What’s Up Wednesday

March 12, 2014March 24, 201452 Comments

“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…

What I’m Reading: I finished Stephanie Kuehn’s Complicit (out in June) and holy hell, was it good. If you’re a fan of Stephanie’s debut, Charm & Strange, I think you’ll be all over her sophomore novel. And if you haven’t read Charm & Strange yet, you should remedy that right away. Now, I’m reading Nil by Lynne Matson, who is lovely. The story is set in the most fascinating island world, and it’s edge-of-my-seat exciting so far.

What I’m Writing: I’m revising according to (brilliant) CP notes. You know how when you’re writing, sometimes you know something’s not clicking but you’re not sure how to fix it, so you press on with the hope of making it right later? Well, CP Alison picked up on those areas of my manuscript that weren’t working and gave me some awesome suggestions for fixing them. So, that’s what I’m doing now. Inserting a few new scenes, filling holes, and taking advantage some missed opportunities, all while catching some rays. Love this part!

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Getting ready to go to Disney World with my girl! We’re meeting some great friends there for a few days of fun and we cannot wait. I am such a sucker for all things Disney, and it’s been way too long since we last visited a park. Like, more than a year. Way overdue. 😉

I’ve been pretty good about eating healthfully lately (I haven’t had a beer in a month!), but on Friday I caved and baked cookies. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, to be specific. I followed this recipe, but I didn’t have Reese’s Pieces, so I used Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips instead. They turned out SO WELL. This combination of ingredients creates cookies of the perfect peanut-buttery consistency. Recommend!

My girlie celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday at school all last week. I made her green eggs for breakfast one day, and she also participated in a Read-A-Thon, which I totally crashed and photographed because I’m *that* mom.

What’s Inspiring Me Now: I officially crossed the first item off my Thirty Before 35 bucket list: I finished watching the Friday Night Lights TV series. In the words of the incomparable Tami Taylor: Good lord, y’all! This show ranks right up there with Breaking Bad and Six Feet Under as an all-time favorite — it is so freaking good! I mean, it’s definitely about football (which is awesome), but there’s so much more to it. For starters, there’s Tim Riggins who’s all broken and brooding and conflicted and, um, hot…

And then there are these deep relationships between people who, for the most part, have very little in common aside from football (Vince & Luke, Tyra & Landry, Eric & Buddy, Matt & Smash, Matt & Tim, Matt and his grandma ❤)…

And then there are the romances (Julie and Matt are super sweet, and I love Vince and Jess too, but I will always ship Tim and Lyla)…

And then there’s Tami Taylor, who makes me want to be a better wife, mother, and person, and who’s totally making y’all happen. Plus, she has the most impeccable football-wife style…

Aren’t you sad you won’t get to hear me rave about this show week after week anymore? What should I watch next? I’m thinking maybe Gossip Girl?

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

March 5, 2014March 5, 201446 Comments

What I’m Reading: I finished Sarah Ockler’s The Book of Broken Hearts and, dare I say, it might be tied with Twenty Boy Summer as my favorite of her novels. I enjoyed JuJu’s voice (so spirited and perfectly teen), I adored Emilio (especially the sweet way he treated JuJu and her father), I loved the family dynamics (Holy Trinity FTW. Also, Pancake!), and there were several Friday Night Lights references. Pretty much an ideal Katy Book. Now, I’m reading Stephanie Kuehn’s Complicit (out in June), which is totally blowing my mind with it’s twisty awesomeness. If you’re a fan of Stephanie’s debut, Charm & Strange, I think you’ll be all over her sophomore novel. So incredible, guys!

What I’m Writing: Nothing! I finished my revision on Sunday, and now I’m taking a bit of a writing break. It’s kind of nice to wake up in the morning and know that I don’t have a big fat goal hanging over my head. That said, I’m already missing my characters, so I’m sure I’ll end up tinkering soon. Since I’m not writing right now, I’m using my time to read for my CP Alison Miller, who’s written this really amazing story called Those Magic Changes. It’s a clever spin on Freaky Friday that includes musical theater and baseball and Star Wars references, plus Alison’s incredibly funny voice. Let’s just say… I’m a lucky CP.

