Currently Reading - July 2015

Happy July! I spent the day with my family in Baltimore. We even saw the fireworks from the boat and I got this awesome shot.

 I hope your summer is full of writing and reading. Here's what I'm up to...

What I'm reading: Right now, I'm reading Bone Gap and listening to An Ember in the Ashes. Both are so good. Especially Ember--the writing is so solid and the plotting is so tight. I'm so excited there was a sequel announced.

What I'm watching: I'm not a huge TV watcher, but summer programming is the absolute best because my two favorite shows come on--American Ninja Warrior and Big Brother!!

This year I'm totally rooting for Meg and drooling over Clay. This show is a huge commitment, but I'm obsessed. My Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights are spent texting BFF Kelly about game strategy.

What I'm stitching: This super cute Mockingjay pin for my cousin. It's really hard keeping all the colors straight, but I think it's coming along really well.

What else I'm up to: revising my manuscript. I'm putting myself on a pretty intense writing schedule for the rest of this summer and I'm excited to dive in.

Ready Set Write - Week 4

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: I jumped in and started slicing and dicing up my manuscript. My agent gave me a list of things to go in and reevaluate, and once I started looking at I sent her an even longer list of things I'd like to cut and completely replace.

2. My goal(s) for this week: I'm almost done the first third (I break each manuscript into three acts), so I'd love to make some progress with the second third by next week. I took out a pretty major plotline and need to fill it in with something completely new. I'm still moving things around and trying to feel out what's supposed to be there instead.

3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: “I told you,” she said. “I can always tell when someone’s lying. And I also know that  you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t meant to be.” She picked up my ratty paperback and tossed it at me. I caught it by the edge of its slick, glossy jacket.

“So study up,” Mackenzie said. “You’re not going anywhere.”

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week: settling into a new routine and switching gears from drafting/writing to revising/writing.

5. Something I love about my WiP: that this revision is focusing on the importance of friendships, and it makes my heart happy to write.

Ready Set Write - Week 2

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.

Welp, it's week two and I have completely derailed myself. I thought I'd set a pretty easy goal of 3-5K a week, but then I had a more pressing issue pop up.

I have a big revision to do on another MS. It involves throwing out a good 15-20K words and rewriting a major piece of the story. I'm excited, because I love digging into a project and revising.

So...here's the weekly prompts:

1. How I did on last week’s goals: well... I haven't dug into my revision yet. I don't like to jump into cutting into a manuscript without thinking it out first. But, I'm feeling really confident with the plan and am ready to jump in this week.

2. My goal(s) for this week: to start my revision and get some (any?) work done.

3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised: I'll let you know next week.

4. The biggest challenge I faced this week: starting. Making that first cut.

5. Something I love about my WiP: that it's something I've been working on for so long and I'm not giving up on it yet.

On Your Radar -- Court of FIves

On Your Radar
Court of Fives by Kate Elliott
Publishing August 18 by Little, Brown

When I thought of this new feature, all I could hear in my head was Britney Spears singing "on mai rayda." I wanted to retire my For Your TBR Pile posts because I'm always reviewing things ahead of schedule. Whenever I recommend books to people, I'm always saying, "Oh...but it doesn't come out for a few weeks/months."

So On Your Radar is just how it sounds. Put this book on your radar.

 And my very first On Your Radar pick is Court of Fives by Kate Elliott.

First, if you haven't signed up for TheNovl's newletter, do it! Every month you'll get puppy gifs, ARC sign ups and special sneak peeks. That's how I got my hands on Court of Fives (Eeee!).

So Court of Fives was amazing. Here's what GoodReads says: Jessamy's life is a balance between acting like an upper class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the Commoners. But at night she can be whomever she wants when she sneaks out to train for The Fives, an intricate, multi-level athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom's best competitors. Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an unlikely friendship between a girl of mixed race and a Patron boy causes heads to turn. When a scheming lord tears Jes's family apart, she'll have to test Kal's loyalty and risk the vengeance of a powerful clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.

