Where there is smoke...

There is fire, serious, awesome, inspiring fire. I adored Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I cannot wait to read Days of Blood and Starlight. SPOILER alert(potentially)... My only problems with the book were thus: it was a bit convenient that Brimstone set Karou up so well, financially speaking; as well as I am still having just a bit of a hard time balancing Karou and Madrigal... Other than that, I adored the story. Angels and Devils told in a completely new way. Fantastical descriptions that paint characters and places and scenes in your mind. It is my sincere recommendation that you read it!

What can't you stop reading?

Lately I've gotten distracted with life and writing, resulting in me not reading nearly as much. But I recently bought Daughter of Smoke and Bone... which means yesterday my house did not get cleaned like I had intended. I read at least half of it yesterday and only quit because my son came up to me and said, "I'm hungry." I managed not to pick it up again last night, an amazing accomplishment! And only because I want to savor it, instead of devouring it completely in one sitting. Sort of like the ice cream I'm eating right now ;-D So I'm just wondering, what other books are out there that you can't put down? What are you reading instead of doing whatever else it is that you're suppposed to be doing?

Smile :-D

Holy cannoli! Looking back I've had some depressing titles lately! Life really isn't all that bad! Especially since I will be experiencing a 4 day weekend!!!! One exclamation mark for every day! I have big plans...cleaning the house, washing the dog, shaving the cat, shopping;-) Okay, so lets get real. I know my life is enthralling, but it's time for the nitty gritty. I haven't written in a couple weeks. I've been stuck and lazy. I've let myself get distracted at lunch(my writing time) and spent it on the Internet or talking to coworkers or running(which I don't regret cause I love running). I've also been obsessing on researching agents for GoP. At least that's writing related. I need to focus and re-plot out this book. I have been pondering some important questions about my current WIP, such as: 1 what does A want? 2 what is stopping A from getting it? 3 what problem in A's world needs solved? I'm trying to balance/figure out A's personal journey and the world conflict that is happening as well as thinking about the overall arc I want for this series. It's a lot to sort out and deserves the thought put into it. But I also need to buckle down and write! For the next week my computer is out of town with my husband but once it's back I'm going to have to get back my discipline. Wish me luck! Hope you're journey is full of living!

Painful...

So many parts of writing are painful. The middle of writing a first draft, the fifth round of edits, writing a query letter, querying, being told no by an agent for whatever reason. The list can go on and on but my point is this, when there are so many inherently painful parts to writing, why be cruel to someone else when critiquing a fellow writer? I was over at Evil Editor and some of the comments about the most recent synopsis crossed the line IMO. All critiques are hard to swallow, but how they're presented is still important. I'm not even saying you have to sandwhich a negative between to positives. I just think you don't have to twist the knife you're shoving in. In other painful news... I got another rejection from an agent. I know I'm biased, but I don't feel like my query is that bad which means may be my idea just isn't good enough for the market. I keep telling myself that it is very different. There's nothing out there that I can find in YA that has similar paranormal characters. I'm not giving up though! Come Sunday I'll have Internet access and I'll be sending out some more query letters. Keep living life so you've got something to write about!

Stumbling

Well, I've two stumbling blocks in my life. One of which is GoP, which I am currently querying. Nothing can obsess you or depress you like trying to query out a book! I keep getting stuck on one thing...here is my confession... I have not written a synopsis yet. I know I'm being lazy, but for grief's sake, I've written a whole manuscript and a query, and now you want a synopsis too!!! I will have to give in and write one I know, but currently I feel like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. I just want you to want my book. Simple as that. Block number two...I am stumbling my way through what I guess would be a writers block with my current WIP. I came up with a complete change for the main gal's love interest. I thought this would "fix" my block, but alas it did not. This morning, I came up with yet another change, an additional character... I have not yet worked through that addition, so I am still in the dark as to whether or not it will help. I keep wanting to cling to my original idea, despite knowing it would have been altered no matter what. May be because these new ideas mean a really big rewrite. As in, not another draft, but almost a whole new book! It is overwhelming to say the least And now, I have to get going, life is interrupting this blog! :) Got to live it to write it!