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Still watching Friday Night Lights. I’m over halfway through Season 4, and while I had my doubts (lots of changes between Seasons 3 and 4), I’m loving it. Episodes 5 and 6 (The Son and Stay) particularly got me (Tim and Lyla… *sigh*). Also, I’m totally digging farmboy Luke and his dynamic with Becky and inner-city Vince. Such a fantastically complex show.

My girlie and I drove to Tallahassee on Saturday, where we met my brother (who lives in Jacksonville). We visited The Museum of Florida State History, had a tasty lunch al fresco, and walked around the city. We accidentally wandered onto FSU’s Greek Row, which my brother very accurately described as smelling of Axe Body Spray and cheap beer. It was nothing like my days on WSU’s Greek Row. 😉

What’s Inspiring Me Now: Author Claire Legrand‘s article entitled The Importance of the Unlikeable Heroine, which very eloquently states everything I feel about “unlikeable” female characters, inculding why they fascinate me. A must read. Also, my friend Christa Desir‘s post about Consent and Sensitivity: “Good Sex” in YA Literature, which comes with a lot of thoughtful commentary and some really fabulous book recommendations.

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

February 26, 2014February 25, 201438 Comments

What I’m Reading: So… I had to put Holly Black’s White Cat aside. I only got about ten pages into the story and while I’m intrigued, I’m just not in the right mood for urban fantasy these days. I’ll definitely go back to it, but for now, I’m going to stick with contemporary YA. What can I say? It’s where my heart is (just look at those covers below!). I finished Jolene Perry’s The Summer I Found You, which I’ll review in detail in tomorrow’s Bookanista post, and now I’m reading Sarah Ockler’s The Book of Broken Hearts. Loving Juju’s voice so far!

What I’m Writing: I talked about my revision of Good Girls in Monday’s #WriterRecharge post, but let’s review: I finished my Cut All the Crap round, and now I’m going through my revision to-do list and fixing the issues I know exist — mostly having to do with character development and cohesion. I’m also doing some polishing and shifting and texturing. I think this baby’s going to be ready for readers by the end of the week!

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Other than rocking my revision goals, I’m still watching Friday Night Lights like a feign. I’m nearly done with season 3 and holy crap… I love this show so much. I actually met one of its creators, Peter Berg, a few months ago and it’s a good thing I hadn’t started watching FNL yet. I probably would’ve fangirled all over the poor man. (Incidentally, I did tell him about the enormous crush I have on Marky Mark Wahlberg, so there’s that.)

I made Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread, which turned out wonderfully. My girlie thought I was kidding when I told her I was fixing bread with zucchini *and* chocolate in it, and that would end up tasting like a treat. She loves it. 🙂

It’s been gorgeous in Florida lately, and we’ve been spending lots of time outdoors and at the park. Hearing about the crappy weather the rest of the country’s dealing with makes me thankful for this beautiful location the Army has moved us to. We’ve been so lucky these last few duty stations!

Oh, and I bought a garden gnome. She’s reading, and she reminds me a little of Moaning Myrtle. She makes me smile.

What’s Inspiring Me Now: My WiP is full of characters who make terribly selfish choices. Yet, I want readers to empathize with them and, at the very least, understand their motivations. When Flaws Go Too Far: Avoiding Unlikeable Characters by Angela Ackerman for Writer’s Digest has fantastic tips for creating characters who are flawed, yet still relatable. I’m also inspired by this piece by Ruth Harris for Anne R. Allen’s Blog called From Pathetic to Professional: 8 Ways to Beat the First Draft Blues, which shares strategies for shaping and refining first drafts. Super helpful. Also, I’m loving Miss Megan Whitmer‘s latest vlog called Censoring Characters: Where Do We Draw the Line? It’s an awesome conversation starter about writers staying true to their characters vs. remaining socially acceptable. Like Megan, I’ve yet to nail down my stance on this — tough stuff. Lots of great thoughts in the comments section too!

