August Check In 2015

It's August, it's August! And there is so much going on.

Pitch Wars submissions open Aug 17

First, I'm super excited to be co-mentoring with Stephanie Scott in Pitch Wars. Our wish list goes live tomorrow (Monday) and we're on the prowl for a really great writer who wants TWO mentors. You can find it right here on my website (or Stephanie's).

I can give one little hint--that we're pretty much open to all genres. We really want a great STORY, regardless of if it's a contemporary, fantasy, horror, etc. I absolutely love Stephanie Scott. She's so smart and insightful and a gorgeous writer. If you're interested, keep your eyes on Brenda Drake's website for details.


It's also the Month of Birthdays in my family. My youngest brother is the first birthday, followed by our Nan, who is turning 86 mid-month. Then, end of month, I'm celebrating my own with steamed crabs with my family in Baltimore.

The ever-evolving plotting board for MS #6.

I got so much work done in July. I finished writing THE BOOK--the one that's been clinging to my ankles for the last year and three months. Honestly, I never thought I'd finish this book, and it was the hardest one I've ever had to write. The book is about 60K words, but when I went through my "cuts" folder, I had over 100K words. I went through five major revisions and it's my sixth book. I'm so proud of it, not just as a finished story but what it has to say about growing up and determining your path in life. I hope one day I'm able to share it with you.

I just turned in a 15 page outline to my agent for my next book. I love having new ideas and starting fresh. Once I get the green light, I'm excited to dive into this one and swim around in a new world.

I'm also really committed to focusing on my personal life. About a month ago, I left my day job in advertising to focus on my writing career. It was weird and scary, but ultimately I just didn't feel healthy sitting behind a desk all day and staying inside. I've been interviewing for other jobs that will get me out and moving and active again. I'm also hitting the gym a few times a week. I do cardio and take yoga classes and am starting to feel my muscles harden and my breath deepen. I feel like I'm starting to find me again after a long time of being hidden.

Nelly vs. the azalea bush.

To be honest, I had a really difficult time leaving my job. It was really hard to say, "this isn't for me. This isn't right for me." Because, honestly, it was a great job and I made great money. I worked with smart people and had worked for seven years in this industry. Why wasn't I happy?

Plus, I was worried about my dog all the time. Shannon and I got Nelly fourteen years ago. We'd only been dating for two weeks and living together for six days and we got a puppy. We were insane, but also really in love. It's hard to watch her battle coughs and aches and pains as she ages; mostly because it marks an end to our beginning. I'm really glad I get to spend more time at home with her even if I'm just doling out medicine and spotting her hips as she goes up and down stairs.

I think we have these moments where we see a fork in the road and need to decide which way to veer. For me, I wanted simplicity again. I wanted time to work on my writing, space to focus on my health, and the luxury to look around the world a little bit more. For me to be myself again.

So I'm starting this August with a clear head and ready to continue this path I started down. I hope to bring you along with me, especially as I help mentor another writer and write more stories and read more books. Have a great month!

Ready Set Write - Week 8

Ready Set Write is a summer writing intensive that provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at in our writing—planning, drafting, or revising. This year, your RSW hosts are Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, Erin Funk, Elodie Nowodazkij, and Jaime Morrow. Join us by posting your updated goals on your blog, and linking up with the widget on any of the hosts' blogs posted every Monday morning.

1. How I did on last week’s goals: 

• Write 5K words. I'm super excited to start my new summer project! √ I wrote >7K.
• Hit the gym 4x. HAHAHA--turns away embarrassed.
• Attend 2 yoga classes. Only one, but it was my favorite class on Sunday night.
• Read Sarah Dessen's Saint Anything (I started over the weekend and it's sooo good). √ Plus I crushed two other books!

2. My goal(s) for this week:

• I want to keep the words a-flowing, so I'll aim for another 5-7K.
• Hit the gym 3x (that seems to be my sweet spot).
• Read 1 book--The Poisonwood Bible is on deck.

3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: Right now I'm just outlining and drafting, but I can tell you that so far, this story is...

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week: Balancing other things--like friends and family and my gym schedule. I'm going to focus on evening it back out this week and setting more designated chunks of time aside to write.

