incredibly disadvantageous. Delusions keep us from reaching the success we dream of.

A few delusions I’ve entertained over the years:

Plot and structure are for conformists.

I don’t need to have my work critiqued; no one knows my story as well as I do.

Revisions are unnecessary; my story will be perfect the first time around.

I don’t need to abide by word count guidelines; every word of my (133,000 word) manuscript is golden.

Just wait until agents see this FIRST DRAFT of my FIRST MANUSCRIPT… They’ll be falling all over themselves to sign me.

I’ll definitely be one of those rare debut authors who sells at auction for six figures.

I know. Ridiculous, right?! It was sort of embarrassing even typing that insanity out, but looking back reminds me of how far I’ve come, and how vastly I’ve been educated.

Confidence = Good ~ Delusions = Bad

Delusional

Admit it… you’ve entertained a few writing delusions of your own. Care to share?

What’s new?

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Oh, life. How did you get so busy?

I’ve finished another round of revisions on Poppies. It’s amazing what a few months away will do for your perspective on a story. This particular revision proved to be one of the most challenging and most satisfying I’ve worked on. In case you’re wondering, I focused on amping up the tension to make the story feel more thriller-esque, and I also took a main character from creepy to super-extra-über creepy, which is always fun.

My life has been consumed by this revision over the last several weeks. My DVR is chock-full of ANTM and Project Runway All Stars, and I’m pretty sure my husband is sick to death of hearing me talk about any and everything related to Poppies. Now that I’m done with this round, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I also feel like I have all kinds of time on my hands, which is why I’m (finally) blogging.

In other news, my hubby and I visited Vancouver, BC over the weekend. I had my doubts about the idea of a getaway (see above paragraphs), but we ended up having an incredible time. Also, thanks to some ridiculous wait times at the border, I was able to get quite a bit of revising done in the car. If you haven’t visited Vancouver, I recommend it. It’s a much bigger, more diverse city than I’d realized. It’s also very clean and the food is amazing. Plus, there’s tons to do:

We went to a kickass country bar where my husband rode a bull, and subsequently banned me from posting the pictures online. Boo! (Oh, and there’s nothing like a nineteen-year-old drinking age to make you feel ancient!).

We visited–and walked across!–the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Awesome.

Okay, I admit it: I was a little scared. The bridge spanned an insane ravine and was, quite literally, suspended. It swayed a lot and by the time we made it across, I was experiencing a bit of motion sickness. Still, totally worth it!

There was a cliff walk, too, which was equally thrilling.

We got to watch the Canucks play, and win! I’ve never been to an NHL game, and I have to admit, it was surprisingly entertaining. My husband was all about teaching me the rules of the game, and we ended up sitting in a section full of very enthusiastic (read: drunk) Canadians, which made the sporting event all the more authentic.

Now that we’re home from Canada, we’re getting focused on our pending move. We’ll be leaving our beloved Pacific Northwest for the beautiful Monterey Bay sometime in May, and I’m pretty excited. The actual act of moving sucks, though, and I’m not so pumped about its finer points (packing, cleaning, driving, unpacking, settling, blah, blah, blah…). But, the Army wife in me knows it’ll be an adventure, and moving means my husband won’t be deploying for a good 18 months. I’d do pretty much anything to make that happen!

Changing gears a bit… I’ve decided to participate in April’s Blogging from A to Z Challenge (because I obviously don’t have enough going on). I feel like I’ve neglected my blog lately, and this seems like a fun way to reinvigorate it. If you’re interested in playing along (you totally should!), you can sign up HERE.

And a few more links worth checking out: This article about The Hunger Games movie. According to Hollywood vet Nina Jacobson (who acquired the rights to the trilogy), “Young people are actually really savvy about what they consume, and the success of this book is a reflection of their sophistication…” Thanks, Nina. We totally already knew that. 🙂 And this post by the brilliant Kate Hart, detailing 2011-2012 YA book deals, with infographics!

So, what’s new in your world? Will you blog A-Z in April? Are you counting down the hours till The Hunger Games?!

Musings of a struggling rewriter…

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Rewriting… easy-peasy. *rubs hands together* This is going to be FUN!