And, on a much more personal note, this week my former neighbor and dear friend Brittany wrote about the birth of her angel baby Bella Joy. It’s a heartbreaking story, but so beautiful and inspirational too. Brittany and her husband are amazing people and incredible parents (their five-year-old is one of my daughter’s favorite friends) and I wish them peace and love and all the best. ♥

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

February 19, 2014February 18, 201440 Comments

What I’m Reading: I finished Veronica Rossi’s Into the Still Blue, the final book in her Under the Never Sky series and, as expected, I loved it. Such a fantastic conclusion to a trilogy I’ve followed since its debut. I also read Jessi Kirby’s In Honor, which is now my favorite of her three contemporary YA novels. So, so good! The ending, especially… I just adored it. Now I’ve started White Cat by Holly Black. I’m not much of an urban fantasy girl (I guess that’s what this one is?) so I’m way out of my reading comfort zone, but I’ve heard great things about the world-building and such. Who’s read it? Thoughts?

What I’m Writing: I spent a few days poring over a manuscript I’ve ignored for many months. As I opened the document to revisit it, I was sort of terrified that I’d suddenly hate it, but nope! Still love these characters and their story. I’m looking forward to working on it more once I’m done with this revision of my current WiP, which is what I spent the majority of my time focusing on over the last week. Let’s face the facts, shall we? This draft’s ending needs work. Major work. But, I’m still rather smitten, so I’m more than happy to put in the time. Hopefully it’ll all pay off one of these days. 🙂

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Mostly just reading, writing, and hanging with my girlie. We went on a shopping spree in Destin the other day, which turned out to be a really fun Girls’ Day Out. We hit up two malls, Target, Ulta, and Panera, and updated my cutie pie’s summer wardrobe. She insisted on choosing all of her new clothes without my input because she’s “a big girl now.” *sniffle*

Luckily she has a pretty good fashion sense. 🙂

Gulf of Mexico in the morning. I’ve gotta say… As much as I miss living next to the Pacific Ocean, this isn’t half bad.

What’s Inspiring Me Now: I know I’ve been raving about Friday Night Lights a lot lately, but other than parenting, writing, and reading, it’s what I do. The writing and characterizations and relationships going on in that show absolutely inspire me. I only hope to create something so riveting!

Also, these two. I’ve been battling some wicked insomnia lately, and I wish I could sleep as restfully (and as often) as they do.

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

February 12, 2014February 11, 201441 Comments

What I’m Reading: I finished Lucy Christopher’s The Killing Woods and found it dark and strange and very compelling. I didn’t love it like I loved her Stolen, but I was certainly entertained. Next, I read Erin Bowman’s Stolen: A Taken Novella, which I adored. It focuses on Bree, my favorite character from Erin’s dystopian debut Taken, and gives all sorts of awesome insight into her history. Her backstory totally broke my heart and made me love her even more. I also read Elizabeth Scott’s Heartbeat, a lovely, romantic contemporary. I’ll talk about it in more detail in tomorrow’s Bookanista post. Now, I’m reading Veronica Rossi’s Into the Still Blue, the final book in her Under the Never Sky series. *sniffle* I’m so bummed that this trilogy is coming to an end!

What I’m Writing: I’m still plugging away at my first revision pass. I’m nearly done, only a few scenes to go, but they’re the scenes that need the most work. Back in October I rushed the ending just to get there and I’m pretty sure I’ll be paying for my hastiness over the next few days while I try to make sense of it all. In brighter news… I kind of love my story. It still needs work and I know my CPs will tear it apart in the most loving of ways, but the bones of it — the characters and the romance and the tragedy of it all — I think it’s working.

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Congratulating my husband, who has managed to become published before me. I’m much more proud than bitter. Promise. 😉 If you’re interested in how HBO’s “The Wire” can be applied to the special operations and intelligence communities, or any organization that’s involved in irregular warfare or unconventional warfare, you can can read his article HERE.

