(ooo, lookly they changed the button…pretty!)
Hello wonderful people! It’s What’s Up Wednesday time for the first time in many many weeks on this blog. What’s What’s Up Wednesday? Well… It’s this super cool awesome weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk. If you want to participate you should link your What’s Up Wednesday posts to the list on Jaime’s blog so that we can all stop by and say, “Hi!”
What I’m Reading
I have so many books on my tbr it’s ridiculous. I’ve also received a lot of ARCs lately whether in giveaways or contests or from publishers so I really just need to up my reading A game. Right now I’m reading RELATIVITY by Cristin Bishara. It’s been on my Kindle forever (sadness), and I meant to finish it before it came out (failed) but I’m almost there now. It’s about this super smart girl (love that!!) who finds a wormhole to nine alternate realities of her life…including one in which her mother is still alive.
It’s great, it’s poignant, and it’s really thought-provoking. I’m sure there have been times we all haven’t been happy with our lives, thought that if just that one thing hadn’t happened the way it did, everything would still be the way it used to be. Well, this is that book, and as I read it I’m learning a lot about the importance of loving your present and making the best of every situation.
You can check the full blurb out on the author’s website!
What I’m Writing
ALEX DE VEGA AND PANDORA’S BOX IS FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s for those of you who recall that on July 31st (my last WUW post) I was at 15,000 words. Buyah!
I did edits and I have to say it’s my cleanest MS yet. Obviously I’m biased but it’s really good. Damn, go me!! Now I’m at this really odd place where I have to decide if I want to go back to revising BLOOD OF ISIS or start a new MS. Well, technically I already started a new one. It’s actually an old one since I’m not allowed to start any new ones until I complete all of my WIPS, which are at various stages of being finished. It’s just that it’s this scary new point where I basically have to start all over. I think this will be my hardest MS to write, if I actually write it, which I might not since I’ve been on/off with it for a while now.
It’s tentatively titles WHIMSICALLY YOURS (idk why), and it’s about a young girl who is queer and black and enters her sophomore year at a new school miles away from everything she has ever known. It’s her story of the ups, the downs, and ultimately forging for herself the person she wants to be. There’s a TED talk that further inspired this story. However it’s a Contemporary novel and though, for now, I’m just working on forming a strong MC, there are some heavy bits I’ve always known will be included that are from my own life. Some not so happy moments.
Contemporary is hard because it’s so raw and fresh, there’s nothing to hide behind. I might end up putting it in a fantasy setting. In fact there’s another WIP I have, titled UNTITLED (for now), about a medieval-esque world where magic is strictly forbidden and those who posses it are hunted and killed two young women, one a princess and one a warrior mage, must journey to a far land, where magic is rumored to still exist, in order to gain the skills necessary to defeat the ruthless emperor and bring peace to their lands. I know they seem completely unrelated but they’re not. I guess it’s really just a matter of whether or not I want to write an “issue book” or a book where the MC happens to be queer. And I don’t even know if there will be romance, it might just focus on two girls who forge a strong friendship like Code Name Verity (which I still have not scooped up the courage to read).
Okay, this section was longer than expected. I’m done.
What Else I’ve Been Doing
I have been collegeing. Haha. I’ve been loving my classes. I’m taking three Political Sciences classes, two of which are Political Theory (yes, I know I’m crazy but I love crazy), and a Writing for Children course that I adore. The professor of my Writing for Children course is an author herself, Susan Meyer, and she’s phenomenal. Right now we’re focusing on Picturebooks (we’ll do MG &YA later). I never thought I could write a PB until I had to for class. It’s so fun and what a great stress release, abandoning myself to such a simple childlike state. The other day she had us draw a house, any house for a character to live in. I drew the Seelie Queen’s lair from ALEX DE VEGA, I must admit it was pretty darn good for someone who always says she couldn’t draw to save her life.
In addition, I’ve been working a lot on my Internship with Spencer Hill Press/Contemporary. We have two books RECLAIMED & THE DOLLHOUSE ASYLUM both coming out back to back so that’s kind of exciting especially since I’ve been organizing the blog tours, not as easy as I thought but still fun.
Oh and I’m a 1st round judge (panelist) for YA Spec Fic for the Cybils. I’m so excited to read YA 24/7. I’ve read some amazing YA Spec Fic this year so I’m pumped to immerse myself in YA. Afterward I’ll probably be so sick of YA that I’ll only read MG or Contemporary for a year (doubt it). However I do have a feeling that I’m about to get very good at picking up on similar trends which will be great for my writing so that I’m even more driven to write something fresh and new.
What Inspires Me Right Now
Myself.
I posted the above picture and below text on my tumblr the other day:
“This is probably one of the hardest quotes for me to accept yet one that is very true. Believing in myself & persevering has gotten me far, very far. I just have to keep believing in myself or as Dory says, “Just keep swimming.“”
How have you been? What’s inspiring you?
Whimsically Yours,
PnC
Whimsically Yours 
RELATIVITY sounds amazing. A smart female protag? Worm holes? Alternate realities? Yes, please! I’m really excited about all of the above, and just added it via Goodreads. Thanks for mentioning it!