Here's what I say: The whole time I read about the Fives, I imagined it was an obstacle course right out of American Ninja Warrior (I have kind of a thing for that show). Court of Fives was really thrilling. Every time I got to the end of a chapter and tried to put the book down, Kate Elliott pulled out a new twist out of her bag of authory tricks. The plotting was so well-thought out and so smooth.

I loved Jes! She was such a strong main character. Brave and full of fight, her love for her family was so real. What I loved most though was that she wasn't afraid to talk about how much her family also angered her--her sisters' annoying habits, her father's decisions, even her mother's choices. Kate Elliott wasn't afraid to make them a not-perfect family and I thought that was an admirable choice.

Unfortunately, what I really want to talk about is that ending! (But don't worry, I won't spoil...I hope.)  I love realistic, complicated endings. I am so not a happily ever after girl, and this had me sitting up in bed late at night, shrieking into my palm.

Kate Elliott, you are my hero! Or maybe my American Ninja Warrior...

If you read this book, please come find me on Twitter or GoodReads so we can talk about it!

Ready Set Write - Week 1

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.

I'm so excited to jump in this time around. Every summer I find out about this writing group in the final weeks and miss out on all the fun.

So--down to brass tax. I'm starting a new project: a YA contemporary that is very summerish and thrillerish (that's all I'm sure about for now).  I want to take advantage of the summer vibes and capture a really cool beach setting. I'm thinking I want to write >3-5K a week--which means I should have a pretty good first draft by the end of the summer. As back up, I've made a mood board with a lot of cool pictures (like this one). 

So that's what I'm working on. I'm super excited to hear about everyone's projects and cheerlead. I write mostly at night and on weekends so if you're ever looking for a writing sprint partner, hit me up on Twitter (@ValerieColeYA).

Want to join in? Here are the headings we'll be using every week.

1. How I did on last week’s goals
2. My goal(s) for this week
3. A favorite line from my story OR one word/phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised
4. The biggest challenge I faced this week (ex. finding time to write)
5. Something I love about my WiP

Currently Reading - June 2015

Hello, hello! I hope everyone is having a fabulous start to their summer. I've been really busy.

What I've been reading

I'm just finishing up The Witch Hunter, which is fantastic! I've been reading a lot more fantasy this year and have Court of Fives and the Mara Dyer series on my plate next.

What I've been writing

I've been working on the same book for over a year now and am so ready to start something new! But the one good thing about wrapping up a project is getting to work closely with my agent, Lauren. She has an awesome editorial eye and makes the writing process feel less solitary and more fun.

What I've been stitching

Turn down for w...oh, crap. I'm out of room! Still trying to figure out how to pull this one off without scraping the whole aida.

Also, check out this one I did last month. I absolutely love it and would like to think I was the first to stitch Trap Queen on a cross stitch.

What else I've been doing

My dad got a new boat this month and we've been spending a lot of time down at the marina. I miss Maryland so much. Love or hate, it's always been home. We've been doing a lot of drives from Philly to Baltimore this spring.

 Have an awesome June!

For Your TBR Pile - Reimagined Shakespeare

YOLO JULIET by Brett Wright
SRSLY HAMLET by Courtney Carbone
Published: May 26, Random House

My Thoughts:
These books are SO cool! I love reimagined classics, but have a hard time reading them because sometimes I never understood the source material.

I was really familiar with Romeo and Juliet, but had never read Hamlet before. Surprisingly, srsly Hamlet wasn't hard to follow as a first read.

These were so well done and flawlessly executed. Told in texts, voice memos, check ins and group chats, Shakespeare's work comes to life in a whole new way. They're the kind of books you want to shove into someone's hands and pass along right away. In fact, I'm sending my copies to a friend who works in a high school library. I can't wait to see how kids and Millennials respond to these books.

Recommended for those who love reimagined classics, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. I was actually quite surprised Random House snagged these books before Quirk Books.