I made Danish Puff! This is another of my favorite treats. It’s great for brunch: almond-y and not too sweet, simple, and very pretty. My little family and I devoured these in a day. (Also, thanks to Juliana for calling me out on my failure to include a treat in last week’s WUW. I’m back up to speed today!)

Over the last few days, I’ve watched almost all of first season of Friday Night Lights. I have no idea how I’ve neglected this show for so long, especially considering my fondness for teen dramas (Dawson’s Creek, Beverly Hills, 90210, The Vampire Diaries, etc), but FNL is SO GOOD. Tim Riggins… Swoon.

What’s Inspiring Me Now: See above. The romance and angst and perfectly imperfect characters of Friday Night Lights have me all kinds of inspired. I can’t wait to watch more! In other (amazing!) news, my friend Elodie has taken control of her magic and decided to self-publish her contemporary YA novel ONE TWO THREE (you can mark it To-Read on Goodreads HERE). Congrats, Elodie! I’m so excited for you! As far as writing inspiration, there’s this article from Writers Helping Writers about Writing Extreme Emotion Without Melodrama. There’s such a fine line between the two, and this post has some awesome tips. Definitely check it out. And, finally my girlie, who drew Daphne in our driveway the other day. She’s so artistic and sweet. She inspires me every day.

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

February 5, 2014February 4, 201440 Comments

What I’m Reading: I finished Jamie Blair’s Leap of Faith and absolutely adored it. My only (tiny) complaint is that I wanted more from the ending. Not a different ending — just more. I fell so in love with the characters and I was left feeling a little uncertain about their futures. Maybe Jamie Blair will write a sequel? That would be awesome! Now I’m reading Lucy Christopher’s The Killing Woods. Her Stolen: A Letter to My Captor is one of my favorite YAs ever, so I’ve got super high expectations. So far I’m intrigued and I like the dual POVs a lot. It took me a little while to warm up to the story itself because there are so many unknowns, but so far so good!

What I’m Writing: Incase you missed it, I’m cohosting a #WriterRecharge with Alison Miller, Liz Parker, Elodie Nowodazkij, & Sara Biren. We’re setting goals for the month of February, posting them, writing/revising together on Twitter, and holding each other accountable. It’s an awesome way to stay motivated and up productivity, plus it’s just fun! If you’d like to sign up, you can do so at Sara’s blog. My main goal for February is to have a readable draft ready for my CPs by the month’s end. It’s a big goal, but one I *think* is doable.

Thanks to #WriterRecharge, I’ve been revising A LOT. It’s crazy how knowing that people will be checking in on my progress motivates me. Whatever it takes, right? I’m about halfway through this major first revision and I’m feeling pretty good about it. Thanks to some help from one of my CPs (you’re the best, Alison!) I’ve got one of my big issues worked out. Now I’m mostly trimming all the fat so I can make room for the awesome new bits I know I need to add.

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Cheering on the Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship, of course. Like most Pacific Northwesterners, we are beyond excited about Sunday’s victory!

I took a break from running over the last several weeks, but now I’m back at it. My endurance has suffered (last spring I could run five miles in under forty minutes), but I’m not too discouraged. I’m taking it slow and building up my stamina, and even though my neighborhood is ridiculously hilly, I’m enjoying it.

My girl turned six-and-a-half on Monday. We don’t celebrate half-birthdays with parties or presents of course, but it’s a big milestone in her little mind so we indulge in a bit of coddling. She got to choose dinner (homemade chicken strips, mashed potatoes, and “build your own” salads), and she got lots of extra hugs and kisses from us and Daphne. ♡

What’s Inspiring Me Now: Seattle Seahawks Changing Future of Football with Yoga and Meditation — yes, this article is football-centric, but there are lots of awesome points about positivity and building players up that can be applied to all aspects of life, including writing and parenting. Clearly, these unconventional methods are working for this year’s Super Bowl Champions. 🙂 Also inspiring: Taylor Swift’s latest release All Too Well. I’ve loved this song since my girl and I bought the Red album last year, but lately its lyrics have really spoken to the tone of my WiP. This bit especially…

