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Wednesday 19 March 2014

What's Up Wednesday

Welcome to What's Up Wednesday, a weekly meme run by Erin L Funk and Jaime Morrow. Here's what I've been up to this past week!

What I'm reading

This week, I read Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke. I really enjoyed both! Now I'm reading Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig, whose blog I've been following for a while because it's freakin' hilarious (seriously, check out his post about the varied emotional stages of writing a book...). Blackbirds is gritty, intense and original!

What I'm writing

I'm still drafting my YA UF (SO close to the end!) and doing some plotting work on my next project. I'm also making a revision plan for my YA post-apocalyptic - I got my first feedback on the draft, and it doesn't completely suck! Hooray! :D

What inspires me right now

Getting confidence back in my YA post-apocalyptic book! I've never felt so conflicted about finishing a book as I did with this one, but thanks to the feedback I got, I've started to figure out how to fix all the problems and it actually seems do-able! I've mentioned before that my writing tends to take a nose-dive in the winter months due to a combination of SAD and being stuck indoors all the time, but surprisingly, this draft came out relatively intact. Uh...possibly because it's about the end of the world, and is intense and angsty. So, there's that. But on the bright side, I have a plan, and I'm ready to start revising! ^_^

What else I've been up to

I went to stay with my boyfriend for a few days, and we went to watch The Book Thief, which was so good! We also went back to Lancaster for a gig on Saturday, which was...strange. I've only been there once since I graduated, and it's weird not being a student anymore. I seriously miss it. BUT, I got some fantastic news when I was there - the Editorial Director of Entangled Ignite was looking for new assistants. I've been interning with Entangled for the past ten months and I was absolutely thrilled to be promoted to Assistant Editor! And I've received my first manuscript to work on already! :D

Only downside is that whenever I go away, the universe sends out a signal for ALL THE THINGS to fall on my head, and my internet decided to be awkward for a few days. So I'm still playing catch-up! But it's all good!

20 comments:

  1. Good luck with your revisions! Congratulations on the promotion, I would love to get into publishing but it's so hard where I live.

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    1. Thanks! I actually work from home, because there aren't any publishers near where I live, either, but lots of indie publishers take distance interns. It's do-able! :)

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  2. I still haven't seen The Book Thief, I'll have to rent it through Netflix. I also have been meaning to buy a Chuck Wendig book for my husband b/c he loves that type of humor (I do too but his books don't 100% interest me though I read his blog).

    I've heard great things about Entangled and how they're redefining category romance (I'm in RWA so I hear chatter about this often). I think that's very cool that you're working with them! I would love to pick your brain on what you look for and how your experience is going--I don't write category romance so no crossover there, just generally curious on industry stuff :)

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    1. Entangled are great to work with! When I was interning, I read manuscripts for the Entangled Teen and Select/Edge lines, so I was reading mainly YA, fantasy, paranormal romance and some contemporary. Now I'm editing manuscripts for Entangled Ignite, the romantic suspense line - totally different, but an equally great experience!

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  3. I still haven't seen The Book Thief. Augh! I bought it even but it's still sitting in the wrapping. I'm hoping this weekend...
    Congrats on your promotion!

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    1. I was lucky to catch it when I did, but I think it came out later here in the UK. Thanks! :)

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  4. Congrats on the new position with Entangled! That's fantastic. :-) So is finishing up your story and receiving good feedback. What a relief, hey? I think good feedback is great fuel for pushing forward with the hard stuff like revisions. It really makes it feel worthwhile.

    I read THE ASSASSIN'S CURSE awhile back and really liked it. I have the sequel on my shelf and have been meaning to get to it for a while. Hopefully soon! I could use more good fantasy in my life. Have a great week, Emma!

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    1. Thanks! It really is the best feeling when you're unsure if something's working and you get that reassurance. :)

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  5. First of all, a huge congratulations on your promotion! That's awesome news! Secondly, I hear you on drafting in the winter. I struggle with it for the same reasons you've mentioned. I'm glad to hear you've regained confidence in your post-apocalyptic WIP. Good luck in the home stretch of your urban fantasy story!

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  6. Congrats on your promotion! That is wonderful! *does a little happy dance in your honor*

    And Winter is the reason I moved to Florida. The frozen hinterland turned me into a indoor recluse who took three baths a day just to stay warm. I hope the fine weather finds you soon, so that you can write All The Words.

    And, it's funny, but I'm in the middle of revising my YA post-apocalyptic MS right now and I'm incredibly conflicted about it, too. I can't decide if I really like it. Maybe it's the genre and not actually us. Or winter...we could blame winter. (Yeah, I'm gonna do that) *grin*

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    1. Thanks! *dances* I'd love to live somewhere with a warmer climate, I absolutely detest the cold! Too bad I live in England. *grins*

      Yes, let's blame winter for everything! :P Spring is on the way soon, though!

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  7. I hadn't heard of BLACKBIRDS, but it sounds very cool. Looking forward to checking it out. And I haven't seen THE BOOK THIEF either, but I can't wait. So glad to hear that you enjoyed it! Have a great week, Emma!

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    1. It's definitely worth watching. Thanks, you too!

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  8. I really liked The Book Thief. I found it very different and at first it wasn't what I was expecting but I really got into it.

    Congrats on your promotion :) I love love Entangled :) I'm a part of Savvy Authors, which is the company Liz started up with others before opening Savvy Readers and Entangled.

    Have a great week.

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    1. Thanks! I love working with Entangled, it's been such a great experience. I didn't realise Savvy Authors was started by the same person! :)

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  9. OMG, I just spent the last 45 minutes on Chuck Wendig's blog. Holy raw open ass, that was good. We have the same editor at Amazon Children's and I was told I should get to know him. Long overdue...

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  10. My Beta Reader feedback so far can probably be summed up by "This does not completely suck." :) Okay, so it was a lot more encouraging than that, but that's the message I really wanted to hear, and there it was. So I'm happy. :)

    Congrats on the promotion, Emma! I hope you have a wonderful week. :)

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  11. Congratulations on your promotion! Chuck Wendig is so funny--I need to check out his book. And I loved The Assassin's Curse so much.

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  12. First CONGRATS on the promotion! And I'm glad the feedback says your project "doesn't completely suck" ;)

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