*stares blankly at computer*

*embraces procrastination*

Okay then. I might be in over my head a bit here. Perhaps I should revisit my beat sheet? Complete basic outline? A DETAILED outline?

Eek.

*yanks at hair* How the hell do you replot a WHOLE STORY?

I used to know these freaking characters inside and out, but now… Who have they become? Who do they NEED to become?

*runs miles and miles and miles*

*ponders*

Huh. All this time I thought I was REWRITING, but I was really just tinkering… polishing a turd, if you will.

*has epiphany*

Must start from square one!

Okay… I might actually be making progress now. No, wait…

*groans* *cries* THIS IS SO MUCH HARDER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE! *shovels handfuls of bittersweet chocolate chips into mouth*

*finally secures a fragile hold on sanity*

Good thing my 2012 word is RESOLVE, because that’s what it’s going to take to get this thing done.

*writes*

*writes some more*

Last week SUCKED. Meeting my word count goal was like pulling teeth. But this week… Hmm.

Wait! Is that…? Oh! I think it is! The urge to write! I actually WANT to write.

Pinned Image

Happy Friday the Thirteenth. 🙂 How’s YOUR writing coming along?

2011 IN REVIEW…

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Lots of people do wrap-ups at the end of the year, but lovely posts by Jessica Love and Erin Bowman in particular have inspired me to do one of my own. Fair warning: This is a LONG post. It’s also full of pictures, many of which include my daughter. If you’re getting bored with those, please accept my apologies. She’s just so darn cute!

All in all, 2011 was a strange year, full of very high highs and some super low lows. Here’s what sticks out…

JANUARY

High – Revised and started querying my manuscript, Where Poppies Bloom, in hopes of snagging a fantastic literary agent.

High – Cheered on the Seahawks, a sort of last hurrah with my husband before he headed out to Ranger School.


Low AND High – Said a sad goodbye my hubby and began a year of serious bonding with my favorite girl.

February

High – Sent more Poppies queries, received some requests, then some encouraging rejections, revised, queried some more.


Low – Turned thirty… Eep! I’m old! (Though the Ben and Jerry’s was a high.)

High – Took serious inventory of my eating and lifestyle habits and decided to make some major changes. I’ve since become a healthy eater and happy runner and yoga-er. I’ve lost a significant amount of weight and feel amazing.

March

Becoming a Low – Had a few close calls with Poppies, revised, queried some more. (Are we beginning to see a pattern here?)

High – Welcomed Spring with open arms.

Low – My girlie lost her first tooth. (Okay, it was knocked out. She cried. I did too.)

High – I acquired a niece! I’d already been blessed with three nephews, so this was a VERY exciting event! Isn’t she sweet?

High – While Poppies was in the hands of several agents, I decided to give it a mental rest in favor of something shiny and new. This idea (creatively entitled Bus WiP) resulted in a detailed outline that’s still awaiting a first draft.

April

High – Celebrated Easter with my Sweet Pea.

High – Trekked across the country to watch my husband graduate from Ranger School in Georgia. So proud of him! (Also, he’s not normally this thin. Ranger School is grueling.)

High – Received an offer of representation from an amazing agent while on vacation! Notified others who were reading. Waited…

High – Visited Disney World with my parents, my husband and our girl, and my in-laws. Such a wonderful trip!


High – Visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Hogsmeade! Butterbeer! Rollercoasters! Dream come true. 🙂

May

High – Received a second offer of representation. Contemplated. Made a challenging but thrilling decision. Signed with Agent Vickie. Celebration ensued!

Low – Watched and worried as my dad’s health mysteriously deteriorated, culminating in TWO brain surgeries and a discouraging diagnoses. I can’t really describe what this was like, except to say that watching a man who’s appeared invincible your entire life rapidly decline is absolutely heartbreaking.

Low – Waved a tearful goodbye to my husband as he deployed to Afghanistan. Again, it’s hard to express how horrible a feeling it is to say farewell to the person you love most, especially knowing there’s a possibility he could be hurt or killed while away. It’s the very best part of yourself, ripped away.

June

High – Happily welcomed Summer!

High – Got down and dirty with the Poppies revision ideas Agent Vickie suggested. Fleshed out characters. Upped the mystery. Added detail to the setting and backstory.

High – Watched the world’s hammiest little hula girl dance the Hukilau.