And maybe we got lost in translation
Maybe I asked for too much
But maybe this thing was a masterpiece
Till you tore it all up
Running scared, I was there, I remember it all too well

And you call me up again, just to break me like a promise
So casually cruel in the name of being honest
I’m a crumpled up piece of paper lying here
Cause I remember it all all all too well…

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

January 29, 2014January 28, 201447 Comments

What I’m Reading: Over the weekend I read Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn, which isn’t a book I normally would have picked up because there’s much talk of wolves in the summary. But it is so, so good, guys. The plotting — WOW. And the writing… it’s beautiful. The entire story is visceral and haunting, one of those where you’re never quite sure what’s real and what’s not. The other day it was named the William C. Morris YA Debut Award winner– well deserved! I highly recommend it. (Also, can we talk about Stephanie’s next release, Complicit? It’s one of my most anticipated 2014 books!). Now, I’m reading Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair, which came highly recommended by Tracey Neithercott, a book bestie who has yet to fail me. I’ve only just started, but so far it’s lovely.

What I’m Writing: I’ve been making great strides in my revision. Funny how after several weeks away it is VERY easy to see what’s awesome and what’s embarrassingly cheesy and needs to go. I’ve also made some important decisions regarding my characters’ motivations and the challenges I need to present them with, so I think I’m moving in the right direction. Guess what else I wrote this week? A RESUME! Which was really challenging, considering I haven’t worked outside my home in seven years. Big thanks to my husband for all his help!

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Mostly, I’ve been trying to remain motivated and in my revision zone. I’ve been also spending tons of time with my husband and my girl. We’ve been watching a lot of Modern Family, a show we’ve only recently discovered. As a rule, I hate sitcoms, but this one is laugh-out-loud funny (I love Phil so much!), plus it’s full of heartfelt moments that aren’t totally gag-inducing. Cam cracks my girl up, which in turn cracks my husband and me up.

My daughter has been studying landforms at school and had a take-home volcano project to complete last week. She had a blast (see what I did there?) mixing and molding and painting, and was thrilled when the chemical reaction actually worked. Watching your child get excited about learning is hands-down one of the best parts of parenting.

Sometimes I participate in Photo A Day challenges via Instagram. At the end of each day, Fat Mum Slim (aka Australian blogger Chantelle) chooses a “Fab Four” group out of thousands of entrants. Imagine my surprise when my photo of Daisy on the front porch (for the prompt “My Space”) was selected. It totally made my day to have my simple little image featured with three incredibly lovely photographs. Daisy was also flattered. ♥

We’ve been having a stretch of crappy weather (I’m not impressed with Florida so far) and my daughter’s school has been closed for the last two days. Yesterday we baked Homemade Yeast Bread together and it was so much fun. My girl learned how to knead dough, and then we ate warm bread with butter for a snack. Yum!

What’s Inspiring Me Now: I love author Erin Bowman‘s recent Pub(lishing) Crawl post entitled Making the Most of Social Networks as a Writer. It is everything you need to know about the various social media platforms available today, as well as advice for how to make the most of them as a writer. Definitely check it out. My WiP’s Pinterest board has also been inspiring me lately. Every time I get stuck, I turn to it for a creative boost, and it’s totally working.

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

January 22, 2014January 22, 201453 Comments

What I’m Reading: I finished These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner yesterday, and it was glorious. Not at all what I expected, especially since I’ve read in several different reviews that it’s like Titanic on a spaceship. Not much of the novel takes place on a spaceship, actually. In fact, almost all of it takes place on a strange alien planet, and the story is all about survival and acceptance and love, and there’s this chilling mystery running beneath everything else, and it’s just… awesome. Also, Tarver. ♥

What I’m Writing: I’m back to brainstorming ways to fix my manuscript — yay! No, really… that was a non-sarcastic yay. 🙂 I’m thrilled to be back with this story and these characters, and I’m so excited to mold this mess into something compelling and beautiful and tragic and unputdownable. Wish me luck!