5. Something I love about my WiP: that it's super weird and crazy and fun.

Top 5 Beach Reads - July 2015

The beach has always been my number-one, favorite place to read. I've never gone on vacation without an armload of books. While I was packing for a quick day trip to the Shore last week, I thought about what made a great beach read. It doesn't have to be a book that takes place at the beach, necessarily.

Here's a Top 5 List for great beach reads for Summer 2015. Let me know what you're reading--especially while you're on vacation!

How to Be a Grown-Up 

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

These are the authors who wrote one of my favorite contemporaries, The Nanny Diaries, so I was thrilled to see they had a new book out this summer. Rory, a set designer and single mom, takes a job with a start up digital media site led by two twenty-somethings right out of B-school. This book is hilarious in how it points out the absurd job market and how it values experience over technology and functionality. 

If The Nanny Diaries was an eye-opening take on high-power Manhattan moms, How to Be a Grown-Up looks at the women who are still struggling to make the leap into grown-upness well after their thirties. 

Maybe In Another Life 

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Hannah is also another character struggling to settle and put down roots. Approaching thirty, Hannah moves home to Los Angeles to escape the aftermath of an affair with a married man in New York. On her first night home, she goes out with her best friend Gabby and runs into her old high school boyfriend Ethan. Who does she go home with? The novel splits into two concurrent stories based on Hannah's decision.

This is a great book for anyone who likes to play the What If game. The back-and-forth storyline isn't hard to follow and there are a lot of hints dropped between the two stories to put together a full picture of Hannah's missed opportunities. Plus, Hannah is HILARIOUS. Imagine a less aggressive Amy Shumer.

On the Island 

by Tracey Garvis-Graves

If you're looking for a half-survival story/half-taboo romance, grab On the Island. When their plane goes down in the Indian Ocean, teenager TJ and his summer tutor Anna are stranded on a deserted island. On the Island has plenty of suspense with Anna and TJ falling to illness, injuries, and sharks, but the romantic element is what most people talk about. With TJ maturing and aging into his early 20s, romance blooms between the two characters. It's definitely a guilty pleasure book that will have you turning the pages.

Saint Anything 

by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen will always equal beach read for me, even when the story isn't set in her fictional beach town of Colby. Saint Anything is a darker book for Dessen, but will have the same engrossing cross-over appeal with teens and adults as her other books. When Sydney's brother is sent to jail for drunk driving, her parents put all the focus on him as he serves out his sentence. Sydney continues to feel like the invisible child until she befriends the Chathams, a family who owns a nearby pizza shop. Embraced by a new best friend who is obsessed with french fries and her cute, protective brother, Sydney finally feels seen. 

Second Star 
by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Interview
In the search for her missing surfer brothers, Wendy Darling is caught up between the somewhat-childish, straight-laced Pete and drug dealer Jas and their turf war for the beach. This is a contemporary Peter Pan retelling with a touch of dark magic set on the California coast. Alyssa B. Sheinmel did a fantastic job capturing the magic and adventure of surf culture, and drew some pretty awesome comparisons between those who don't follow a traditional academic path to college, opting for adventure. In SECOND STAR's case, boys who want to follow the waves so they can catch the biggest ones.

SECOND STAR spins the story of Peter Pan on its ear, with appearances by Belle, Nanna, but leaves the crocodiles at home. Overall, a strong contemporary retelling full of romance, adventure and mystique, and perfect for the beach.

Ready Set Write - Week 7

Ready Set Write is a summer writing intensive that provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at in our writing—planning, drafting, or revising. This year, your RSW hosts are Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, Erin Funk, Elodie Nowodazkij, and Jaime Morrow. 

Join us by posting your updated goals on your blog, and linking up with the widget on any of the hosts' blogs posted every Monday morning.