And congrats on finishing your WIP!!!! Wooot! I hope you celebrated! 🙂
It’s so good, glad to hear you added it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am! I did celebrate a little, it was a quiet celebration that was filled with joy 🙂
Congratulations on finishing ALEX DE VEGA! Are you planning to query soon? I hope so. Can’t wait to read it! 😀
No wonder you’re not allowing yourself to start any new WIPs. Sounds like you already have some great ones in the works! Good luck with your next project, your classes, and the contest judging. 🙂
Thanks Jayme!!! I hope so, I’m so nervous about the querying. That’s why I’m especially glad I have so many things to occupy myself so that I don’t have to think about it. I love Alex so much, I hope she finds a happy home 🙂
Me too! Let me know if you’d like some fresh eyes on your query. Best of luck! 🙂
Congrats on finishing your MS!!!! Love your story ideas. I read a lot of YA…well, I write YA. But every now and then I’ll throw in an adult novel to shake things up or a contemporary/romance so I know what you mean about your reading habits. Relativity sounds like an awesome read, I’ve got to check that book out.
Thanks Dawn! I think you have to shake things up, it adds variety and gives you a fresh outlook on things. I LOVE YA but writing MG was so fun and there are Adult books I love to death. I hope you like RELATIVITY 🙂
Yay!!! Congrats on finishing! And I’m excited to learn more about your contemporary.
Thanks Adrianne!!
Wow, you are writing a lot these days. Congrats on finishing your WIP and good luck with the others.
Haha, I’ve caught the writign bug! Thanks, Kelly 🙂
Wow. You have been busy.
Congrats on finishing your book, it’s always really exciting to reach that point. I also think that it’s brilliant that you inspire yourself. Never lose that 🙂
Thanks, I’m still all giggles and smiles, haha 🙂
Hey, how great that you inspire yourself! And congrats on finishing your projects.
Thanks Catherine! It took a long time to reach the point of self-inspiration but I’m glad to be there 🙂
Welcome back!
Thanks so much for sharing that book. It sounds amazing! Adding to my TBR asap!
Congratulations on finishing your book! And I really admire you for writing contemporary. You’re so right about how fresh and raw it is… I don’t think that’s a talent I possess. Best of luck to you 😀
Contemporary is crazy raw, I don’t know how Contemp. authors do it, just putting everything out there again and again. I would be crying while writing all the time (if it was any bit sad). I hope you like RELATIVITY!
The Dollhouse Asylum??? I NEED that book. Sorry, that was enthusiastic, let me explain: I was in a play earlier this year called The Insanity of Mary Girard. Mary gets dumped in an insane asylum by her husband when he finds out she has an affair and is pregnant. I played one of the Furies that come to Mary to convince her to go insane as a form of escape. The director’s concept was that the Furies would be broken dolls. (I did the makeup design for that.) In the end of the play, the Furies bring Mary a vision of the future and her child, which they give to her as a doll. They mess with her for a while, she realizes the “baby” is just a doll…and then she smashed the doll on the ground, breaking it, her last attachment to the outside world, and her sanity. BEST PLAY I’VE EVER BEEN IN.
Also…congratulations on finishing your MS!!!! That’s awesome!!! If you need a beta/CP, you know where to find me… 🙂
Oh, “issue novels.” Such a loaded term. I dislike that term. Well, all right, it can be a useful term, but especially with LGBTQetc. books it often results in them getting shunted out of the mainstream and pigeonholed. Or in the case of my UF wip, someone told me it was an “issue novel” because the MC lives in an abusive home situation. And I’m over here like, why does that have to define the entire novel? Unless it’s supposed to, which it wasn’t? Le sigh. I think the problems inherent in “issue novel” speak directly to your question of whether to write a novel about being queer or to just write a novel where a character just happens to be queer. Whatever you choose, I wish you luck!
Laura, you always seem to capture my thoughts exactly. Interestingly enough, I started to write the non-contemp instead of the contemporary one. I think one day I’m going to write it, of course maybe then it’ll be straight memoir but ugh… I just don’t like the term “issue book”, I don’t want my book to be labeled as one, and I want to write characters who happen to be queer because that’s what I am. I know so many queer people and it’s so annoying when you’re first and foremost queer and second a writer, an artist, etc… I feel like I am drawn to write characters who are whoever they want to be and happen to like girls. That’s why I’m drawn to the second MS idea because it’s a story more of friendship that might turn into something more, a story of perseverance, strength, courage and least of all two gay girls. However, I also feel that if I wrote the contemp it could be very powerful to have a story of a gay girl in addition a gay black girl because a lot of the contemporaries I read with gay protagonists are usually about guys. Growing up, I would’ve loved to read a book about someone more like myself.
As for THE DOLLHOUSE ASYLUM, I totally get you. Also, that’s a super cool explanation and sounds like an awesome play, I’d love to see it oneday. When I first heard of TDA, I was so excited. I couldn’t stop talking about it, still can’t. It’s the bomb, haha. Interestingly enough, parts of it remind me of what you’ve said about the play you were in.
As for the CP/beta offer, I might just take you up on that. Actually, I probably will especially when I’m done with the MS I’m working on now 🙂
The “issue novel” thing also bothers me because people always tend to want to find autobiographical material in a work even when it isn’t there, and sometimes at the expense of fully understanding and appreciating the book. Knowing autobiographical info can enrich your appreciation of a book, but a lot of people even use the fact that a character or an author is gay to discount its worth.
(And yeah, if you need a CP, my email is on my blog.)