High – Fell in love with my small town all over again.

July

High – Successfully completed my first 5K, and my first round of revisions.


High – Celebrated the Fourth of July with family and friends.


Low – Dealt with this hideous creature cock-a-doodle-dooing all day and night for weeks. (I found out later that my neighbor shot him. Yikes.)

High – Dove into another round of revisions. (Yes. I am freakishly pragmatic.)


Low – Said goodbye to Harry Potter. The end of an era, I tell ya!

High – My girlie and I visited my parents in Phoenix. My dad was weak but beginning to recover, thank goodness.

August

High – Celebrated my girl’s fourth birthday…

…with a very Tangled Birthday Bash!

High – Completed a second 5K, and submitted another revised version of Poppies to Agent Vickie. Getting close!

Low – Rushed my Sweet Pea to the ER after she fell face-first on the pavement. Tears all around. A terrifying night, but luckily there was no lasting damage.

High – Discovered yoga and became a total junkie.

High – Contemplated and planned for a rewrite of a previously “finished” manuscript. This one’s still in the works, and it’s one I’m really excited about.

September

High – My girlie began another year of preschool. Where has the time gone?!

High – Got our country on and traveled to the Tacoma Dome to see…

Taylor Swift!

October


Low – Begrudgingly accepted that Fall was on its way. We’re sunshine girls… What can I say?

High – Our annual trip to the local Pumpkin Patch.

High – Halloween with Rapunzel. (I was Hermione Granger, obviously.)

High – I was invited to join the Bookanistas, a group of writers who review exceptional picture, middle grade, and young adult literature.

November

High – Finished revising Poppies! Embraced my next project.


High – Lots of bonding with fantastic friends, especially this girl, who I adore!

Low – Realized that I’m a compulsive book buyer. Yeah…

High (sort of) – Had all kinds of fun with my family, cheering my beloved Cougs on to an Apple Cup… LOSS. *sigh*

High – Got all dolled up to see Cinderella at the Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle. (Loved.)

December

Low – Accepted Winter for its frigid days and early nights. Boo. Still, with sunrises like this one, it’s not all bad. (How cool is the shadow of Mt. Rainier on the clouds?)

High – Rediscovered my love of baking. Now I just need my husband to return so he can eat all my confections!

Low – Speaking of my husband, I came to terms with the fact that my daughter and I will be spending another holiday season without him. Painful, but I’m so thankful this deployment is winding down.

High – Reconnected with old friends. I’ve known these girls since I was sixteen (one since I was ten!).

There you have it… My 2011. The highs, the lows, and everything in between. This post (while incredibly time consuming to put together!) was a fun trip down memory lane. It’s reminded me how lucky I am, how much I’ve grown in twelve months, and, most importantly, that the highs always outnumber the lows.

Tell me, what was your highest high of 2011? Your lowest low?

Deja Vu Blogfest

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Today, thanks to inspiration from DL Hammons, Katie Mills (Creepy Query Girl), Lydia Kang, and Nicole Ducleroir, I give you my post for the…

This post is from September, 2010. I was just beginning the first draft of the manuscript that eventually landed me Agent Vickie, and I was clearly going through a bit of an identity crisis. I like this post, though, because most of us have been in this place of uncertainty and insecurity, and it makes me feel like I’ve grown up a bit. I also like The Family Guy clip at the end. 🙂

I have to admit, I’m something of a closeted writer. Other than my online writing friends, only my closest family members know that I’ve written a few stories and am in the process of seeking representation for my work.

Don’t get me wrong: My writing isn’t a secret, exactly. I have a blog (obviously) and a Twitter account. If someone were so inclined they could Google me and they’d know all about what I’ve been up to. But, I don’t really like to bring my writing up in conversation. It just doesn’t feel REAL yet. I talk to my husband (at length!) about my projects and querying and submissions, but he’s really the only one.  

Part of it is that I feel a little pretentious and a lot insecure telling  people I’m a writer. Inevitably, their next questions is, “What have you written?” Well, I’ve written a lot of stuff, but you can’t buy it. It’s not in the hands of any publishers yet. I don’t even have an agent. In fact, I’m still incredibly early in the process.

