What's Up Wednesday & IWSG

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 started reading The Rook by Daniel O'Malley, and I was drawn in from the first page! A woman wakes up with amnesia and some odd instructions from the person who previously inhabited her body, and is drawn into a secret organisation known as the Chequy (well, she doesn't have much choice in the matter). I loved how original and creative the various supernatural aspects were, and I've honestly never read an urban fantasy quite like it! The central mystery surrounding the protagonist's identity made it impossible to put down.

What I'm writing

I carried on drafting Book 3 in my series! ^_^ I'm also adding to my outlines for books 4-6.

My writing goal this week: Finish this draft! *crosses fingers* I'm less than 10K from the end, so it's hopefully do-able!

What works for me

I've actually discovered that I work best when completely focused on one project or series. I have drafted two books at once before, when I was finishing the fifth book in the Darkworld series and writing a YA fantasy at the same time, but I'd been working on the Darkworld series for almost a year and a half by that point, so Ash's character voice and the storyline were lodged in my brain. I can work on drafting and edits at the same time if it's the same series (like revising the first book in this series while drafting the second) because it doesn't require as much of a mind-switch as jumping back into Darkworld revisions did. It probably helps that the series itself is pretty much one continuous story with the same main characters all the way through, so I never struggle to reconnect with it.

That's the main reason I have so many drafts in need of revision - once I've finished a first draft, I disconnect from it unless I really love it, and that actually doesn't happen that often. I probably won't go back to the other projects I have sitting on my hard drive until I've finished drafting this series. I might have a lot of projects, but I definitely can't keep them all in my head at the same time! :P

What else I've been up to

Walking Shadow (Darkworld #2) released!!! :D

..,and so did Pokemon Omega Ruby!!! I've been a Pokemon nerd forever (since I got my first Gameboy in 2000. o.O) and I was insanely excited for the remake of the third-generation games. So yeah... that's what I did on my release day. :P

I also updated my author website after buying my own domain name (my web skills are nonexistent, but I made the new background by editing an old photo of the Lake District in PicMonkey). :)

Right now, I'm at my boyfriend's graduation (he now has a Masters in Music Industry, Management and Promotion), so I'll be returning comments tonight! :)



It's also time for IWSG! The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the creation of Ninja Captain Alex, and is a great way for writers to share their worries, support and encouragement.

Hmm... I'm not sure I have any insecurities I can share this month! Other than the usual mid-draft self-doubt and angsting, and the Imposter Syndrome which comes with being published. The Secret Project I'm working on right now is both scary and exciting, and I've an announcement about that coming up later this month... that's about all I can share right now!