It's time for 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
I read Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis, which was wonderfully creepy and haunting - and unique!
I also read Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee. I've had my eye on it since reading the blurb, and it's just the kind of high fantasy I love to read - intriguing and well-developed worldbuilding, great characters, and creative use of magic/mythology. I loved it!
And I read Opposition, the final book in Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series, and found it to be a nail-biting and fantastic ending!
Finally, I read City of A Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster, another awesome YA high fantasy! I've had this on my list for a while, and I loved how the story-world was different to most other YA high fantasy I've read. The mystery had me hooked from beginning to end!
What I'm writing
Carrying on with my draft and outlining Shiny New Series. :) It's a really good job I love this story idea, because I haven't had to do this much planning and research in a long time...that's what I get for writing about multiple alternative universes! :P
What inspires me
This post from Natalie Whipple about the importance of focusing on what you love about writing, rather than on publishing politics. Which is one of the reasons why I'm on the fence about a certain contest. As I mentioned on Monday, these contests are an anxiety trigger for me, and it's easy to get caught up in the game and forget the important thing: WRITING. Obviously, contests do work for some people, and that's great! But querying is stressful enough without adding more pressure.
What else I've been up to
Today, I'm in London! I planned to take a research trip there anyway (for the book series I'm outlining at the moment)...then my boyfriend won free tickets to a concert. I'm out until very late tonight, so I'll return all blog comments tomorrow. :)
Have a great time in London :D I was there just yesterday ^_^
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the drafting and outlining, and I hope this is another week of good reading for you.
Wow, you've done a lot of reading lately! Also, good luck with all that outlining you're doing! That kind of thing can get real exhausting real fast, so that's great how you love the story enough to keep going... :)
ReplyDeleteHave fun in London - I hope it's useful for all that outlining!
ReplyDeleteHave fun in London!
ReplyDeleteYour shiny, new series sounds incredibly complicated. I love complicated, so good luck with that. And so much reading! Yay!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful time in London.
Ooh! You remind me that I need to go catch up my Goodreads listings. I've got 3 books I've recently finished and need to review. So much to do, so much to do!
ReplyDeleteNatalie Whipple is amazing. She reminds us all that this is a business and no matter how good you are, everyone struggles at some point and or continues to struggle after success. Thanks for sharing. :D
ReplyDeleteHave fun in London! Multiple alternate universes sound tricky to balance but also a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteI've had my eye on City of Dolls! Thanks for recommendation.
ReplyDeleteMultiple Alternative Universes? Wow, like seriously, you have the greatest ideas. Have fun at the concert!
Also thanks for passing the article along. It's easy to forget sometimes that contests cost a lot of stress, too. Writing is hard. We really need to minimize it the best we can. And like with querying, are never any guarantees.
I keep heard things about the Lux series and I can't whether or not to give them a go. Good luck with your new series, I'm eager to hear more about it! And have a great time in London :D
ReplyDeleteI have both Opposition and GoTaS on my TBR- can't wait to read them!
ReplyDeleteHave fun in London!
Yay for Shiny New Series! I'm sitting on my fingers to not jump to a shiny new series while I finish some editing and work on short stories.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to forget why we started writing in the first place, it's always nice to get a reminder :)
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