And then there’s that weird obligation to update the people who ARE in the know, which at this point is a lot of, “She asked for a partial,” or “He requested the full,” or “She passed.” It’s all exciting for ME (well, except when they pass), but to anyone else, it probably seems that all I do is a lot of emailing, then waiting… and waiting… and waiting.  

I know I’m a writer. It’s what I’ve spent the last few years consumed by and stressed over and excited about. Pretty much every emotion in between, actually. I know I’ll continue to write, even if it takes years to meet my goal of publication. But at what point do you get to CALL yourself a writer? When your first manuscript is complete? Or when you land an agent? The day you sign your first book deal? Or maybe on release day, when your literary baby is born into the world?

When did you come out as a writer to your friends and family? (And is being out better or worse that being in hiding?) 

An aside: I do not watch The Family Guy (I actually don’t watch any cartoons, ever, unless they’re stamped with the Disney seal of approval), however my husband and younger brother are big fans. In fact, my brother and I have a running joke involving Stewie (the baby) and Brian (the dog and aspiring novelist). Just about every time we talk he asks me (in very exaggerated, Stewie-esque tones) about my novel and protagonist and whether my story has a beginning, middle and end. Check out the clip below… it never fails to makes me laugh. 🙂

Now wasn’t that little blast from the past fun? Please do visit the Deja Vu Blogfest headquarters to check out the rest of the under-appreciated but awesome posts!

Looking for more blogfest fun? Why not check out the one I’m co-hosting with Jessica Love, Tracey Neithercott, and Alison Miller? The Class of 2011: YA Superlative Blogfest is a fun and interactive way to highlight and share your favorite YA novels, covers, characters, and story elements published in 2011. It will span four days, beginning Tuesday, December 27th and culminating Friday, December 30th. Click on the banner below to find out more and to sign up!

On My Wish List: Writing the Fire!

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I’ve made no secret of my love for yoga around here. I do it almost daily, and on the rare days I skip, I feel like crap. Clearly, Yoga + Katy = Love.

One thing I love just as much as yoga is writing (duh). Thanks to my blogging friend Kirsten Lopresti, I’ve now learned that yoga and writing MIX. Have you heard of this book?

Writing the Fire!: Yoga and the Art of Making Your Words Come Alive

From Goodreads: Writing the Fire! offers writers a new and visionary practice: using yoga to release the body’s inner intelligence and then support, shape, and inform the creative process. Indeed, “writing is yoga,” declares Gail Sher, introducing the “writing asana”—an invaluable new tool for every writer’s routine. Her insightful and lyrical book, organized around eight thematic “immersions,” plumbs yoga’s wisdom heritage. As Donald Moyer, director of the Yoga Room in Berkeley, comments, “She encourages writers to approach their writing with the clarity and presence of yogis, and teaches yogis how to temper their awareness with the heat of words and images.” Writing the Fire! celebrates the fullest expression of our being.

It’s almost as if Writing the Fire! was written just for me. I’m a big fan of using exercise to mentally work out all kinds of writing snags, but I’ve never thought of it as a way to “release the body’s inner intelligence.” I’m on board though, and I’ll definitely be picking this book up. Who’s with me?

Do you incorporate exercise into your writing routine? Tell me about it!

A few more catch up things, since it’s Monday and all…

  • Two fantastic posts I’ve come across in the last few days: Jessica Love’s Query Advice, and Anne. R. Allen’s How to Blog and How Not to Blog. All three are full of helpful information no matter what stage of the game you’re in.
  • I’ve been fully immersed in the Christmas spirit all weekend, and it’s only December 12th! In the last few days, I’ve wrapped zillions of presents, and these things have also happened:
Many Christmas cookies have been baked…

Santa Claus has been visited…

And gingerbread houses have been decorated!

  • My daughter has her preschool holiday performance tonight. She’s singing a Walking in a Winter Wonderland solo, and she’s playing the part of Mary in the nativity bit. Can’t wait to watch, and I’m promising in advance some super cute photos from the event. 🙂
  • One more important note: Please do make sure to sign up for the Class of 2011: YA Superlative Blogfest. It’ll be TONS of fun, plus a great way to highlight all the exceptional books you’ve read this year. Click the button below for the official post, and to sign up!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend, and here’s to a wonderful week ahead!