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Our house is finally completely unpacked. There are no boxes left in closets or in the garage, everything that’s supposed to be hung up is, in fact, hung up, and I’ve got some pretty stellar organization going on. These are the things that make me happy.

Our new town is what one might call… small. Our nearest “big city” is Destin. That’s where Target and PetSmart and Michaels and all of the chain restaurants and clothing stores are. Conveniently, that’s also where the beach is, and it is beautiful. We drove down the other day to officially adopt Daphne the kitty (!) and made a stop at the water to snap a few photos. It was freezing, but still lovely. Can’t wait until it’s warm enough to swim in the Gulf of Mexico!

Speaking of Daphne… She’s so weird. She’s the most dog-like cat around, which is probably why I like her so much. She hates to be alone, as evident by the fact that she sat on the edge of the tub and batted at suds for the duration of my bubble bath the other day. She’s definitely not one of those anti-social kitties that hides under the bed all day!

My mother-in-law has a pretty impressive dessert catalog, and this Texas Chocolate Cake is in one of my favorites of all the treats she makes. It’s, like, the best breakfast ever. And, it’s super easy as far as cakes go. I made this one in a 9×13 rather than a jelly roll pan and it turned out wonderfully.

What’s Inspiring Me Now: Uh, THE SEAHAWKS! I grew up in Western Washington and come from a family of passionate Seahawks fans. My dad and my brothers worry over the team as if they own it, and my husband does his fair share of screaming/cheering/carrying-on every time they play. There’s talk of lucky hats and lucky seats and lucky beer on game days. Broadcasts are DVRed and picked apart later. It’s sort of nuts, but hard not to get caught up in. Washington’s not exactly known for exceptional professional sports teams, so excuse us if we get a little excited in the face of victory. Anyway. The Seahawks are NFC Champions and they’re going to the Super Bowl!

In related news, in case you missed all of the media coverage regarding Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman’s post game interview with Erin Andrews, let me give you the abbreviated version: he shouted about being the best, about going up against a mediocre player, and basically let tons of adrenaline fly into homes across America. To which I say: Who cares? He’s a grown man. He was crazy-pumped about a huge play, and a huge win. He’s clever, he’s a character, and he’s making a splash. But, across social media people have been calling him “ghetto.” People have referred to him as a “thug.” As “classless.” So what if he got caught up in the moment? So what if he grew up in Compton? So what if he’s a little cocky, louder than most, different than most? Against all odds, Richard Sherman graduated at the top of his high school class, then he graduated from Stanford, one of the most competitive universities in the country. He’s smart, he’s a talented athlete, and he’s a philanthropist. He’s a character, but he also has character. Learn more HERE, HERE, and (written by Sherman himself) HERE. Let’s stop generalizing people based on ten-second media soundbites, shall we?

In other inspiring news, the cover reveal of my friends Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie‘s co-authored debut Creed went live today. See it HERE (spoiler alert: it’s incredible!). Also, a post from The Seekers entitled 10 Reasons Our Heros Need Flaws. Awesome reminders! And, in keeping with my 2014 attempt at stoicism, less worrying, and more appreciation…

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

January 15, 2014January 15, 201451 Comments

“What’s Up Wednesday” is a 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…

What I’m Reading: I finished Rebecca Behren‘s middle grade debut When Audrey Met Alice and oh my goodness… It was SO GOOD. One of the best middle grade novels I’ve read. Cute, cute, cute, and it makes me want to read an Alice Roosevelt biography! I’ll rave about it more in next week’s Bookanista post. Up next? These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

What I’m Writing: I’m taking a break from my revision to beta read my friend Liz Parker‘s incredible YA manuscript. It’s a unique blend of history and fantasy and romance and adventure, and I’m pretty much the worst beta reader ever because almost all of my comments consist of the words awesome and love and wow. I hope at least some of my feedback helps Liz! I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to read for her because I’m learning tons about pacing, characterization, and stakes from her story. After this, I’m back to applying what I learned to my own manuscript. 🙂

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Cheering the Seattle Seahawks on to a win, for starters. Over the weekend, my brother came from Jacksonville to watch the game with us, and we made an event out of it. Beer, pizza, and wings. Good stuff.