1. How I did on last week’s goals: 

• Finish this revision. I'm ready to turn this puppy in. √ Done! *cheers*
• Hit the gym 4x this week. X - 3X
• Attend 2 yoga classes. √ - 3 classes!
• Read one book. I have The Boleyn Wife and The Poisonwood Bible on my stack--so either one of those. √ I finished the Boleyn Wife

2. My goal(s) for this week:

• Write 5K words. I'm super excited to start my new summer project!
• Hit the gym 4x.
• Attend 2 yoga classes.
• Read Sarah Dessen's Saint Anything (I started over the weekend and it's sooo good).

3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: Finished! :D

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week: Continuing. There's something about finishing a huge revision or crossing a finish line that makes me want to collapse. For me, that's only going to make it harder to start back up again. I'm a fan of giving myself some breathing space before I dive back in, but not taking an actual "break."

5. Something I love about my WiP: That it's a fresh start. With the manuscript I just finished revising, I'd been working on it for a year and three months. As much as I love the story, I'm ready to go hang out with some new characters.

To the Pancake Story

To all of you out there writing, may we raise a glass and toast to the Pancake Story.

The Pancake Story is an idea that doesn't cook
perfectly, causing writers much frustration.

This story is inside all of us. It's the story that came out half-baked or over-baked, but screwed up. Maybe it's the first one you tried making. Maybe it's the one you burned after the pan got too hot. Maybe it started out okay, but then crumbled half-way through. Maybe it's the one you didn't pay enough attention to because some distraction got in the way. Maybe you're still learning the art of a great flip so both sides cook evenly. 

These are the stories that frustrate us, especially when we have to chuck them in the garbage and start all over. Maybe we feed them to the dog or maybe we pick through it like scavengers, looking for the good pieces. We wonder if we'll ever taste the sweet success of writing a good story ever again. We question everything. We get mad. We give up. We come crawling back.

Pancake stories are inevitable, though. Sometimes we have to get them out of our system. Either way, keep making your pancakes even if they all aren't perfect each and every go-around.

Read Set Write - Week 6

Ready Set Write is a summer writing intensive that provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at in our writing—planning, drafting, or revising. This year, your RSW hosts are Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, Erin Funk, Elodie Nowodazkij, and Jaime Morrow. 

Join us by posting your updated goals on your blog, and linking up with the widget on any of the hosts' blogs posted every Monday morning.

1. How I did on last week’s goals: 

• Spend every morning (M-F) working on my revision 9-12. √
• Set aside time every afternoon/evening for more writing time (TBD). √
• Hit the gym 5x this week.  √- 4x, but I'm okay with that.
• Attend 1 yoga class (my first!). √
• Finish reading Bone Gap. √

2. My goal(s) for this week:

• Finish this revision. I'm ready to turn this puppy in.
• Hit the gym 4x this week.
• Attend 2 yoga classes.
• Read one book. I have The Boleyn Wife and The Poisonwood Bible on my stack--so either one of those.

3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: "Finish line"--this revision is almost there...almost there...almost there. 

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week: No big challenges. I've definitely found a groove and am working pretty steadily. I'm predicting that I'm going to basically stay in yoga clothes all week and eat cereal straight from the box so I can get this revision done.

5. Something I love about my WiP: That each revision makes the story deeper and richer. This is the hardest book I've ever written, but I my plotting skills have gotten tighter and my storytelling has definitely leveled up. 

Ready Set Write - Week 5

Ready Set Write is a summer writing intensive that provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at in our writing—planning, drafting, or revising. This year, your RSW hosts are Alison Miller, Katy Upperman, Erin Funk, Elodie Nowodazkij, and Jaime Morrow. 

Join us by posting your updated goals on your blog, and linking up with the widget on any of the hosts' blogs posted every Monday morning.

1. How I did on last week’s goals: One thing this writing intensive is teaching me is how to set attainable goals. I realize I've been setting my goals too broad and not really making as much progress as I want. Soooo....

2. My goal(s) for this week:

• Spend every morning (M-F) working on my revision 9-12.
• Set aside time every afternoon/evening for more writing time (TBD).
• Hit the gym 5x this week.
• Attend 1 yoga class (my first!).
• Finish reading Bone Gap.

3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: Overall, I've been feeling like my progress is not enough. There's never enough time or I'm feeling spread too thin. I think these new goals are going to help, and I'm excited to see where I am next week.