He doesn’t have kids and isn’t nearly the Disney freak my girl and I are, but he (sort of) held his own during Head Bandz. 🙂

I finally baked in my new kitchen! Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies… The recipe I linked calls for chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but I was fresh out of those, so I used Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips. They turned out great!

Daphne the kitty is fitting into the Upperman family quite nicely. She’s super playful and sweet, incredibly patient with her six-year-old master, and (mostly) tolerant of Daisy, who really just wants to scarf down her cat food. We’re technically fostering Daphne to make sure she’s a “good fit” for our household, but on Saturday we get to sign official adoption paperwork!

What’s Inspiring Me Now: Writing-wise, a recent post from my savvy and witty agent Victoria Marini titled On ALMOST Making It. Similarly-themed, a post from brilliant author Courtney Summers about Closed Doors. On the artistic front, I continue to be inspired by an experience we had when we were in New Orleans a few weeks ago. We visited Gallery Burguieres, a French Quarter gallery owned and operated by artist Ally Burguieres. We were only there for a short while, but I left feeling absolutely inspired. Ally’s paintings are gorgeous — cheery and colorful and whimsical — and Ally was charming. She welcomed us into her gallery and answered all of our art-ignorant questions. She even let us pet her sweet pup. If I had thousands of dollars to drop on original art, I’d totally invest in Ally’s. As it is, we’re on a budget, but we did splurge on an Alice in Wonderland print for C’s bedroom. It looks adorable hanging on her wall!

{Original art by Ally Burguieres}

Tell me… What’s up with you today?

What’s Up Wednesday

January 8, 2014January 8, 201447 Comments

What I’m Reading: Oh, gosh. I wish I’d had more time to read so far this month. December was a great reading month (I recapped HERE), but my book time in January has been pretty sporadic, what with all the unpacking and settling in. I did read Butter, by Erin Jade Lange, a book with a unique and compelling concept, and now I’m reading Rebecca Behren‘s middle grade debut When Audrey Met Alice, which is out next month and absolutely adorable. I’m also beta reading a fabulously unique manuscript by my friend Liz Parker. I see such greatness in this story’s future!

What I’m Writing: *sigh* I’ve had to put my WiP revision on hold over the past few weeks, but now that we’re happy in our new house and my girl’s back in school, I’m looking forward to diving back in and polishing this story until it’s shiny. I’m hoping to finish mid-February so I can send it out for feedback.

What Else I’ve Been Up To: Traveling. Settling. Exploring our new town. Want to see pictures from the last few weeks?

My husband graduated with a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School mid-December. We left Monterey the same afternoon.

First stop: San Diego’s SeaWorld, where we visited Shamu and Santa.

An Arizona sunset and an unbelievably blue New Mexico sky.

New Mexico’s Carlsbad Cavern, which was much cooler than I’d expected.

Christmas Day in San Antonio, a town we absolutely loved. That said, what we saw of The Alamo was slightly underwhelming.

My favorite activity of all… Trail riding in Austin!

Our first visit to New Orleans. Even though it poured rain most of the day, I kind of loved this city. Also, the beignets… Yum!

We got to celebrate New Year’s Eve in our new house, though we were all exhausted after spending the day moving in.

Scenes from our new area. The beaches are indescribably gorgeous.

We adopted a new family member… Meet Daphne Upperman!

What’s Inspiring Me Now: I’m sort of late to the party on this incredible blog post, but 2013: A Learning Year: Managing Expectations by author Jessica Spotswood is too good not to share. It’s a must-read for published and pre-published writers alike. If you’ve yet to check it out, please do! Also, the Goodreads 2014 Debut Author Challenge (YA/MG/NA) list has me all kinds of inspired. It’s so fun to see the names and books of my writing friends officially on Goodreads. Be sure to peruse this list and add the debuts that interest you to your To-Read list!

Tell me… What’s up with you today?